'Highly regretttable' Education Authority's decision to close summer schools for SEN children

The Department of Helath permanent secretary Mike Farrar has described the Education Authority's (EA) decision to close down summer schools for children with special educational needs as "highly regrettable".

"SEN summer schools have been running successfully and safely in Northern Ireland for several years with nursing support which did not include onsite nursing presence in all sites," said Mr Farrar.

"Of the full cohort of children attending special schools (around 7,500), around 1,500 are identified as requiring additional support for complex healthcare needs," he added.

"Based on clinical advice, the safe delivery of these summer schemes does not require onsite registered nursing provision in all sites.  We have advised that in previous years the CCNs (community children’s nurses) provided additional training and support to classroom assistants who work on the summer schemes and we have offered to provide that at an enhanced level. The CCNs provide healthcare support to children with complex healthcare needs within the community including those requiring palliative care as well as providing support to children attending SEN schools.

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"To meet the expectation to have a registered nurse from the CCN team onsite in every special school to support the summer scheme, when we know that around 80% of the children who attend SEN schools do not have complex healthcare needs requiring CCN intervention, would mean taking nurses away from the provision of frontline clinical care.

"The cancellation of these schemes will also directly lead to pressure on already stretched respite services for a significant number of these children who have very complex needs and we fully acknowledge and appreciate the concerns that families will understandably have.

"We remain committed to supporting schools to address the health needs of children with special educational needs and work is ongoing to consider the best model for nursing provision in special schools," said Mr Farrar.

"We will make every effort to ensure that alternative support can be put in place to lessen the impact of the EA decision," he added.

The decision has also been slammed by Aontú Ballyarnett representative Emmet Doyle. 

Speaking today, Mr Doyle said: "My phone has barely stopped this morning from angry and frustrated parents who received communication from the Education Authority telling them that summer schemes for their children will not be running this year following a decision by the Department of Health on Tuesday that on-site nursing care would not be available.

"This is an outrageous situation that has put parents and their children in an untenable situation.  Many have children that look forward to engaging with their schoolmates over the summer, and parents, many without access to any form of respite, relied on summer schemes to help when school is on break.

"The fact that the issue of nursing care in special schools remain unresolved in general is a disgrace, but to have the Department torpedo summer schemes with such little time left for parents to make alternative arrangements, really does need the intervention of Ministers.  The letter sent to parents references that solutions havent been identified 'neither for the immediate future or longer term'.  That is simply unacceptable.

"I am calling on both the Education and Health Ministers to meet urgently to identify how these schemes can proceed, and to put in place measures that can reassure parents not just for this year, but going forward.  The implications for them failing to do so for families and children with special needs is incalculable."