Ms Derval McDonagh:

What I am hearing is that there are layers of trauma for that child. Covid and the impact it had on many disabled children being out of the education system, and all of that, was mentioned. There are layers of trauma and a specific approach is needed in welcoming that child back into an education environment. Skilled staff who are highly trained and sensitive to that are needed. It comes back to the basic foundations for inclusive education, such as leadership, vision and the welcoming open door, as well as the resources and training, and the knowledge and know-how to meet those children where they are at, to recognise the trauma they have experienced and to support them in rights-compliant ways to access their right to education. That is a whole new way of supporting children in education and some schools are doing an amazing job on that. We do hear all the negative stories, of course, but some schools are those welcoming, inclusive environments that get trauma-informed practices and supports, understand neuro-affirmative approaches. Some schools are struggling with that and we need to figure that out and invest in those schools, invest in the leadership in those schools, and invest in the resources that are so badly needed for those children.