The Department of Education, Sport and Culture has been given an additional £2.7 million for additional educational needs provision.

The additional funding was included within the Budget announced last week.

Pupils with additional educational needs can include foster children, people new to the area, school-age mothers, children of service personnel, children who have suffered bullying and pupils who have been suspended or expelled.

Education Minister Julie Edge MHK welcomed the money, describing it as a ’welcome increase’.

The funding will assist in ’devolved additional educational needs (AEN) in schools, increased staffing in our specialist provision centres where children with the most complex needs are supported, and to introduce some outreach staff posts’.

Speaking in Tynwald, Ms Edge said: ’There is a need to ensure the approach to support all young people and to ensure each and every child can access the provision they need to thrive in the island’s education system.

’The department and all schools are committed to an inclusive curriculum which values the learning and achievements of all our children and young people.

’The department’s current strategic plan and commitment in the Island Plan seeks to establish a strong forward direction for the department and makes clear the commitment to developing a more inclusive, collaborative and open approach to its work.’

Work has been taking place within the DESC to develop a strategy for supporting the increased number of pupils with AEN in the island, with a specific Code of Practice currently in the works.

provision

Indeed, the Budget ’Pink Book ’published last week states: ’During 2021, the department strengthened the provision of services for pupils with Additional Educational Needs (AEN).

’Following an increase over the last three years in both the number of pupils identified as having AEN, as well as increasing complexity of need, additional resources were deployed across mainstream complex needs, and specialist units to ensure that access to mainstream education is maintained for all.’

The demand for funding for children with AEN has never been higher in the island, and according to a stakeholder survey from late 2020, only 1.6% of respondents felt provision for AEN within schools is very effective.

An overwhelming 60% felt it was not particularly effective.

The survey was open between September and December 2020 and received 504 responses, with just over half from parents and/or guardians.

The new funding therefore comes as a welcome boost.

Ms Edge said: ’Obviously this is the start of trying to work our way forward with the AEN code that will be coming forward.

’We need to invest in it, but I think most important for the department is to do a full funding review to make sure that we’ve got a baseline of what the budget should be and hopefully help us go forward from there.’

Those running our island’s nurseries will surely be disappointed by the announcement, as none of the funding made available at this time to provide help at the pre-school level.

As we reported last year, nursery owners have raised concerns they have been left behind, and have to fund specialised support for AEN children from their own pockets - largely by incurring a loss.

The typical ratio for adults to children in the nursery setting is 1:8, however often nurseries are required to provide one-on-one support for AEN children. This means that often nurseries have to pay a member of staff wages of upwards of £80 per day to care for one child rather than eight - while only charging the child’s parent/guardian around £30 for the day’s care.

support

Ms Edge said: ’The additional educational needs budget that’s been put forward is for support in our schools, to support with the curriculum and obviously student support within our specialist provision areas.

’With regards to the nursery funding, that is a different mechanism, and you’re really talking about an early years approach, which we as a department are keen to look at - the early years approach - but it’s certainly not part of this funding at the present time.’