Ballinacree school's special needs issue raised in Oireachtas
A north Meath primary school desperately in need of extra special education supports to cope with the needs of its pupils is appealing to the Department of Education to sanction a special education class.
Despite 387 special education classes being sanctioned for the upcoming school year, Scoil Naomh Fiach, Ballinacree, is not among them and is struggling to cope with the needs of its pupils with the resources it currently has.
Meath West TD Aisling Dempsey has been working with the school and recently raised the serious situation that has developed, during a Joint Oireachtas Committee meeting, where she said "the school has been forced to establish an internal special class setting within its small rural school as an exceptional emergency measure to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of pupils and staff".
She spoke of the urgent need for St Fiach’s to be awarded a special education class in the next tranche of announcements from the Department and outlined concerns shared by school staff during a session with Department officials at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth.
“The situation in St Fiach’s is becoming increasingly strenuous for staff and is placing an unfair burden on them, particularly on their principal Ciara Uí Chonduibh," she stated. “Staff and students are dealing with a situation that no school should have to go through. There are regular violent and self-harming incidents. The school has reached a point where continuing to operate solely as a mainstream class is unsafe, unsustainable and educationally indefensible.” Deputy Dempsey also highlighted safety concerns due to inadequate boundaries at the school, with children regularly attempting to leave the grounds. She said this adds further pressure on staff who are already stretched. The school has been liasing with the special education needs officer in its area, the National Council for Special Education and all relevant agencies to highlight its plight and has also identified that there is a concrete yard where a prefab could be installed to provide extra accommodation if sanctioned for the class. However, the Department has continued to prioritise schools that have spare classrooms when sanctioning special classes.
When contacted by the Meath Chronicle, the Board of Management acknowledged the exceptional work of staff in supporting pupils with additional needs, using all available resources in line with NCSE and Department of Education guidance.
"The school has engaged fully with all training, advisory supports, and inclusive practices available. However, a significant increase in enrolment, alongside a high level of complex need, has placed considerable pressure on existing resources.
"At present, the school does not have sufficient Special Education Teacher allocation, nor access to a special class, to meet this level of need effectively. While every effort is being made to support pupils in a safe and inclusive environment, additional teaching resources and special class provision are now urgently required."