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Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD, has urged third level institutions to sign up to future summer programme in the wake of a successful pilot project. Munster Technological University (MTU) Kerry campus opened up its facilities in its Tralee campus for the summer programme to special schools in the region.
The Nano Nagle Special School in Listowel took up the opportunity to run its summer programme for two weeks on the MTU campus. In its turn, MTU was able to offer a host of amenities, including access to a hydrotherapy pool which is equipped with a ceiling and pool hoist, making the pool accessible to all.
The pilot project is just one of more than 1,700 individual summer programme schemes running this summer, across primary, post-primary and special schools, for children with special educational needs or educational disadvantage. The programmes are free-of-charge for families and are funded by a €40 million budget allocation.
Minister for Education Norma Foley TD said that MTU was the first third level institution to host the summer programme.
“I really want to congratulate the leadership of MTU Kerry campus and Nano Nagle special school in Listowel for the innovation they have displayed in running the summer programme. I look forward to seeing similar initiatives being rolled out on other campuses around the country.”
Today, Minister Foley met MTU staff and parents and students from Nano Nagle Special School in Listowel. The summer programme was put together with the help of Jacqueline Halpin, the school programme organiser and Dr. Michael Hall Head of Department of Health & Leisure Studies and Hazel Byrne Manager, Kerry Sports Academy, the co-ordinators for MTU.
Under the pilot summer programme, children with a wide range of ages and abilities from Nano Nagle Special School attended the pilot project for two weeks at MTU at the start of July. A variety of activities, which included drama and a drumming workshop, also took place in MTU.
Minister Foley said:
“It was a thoroughly enjoyable and positive experience for all of the young people involved. There is wonderful work also ongoing in the summer programme in schools right across the country. I am delighted that there has been a significant increase in the number of schools offering the summer programme.”
The number of students on the summer programme has increased from 13,000 in 2019 to 50,000 last year and that number is expected to be exceeded this year.
Following this successful pilot, the Summer Programme Team in the Department of Education intends to reach out to third level institutions in Autumn 2024 to gauge their interest in running a summer programme in collaboration with special schools in 2025.
There are two in-school schemes available in the 2024 Summer Programme for mainstream primary schools:
• The Primary School Scheme which is available to all recognised mainstream primary schools (including schools with special classes and DEIS primary schools). This scheme can run for a minimum of 2 weeks and a maximum of 4 weeks.
• Literacy and Numeracy Summer Camp which is available to all DEIS primary schools. DEIS primary schools can run 1-2 camps of 1 week in duration.
In the case of DEIS Primary schools, they can opt to run both the Primary School Scheme and the Literacy and Numeracy Summer Camp. Alternatively, they can run just one scheme of their choosing.
Special schools can also run a school-based programme. The Special School scheme can run for 2 to 5 weeks.
At post primary level, there is one in-school scheme available - the Post-Primary School Scheme. This scheme runs for 2 weeks.
More than 1,700 individual summer programme schemes are scheduled to run this summer, across primary, post-primary and special schools.
Across all of the Summer Programme schemes, schools will run the programmes on average for between 2 to 3 weeks.