Survey: Education of Persons with Special Educational Needs Act

Dear METNS community,

The Department of Education is currently undertaking a review of the Education of Persons with Special Educational Needs Act. This piece of legislation was written in 2004 and was intended to ensure that all children could access their right to an education regardless of need. Some of this has been enacted, and some has not.

As parents we can often consider ‘Special Educational Needs’ as referring only to children with significant disabilities or to those with diagnoses, but it impacts upon every child’s education as teacher and ANA supports are stretched thinner and thinner. Effective resourcing for one means effective resourcing for everyone.

We are acutely aware that this is an extremely busy time of year, but we are asking all parents to complete the consultation survey and feed back to the government about your experience of inclusivity in schools. Every voice is important and every family has a right to be heard.

In METNS, inclusive practice is part of our ethos and forms the foundation of our approach to teaching all of our pupils, but the efficacy with which we can do this is inhibited and shaped by the provisions which have and have not been provided as a result of this piece of legislation.

The results of these surveys and the consultation as a whole will shape the government’s planning for special education across all settings (mainstream and specialised schools) going forward.