Ready for Everyone
From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Published on
Last updated on
Most parents have some anxieties about how their child will manage in pre-school or primary school. This can be especially true for parents of children with special educational needs who may have additional concern.
The Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) is a model of supports designed to ensure that children with disabilities can access the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme. Its goal is to empower pre-school providers to deliver an inclusive pre-school experience, ensuring that every eligible child can meaningfully participate in the ECCE Programme and reap the benefits of quality pre-school education.
Your child does not need to have a diagnosis to benefit from AIM.
More information on AIM is available here.
Children with special educational needs attend a variety of settings such as mainstream schools, mainstream schools with special classes and special schools.
Many children with special educational needs attend their local primary school in a mainstream class with other children of different ability levels and with additional support, as necessary. The Department of Education has set out the Continuum of Support framework to assist schools in identifying and responding to the individual needs of children. Using this framework helps to ensure that interventions are incremental, moving from class-based interventions to more intensive and individualised support for those children with more complex and enduring needs. The DE has provided guidelines for schools in supporting children with special educational needs available here.
Some children with more complex special educational needs attend a special class in their local mainstream school. These classes have lower pupil-teacher ratios, for example, a class for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will have one teacher for every six students. Students enrolled in these classes should be included in the regular mainstream class for a part of the day or the week, in line with their strengths and abilities.
Special schools are generally for children with very complex special needs who wouldn’t manage in a mainstream school even for part of the week. Special schools have very small class groups.
Once you have found a place in a school which you think is right for your child, you should discuss your child’s needs with the principal to help the school to develop a support plan for your child.
The Starting School Guidelines for Parents/Guardians of Children with Special Educational Needs booklet is available from the National Council for Special Education here.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) works to improve the delivery of education services to persons with special educational needs arising from disabilities with particular emphasis on children. Really useful information from the National Council for Special Education is available here.
During COVID-19, the NCSE have developed resources to support parents while learning from home, available here.
The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) is the psychological service of the Department of Education (DE). The role of NEPS is to support the wellbeing, academic, social and emotional development of all children and young people through the application of psychological theory and practice in education, having particular regard for those with special educational needs and those at risk of educational disadvantage. NEPS offers a range of services to assist schools in providing a continuum of support to students in line with the published guidelines of the DE. NEPS service provision includes evidence-informed universal approaches to the promotion of academic, social and emotional competence and wellbeing for all, targeted early interventions for at-risk individuals and groups, and intensive and individualised support for students with more complex needs in schools. NEPS has a range of publications and best practice guidelines to support schools which are available here.
NEPS psychologists have developed wellbeing advice and resources to support parents, students and school staff during Covid-19 which is available at here.
A specially prepared NEPS communication to parents to support children with the transition/return to school is available here.
Strategies and resources to assist teachers in tailoring transition supports to meet the needs of students with SEN are contained in the NEPS document Supporting the Wellbeing of Students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) Returning to School - Strategies and Resources available here.
Gaeloideachas, in partnership with AsIAm, Ireland’s National Autism Charity, has developed new resources to help children and young people with autism and/or dyslexia to reach their full potential in a naíonra or Irish-medium or Gaeltacht school. They will also help teachers and other students to better understand the needs of children and young people with autism.
The resources for children and young people with autism - including posters, booklets, worksheets, sensory checklists and a passport for naíonraí to help with the transition to primary school are available here
The resources for children and young people with dyslexia are available here
AON – Assessment of Need
BOM – Board of Management
DES – Department of Education and Skills
EBD – Emotional/Behavioural Disturbance
GLD – General Learning Disability
IEP – Individual Education Plan
NCSE – National Council for Special Education
NEPS – National Education Psychological Service
OT – Occupational Therapist
SEN – Special Educational Needs
SENCo – Special Education Needs Co-Ordinator
SENO – Special Education Needs Organiser
SET – Special Education Teacher
SLD – Specific Learning Disability
SLT – Speech & Language Therapist
SSLD – Specific Speech and Language Disorder
SSP / F – Student Support Plan / File