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St. Colman's Primary School, Kilkeel

Special Needs Advice

26th Apr 2020

Hello Parents and Carers,

I hope you and your family are well in these uncertain times. Some of you may feel a little concerned as to what may be happening in relation to your child and future SEN provision in the future. I hope to allay some of those concerns in this letter and provide some links to helpful websites which you may wish to use in the coming weeks.

While the Education Authority team cannot continue to assess or observe children, they are working from home and so some aspects of the special needs processes can continue.

If your child is at Stage 3 (has been assessed by the Educational Psychologist), Stage 4 (awaiting their final statement) or Stage 5 (has a full statement), you can access advice, resources and tailored help through the Education Authority website. www.eani.org.uk/services/pupil-support-services. This website provides links to all areas of special needs and offers pupils support services in 

. Autism Advisory & Intervention Service 

. Literacy Service

. Sensory Service

. Early Years Intervention Service 

. SEN Inclusion Service

. Language & Communication Service

RISE NI (Regional Integrated Support for Education) have also included helpful advice and resources on their website. https://view.pagetiger.com/rise I/covid19

NB If your child has been referred (or was about to be referred) to the Educational Psychologist or the RISE Service, we hope that your child will be assessed as soon as possible when we return to school. Our school's psychologist, Bronagh Taylor, is aware of all the children who fall into this category and will assess them as soon as is practicable in the future. 

We have also been assigned an Education Authority officer who will keep us up to date regarding any outcomes from the Annual Review meetings conducted in the second term for some children with full statements in place. We, of course, will get in touch with you if there are any developments concerning this. 

Please keep safe and sound and do not hesitate to contact the school if you require any clarification in these or other areas. This can be done via a private message to the school's Facebook page or school website.

Regards,

Mrs Grant (SENCo)