As part of its commitment to reviewing how children with additional support needs are educated and supported in East Dunbartonshire, the Council has launched a consultation around provision for pre-school and primary school aged children.
The consultation - online now until 22 December - aims to gather the views of parents, carers, teachers, school staff, other professionals in the field and, where appropriate, the children themselves.
The wide-ranging consultation exercise will seek views on proposals to:
- Rename the Language & Communication Resource based within Castlehill Primary, Bearsden as an Enhanced Support Base and extend the service it offers to assess and support children’s needs in the early years.
- Set up a similar Enhanced Support Base in Wester Cleddens Primary in Bishopbriggs offering the same increased service.
- Close the Language & Communication Resource based in Twechar Primary School which currently offers part-time places.
The proposed move to Enhanced Support Bases is intended to offer as much support as possible for children who need it, in a mainstream setting. It will allow children to be educated within their own community.
Councillor Mohrag Fischer, Convener of the Council’s Education Committee said, “This is such an important review. These proposals give us an opportunity to look closely at what is currently being provided for children and young people with additional support needs and what we can do better for them and their families in the future.
“Within our special schools, pupils have a very wide range of extra support needs and there are many different ways we can help them to get the best possible start to their learning experience. For some a place at a special school is exactly the right thing but for many others, with the right support through an Enhanced Support Provision, attending a mainstream primary school would be most beneficial for their development.
“With that in mind we are launching this consultation to build up a picture from parents, carers, teachers, specialists and school staff of how we can improve the school experience for youngsters in East Dunbartonshire.”
The consultation is now live on the consultation pages of the Council’s website (https://www.eastdunbarton.gov.uk/enhanced-support-bases) and closes on Friday 22 December 2017.
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