Ms Charlotte Cahill:

That is really important because I find a lot of DEIS communities do not get this information. We have a WhatsApp group with over 150 parents in it and the majority did not know about the circular last year. There is not enough information. Sending out a circular when the SENOs did not even know about it was absolutely shameful. Parents were in panic last year. I remember getting a call last year from a school asking me if I had the letter to say my child was eligible for the school. I thought "Oh my God, what letter is this?". I did not have the letter and nor did I know how I was going to get it. The SENO did not know what it was about. It is vital we reach out to preschools, primary schools and CDNTs. We need to reach out to anybody directly linked with parents who have children with additional needs to get that message out to the wider public, and reach out to advocacy groups like ours to get that message out.