What changes are being planned for SEN support?

There are big changes planned in the way pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in Northern Ireland are supported.

And given that one in five pupils in Northern Ireland - over 70,000 - have some form of SEN, the reforms will have a widespread impact.

Some are already in progress, but they have proved controversial.

Some MLAs have backed a call from a range of unions and children's charities for the reforms to be halted.

But the Education Authority (EA) has said they mean pupils with SEN will receive "earlier, more tailored support".

And the Education Minister Paul Givan has said reforms would ensure children and young people with SEN "receive the right support from the right people at the right time and in the right place".

There are a number of changes underway to the way in which support for children with SEN is delivered.

The EA has outlined, for instance, changes to how pupils with SEN will be supported in the classroom.

In a blog on the changes, Dr Tomas Adell from the EA said the changes would give schools "more flexibility" and freedom to decide how best to support children and young people with SEN in the classroom.

"The evidence does not support individual classroom assistant support as the best solution for every pupil with SEN," he said.

But there have been concerns this will place more pressure on school principals and teachers who are Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) in schools.

There have also been concerns that will mean fewer classroom assistants employed in schools.

Dr Adell, though, stated the reforms "are not about reducing classroom assistant numbers or cutting spending".

A consultation on the proposed changes to classroom support ends on 22 May.

In recent years, both the Department of Education (DE) and the EA have also sought to tackle a shortage of school places by setting up an increasing number of classes for pupils with SEN in mainstream schools.

There have been repeated delays in providing school places for children with SEN.

Other changes will mean the statementing process for children is moved online.

A statement of SEN - which is a legal document - sets out what support a child should receive at school.

Over 34,000 pupils now have a statement of SEN in Northern Ireland, an 85% increase in just 10 years.

There are a range of other reforms planned.

The DE has said that they will improve support and outcomes for pupils with SEN.

A consultation on the classroom support plans is ongoing but the EA has said the current system "does not adequately meet children's needs, contributes to poorer long-term outcomes, and is financially unsustainable", with the SEN budget set to rise to around £1bn by 2030.

Dr Adell said reform is not about reducing classroom assistant numbers or cutting spending - but there is concern elsewhere that there will be cuts to services due to pressures on the education budget.

A joint letter from the Children's Law Centre (CLC) and a number of other organisations said the reform process "appears to be shifting disproportionate responsibility onto schools, many of which are struggling with workload pressures, have unsuitable environments and are managing the complex needs of children who are inappropriately placed".

"If this proceeds as currently indicated, the mistakes of the past will be repeated and potentially magnified," the letter said.

It said the reforms should stop to allow time to assess if major changes are needed to the plans.

Rachel Hogan from the CLC told BBC News NI that "a key concern from CLC's viewpoint is that a revised draft legal framework has only recently been released after many years of waiting".

"Revised SEN Regulations and a Revised SEN Code of Practice are currently in the hands of the Education Committee," she said.

"Whilst we have been waiting over many years for these legal provisions to be shared with us, reforms which affect access to SEND services have been commenced without them," Hogan said.

"Bringing through fundamental changes in process which affect access to support for children, before the legal basis for these changes has been scrutinised and approved by the Assembly, is potentially unlawful."

The five main teaching unions have also expressed concerns about the changes to SEN.

In a statement, Dr Graham Gault of the NAHT union said the issues identified by the Children's Law Centre were "of serious concern to the NAHT membership".

"While school leaders remain fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs, they must not be expected to absorb statutory responsibilities that properly sit with the Education Authority, nor to manage increased exposure to complaints and legal challenge without clear lawful authority, robust safeguards and guaranteed support," he said.

Some members of Stormont's Education Committee, including the chair Nick Mathison MLA and vice-chair Pat Sheehan MLA, have said that while they support reform there should be a pause.

But in a statement the EA said the joint letter "contains factual inaccuracies, and we would encourage CLC to engage constructively with us rather than making unfounded assertions that may cause concern to parents."

"The planned reforms will be introduced gradually over a number of years and will be shaped throughout their implementation by children, parents and schools," they said.