DOCSLIB.ORG

OFFICIAL REPORT (Hansard)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
OFFICIAL REPORT (Hansard) Committee for Education OFFICIAL REPORT (Hansard) School Budgets and Contingency Plans: Mr Peter Weir MLA (Minister of Education) and Department of Education Officials 25 January 2017 NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY Committee for Education School Budgets and Contingency Plans: Mr Peter Weir MLA (Minister of Education) and Department of Education Officials 25 January 2017 Members present for all or part of the proceedings: Mr Chris Lyttle (Deputy Chairperson) Mrs Rosemary Barton Ms Carla Lockhart Mr Phillip Logan Mr Colin McGrath Lord Morrow Mrs Sandra Overend Witnesses: Mr Weir Minister of Education Mr Gary Fair Department of Education Ms Julie Thompson Department of Education The Deputy Chairperson (Mr Lyttle): Minister, you are very welcome. We invited the Education Authority (EA) to attend, given the wide range of issues that we want to address. In fairness to you, many of those have no small degree of relevance to the Education Authority (EA) as well. In a two- sentence letter, they have kindly stated that they understand that the Minister will be able to answer all our questions. Mr Weir (The Minister of Education): I am glad that the Education Authority has built up such faith in me. The Deputy Chairperson (Mr Lyttle): There you are. Light-heartedness aside, it is extremely regrettable that the Education Authority did not accept our invitation. A number of extremely serious issues pertain to the Education Authority, and, if members are content, I will make that regret known to it in the strongest possible terms. We will move on. Minister, can I check your timings for today? Mr Weir: I cannot really go beyond 10.45 am. The Deputy Chairperson (Mr Lyttle): OK, we will proceed promptly then. Mr Weir: Sorry, 11.45 am. The Deputy Chairperson (Mr Lyttle): No problem. Minister, thanks very much indeed — 1 Mr Weir: I know that we are sometimes accused of living in the past, but that might be slightly — The Deputy Chairperson (Mr Lyttle): No problem. I also welcome Gary Fair, the director of finance in the Department of Education (DE) and Julie Thompson, a deputy secretary in the Department of Education. Members, the Committee appreciates the Minister taking the time to be here. I do not intend to make extensive commentary on political matters, and I hope that members will use the session to ask questions to gain clarity on issues affecting schools and stakeholders. Minister, do you want to make any short opening comments? Mr Weir: Not to any great extent. I just thank the Committee for inviting me, and I will be happy to take whatever questions members have. We are living with a certain level of uncertainty, and I want to be as accurate and as open and transparent as possible. On that basis, I will try to answer anything. My officials are here, and, as we delve into finance issues, they can help with certain technical aspects. I want to provide as much assurance to people as possible, but, by the same token, I do not want to give any false or misleading information. I am also conscious of the fact that, particularly in a period of uncertainty — that applies whether it is education or other areas — there is a risk that 50 rumours could be floating about, either through genuine concerns or a bit of scaremongering — I am not accusing anybody in the room of that. It is important, given the sensitivities of some of the issues, particularly for our schools, that no one creates a false prospectus. Beyond that, I am happy to give answers. The Deputy Chairperson (Mr Lyttle): OK. We will start with school budgets. Over Christmas, there were media reports about on-the-record exchanges in the Assembly on school budgets. There were reports that the Education Authority had rejected all school budget spending plans for next year and, indeed, that school budgets would face a deficit of £33 million by March this year. Is that accurate, and, if so, what is being done to address that deficit? Mr Weir: The school budgets situation is complex. I will try to be precise about this. People may not see that there is an enormous distinction, but I think that it is significant. It is not accurate to say that the Education Authority has "rejected" the budgets: it has not approved the budgets. Those are two separate things. It has not approved the budgets because, even if we were not having the election, with the impact that that will have on the budgets, they would be a movable feast. Money was to be injected in-year into school budgets, but the wider position for 2017-18 was going to be dependent on what the overall budgetary situation was. There would have been no point in signing off on budgets at that stage when the position would have moved in a month or so had we simply got an overall budget. There should be a note of caution on the overall position as regards deficits, although the general direction of travel is correct. When it comes to school budgets, a number of schools are in surplus while others are in deficit. Given the broader financial situation in education and in schools, the position is that some schools in deficit are, generally speaking, moving into bigger deficits and, for the most part, the schools that are in surplus are moving into decreasing levels of surplus. The projected budget figures have always been a prediction of where schools will find themselves. In the past, the problem has been that what was predicted was often very wide of the mark. Sometimes you would expect a drop in deficits, and sometimes you would expect increases. I appreciate that I am going into some detail, but it is important that people understand it. The actual behaviour of schools has not necessarily matched the predicted behaviour. Effectively, if you have over 1,000 schools in the system faced with not dissimilar circumstances, they will react differently in exactly the same circumstances. One school may take the view that things are not that bad this year, so it will make reasonable cuts because it believes that there will be a rainy day over the horizon. Other schools will say that they are in financial difficulties and that they will keep on spending. Those are the reactions. Effectively, it is an aggregation of the situation. I should say that the goalposts will have shifted a little because the prediction of £33 million in deficits, for instance, would have been the position, effectively, at the start of the year in terms of predicted budgets going into 2016-17. That would not take into account, for instance, the £14 million that was reallocated directly to schools. I appreciate that teachers' pay is a controversial subject. While there has been a lot of focus on the 2015-16 position, the impact of there not being a 1% uplift is that the baselines of the cost to schools 2 have reduced as well, which would also have an impact on the deficit situation. I will give members an idea of the overall global picture. If you compare the situation in 2015-16 and project three years ahead, you will see that, for schools to remain without making any changes, if you assume wage rises and the National Insurance changes in particular, which are really hitting schools hard, over a three- year period you would need roughly £240 million extra to stand still — without any changes. Now, injecting money in-year will start to alter matters. Any alterations, as happened with pay, will have an impact. I have indicated that what I wanted to see in the budget — this will be important for the marginal cost — is a reasonable additional amount injected into education, and I think that it would principally be directed at the schools situation. Other factors are moving ahead as part of that that would then have an impact. If Investing in the Teaching Workforce rolls forward, that will have an impact on budgets as well. There is no doubt that we are in a difficult situation, and a considerable amount of additional money coming into the schools budget directly is needed. I appreciate that that is a reasonably lengthy answer. Put it this way: some of the stuff is not a million miles off the mark, but it is not just as clear-cut as that. The Deputy Chairperson (Mr Lyttle): OK. It is almost February 2017, and it is accurate to say that no school in Northern Ireland has had its budget for 2017-18 approved and that there is a projected deficit of at least £33 million as of March 2017. Mr Weir: I am not sure that £33 million is accurate. That was a previous figure. Mr Gary Fair (Department of Education): It is likely to be less than that. The Deputy Chairperson (Mr Lyttle): What is it likely to be? Mr Fair: The Education Authority is looking at all the data, so I cannot quote a figure at this stage. It is likely to be less. As I mentioned last week, that is one of the issues with the forecast surplus position as well. What has come through as a forecast has not always materialised. It is a complex area, and the Education Authority is looking at the detail. Mr Weir: You are depending not just on the wider context but on schools meeting that and taking the same decisions. What you will see at times is that schools take contradictory decisions in the same circumstances or move in different directions.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Committee for Education Minutes of Proceedings 3
    Northern Ireland Assembly COMMITTEE FOR EDUCATION Minutes of Proceedings WEDNESDAY 3 March 2021 Video Conference Present by Video Conference: Mr Chris Lyttle MLA (Chairperson) Mr Pat Sheehan MLA (Deputy Chairperson) Mr Maurice Bradley MLA Ms Nicola Brogan MLA Mr Robbie Butler MLA Mr William Humphrey MBE MLA Mr Daniel McCrossan MLA Mr Justin McNulty MLA Mr Robin Newton MBE MLA Apologies: None In Attendance: Ms Aoibhinn Treanor (Assembly Clerk) Mr Mark McQuade (Assistant Clerk) Mr Craig Mealey (Clerical Supervisor) Ms Emma Magee (Clerical Officer) The meeting commenced at 9:04 am in public session. 1. Apologies There were no apologies. 2. Chairperson’s Business 2.1 General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI) The Chairperson reminded members that the Committee agreed to arrange oral briefings with the Department of Education and the General Teaching Council NI on its role, legal vires and stakeholder concerns at its meeting on Wednesday 24 March 2021. Agreed: The Committee agreed to be briefed informally by the Northern Ireland Teachers Council (NITC) on their concerns about GTCNI on 9 March 2021. 2.2 Tabled items The Committee noted correspondence from the Department in regard to school restart and exams; covid-19 vulnerable children plan benchmarking, vaccination and pandemic learning; the recruitment arrangements for a chairperson, vice- chairperson and panel member of the imminent New Decade New Approach Review of Education, which are unregulated appointments; and notification of the termination of the Transformation programme; for discussion with the Minister on 10 March. 2.3 Recent announcements The Chairperson informed members of the publication of the Department’s Emotional Health and Wellbeing Framework and of the Teachers’ Pay settlement.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 2017-2018
    Victoria College Belfast Cranmore Park Belfast BT9 6JA Tel No:(028) 90661506 Fax No:(028) 90666898 ANNUAL REPORT TO PARENTS For the Year 2017 / 2018 VICTORIA COLLEGE BELFAST CRANMORE PARK BELFAST BT9 6JA TEL: 028 90661506 FAX: 028 90666898 GOVERNORS' ANNUAL REPORT SECTION 1 – BOARD OF GOVERNORS The Board of Victoria College, under its current constitution, comprises of 27 Governors. Of these, twelve are Foundation Governors; nine are nominated by the Department of Education; three are Parent Governors elected by parents; and three are Teacher Governors elected by their colleagues. The Principal is an ex officio member of the Board. The Board’s Secretary is Ms Nicola Mawhinney BA. The members of the Board of Governors who served during the period 2017 – 2018 were as follows: Expiry of Name Category Term of Office Dr B J Gregory BSc PhD CEng MICE MIEI FCIWM Foundation Governor N/A (Chairman - until 11.06.18) Mrs W Blundell OBE MEng CEng FICE MIStructE Foundation Governor N/A (appointed Chairman from 11.06.18) Mrs G Wells MB BCh BAO MRCGP MFCH Foundation Governor N/A (Vice Chairman) Mrs P Slevin BA MEd PGCE PQH (Headmistress) Ex officio N/A Dr B Callender MB BCh BAO MRCGP Foundation Governor N/A Dr R Clarke MB BCh BAO FRCPath Foundation Governor N/A Mrs O Dagunduro Dept of Education Nominee Aug 2019 Mrs A Doran BA BA MSc CIA PGDip PGDip1 Parent Governor Nov 2021 Mr L Gorman BEd Teacher Governor Nov 2021 Dame Joan Harbison BA MSc Foundation Governor N/A Mr M Haylett BEng CEng PMP MICE MAPM RMaPS Co-opted Member N/A Ms S Hetherington CPFA
    [Show full text]
  • Download 2020-2023 Local Assessment of Need
    Causeway Coast and Glens Local Assessment of Need 2020 - 2023 1st March 2020 - 1 - Copyright © 2019 Education Authority Youth Service All rights reserved. Use of any content in this publication must reference the original source. Produced by Education Authority Youth Service 40 Academy Street Belfast BT1 2NQ www.eani.org.uk/youth www.eanifunding.org.uk Email: [email protected] @eayouthservice Education Authority Youth Service - 2 - Contents Introduction & Methodology Page 5 Causeway Coast & Glens in Numbers Page 15 Survey Headlines Page 23 Health & Wellbeing Page 27 Learn & Achieve Page 35 Good Relations Page 43 Participation Page 51 Areas of Enquiry of Areas Inclusion, Diversity & Equality of Opportunity Page 59 Living in Safety & Stability Page 67 Establishing Areas for Action Page 73 Bibliography Page 79 - 3 - - 4 - Introduction & Methodology - 5 - Introduction The Department of Education (DE) invests approximately £34m in Youth Work in Northern Ireland to support and encourage children and young people to mature and reach their potential as valued individuals and responsible citizens. DE notes that effective Youth Work enables young people to identify their personal and social development needs and involves them in shaping the services designed to meet those needs to improve both their own skills and life chances in order to create a better future for themselves and their communities. Effective Youth Work therefore contributes to the DE vision of every young person achieving to his or her full potential at each stage of his or her development.1 According to the National Youth Agency Youth Work offers young people safe spaces to explore their identity, experience decision-making, increase their confidence, develop inter-personal skills and think through the consequences of their actions.
    [Show full text]
  • Belfast Royal Academy
    BELFAST ROYAL ACADEMY Voluntary Grammar School Cliftonville Road Co-Educational Belfast BT14 6JL Telephone No: 028 9074 0423 Age Range: 11-18 Fax No: 028 9075 0607 E-mail: [email protected] Admission No: 200 Website: www.belfastroyalacademy.com Principal: Mrs H Woods, B Sc, B Ed, PQH Enrolment No: 1410 Warden: Ms Caroline Dillon OPEN EVENINGS Our Open Evening will be virtual this year. Details of how to register will be posted on our website in early February. To Parents/Guardians naming Belfast Royal Academy as a preference on your child’s Transfer Application. Due to the disruption of the education provision for Primary 7 pupils, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Board of Governors of Belfast Royal Academy will apply the Admissions Criteria detailed in Section 3 to select applicants applying for entry to Form 1 (Year 8) in 2021. Special Provisions In making a claim for a child to be considered under Special Provisions, applicants upload Form SC20 and all accompanying evidence alongside the Transfer Application to allow the Admissions Sub-Committee to determine if Special Provisions apply. Claims for consideration of Special Provisions will be examined and decided upon before Admissions Criteria are applied. CAPITAL FEE £140 per annum RESPECTIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS AND PRINCIPAL IN RELATION TO ADMISSIONS TO THE SCHOOL The Board of Governors has resolved to maintain its practice of delegating to the Principal certain functions and responsibilities in relation to the admission of pupils to Belfast Royal Academy. The Board of Governors nominate a sub-committee to consider all Special Cases.
    [Show full text]
  • Nicie Annual Report 2015-2016
    Annual Report 2015-2016 Contents Section One: NICIE Personnel Chairperson’s Foreword 2 Chief Executive Officer’s Report 3 NICIE Board of Directors 6 NICIE Staff 6 Section Two: NICIE 2015-2016 Growth and Area-based Planning 8 Excellence in Integrated Education 11 Inform, Influence and Promote Integrated Education 12 Section Three: NICIE Standing Committees and Other Forums APTIS Committee Report 18 Teachers’ Committee Report 19 Vice Principals’ Forum 19 Integrated Schools’ Finance Association (ISFA) 20 Special Education Needs Coordinators’ (SENCO) Committee 20 Section Four: Governance and Financial Information Arrangements for Governance in NICIE 22 Treasurer’s Report 23 Schedule to the income and expenditure account for the year ended 31 March 2016 24 Appendices Patrons of NICIE 25 Integrated Schools in Northern Ireland Enrolments 26 Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education 25 College Gardens, Belfast BT9 6BS Tel: 028 9097 2910 Fax: 028 9097 2919 Email: [email protected] www.nicie.org 2 Annual Report 2015/16 Website: NICIE 1 Personnel 3 Annual Report 2015/16 31 Chairperson’s Foreword This has been both a sad and exciting year for NICIE with the retirement of the CEO and the recruitment of a new CEO. I want to pay sincere thanks to Noreen Campbell who did a sterling job of steering NICIE through the past number of years. I want to also welcome Roisin Marshall as the new CEO and wish her every success in her new role. Finally I would like to pay tribute to all NICIE staff for their enthusiastic support through this transition. NICIE managed to stay within budget this past year Positive Partnerships for Integration has been piloted despite the drastic cut in the budget last year and that in a few partnerships between schools.
    [Show full text]
  • Education, Health and Community Facilities
    2018 Local Development Plan 2030 Preferred Options Paper Discussion Paper 10: Education, Health and Community Facilities - 1 - Contents Page 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Programme for Government 3 3.0 Regional Planning Guidance 4 4.0 Education Provision 5 i. Pre-primary Provision and Primary Schools 5 ii. Draft Primary Area Plans 2013-2018 6 iii. Secondary Level Provision 8 iv. Tertiary Level Provision 11 v. Special Needs 11 5.0 Health Provision 11 i. Acute Hospital Services and Community Hospital Services 12 ii. Health Centres 12 6.0 Emergency Services 13 i. Police Stations 13 ii. Fire Stations 13 7.0 Community Facilities and Services i. Community Centres 13 ii. Leisure Centres 14 iii. Post Offices 15 iv. Libraries 15 8.0 Conclusion 15 Diagrams, Tables, Graph Diagram 1: RDS Level 3 Services in the Borough 4 Table 1: Over-Subscribed Primary Schools at June 2015 6 Table 2: Primary Schools Identified as Potentially Suitable for Local Solutions 6-7 Tables 3a-d: Primary School Provision by Type 7-8 Table 4: Secondary and Grammar School Provision 9 Table 5: Post Primary School Proposals 10 Table 6: Leisure Centres and Facilities in the Borough 14 Graph 1: Unfilled Spaces in Primary and Post-Primary Schools 10 Appendices 1. RDS Diagram 2.2 17 1 Maps (all A3 size) 1: Distribution of Schools 2: Primary School Unfilled Places 3: Post Primary School Unfilled Places 4: Distribution of Community Centres 5: Distribution of GP Practices, Dental Surgeries, Residential Homes and Nursing Homes 6: Distribution of Other Community Facilities 2 1.0 Introduction 1.1 The purpose of this paper to provide Members with background information relating to the preparation of the Local Development Plan (LDP).
    [Show full text]
  • Bringing STEM Experts Into Your Classroom a Teaching and Learning Guide
    Bringing STEM Experts into Your Classroom A Teaching and Learning Guide Information and advice for primary schools, and scientists and engineers, wishing to develop a partnership to support primary science and technology Bringing STEM Experts into Your Classroom This Teaching and Learning Guide begins with an overview of some local programmes enabling upper primary pupils to interact with STEM practitioners from industry, academia and government. These programmes include Civil Engineers in Primary Schools (supported by the Institution of Civil Engineers), Science Expressions (supported by the Astra-Zeneca Science Teaching Trust, and W5), STEM Experts in Primary Schools (supported by the Primary Science Teaching Trust (PSTT), and Sentinus), Physical Scientists from the World Around Us (supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Institute of Physics in Ireland), Primary BioSciences and Primary Life Sciences (supported by the Wellcome Trust), Primary Food Sciences (in association with the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast). The essential feature of these programmes is that they provide continuing interaction between a working scientist or engineer and a primary school teacher and pupils over a period of time leading to a specific outcome or event, and provide a foundation for pupils to make appropriate course and career decisions later. As each section of this Guide is self-contained, there is some repetition between sections The programmes described in this paper were supported by: the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast, the Institute of Physics in Ireland, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Primary Science Teaching Trust (formerly the Astra Zeneca Science Teaching Trust), the Royal Society of Chemistry, Sentinus, the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast, W5, and the Wellcome Trust.
    [Show full text]
  • Board of Governors' Report 2019-20
    BOARD OF GOVERNORS’ REPORT 2019-20 _______________________________________ Belfast High School November 2020 CONTENTS Chairman’s Foreword Board of Governors’ Discharge of Function in Relation to the School Membership of the Board of Governors 2019-20 Ethos and Vision of Belfast High School Enrolment, Admissions and Attendance School Activities/Pupil Achievements Results 2019-20 School Leavers’ Destinations 2019-20 Curriculum Pastoral Care, Safeguarding and SEN Security of Pupils, Staff and Premises Links with the Community Financial Statement School Development Days 2019-20 School Policies 2 Chairman’s Foreword It gives me great pleasure as Chair of the Board of Governors to introduce this annual report of Belfast High School for the academic year 2019-20. Last year in my introduction I commented that we lived in a world that is constantly changing, little did I know just how much our world would change in the last few months of the academic year and the impact the coronavirus pandemic would have in all areas of our lives and especially in the education of our children. The report shows some of the highlights of our pupils’ achievements over the past year in both academic results and a very wide range of extra-curricular activities and the Board thanks all staff members for their commitment to the school which allows our pupils to strive to achieve their full potential. We acknowledge the very strong academic performances by our pupils in a year when examinations did not take place for the first time in living memory. At A Level 97% of pupils achieved 3 A*-C grades and at GCSE 93% achieved a minimum of 7 passes at A*-C.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 2016 - 2017
    FPAC/P/18/1 WELLINGTON COLLEGE BELFAST Board of Governors ANNUAL REPORT 2016 - 2017 FOREWORD The Annual Report of the Board of Governors 2016 - 2017 has been compiled in accordance with Chapter 22 School Publications of the Department of Education Guide for Governors and under the guidance set out in the Department of Education Circular 2003/15 Education (School Information and Prospectuses). For ease of reference, the report is presented in the order of requirements as set out in the Guide for Governors, with key documents identified as appendices. The Report will be circulated to the parents of all registered pupils at the College and all employees, and it will be distributed to the Education Authority, Belfast (EA) and the Education Governance Team of the Department of Education. As the Report covers the period 2016 -2017, every effort has been made to ensure that the information presented is accurate to that period, although details of the Report may have changed. ______________________ Ms Wilma Fee Chair of Board of Governors NOTE: This report incorporates the statutory requirements for reporting to Parents. Parents find greater detail about Wellington’s activities in 2016/17 in the School Magazine, which has been distributed to all pupils. 1 FPAC/P/18/1 1. Board of Governors Details of the name and membership category of each School Governor is set out in Appendix 1. This includes the names of the Chair and Secretary to the Board. 2. Financial Statement Details of the Financial Statement pertaining to 2016 -2017 provided to the Board by EA is attached as Appendix 2.
    [Show full text]
  • LYNC Participant Information Pack
    Youth Service Programme Applicant Information Pack 1 Copyright © 2020 Education Authority Youth Service All rights reserved. Use of any content in this publication must reference the original source. Author Education Authority Youth Service Produced by Education Authority Youth Service 40 Academy Street Belfast BT1 2NQ www.eani.org.uk/youth www.youthonline.org.uk Email: [email protected] @eayouthservice Education Authority Youth Service 2 CONTENTS Introduction to the Education Authority Youth Service Page 4 Why Participate in this Programme Page 7 LYNC GAP Programme Page 9 LYNC CONNECT Programme Page 10 Required Programme Participation Page 11 Example Working Week Page 12 Role Description Page 13 Applicant Criteria - GAP Programme Page 14 Applicant Criteria – CONNECT Programme Page 16 Selection Process Page 18 Available Roles Page 20 Key Terms and Conditions of Appointment to LYNC Programme Page 24 3 Introduction to the Education Authority (EA) Youth Service The Education Authority (EA) is a statutory body of the Department of Education in Northern Ireland with responsibility for Youth Services. EA has a budget of approximately £1.5 billion and over 37,000 staff (the majority of which are school-based). Its remit encompasses statutory nursery, primary, post primary and special education, and youth services. Structure of the Youth Service in Northern Ireland The Department of Education (DE) has overall responsibility for Youth Service Policy and through EA invests in excess of £30m annually in regional and local youth services. The Youth Service in Northern Ireland comprises a statutory sector and a significantly larger voluntary sector. There are over 1,800 locally registered youth service providers, supported by a workforce of 23,000 of whom more than 90% are volunteers.
    [Show full text]
  • An Introduction to Special Educational Needs System in Northern Ireland
    An introduction to Special Educational Needs System in Northern Ireland What’s in this pack? 1. Foreword 2. An introduction to Special Educational Needs/ Special Educational Needs legislation and the Code of Practice. 3. Meeting children's needs in school. 4. Statutory Assessment 5. Statements of Special Educational Needs 6. Terms used in Special Education. 7. Advocating for your child 8. Annual Reviews 9. Transition Reviews 10 Contact information. Foreword The Assessment and Statementing of Special Educational Needs in Northern Ireland A Guide for Parents. This guide is designed to provide information for parents on aspects of the Assessment and Statementing of special educational needs in Northern Ireland. It is intended to be a brief easy read guide providing only summarized information. Sources for further information and guidance regarding the special educational needs framework within Northern Ireland are included in this pack. It is recommended that parents should contact the school, the Education Authority or other relevant agencies for advice and information. This guide is free of charge to parents. Terms used in this pack. For the purposes of this information 'parents' refers to any person with parental responsibility. 1 Introduction Special Educational Needs. (special educational needs legislation) An Introduction. What does special educational needs mean? If a child is having more difficulty than most children of their age with eg.learning, school work, behaviour or communication they may need help from specialists, teachers or other educational professionals. The term 'special educational needs' has a legal definition referring to children who have a learning difficulty or disability that means they have more difficulty in learning than most children of their own age.
    [Show full text]
  • THE DETAIL Year 8 Admissions Admissions Policy
    THE DETAIL Year 8 Admissions Admissions Policy Entrance Test Results Statement of Policy Campbell College intends to use the score awarded to The College will consider for admission those who have taken pupils completing the AQE Ltd CEA Entrance Assessment; the Common Entrance Assessment (CEA) provided by the and the percentile rank from GL Assessment (GLA) in 2020. Association for Quality Education Limited (AQE); and/or the Parents should record their child’s test result in Section C GL Assessment (GLA) provided by the Post Primary Transfer of the Transfer Form in the following format: ‘AQE CEA Consortium (PPTC) and who have been awarded a result in Score’ and/or ‘PPTC GLA Percentile Rank’. the form of an overall score (AQE) or percentile rank (PPTC). The College will use the score as awarded by AQE achieved An original of the AQE result slip and/or a copy of the by a pupil in the CEA; or the percentile rank by the PPTC PPTC result slip must be attached to the form, as applicable. in the GLA, subject only to consideration of the admission sub-committee responsible to the Board of Governors of Special Circumstances and/or Special Provisions those pupils claiming Special Circumstances or Special If you are making a claim for your son to be considered Provisions as explained below. Information on the CEA and under Special Circumstances or Special Provisions, please the GLA is available from the College or on the respective read carefully the information given in the relevant sections websites: AQE website (www.aqe.org.uk); PPTC website below and act accordingly.
    [Show full text]