In primary school, any pupil with special needs who has for example difficulties keeping up with the normal pace of classes, may be eligible for various types of support. This support is tailored to the child’s individual needs and learning difficulties. It enables them to participate in regular education alongside their classmates as much as possible.
What types of support are available?
Different measures may be proposed to meet the pupil’s special needs:
- In collaboration with the school’s educational team, the (class) teacher may adapt the teaching.
- Reasonable adjustments can be made in order to adapt the teaching and assessment methods to the pupil’s needs. This will enable the pupil to assimilate the subjects taught more easily and to do better in assessment tests.
- The pupil may participate in a development and learning workshop. These workshops consist of targeted activities in order to overcome learning difficulties and language, motor or social and emotional development disorders.
- A specialist may provide support in the classroom or a specialised ambulatory intervention at the school during class time. This is done in collaboration with the class teacher and the entire educational team.
- The pupil may temporarily attend lessons on certain subjects in a different class than his regular class (classe d’attache).
These measures are implemented at the pupil’s school. Other measures are also available at a national level. These include enrolment in a special learning workshop, special schooling in a class at a competence centre for specialised psychopedagogy or schooling outside the Grand Duchy in a specialised educational establishment.
Who can work with pupils with special needs?
The primary contact for pupils and their parents are the class teacher and the other members of the educational team (teachers and social and educational staff). Other people are also available to implement the appropriate follow-up for the pupil, in concertation with the pupil and their parents:
In line with an inclusive approach, specialised teachers for pupils with special educational needs (instituteurs spécialisés dans la scolarisation des élèves à besoins éducatifs spécifiques, I-EBS) may support pupils with learning difficulties or special social and emotional needs within the school. They will assist these pupils in the classroom and work closely with the support team for pupils with special needs (équipe de soutien des élèves à besoins éducatifs spécifiques, ESEB) and the competence centres for specialised psychopedagogy. They also communicate information about the pupils’ educational progress to their parents.
Assistants for pupils with special educational needs (assistants pour élèves à besoins éducatifs spécifiques, A-EBS) assist the I-EBS with their tasks. They may also help the pupils in daily life in order to enable them to take part in all planned activities in every area of school life.
A support team for pupils with special educational needs (équipe de soutien des élèves à besoins éducatifs spécifiques, ESEB) operates within each of the 15 directorates for primary education. The ESEB members support pupils to enhance their well-being, autonomy, personal development and participation in school life. They advise parents and teachers and may themselves provide care for the pupils with special educational needs by means of classroom support. At the request of the inclusion commission (commission d'inclusion, CI), they can, within four weeks (during school time), make a diagnosis that provides information on the needs of the pupil and the measures to be implemented whilst taking the parents’ and teachers’ input into account.
The role of the inclusion commissions (commissions d’inclusion, CI) is to inform parents on the different support measures available, and if necessary, the appropriate measures to be offered to the pupil. These measures are then included in the pupil’s individualised support plan (plan de prise en charge individualisé) which is adopted by mutual agreement between the CI and the parents. The CI supervises the implementation of the individualised support plan and evaluates the latter on an annual basis to integrate any adjustments deemed necessary to ensure the pupil’s educational progress.
The CI may assist the parents if they wish to contact the National Inclusion Commission (Commission nationale d’inclusion, CNI). Parents may also choose to contact the CNI directly.
Who can you contact?
For more detailed information on the available support measures, you can contact the following persons or services:
- the class teachers and/or the other school teachers;
- the specialised teacher for pupils with special educational needs (instituteur spécialisé dans la scolarisation des élèves à besoins éducatifs spécifiques, I-EBS) of the school;
- the regional support team for pupils with special educational needs (équipe de soutien des élèves à besoins éducatifs spécifiques, ESEB);
- the regional inclusion commission (commission d’inclusion, CI);
- the regional directorate for primary education.
