TGD 026 - Primary & Post Primary School Specialist Accommodation for Pupils with Special Educational Needs
The Department of Education and Skills is committed to developing inclusive accommodation provision and standards for pupils with special educational needs to compliment the mainstream school building environment. In line with this commitment, the Department of Education and Skills has recently published (August 2012) School Design Guide TGD -026 entitled Primary and Post Primary Specialist Accommodation for Pupils with Special Educational Needs. The design guidelines provide information on space planning and design for School Authorities and designers on the provision of permanent accommodation for pupils with special educational needs.
The guidelines have been published to ensure that specialist accommodation for pupils is provided in schools to ensure all students with Special Educational needs (SEN) can be educated an inclusive environment with children who do not have SEN.
There are two guiding principles outlined in the guidelines ‘promoting inclusivity’ and ‘flexibility’.
- Inclusivity- recognising and accepting diversity; valuing each pupil as an individual,
- Flexibility - ability to modify spaces to suit different user groups and ability to use spaces for different purposes
The guidelines are applicable to primary and post primary schools and will apply to the provision of permanent accommodation for pupils with special educational needs as part of mainstream schooling either as an extension to an existing building or as part of a new school.
The guidelines are available on the Department of Education and Skills website.
