Motion or amendment: Support for Special Educational Needs Coordinators
Motion or amendment by Mr Nick Mathison on .
- MLA
- Mr Nick Mathison
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 23 March 2026
- Type
- Motion or amendment
- Business
- Motion · Private Members' Motion
- Heading
- Support for Special Educational Needs Coordinators
- Assembly identifier
- Document 477365
Read the official Assembly record Open Data source
Text
Support for Special Educational Needs Coordinators
That this Assembly recognises the crucial role of Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) in supporting children and ensuring they can access the support they require to thrive in education; acknowledges that the majority of SENCOs are also teachers and many currently do not have the time within contracted hours to deliver both roles; expresses concern at the excessive and increasing workload SENCOs are facing and the subsequent impact this is having on their mental health and work-life balance; further recognises the need to provide timely and meaningful interventions, to alleviate pressures being felt by the SENCO workforce and ensure we do not lose valuable practitioners; further acknowledges that ongoing reforms, such as the introduction of the SEND Local IMPACT Teams and proposed changes to classroom support are, at times, placing even further pressure on SENCOs and must be adequately resourced and implemented with a child-centred approach; calls on the Minister of Education to undertake a review of the workload of SENCOs, which includes clear recommendations, including considering the viability of ensuring the role, where appropriate, could be exclusively non-teaching; and further calls on the Minster to outline how feedback from SENCOs is currently shaping the implementation of special educational needs reforms.
207 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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