The competence centres for specialised psycho-educational follow-up (Centres de compétences en psycho-pédagogie spécialisée, CC) are for pupils with specific needs and their parents who wish to receive specialised services in addition to the services provided by elementary or secondary education.
In which fields are the competence centres active?
There are eight competence centres and one agency in the Grand Duchy. They specialise in dealing with the specific needs pupils may have. They are active in clearly defined fields:
- Centre for language and hearing therapy (Centre de logopédie – CL);
- Centre for the development of vision-related skills (Centre pour le développement des compétences relatives à la vue – CDV);
- Centre for socio-emotional development (Centre pour le développement socio-émotionnel – CDSE);
- Centre Grand Duchess Maria Teresa for learning development (Centre pour le développement des apprentissages Grande-Duchesse Maria Teresa – CDA);
- Centre for motor development (Centre pour le développement moteur – CDM);
- Centre for intellectual development (Centre pour le développement intellectuel – CDI);
- Centre for children and young people with autism spectrum disorder (Centre pour enfants et jeunes présentant un trouble du spectre de l’autisme – CTSA);
- Centre for children and young people with high potential (Centre pour enfants et jeunes à haut potentiel – CEJHP);
- Agency for the transition to independent living (Agence pour la transition vers une vie autonome – ATVA).
What support measures are available to help your child?
Various types of assistance are offered at the competence centres in order to meet the pupil's needs:
- Specialised diagnosis: the competence centres carry out specialised diagnoses which allow to identify exactly the specific needs of pupils and help set up measures matched to these needs.
- Advice and follow-up: The competence centres advise and support parents, the education teams in schools, and other approved services in dealing with pupils with specific needs.
- Rehabilitation and therapy: the competence centres offer rehabilitation and therapy sessions according to pupils' needs.
- Individualised education plan (plan éducatif individualisé - PEI): the specialists at the competence centres draw up an inividual educational plan for each pupil. They adapt the regular curriculum or syllabus to the pupil's specific abilities and needs.
- Specialised ambulatory intervention (intervention spécialisée ambulatoire - ISA): in addition to the measures set up in elemetary and secondary schools, staff from the competence centres intervene in the classroom to assist pupils with specific needs, in close collaboration with the school's staff .
- Special schooling in a class at a competence centre: pupils with specific needs may attend a class at a competence centre, either full-time or alternating with attendance at a primary or secondary school. Classes may be organised either in one of the decentralised annexes of a competence centre or at an elementary or secondary school in the form of cohabitation classes;
- Learning workshops: the competence centres may offer learning workshops specifically designed to meet pupils' needs. These learning workshops complement regular schooling and are organised either at one of the decentralised annexes of a competence centre, or at an elementary or secondary school, or at any other appropriate venue.
Who can you contact?
Most parents and pupils with specific needs contact
- for primary education: class teachers or specialized teacher for pupils with specific needs (I-EBS) allocated to the schools; the teams supporting pupils with specific needs (ESEB) or the inclusion commissions (CI) attached to the primary education directorates;
- in secondary schools: head teachers, the teams supporting pupils with specific needs (ESEB), the school inclusion commissions (CI), or the psycho-social counselling and school support services (SePAS).
They may also contact the competence centres for specific advice or to obtain a specialist diagnosis.
With the agreement of the parents or adult pupils concerned, the inclusion commissions (CI) and the school inclusion commissions (CIS) may pass a request for specialist care to the national inclusion commission (CNI). As a rule, the CNI asks one or more of the competence centres to draw up a specialist diagnosis. As appropriate, it proposes that the pupil with specific needs be cared for by one or more of the competence centres. No care may be provided without the agreement of the parents or the adult pupil.