This service provides support to help schools identify and meet the special educational needs of children and students.
The policy of the Department is that special educational needs should be identified and met in mainstream situations wherever possible. This is achieved by every school having a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO). The Co-ordinator will be a teacher with particular knowledge and experience in meeting the needs of children who have difficulties.
Full details of their services are shown in the guides below. Click on the title to view the leaflets.
- Psychological Services from the Department of Education
- Services to Schools and Students
- Service to Parents
The Department describes 6 stages in meeting special educational needs and seeks to make provision that is appropriate to every child's individual needs in order that they can make progress. Special Education is delivered through adapting the teaching in ordinary classes, and by providing small group and individual work in schools or in special units attached to schools.
Full details of all 6 stages are listed below. Click on the title to view the leaflet.
- Stage 1 - primary
- Stage 2 - primary
- Stage 3 - primary
- Stage 4 - primary
- Stage 4+ - primary
- Stage 5 - primary
- Stage 1 - secondary
- Stage 2 - secondary
- Stage 3 - secondary
- Stage 4 - secondary
- Stage 4+ - secondary
- Stage 5 - secondary
As well as having a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator in every school, children and schools are supported by the Special Educational Needs & Psychology Service. This service helps schools identify and meet the special educational needs of their pupils by co-ordinating and providing training for staff, allocating and managing resources to enable special units to operate, and by providing enhanced levels of staffing to help schools better provide for their special needs pupils.
The special educational needs of pre-school children are identified and met through programmes co-ordinated by the Pre-School Assessment Centre, which is also part of the Special Educational Needs & Psychology Service.
Children and young people who have a hearing and/or sight loss are supported by the Sensory Support Service through peripatetic support. In addition, the Service provides staffing for bases attached to Cronk-y-Berry Primary School and Ballakermeen High School. Young people with a hearing loss and significant associated language delay attend these bases.
In addition to the foregoing, a range of courses suitable for students who have special educational needs and fall outside the scope of compulsory education are provided at the Isle of Man College.
The Service works proactively with schools to avoid escalation of challenging pupil behaviour. A number of staff are deployed in schools to assist with this objective. Nurture Groups are located in many primary and secondary phase schools with a remit to support vulnerable yet sometimes challenging pupils.
The Cronk Souree Primary Behaviour Centre supports primary aged pupils who have severely challenging behaviours and helps them to be reintegrated back into the school environment. Ynnid Whallid, the Secondary Behaviour Centre based at Glencutchery, mirrors the work of Cronk Souree for secondary aged children. The picture shows one of the classrooms at Ynnid Whallid.
The overall responsibility for the service rests with the Assistant Education Officer (Special Needs), who is based at St George’s Court. Telephone 686084.
