Special services and extra support

What happens if my child has difficulty keeping up in class or has a learning difficulty?
Who do I contact if my child has special needs?
My child has special needs - can they get special transport?
What is a school bus escort?
How can I apply for an escort?
Can I apply for a harness?
My child has very little English - What help does the school give my child with English?
What is the role of the National Educational Psychological Service?
What do I do if I think my child may need to be seen by a psychologist?
How does the NEPS psychologist work?
What is the National Council for Special Education?
What is the role of the Special Education Support Service?
What is a special needs assistant?
What is learning support and resource teacher?
What is a resource teacher?
What is the visiting teacher service for children with sight or hearing difficulties?

What happens if my child has difficulty keeping up in class or has a learning difficulty?

You or the class teacher may have concerns about your child's academic, physical, social, behavioural or emotional development.  In such cases the teacher may use screening tests to draw up a plan for extra help for your child at school. If there is still concern after a number of reviews, the learning support and resource teacher (LS/RT) or the resource teacher (RT) may decide on other supports.

Who do I contact if my child has special needs?

You should first discuss the support available from the school with the principal. All mainstream schools have a teacher to cater for the needs of pupils with learning difficulties and high-incidence disabilities such as mild general learning disability and dyslexia. As well as this, schools can also get extra teaching resources for pupils with more serious learning disabilities.

If your child is assessed as having more complicated or low-incidence special education or care needs, the school may apply for an additional teacher or special needs assistant (SNA).

If you are unsure which setting - mainstream class, special class attached to a mainstream school or special school - would best suit your child, you can discuss the options with the local special educational needs organiser (SENO).

You can get information about SENOs from the National Council for Special Education's Contact Details for Special Education Needs Organisers. For more information, contact:

National Council for Special Education
1-2 Mill Street
Trim
Co. Meath
Tel: (046) 948 6400
E-mail: info@ncse.ie

My child has special needs - can they get special transport?

We do our best to provide school transport for all pupils attending special schools and special classes in primary schools (list of primary schools).

You should apply to the principal for special transport when you enrol your child. The principal sends the application through the Special Education Needs Organiser to the School Transport Section of the Department of Education and Science.

If special transport is not available, you may get a transport grant to help with the cost of private transport.

What is a school bus escort?

School bus escorts help children with special needs while travelling on school transport services to and from special schools and special classes. In general, one escort is shared by all pupils on the service.

How can I apply for an escort?

The school can apply for an escort on a special transport service through the Special Education Needs Organiser.

Can I apply for a harness?

Special schools and classes can get a harness for special needs children travelling on school transport services. The school can apply to the local Special Education Needs Organiser.

My child has very little English - What help does the school give my child with English?

Young children learn English very quickly. Even if a child has very little English, they will normally be placed in a class with children the same age. Schools have teaching support to provide extra English classes for newcomer children who have difficulty with English. Your child may have a language support teacher to help them learn English. 

Public libraries are an excellent resource for parents and pupils.

What is the role of the National Educational Psychological Service?

The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) is a service funded by the Department of Education and Science. NEPS psychologists are concerned with children?s learning and behaviour and their social and emotional development.  They work with primary and post-primary schools. Each psychologist is assigned to a group of schools.

NEPS psychologists work with teachers, parents and children to identify educational needs. They offer a range of services aimed at meeting these needs, for example assessing pupils, consulting parents and the school, advising school staff and carrying out special projects and research. NEPS is often consulted about individual children if there are concerns about learning, behaviour or motivation.

What do I do if I think my child may need to be seen by a psychologist?

Usually the first step is to discuss your concerns with the class teacher and/or school principal. This can often lead to a satisfactory solution; not every child needs to meet the psychologist. If you and the school staff agree that it would be helpful to have support, the school will refer your child to their NEPS psychologist, who helps the school to plan how to support the child.  If your school arranges an assessment through NEPS there is no charge for this service.  

If your school does not have a NEPS psychologist please talk to your principal about local arrangements.

How does the NEPS psychologist work?

The psychologist will first talk to you and the school to try to develop a plan of action to help address your concerns. Your child may also be involved in the discussion. At this stage, you might all agree that the psychologist will meet your child to get a fuller picture and plan a programme of support. This can only happen with your consent, however.

The psychologist may then observe your child in the classroom or school yard or study your child's reading, spelling or maths skills. They may also find out about your child?s general level of ability and learning strengths and difficulties. Often the psychologist will talk to your child to try to understand their feelings and motivations.

The psychologist will normally want to get a full picture of any difficulties your child is experiencing. This will mean not only gathering information from you and the school staff but also, with your permission, contacting relevant professionals such as speech and language therapists, child guidance staff or other schools. This helps the psychologist to put together a plan for your child. The plan may recommend a different approach or extra help in school or suggest how you can help your child.

This work usually happens over a period of time. The teachers usually update the psychologist on how things are working when they visit. 

What is the National Council for Special Education?

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) was set up to improve education services for people, particularly children, with special needs arising from disabilities.

You may contact the local special educational needs organiser (SENO), who works for the NCSE, to discuss what education supports your child needs. You can download a list of SENOs from contact details for Special Education Needs Organisers.You can contact the National Council for Special Education at:

1-2 Mill Street
Trim
Co. Meath
Tel: (046) 948 6400
E-mail: info@ncse.ie
Website: www.ncse.ie

What is the role of the Special Education Support Service ?

The aim of the service, known as SESS for short, is to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, particularly for children with special educational needs. The service supports school staff working with children with special educational needs in mainstream primary and post-primary, special schools and special classes. Professional development and support is available to: principals, school management, class teachers, subject teachers, special-class teachers, learning support and resource teachers and special needs assistants.

The SESS involves teachers, education centres, inspectors, the National Educational Psychological Service, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the National Council for Special Education, third level colleges, the Health Service Executive (HSE), teacher unions and other relevant services.

You can get more information on the SESS website.

What is a special needs assistant?

Special needs assistants (SNA) care for pupils with disabilities or certain medical conditions in school. They may be appointed to a special school or class or to a mainstream school to help with a pupil or pupils with special needs. The special needs assistant may be full- or part-time and may be shared by pupils who need support.

The school can apply to the local Special Education Needs Organiser (SENO) to get a special needs assistant.

What is learning support and resource teacher?

A learning support and resource teacher (LS/RT) caters for children with learning delays or with a high-incidence disability such as mild general learning disability and dyslexia. They add to the support given by the class teacher.  Every primary school has LS/RT support.

The main aim of learning support is help pupils with learning difficulties to improve their literacy and numeracy to a set standard before they leave primary school.

What is a resource teacher?

A resource teacher helps schools to support children with low-incidence special needs arising from disability. These children may, for example, have:

• a hearing or visual impairment,
• a physical disability,
• a moderate or severe general learning disability,
• several disabilities together,
• emotional difficulties,
• autism, or 
• speech and language disorder. 

The resource teacher will help the child by:

• assessing and recording the child's needs and progress;
• setting specific, time-related targets for each child and agreeing these with the class teacher and principal;
• teaching the children, either in a separate room or with the rest of the child's class;
• team teaching, as long as the children concerned benefit from it;
• advising class teachers about adapting the curriculum, teaching strategies, suitable textbooks, information technology and software and other related matters;
• meeting and advising parents, accompanied by the class teacher, as needed; and
• having short meetings in the child's interest with other professionals such as psychologists, speech and language therapists, visiting teachers and special school or special class teachers.

What is the visiting teacher service for children with sight or hearing difficulties?

The visiting teacher service consists of highly-trained teachers with expertise in visual impairment and other areas of special education.  You can get more information in the document The Visiting Teacher Service for Children and Young People who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing or Blind/Visually Impaired.