Debate contribution: Special Educational Needs Provision: North Antrim

Debate contribution by Mr Philip McGuigan on 19 November 2024.

MLA

Mr Philip McGuigan

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

19 November 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Special Educational Needs Provision: North Antrim

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4666456

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank Colin for securing the Adjournment debate. It is a very appropriate opportunity to discuss an important issue. I begin by declaring an interest. My wife is a special educational needs assistant in a school in North Antrim. Every child, irrespective of background or ability, is entitled to an education. Every parent and family of a child with special educational needs is entitled to support. Ensuring that children with special educational needs and disabilities get the highest levels of support is a priority for Sinn Féin. Too many children with special educational needs and disabilities are being left behind, and too many families have to battle with the Department, the Education Authority, schools and transport providers for that appropriate support. Those children and their families deserve better. In order for the system to work for everyone, early intervention is key, which the independent review of education recognised. Unfortunately, instead of early intervention, too often we see long waiting lists and a lack of cross-departmental working. We need to see the Health and Education Departments working side by side on the issue. Education teams, supported by health experts, will give those children the best possible start in life, because delays in early intervention have a clear knock-on effect on the next stage of development. From nursery to primary school, and from primary to secondary school, children should attend the most appropriate school for their needs. Without an early diagnosis, many children are left in mainstream schools without access to the support systems necessary for their social and academic advancement or without access to special schools or SEN units. Parents who try to circumvent the long waiting lists by seeking, in their frustration, private assessments are mostly told that those assessments, for which they paid large amounts of money, are not recognised by the Education Authority. There has been a 50% rise in the number of children with a statement of SEN over the past five years and a 25% increase in the number of pupils in special schools. The Department — I know that the Minister has moved on this — needs to quickly develop the special school sector and provide additional special school places and classes. Perhaps the Minister can clarify whether there are any plans to expand special school provision in North Antrim. Earlier in the year, I had conversations with the Department about a school in North Antrim that had closed down. I thought that it could have been used, but it did not meet the Department's requirements, which was disappointing. As Mr Crawford mentioned, in Castle Tower in Ballymena in North Antrim, we have a first-class school where fantastic modern services are available for those children who need them and specialist staff provide the highest level of care and support to our most vulnerable children. However, the school and many like it are vastly oversubscribed. Castle Tower was designed based on a business case for 285 students. There are currently around 380 students enrolled at the school, with applications far outstripping available places. Castle Tower is the only dedicated SEN school in the whole of North Antrim. Children in our area are forced to travel long distances to access special educational needs provision in Coleraine, Limavady, Magherafelt and even, in some cases, Belfast. Those distances are difficult for any child, but, for a child with special educational needs or disabilities, such journeys are particularly difficult. We need more specialist provision, similar to the fantastic service provided by Castle Tower, available to our vulnerable children in North Antrim. Specialist units for SEN children are available in mainstream schools like Our Lady of Lourdes School in Ballymoney, Ballymoney High School, Dunclug College and St Patrick's College, Ballymena, but again, those schools can face issues with oversubscription and lack of resources. These schools provide excellent outcomes for some children who require SEN support, but, for many children, there is no substitute for special schools and the resource available in those specialist settings. Every year, I am contacted by many constituents about travel for those with special educational needs. The most vulnerable often face the most issues with school transport. For example, there are often issues with the lifts on buses breaking down, meaning that SEN pupils who use a wheelchair cannot be lifted onto the bus. Another issue is the shortage of chaperones, who are essential for SEN pupils when travelling. That obviously causes stress for parents and the children, because the children cannot attend school when those issues arise, and they arise much too often. Another issue is the journey times for those with special educational needs. In some cases, these can be very long. I have constituents whose children live 15 to 20 minutes from school but face a one-and-a-half-hour journey every morning and evening, due to the fact that the bus has to travel around collecting other children in order to transport them to and from school. For many children with SEN, those travel times are very difficult. Sometimes children must leave the house as early as 7.00 am for a school start at 9.00 am and endure the same journey home. That happens to children as young as three or four, at preschool age, and many children struggle to or cannot cope with such journey times. The EA must engage with parents to provide suitable transport plans for those children to ensure that our most vulnerable do not have to endure excessive journey times. In conclusion, I know that the Minister, whom I welcome, has inherited this problem and that, as a result of Tory austerity, our education system as a whole, and special educational needs in particular, has suffered from a lack of investment. I want to hear his plans and proposals, with a particular focus on improving the situation for children and parents in North Antrim.

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

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