AQW 26830/22-27 Written question to the Minister of Education

To ask the Minister of Education whether he plans to undertake a review of the effectiveness of the Education Authority's Specialist Settings Support Team, as recommended in the Education and Training Inspectorate's report on Specialist Provision in Mainstream Schools.

Asked by Nick Mathison MLA on 9 May 2025

  • Answered
  • Written
Tabled
9 May 2025
Answer due by
27 May 2025
Answered
19 May 202510 days after tabling
Department
Department of Education
Priority question
No

Answer

The Education Authority has advised that:

An early evaluation of the Education Authority’s (EA) Specialist Setting Support Team (SSST) was undertaken by the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) in 2019. Since then, in response to a significantly increased number of settings and the associated need, the service has expanded and developed, particularly in the past two years.

The EA SSST complete regular evaluations of the support provided to specialist educational provisions in mainstream schools including evaluative discussions with setting staff, review of individual learner plans, parent evaluations, setting case studies, and baseline self-evaluation frameworks.

Official sources