Debate contribution: Special Educational Needs Provision: North Antrim

Debate contribution by Ms Cara Hunter on 19 November 2024.

MLA

Ms Cara Hunter

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

19 November 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Special Educational Needs Provision: North Antrim

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4666470

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I take the opportunity to welcome the Member who secured the Adjournment debate to the Education Committee. We have had him with us for the past few weeks now, which has been great. I thank him so much for bringing the topic to the Chamber, because it is such an important issue. Every child deserves the opportunity to thrive, yet for too many children with special educational needs and disabilities across Northern Ireland, including in North Antrim and in the wider north-west, that remains out of reach. Changing that is a priority for the SDLP. With nearly 20% of our school population identified as having special educational needs and over 22,000 young people having a statement, the demand for tailored support is undeniable and growing. For so many, even getting a statement is unbelievably difficult. One principal, whom I spoke to just last Friday, said that the school was often put in the awful position of choosing which child should be sent for assessment, when many really need the support. Parents feel every bit of that. They are left running around in circles trying to find school placements, support that helps their child achieve and support inside and outside the classroom. Parents spend late nights worrying and early mornings trying their best to support their child and their child's needs, as well as attending multiple appointments in order to give their child the best start in life. From language therapy classes to sensory classes and more, parents are burnt out and exhausted from trying to make it all happen. Before I continue, I thank the Children's Law Centre and the NI Children's Commissioner for their tireless hard work advocating for children with special educational needs across the North. I particularly thank Causeway Neurodiversity, which is a remarkable group of people who have come together from different backgrounds. They come from throughout the region, including from my constituency and from across North Antrim, and the group comprises parents, experts by experience, activists, health workers and more. They bring people together — they have an online platform on Facebook as well — to talk about the experience of being a parent who struggles with a child who has special educational needs. The group puts people with special educational needs at the forefront of the conversation in order to hear their lived experience. I thank that group for its hard work, its dedication and the support that it provides to so many families across my area and in North Antrim. Education is, of course, at the heart of this conversation. The number of children who need specialised support has increased by 24% over the past five years, but, despite that, many families are left waiting for placements, battling an overstretched system that lacks sufficient resources. Today, over 1,000 additional SEN places are urgently required, along with specialist classrooms and adequate funding, to ensure that those children can access the education that they deserve. I thank the Minister and his colleague Alan Robinson for their work earlier this year to ensure that Rossmar School got the necessary capital funding to facilitate more space on its site. I will now speak about Caleb's Cause and post-19 support for children with special educational needs. It really is a cliff edge. Those young people feel totally unsupported. Over the age of 19, going out into society can be an incredibly unnerving and uncertain time — for anybody — so it is really important that we do all that we can to support them. I note that Rossmar School is potentially looking at providing support for children and young people from the ages of 19 to 25. That could be an answer. We are looking at how we can support young people, and that could be a good way to go. This is not just about what happens within the walls of the classroom. The failure to address SEN needs has a profound impact on children. Social anxiety, general anxiety, isolation, academic setbacks and mental health crises are, sadly, becoming all too common. The children whom we are talking about are not just statistics. They are future scientists, artists, carers and leaders. If we fail to support and protect them now, we fail to unlock their full potential. Investing in SEN provision means more than just funding. It means ensuring that teachers have the training to meet the range of diverse needs, developing specialist facilities to support parents and young people and integrating wrap-around support for families. It means committing to a system that values every child equally. On that note, I would like to thank the incredible staff in those schools: for example, Sandelford School in my constituency and, of course, Rossmar School in Limavady. We are talking about the provision of support for children with special educational needs. We also need to discuss respite care. Happy parents lead to happy children. So many parents whose children have SEN rarely ask for much, but, when they ask for respite care, they cannot get it. I had a constituent — it was a very sad story — whose teenage daughter, who has complex special educational needs, recently survived cancer and is doted on by her parents. The parents wanted to get away for a few days after a period of pain and uncertainty, but they were turned down at the last minute, and that was also in the wider north Antrim area. It just goes to show how common that is — that is just one story of many. Respite care is a fundamental support mechanism and safety net for parents to have much needed downtime. They are fantastic at what they do in supporting their children to be the best that they can be. We urgently need to support parents who deserve rest from taking care of children who have special or complex needs. The need is urgent. Let us work together to build an inclusive education system that lifts up all children inside and outside the classroom. Their future depends on it.

1,006 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:38 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification