Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber. I wish her well and congratulate her on the new role. I have not seen her here since her appointment.

I received correspondence from Lorraine Lowry, the principal of Scoil Chormaic, signed by all of the staff, in which she outlines some of the concerns the schools has related to special schools. It is appropriate that I read out the letter and have some of the concerns place on the record of the House. They know on the ground exactly what is needed for these kids and pupils. It states:

Scoil Chormaic is a Special School providing education to 219 children and young people from the age of 3 to 18. We have pre-school, primary school and post primary students enrolled in our school. We support children with more severe and/or complex special educational needs.

We believe that disability should never be a barrier to achievement but it is becoming increasingly apparent that with the increasing scarcity of resources and lack of services that our school community is suffering. We, all the members of staff at Scoil Chormaic, Cashel, want to highlight the difficulty we face as a school community in order to have our school provided with essential and necessary resources...

The SERC report was published in 1993 and it continues to provide a basis for special education policy and practice.

The Special Education Review Committee (SERC) report 1993 is used to determine our pupil ratio to SNA and teacher allocation. It is severely outdated. For example, a MGLD class of 11 pupils is resourced with one teacher and 0.25 (quarter) of an SNA. This is completely inadequate to meet the needs of our students.

Our students require extra support to attend and take part in school over and above what teachers can provide. Additional care needs arise because of physical needs, sensory needs, behaviours of concern, social communications, social interaction needs and learning needs. SNA’s are essential to enable students to access their learning.

If children require additional support over and above the general allocation (SERC allocation), schools must apply to the NCSE for a review of their SNA allocation invoking a whole school review, this is a very long and arduous process. The provision of additional SNA support is further hindered by the lack of HSE supporting documentation. Children are once again penalised as their applications for additional support do not meet NCSE criteria if it is not accompanied by a therapy report/document. The review process rarely, if ever yields adequate resources. The teacher allocation to special schools also needs urgent review.

The needs of the children have become more complex but the resources have not increased with the need e.g. dual diagnosis and behaviours of concern. We are in no way facilitated to deal with severe behaviours of concern. When a pupil is going through a phase of crisis, our school should get all the supports needed immediately; additional staff, training, additional physical space, to name a few. The principal in conjunction and consultation with the staff team should have the autonomy to set up the resources as required on a class by class basis.

HSE therapeutic services are wholly inadequate. There is a drastic need for multi-disciplinary teams within our schools to provide the necessary and deserved support to our most vulnerable students. Waiting times for CDNT interventions and support are too lengthy; windows of opportunity for progression are lost. There is an urgent need for clinical psychology and behavioural support therapy that can support both home and school resulting in better outcomes for our students’ and their families.

When resources are lacking or not there at all, the children’s holistic needs are not being met. We do not have the multidisciplinary/early intervention approach that is deemed best practice.

The system is failing our school community, this failure is having a drastic impact on our school.

I will finish my contribution when I come back in after the Minister of State.