Ms Eimear O'Rourke:

I thank members for the opportunity to meet with them to discuss the education needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing students. My school, Holy Family School for the Deaf, is a special school that sits within the continuum of national provision for deaf and hard-of-hearing children in Ireland. The school is an amalgamation of the two former schools for the deaf in Cabra and is the inheritor of deaf and hard-of-hearing education provision that stretches back to the 1840s. With an enrolment of 135 for the coming school year, most deaf and hard-of-hearing children now attend mainstream schools.

The most effective way to educate deaf and hard-of-hearing children is very much a matter of debate. In the Irish context, deaf and hard-of-hearing education has undergone huge change, particularly in the past 30 years. Enabling deaf and hard-of-hearing children to reach their full potential is challenging because educational needs vary greatly. There is no one effective way to teach all deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Outcomes are lower because key barriers continue to prevent these children from achieving their academic, linguistic and social-emotional potential.

At Holy Family, we have a very diverse cohort of pupils who communicate both orally and-or whose first or preferred language is ISL. We provide the full national curriculum from early intervention, through to primary and post-primary. Our pupils sit the State examinations for junior cycle, leaving certificate applied and leaving certificate. Since amalgamation in 2016, the number of pupils with additional needs or who are deaf-plus enrolling with us has increased. Therefore, we have introduced junior cycle level 2 programmes and are actively engaging with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, on provision for this cohort of pupils at senior cycle.

Educating deaf and hard-of-hearing students requires more than just differentiating the curriculum. It requires an understanding of the impact of deafness on language development, literacy and social and emotional development. For many of our students, English is not their first language. It also requires that we can effectively meet the unique communication needs of each individual student, often within the same class group. Our teachers are competent in ISL and are supported by the special needs assistant, SNA, team. At Holy Family School for the Deaf, our staff have a wealth of shared experience to meet the needs of our student population.

Deaf people are at higher risk of mental health illness as a result of the impacts of social isolation and language deprivation. True to our school motto "Every Family has a Story to Tell, Welcome to Ours", we endeavour to provide a safe space in which deaf and hard-of-hearing children do not feel different or that they must fit in. They are inspired by positive deaf role models on our staff. At Holy Family, deaf identity and deaf culture are cherished. Holy Family is very much a specialist school rather than a special school. Our pupils are the most positive learners one is likely to meet in any educational setting. Expectations for our students are high and we know that with the right support, they absolutely can achieve their full potential, as is evident from the success of our pupil, Shane Hamilton, who is with me today, and his transition year group in the national finals of the Young Social Innovators competition.

Our specialist school for the deaf and hard-of-hearing strives towards excellence, but we are aware of the constant need to improve outcomes for our pupils. To support our work in the school and for improved outcomes for all deaf and hard-of-hearing children, we call on the Minister for Education to take a number of actions. We ask that she invest in deaf education research and teacher education. The only options for CPD resulting in postgraduate qualification are offered at the universities of Birmingham and Manchester. The Minister must ensure deaf children and deaf educators have full access to information. This means funding interpreters.

We currently pay an average of €13,000 annually from school capitation. The Minister should develop an ISL curriculum for primary and post-primary deaf and hard-of-hearing pupils. She should invest in ISL learning programmes for staff. She should release staff to further develop ISL skills or, alternatively, provide for an ISL teacher on staff. The Minister should invest in and fully resource a specialist national multidisciplinary team for deaf pupils. Holy Family is the biggest deaf school in the country. Our pupils travel from all over Ireland. A home school liaison teacher would be of enormous benefit. Holy Family is currently bilocated on two different campuses 3 km apart. Our new school building project is with the NTMA. I ask the Minister to prioritise that project in order that all our pupils can be on one campus and annual grants can be invested in education provision rather than supporting four school buildings.

Mr. Hamilton and I are delighted to meet with the committee today. The Holy Family school community and I personally are very proud of our school, and I invite members of this community to visit Holy Family in the coming school year.