New autism class opened in Trim school

Bishop Michael Smith officially opened the new autism class in St Michael's Primary School and Centre for Autism, Trim, last week. St Michael's is one of the few schools in the country to have three autism classes and school principal Fergal Kelly spoke of the commitment of the school to special education. Over the summer months, extensive building works were carried out to the existing school buildings in order to accommodate the new class. In September, St Michael's welcomed eight new enrolments to the Centre for Autism. Within the centre, there is fantastic work being carried out by the three class teachers, Ms West, Ms Metcalfe and Ms Mulcahy. Mr Kelly spoke of the eclectic approach being taken by the teachers to teach the children. This is done by using an amalgamation of methods, including TEACH, VBA, sensory integration, PECS, LAMH and intensive interaction. The overall aim of the centre is to integrate all the children with autism into mainstream school as soon as possible to maximise the full learning potential of the child. Future plans for the school include the opening of a new autism pre-school class. The chairperson of the board of management, Jerry Kearney, praised the staff for their unbelievable dedication and commitment. He also commended the splendid ethos of integration that was evident in the school. Bishop Smith also hailed the commitment of the Department of Education to the inclusion of special needs students in primary schools. The award-winning St Michael's National School choir sang at the ceremony of friendship and prayers were read by pupils, Ethan Byron-Murphy, Anthony Johnson, Eoin Havern and Ryan Gibney. St Michael's has great plans for the future and, with continued hard work and dedication, there is no doubt that the school will continue to make superb progress in the provision of effective and innovative education for all the children in the school, especially for those with autism.