Supports for the Special Education sector in the Reopening of Schools

1. A dedicated package of measures for the Special Educational Needs Sector

The Roadmap to the Full Reopening of schools includes a dedicated package of additional supports for students with special educational needs which is being made available to schools to implement their COVID-19 Response Plan and to operate in a sustainable way. Full details are available at: Item was unpublished or removed

These supports include €13 million of measures particularly to support pupils with special educational needs such as:

Elements of the Reopening of schools package that are enhanced to support students with SEN.

All of the measures included in the roadmap are supporting the return of students with special educational needs to school.

2. Provision of Additional Staff

Special schools received funding for the purposes of employing an aide for 10 days to assist with the logistics for preparing for reopening.

Additional NEPS psychologists will be appointed to enhance the department’s psychological services to our school communities at this time, with a particular emphasis on the needs of our special school communities.

In addition, the department is also providing funding to support the substitution of all absences of SNAs in school settings.

More broadly, additional staff supports applicable to all schools include:

• increased management support to primary schools;
• extending the current pilot supply panel for substitute teachers on a nationwide basis; at primary school level
• 1,080 additional teaching posts at post primary school level including 120 guidance posts;
• enhanced supervision supports for post primary schools

Substitution for SNAs schools should identify and maintain a list of qualified and vetted SNAs who would be available locally to act as substitutes.

3. Special education teachers can operate in more than one school

The roadmap for the full return to school does not prohibit the use of shared posts between schools.

Special education teacher (SET) cluster arrangements should therefore continue to operate as normal.

Education staff move routinely between schools in the context of substitute teachers, and shared special education teachers.

It is recognised that there will continue to be movement of staff between schools. Special education teachers should continue to provide tuition in each of the schools to which they operate in under existing agreed cluster arrangements.

4. Special education teaching and social distancing

Special education teaching may be delivered in a variety of ways, including team teaching, teaching in small groups of pupils, withdrawal of pupils for group or individualised support in accordance with the criteria set out in DES Circulars 0013/2017 and 0014/2017 and 0007/2019 and 0008/2019 and the accompanying guidelines on the use of special education teaching supports, which are available here.

The roadmap for the full return to school also advises schools that:

To the greatest extent possible, pupils and teaching staff should consistently be in the same Class Bubbles, although this will not be possible at all times.

Staff members who move from class bubble to class bubble should be limited as much as possible.

Schools should manage the provision of their special education teaching in order to support physical distancing measures, in accordance with the school reopening guidance, to the greatest extent possible, and taking into account the particular individualised circumstances within their schools.

Further details are available at Item was unpublished or removed

5. Special Education Teachers may not be used to reduce class sizes in order to support social distancing measures.

The roadmap for the full return to school provides for a number of additional supports to be provided to schools to assist with school reopening and also sets out guidance for schools on how they can support social distancing measures.

It notes that the implementation of physical reconfiguration measures in schools, allied to the additional supports set out in the Roadmap, provide the operational means through which physical distancing within schools can be maintained.

The guidance does not provide for schools to use their allocations of special education teachers to reduce class sizes in order to support social distancing.

Some schools have indicated that they may be finding it difficult to rearrange their classes to provide for physical distancing, and are seeking to make the best use of all of the resources that they have to provide for this.

However, there has been no change to the criteria for the use by schools of special education teacher posts.

To use special education teachers to reduce mainstream class sizes, would significantly dilute, or withdraw, support for this vulnerable group of pupils.

Schools should ensure that the special educational needs teaching supports are used in their entirety to support pupils identified with special educational needs, learning support needs, and additional literacy needs such as English additional language support.

Special education teachers cannot be used for mainstream class teaching, or to reduce the pupil teacher ratio in mainstream classes, or to provide additional subjects for pupils who do not have special educational needs, as set out in DES Circulars 0013/2017 and 0014/2017.

Use of non-mainstream teachers for substitution under circular 45/2020.

The department is very conscious of ensuring that schools reopen safely. One of the arrangements being put in place is to increase the certainty of supply of substitute teachers for primary schools. This is being done by creating supply panels nationwide which will give teachers fixed-term contracts to be available as substitute teachers for a cluster of primary schools.

The circular letter 0045/2020 sets out that sequence for a school to access substitutes. The aim is to get a substitute firstly from:

• a supply panel
• the school’s own panel of regular substitutes
• from the ‘Text a Sub’ portal

When these arrangements have been exhausted and a substitute is still needed in an emergency situation to protect the class bubble, it is outlined in the circular that a school can use other non-mainstream teachers to cover the absence.

This arrangement is an interim measure and the school must continue to seek a substitute to cover the absence. It is only in these types of instances that the school can use other non-mainstream teachers.

Schools should seek to minimise the amount of times that special education teachers are used for substitution purposes and keep a record of such instances. The special education teacher should also not be used to cover long term absences.

Any loss of special education teaching support by students should be made up at the first available opportunity by employing additional teaching resources to make up for the shortfall.

Special education teachers may only be used as a substitute in an emergency as outlined above.

6. Students who have complex medical needs and may be considered at ’very high risk’ to COVID-19 exposure in schools

It is recognised that some students who have complex medical or special educational needs may not be able to return to school because the relevant public health guidelines indicate they are at ‘very high risk’.

These students’ schools will provide additional supports for these students through designated teachers from within the staffing resources of the school

Schools will have discretion to manage and redistribute their teaching support resources in order to best meet the learning needs of their pupils/students, including pupils/students at ‘very high risk’ to COVID-19.

At second level, there will be supports provided to schools to help match up supports for students who cannot go to school or whose teacher cannot come to school.

Primary schools can use any one or combination of the following options to facilitate adapted education provision for students at very high risk to COVID-19.

A designated teacher who is at very high risk to COVID-19:

In some instances students may be supported by teachers from their school or from another school, who are assessed as being at very high risk to COVID-19 and who are available to work from home. Local education centres will compile a list of schools in a region that have teachers in this category. Schools with pupils who are at very high risk to COVID-19 can liaise with their local education centre which will connect the teacher working from home with the pupils’ school for the purpose of supporting the pupils’ learning from home.

Alternatively, schools can organise their own local clusters to match pupils and teachers in these categories, outside of the education centre structure. In some instances, clusters formed for substitute teachers to cover principal release days might be considered.

A designated teacher from the school’s existing support resources:

Schools also have discretion to manage and redistribute their existing support resources in order to best meet the learning needs of students who are at very high risk to COVID-19. For example, special education teachers can be designated to provide adapted education provision for students in this category, in particular those students who have special educational needs).

7. Supports for students who are anxious about returning to school

Some pupils or their parents may be experiencing anxiety about the return to school to such an extent that their child does not return as expected. All schools are expected to support such pupils in making a full return to school and to provide supports to ensure their anxiety is managed in such a way as to enable them to re-engage productively in their learning.

In response to the COVID-19 school closures, NEPS has developed a range of resources for schools and parents to support the wellbeing of children and young people in line with the DES Wellbeing Framework and Policy for Practice.

In this regard, NEPS has developed Wellbeing Webinars and Wellbeing Toolkits for School Staff which are available here and which contain information, guidance, tips and advice for schools on how best to support the wellbeing of all children and young people, including those with SEN, at this time.

Other resources for schools include guidance and advice for teachers to support students in the areas of behavioural regulation, managing stress and anxiety, as well as supporting teacher wellbeing and self-care. Some of the strategies and resources will be helpful in supporting students in the initial stages of the return to school, while others will assist with interventions throughout the upcoming school year.

It is expected that pupils who are anxious or reluctant to return to school should be supported in this regard and therefore will not require adapted education provision.

Pupils with special education needs especially those with complex needs, will need additional, individualised supports to enable them to make a successful return to school. The supports for pupils with special educational needs who are at ‘very high risk’ to COVID-19 that would normally be available to them to address their special educational needs will continue to be available to them in the context of both adapted education provision and on their return to school.

Guidance and resources have been issued to schools.

8. Attending school for children with special educational needs who have underlying health conditions

The Department of Education advice on Protecting your child from coronavirus recommends that all children should attend school as normal unless they:

• have a temperature of 38 degrees Celsius or more
• have other common symptoms of coronavirus – a new cough, loss or changed sense of taste or smell, or shortness of breath
• have been in close contact with someone who has coronavirus
• live with someone who is unwell and may have coronavirus

Where parents are worried about their children’s health, they should phone their GP.

Children with underlying health conditions may be vulnerable to any infection. But it appears the risk of severe illness from coronavirus is low, even if a child has:

• an underlying health condition
• special healthcare needs

If a child has a health condition they and everyone in the family should still:

• be extra careful in watching out for symptoms
• strictly follow the advice on good hygiene and hand washing

Children with health conditions or special educational needs should be supported and encouraged to try and keep up their normal activities and attend school. This is good for their overall wellbeing.

If a child has recently had a transplant or has severe immunodeficiency, talk with their specialist. They will advise if the child needs to take any extra precautions.

If parents have concerns about a child's health condition, ask their specialist team for advice.

Further details about what to do if a child has symptoms of COVID-19, when to keep a child at home and phone a GP, when it’s ok to send children to school, what to do if a child needs testing for coronavirus, and what to do if the child needs to stay home from school and self-isolate is available here.

9. Educational support available where a parent decides that their child needs to stay home from school, because they are at high risk to COVID-19.

It will be important for schools to ensure that pupils at very high risk to COVID-19 will remain as connected as possible with their own school and classmates and that their learning will continue, as far as possible, in line with the curriculum and in a manner that is closely aligned to the learning of their peers.

For pupils with additional needs, appropriate differentiation of their learning will continue to be a priority. The overall responsibility for ensuring that pupils at very high risk to COVID-19 receive appropriate support remains with the school in which they are enrolled. Full details of how schools should provide this support are outlined in Continuity of schooling: Continuity of schooling: Supporting primary pupils who are at very high risk to COVID-19.

10. Home Tuition Support

Home Tuition Support will continue to be made available for children with special educational needs who have been unable to secure a school placement, or who have missed a significant part of the 2019/20 school year due to serious illness (not including absence related to school closure due to COVID-19).

Full details of the qualification Criteria for Home Tuition support for the 2020/21 school year is available here.

There may be some students for whom returning to school may not be feasible because the relevant public health guidelines indicate that they are at very high risk or extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 related risk.

Overall responsibility for ensuring that such students receive appropriate support to engage adequately with learning remains with the school to which they are enrolled.

Guidance is being issued to primary and post primary schools to support schools and to put arrangements in place for such students.

Parents of children at very high risk due to COVID-19 should contact their school so that arrangements can be put in place to support their child.

11. Face Coverings and Masks

Primary or pre-school pupils are not required to wear a face covering.

Students with special educational needs will not be required to wear masks if it makes them feel upset or very uncomfortable.

In general students at post primary level will be required to wear face coverings in the classroom.

However the following are exempt from these requirements:

• any person with difficulty breathing
• any person who is unconscious or incapacitated
• any person who is unable to remove the face-covering without assistance
• any person who has special needs and who may feel upset or very uncomfortable wearing the face covering, for example persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities, mental health conditions, sensory concerns or tactile sensitivity.
• students who have hearing impairment and use lip reading, may need their and teachers and peers to use clear masks

It is recognised that wearing masks may present difficulties for some young people, due to sensory issues, difficulties with understanding why/when we are wearing them and because this is a new practice, to which they are not accustomed. NEPS has outlined recommendations and strategies for parents and teacher to supporting students who may experience difficulties with wearing face coverings.

It is also recognised that face masks present specific challenges for students who are sensory impairments. The following points should be considered:

• perspex visors may be more ‘deaf friendly’ and have the approval of the Deaf community and Chime
• students with a visual impairment and those who are blind will require support and practice wearing a mask that covers the mouth and nose
• those with a visual impairment (VI), but with some vision, may have difficulty with glasses fogging up when wearing a face mask
• the top of a mask can also lower peripheral vision and cause a visual distraction; in such cases a visor may be a more suitable option

Further clarification is available in the NEPS support documents available here.

12. Special needs assistants and special education teacher allocations

Special needs assistants (SNAs) and special education teachers (SET) will continue to be allocated to schools in accordance with existing criteria. There is no provision for schools to apply for additional temporary SNA or SET positions from September in order to support school reopening.

A significant package of alternative resources has been made available to support school reopening

In relation to the provision of SNA support, the role of the SNA remains unchanged and is to support the care needs of students with special educational needs in mainstream classes, special classes and special schools.

The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for students with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews.

Reviews of SNA allocations for mainstream:

• schools may apply to the NCSE for additionality of SNA posts for mainstream classes where they can demonstrate that the current allocation does not meet additional care needs within the mainstream classes in the school. Applications for additionality arising from significant new or emerging additional care needs, which cannot be catered for within existing allocations, will be dealt with by way of an exceptional review process
• a diagnosis of a disability, or a psychological or other professional report, will not be necessary for this process
• the exceptional review process for mainstream allocations will be available to schools throughout the 2020/21 school year

It is expected that schools will review and reprioritise the deployment of SNAs within mainstream settings and allocate resources to ensure those with the greatest level of need receive the greatest level of support.

A school can appeal the outcome of an exceptional review and details of how to do this are here

13. How SNAs and bus escorts will continue to provide support to children with special educational needs.

The role of the SNA remains unchanged and is to support the care needs of students with special educational needs in mainstream classes, special classes and special schools.

DES Circular 0030/2014 in relation to the SNA scheme notes that the tasks of an SNA to provide for the care need of children with special educational needs include assistance with feeding, administration of medicine, assistance with toileting and general hygiene: (including catheterisation), Non-nursing care needs associated with specific medical conditions and assistance with moving and lifting of children, operation of hoists and equipment.

School bus escorts are expected to support pupils with special educational needs while they are being transported from home to school.

The nature of these tasks means that social distancing cannot be maintained and SNAs and bus escorts are therefore not required to maintain social distancing while performing their tasks, where it is not reasonably possible for them to discharge their duties from a physical distance.

Further information from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre which provides a range of guidance of infection prevention and control in educational settings is available here.

14. SNAs and bus escorts should wear personal protective equipment (PPE) when in close contact with pupils

SNAs and bus escorts should use PPE. Schools have been provided with additional funding to purchase PPE and SNAs and bus escorts, whose work requires them to be in close contact with children, should be prioritised for provision of PPE.

15. Tasks in which SNAs are required to engage

DES Circular 0030/2014 in relation to the SNA scheme notes that the tasks of an SNA may include:

• preparation and tidying of workspaces, and classrooms
• assisting a child who is not physically able to perform such tasks to prepare and tidy a workspace,
• to present materials, to display work, or to transition from one lesson activity to another.
• to assist with sanitizing and cleaning of materials and equipment.

There is no change to this position.

However SNAs are not expected to engage in general school cleaning because this is not a duty of an SNA.

As part of the measures to support school reopening an additional grant for cleaning is being provided which allows all schools to have enhanced cleaning regimes in place to minimise the risk of introduction and spread of COVID-19. This is provided on a per pupil basis and is intended to allow an additional 4 to 6 hours cleaning per day in schools.

16. SNAs can move between schools, class bubbles, or pods, with appropriate care

Education staff move routinely between schools in the context of substitute teachers, shared special education teachers and SNAs, and it is not possible to eliminate this movement entirely.

It is important that a staff member shared across class bubbles within a school should take particular care in relation to proper hand and respiratory hygiene in moving throughout the school.

In accordance with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, it is the responsibility of school management authorities to have a safety statement in place in their schools. Schools are obliged to identify possible hazards, assess the risks to health and safety and put appropriate safeguards in place.

The department is supporting schools implement these protocols by providing:

• induction and tailored training programmes for school staff produced by the department
• webinars on health and safety, returning to work safely, managing school return and wellbeing.
• an enhanced Minor Works Grant to support full implementation of COVID-19 response plans
• additional financial supports to provide for additional cleaning, hand hygiene and PPE costs under the COVID-19 response plans.

As part of the Back to School measures, a specific training segment for SNAs is available here.

17. Equipment used by children with special educational needs

Some children may have care needs (physical or behavioral) which require the use of aids and appliances, medical equipment, educational materials including for example toileting aids, moving and handling equipment, respiratory equipment.

Where cleaning of aids and appliances is carried out in the school, it is recommended that a cleaning schedule is provided, detailing when and how the equipment is cleaned and the cleaning products to be used in accordance with the manufacturers’ instructions.

The following points can guide the development of such cleaning schedule:

• equipment used to deliver care or support education should be visibly clean
• care equipment should be cleaned in accordance with the manufacturers’ instructions. Cleaning is generally achieved using a general purpose detergent and warm water
• equipment that is used shared by different children/teachers must be cleaned and, if required, disinfected immediately after use and before use by another child, for example toileting aids, shared hearing aids

If equipment is soiled with body fluids:

• first clean thoroughly with detergent and water
• then disinfect by wiping with a freshly prepared solution of disinfectant
• rinse with water and dry

18. Additional IT resources provided to support remote learning for pupils who cannot attend schools due to health reasons

A special €10 million fund has been made available to support the purchase of technology and devices for disadvantaged students, including students with special educational needs who have been at risk of educational disadvantage during the period of school closures or who may not now be able to return to school.

This is additional to the latest round of funding for ICT under the Digital Strategy for Schools whereby €40m grant funding is distributed to eligible schools.

€10m additional funding has been issued to schools to support children and young people.

19. Pupils in special classes should continue to interact, or integrate, with mainstream classes and move between classes

Pupils in special classes should continue to interact, or integrate, with mainstream classes.

However, the number of mainstream classes with which each special class pupil integrates should be minimised, in order to maintain pod grouping to the greatest extent possible, and to assist contact and tracing mechanisms, should this become necessary.

At primary school level this may mean each special class pupil integrating with one mainstream class only whereas.

At post primary school level, this may mean special class pupils attending only those mainstream classes necessary for their subject participation.

20. Using sensory rooms

Sensory rooms may continue to be used, however, schools should ensure rooms are cleaned between uses and that they contain only materials and equipment that are conducive to cleaning.

Schools should also keep a record of the pupils that have attended the sensory room in order to assist contact and tracing mechanisms, should this become necessary.

Schools may also meet the sensory needs of pupils in other more open areas of the school other than in a dedicated room.

A school needs to create a plan for such spaces like sensory rooms. A daily timetable should be kept and logged. One pupil at a time should use these rooms if masks cannot be worn for these students with sensory issues. The room should be cleaned after each use. Schools may wish to change/remove some of the equipment in these rooms to materials which are easily disinfected.

21. NEPS support for schools and children

As schools re-open, National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) psychologists will prioritise school contact time reach out and connect with an emphasis on the following:

• promoting key messages contained in the Wellbeing Guidance Document for Schools, the NEPS Wellbeing Webinar and Wellbeing Toolkits, available here,the targeted guidance to support the wellbeing of students with special educational needs, and the other resources that have been developed and made available.
• listening to schools regarding their needs and supporting schools in how best to respond to those needs.

22. NCSE support for schools and children

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has published a series of resources to support children, parents and teachers re integrate back to school. NCSE services continue to operate as normal, although some services may be provided online to comply with public health restrictions.

NCSE contact details are available here and parents and schools should contact their local SENO or visiting teacher with any specific concerns.

23. What parents can do if they have any concerns about how return to school measures are being implemented in their school

It is acknowledged that each school is different and that many schools have different spatial and building issues that they need to take account of. Therefore each school is required to implement the return to school measures in a way that can be applied in their own particular school environment.

Should a parent have a concern about how return to school measures are being implemented in their school they should raise the matter with the school principal in the first instance or subsequently with the board of management of the school if necessary.