AQO 1388/08

Mrs Naomi Long
Alliance Party
East Belfast

Tabled Date: 08/01/2008
Answered On Date: 14/01/2008
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education what plans she has to address the process of stalemating in relation to children with special educational needs, in order to provide more detailed guidance on the child's individual needs and therapy requirements.

Answer:

The Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs (DE, 1998) introduced detailed guidance for all professionals working with children with special educational needs (SEN). The Code of Practice sets out a 5-stage SEN framework for ELBs and schools to follow. A Statement of Special Educational Needs is provided at Stage 5 and it is at this stage that the ELB becomes responsible for ensuring that the child's SENs are met.

The Special Educational Needs and Disability (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (SENDO) came into effect on 1st September 2005 and strengthened the rights of all children with SEN to a mainstream education. In 2005 the Department of Education issued, for schools and ELBs, a Supplement to the existing Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs, in order to support the new SEN provisions of the SENDO and to provide updated guidance.

The review of special educational needs and inclusion which commenced in April 2006 aims to address a range of issues associated with the current SEN framework, a key feature of which is the current statutory assessment process and statementing.

As recommendations about a child's therapy requirements are the responsibility of the health sector, ELBs take advice from local Health and Social Services Trusts about the level and type of therapeutic interventions required.