Debate contribution: Special Educational Needs Provision: South Down

Debate contribution by Mrs Cathy Mason on 14 May 2024.

MLA

Mrs Cathy Mason

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

14 May 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Special Educational Needs Provision: South Down

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4490435

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

I have brought the Adjournment debate to the Assembly today to give a voice to the young people with special educational needs (SEN) in my constituency, their families and their schools. Several weeks ago, members of the Education Committee were advised that Education officials were working on the basis that up to 1,000 additional spaces would be required for children with special educational needs. For me, it is difficult to understand how, year after year, that situation persists. The Department and the Education Authority (EA) have access to a range of information, statistics and trends that should enable them to prepare accordingly, but it just does not seem to happen. This is not a criticism of the Minister; I accept that he is only in through the door. He has said that special educational needs is a priority, and I welcome that. However, today, we need to hear directly from him what is the plan and what is being done to ensure that children with special educational needs are suitably placed, on time and with the support and resources that they are entitled to. Going back to my constituency, I am inspired by examples of outstanding SEN provision, and I am mindful of the incredible staff who truly are the backbone of special educational needs provision. I want to give particular mention to the classroom assistants, who, as we know, are not yet getting the pay and conditions that they deserve but who turn up every day to care for and support the education of some of our most vulnerable children. Those professionals must be properly valued and get the fair pay that they are entitled to. Schools like St Malachy's Primary School in Castlewellan, with its dedicated learning support units where exceptional staff deliver amazing results for children, or St Brigid’s Primary School or Our Lady and St Patrick Primary School in Downpatrick, which have shown fantastic leadership with specialist provisions that they have facilitated, and, of course, Knockevin Special School, which was recently given the green light for its much-needed new build, like many others in South Down, go above and beyond for the children and young people whom they are responsible for but are under relentless pressure and need to be properly supported. We know that there are schools ready and willing to step up and open up specialist provisions to provide the much-needed places this autumn, but they require the necessary investment for facilities, appropriately trained staff and the proper resources to be able to deliver specialist provision effectively. I am aware that a number of schools have come forward with the capacity to open specialist provisions, but the Department is not taking them up on that. It has not properly engaged with the schools, and that represents a missed opportunity. When we are dealing with such a crisis and facing a situation in which many children and young people with special educational needs may be without a place in September, we simply cannot afford to miss such opportunities. I urge the Minister to take another look at specialist provision in schools, and I would be more than happy to meet him to discuss the issues more thoroughly. No conversation about special educational needs can take place without mentioning early intervention. It is at the heart of childcare and early years provision, so it is key that the Minister work directly with the Health Minister to ensure that lines of communication are open and that there is information sharing to allow for future planning. In recent months, officials from the Department and the Education Authority have been keen to stress that the school placements situation is not a crisis. Tell that to children who do not know where they will go to school in September or whether they will have a suitable place at all. Try telling the parents of a child who has not yet got a placement and for whom every day spent trying to navigate the process is a nightmare that this is not a crisis. The reality for those children and their families is that it is a crisis. The Minister should acknowledge that, and so should the Education Authority. To tackle a crisis on this scale, families need to see a response in which they can have confidence. The Minister should consider redeploying staff and expertise to help deliver solutions for those children and their families. I also encourage the Minister to give proper consideration to a "SEN first" approach when it comes to school placements. Let us demonstrate by our actions that children with SEN are, in fact, a priority. We can do that by ensuring that they are placed no later than their fellow pupils. Let us move beyond treating children and young people with SEN as supernumerary when it comes to placements. I thank the Speaker for the opportunity to secure this important debate, and I thank the Minister for his time this evening and for listening to the concerns that I have raised. I will work with everyone in the Chamber to bring forward solutions to ensure that every child has the right to education. Let us work together to ensure that every child is suitably placed, on time and with the support needed this September.

886 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not qualifying

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:27 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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