To ask the Minister of Education to outline how forward planning for special educational needs provision will ensure continuity of support from primary to post-primary education in Upper Bann, where there are significantly more places at primary level for children with special educational needs and disabilities than at post-primary level.

The Education Authority (EA) has advised that:

The Education Authority (EA) set out the strategic direction on how the future educational needs of children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) will be addressed through area solutions across the region, consistent with the relevant Ministerial Priorities in the Special Education Strategic Area Plan 2022-27: Planning for Special Education Provision, details of which can be found at: Strategic Area Plans 2022-27 | Education Authority Northern Ireland

The aim of area planning is to ensure that all primary and post primary pupils have access to a broad and balanced curriculum that meets their educational needs in a school that is educationally and financially viable and sustainable. Thereby providing a network of schools that are the right type, the right size and located in the right place at the right time, with a focus on raising standards.