2022 Home-Based Summer Programme to Support the Education or Care Needs of Students with Complex Needs

Dear Parents/guardians

The Department will continue to provide a home based summer programme to support the education or care needs of students with complex  needs during the summer break period where their school is not providing a school-based  programme.  For the purposes of the Home-Based  Programme students with complex needs are defined as: 

1. Any student enrolled in a special school or a special class - primary and post primary 
2. Students presenting with the most significant needs in mainstream classes in primary or  post-primary schools who are accessing the highest level of the Continuum of Support  (School Support Plus). This will include a small number of students with enduring needs  which significantly affect their capacity to learn, to function independently and to participate  in education. These students require highly individualised and differentiated learning  programmes that are significantly different to their peers. These students may present with  the following: 

⮚ Significant needs with physical and/or sensory functioning (including students who  are Deaf or have severe to profound hearing loss and students who are blind or  have a severe to profound visual impairment) 

⮚ Significant needs in cognitive functioning and independence/daily living skills  (including students who have moderate to severe/profound learning disability)  ⮚ Significant needs in social communication, social interaction combined with rigid  repetitive patterns of behaviour (including students with Autism) 

⮚ Students with Down syndrome

⮚ Students with severe emotional behavioural needs, to the extent that these  behaviours of concern are impacting on a student’s ability to learn, to function  independently and to participate fully in school life 

∙ Please ensure you have read the Overview/Terms and Conditions document of the  Home-Based Summer Programme fully before filling in this form:  

www.gov.ie/summerprogramme 

∙ Any queries relating to the Terms and Conditions or application process should be  directed to homebasedsummerprogram@education.gov.ie or to the helpline at  090648 4292 

∙ When you have completed this form, please bring it to the school and we will submit the application to the Department of Education’s Home-Based Summer  Programme Online Sanctioning Portal on your behalf 

∙ Once the application has been submitted and your child is eligible, the Department  will issue a sanction email and Grant Claim Form directly to the Parent's email address   

∙ This sanction email will confirm eligibility and the number of hours that your child is  eligible to receive under the programme.  

∙ The sanction email will also contain a link to the Grant Claim Form for the  programme. Notes have been provided with the Grant Claim Form to help parents. 

∙ If an application for the Home-Based Summer Programme is being made for more  than one child in a family, one of these forms must be completed for each child and  brought to the school for submitting on the portal  

∙ Where the applicant student has an eligible sibling participating in the programme,  the sanction email will indicate if the allocation of hours is shared 

∙ Any queries relating to the Terms and Conditions or application process should be  directed to homebasedsummerprogram@education.gov.ie or to the helpline at  090648 4292