To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) the criteria used by the Education Authority to assess whether a child is suitable to undergo statutory assessment; and (ii) the engagement the Education Authority has with medical professionals involved in caring for the child as part of this process.

The Education Authority (EA) has advised me of the following:

When a request or referral for a statutory assessment is received, the EA has a duty to enter into a consideration period. To inform the consideration of the referral or request, the EA notifies potential advice givers (child’s school, Educational Psychology Service, Health Trusts and/or a pupil support service) and parents and asks for any relevant information to inform the decision as to whether a Statutory Assessment is required.

The EA will consider the child’s presentation of need as described by parents and those involved, what supports/reasonable and purposeful measures have been provided at the school-based stages of the code of practice and how the child has responded to these supports. Where it is clear that the child’s needs are significant and complex and not responding to appropriate measures and that all available supports have been exhausted, the EA will likely consider that a statutory assessment is warranted. There will of course be circumstances in which the child’s needs are so significant, severe and/or profound and it is evident that provision additional to and otherwise different to what a mainstream school can offer beyond their current resources means that a decision will be made to progress the statutory assessment. Each child’s circumstances are considered individually.

Community Paediatricians and Social Services are statutory advice givers.

Once a statutory assessment is progressed, the HSCT is requested to provide statutory advice in relation to the child’s medical presentation/condition and the impact that any associated special educational needs (SEN) may have on their access to the curriculum.

Advice may be provided by the Allied Health Professionals (Speech & Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy), Nursing and CAMHS as well as Community Paediatricians and social services.

Health staff, where necessary, will also contribute to the review of a child’s statement and provide updated reports. They will also, where necessary, contribute to multi-disciplinary meetings to support understanding of a child’s needs and the provision that may be required.