Parents at Cork special school ‘guilted’ into reduced timetables, TDs told

Parents of children in a Cork special school are being “pushed, forced, or guilted” into accepting reduced timetables, TDs have been told.

A number of parents from Carrigaline Community Special School and Dublin’s Belmayne Community Special School travelled to Leinster House yesterday to present TDs with their experiences, having accused the Government of attempting to “sweep” issues at the schools away.

Both schools were established quickly in recent years in direct response to a lack of planned school places for children with special educational needs.

Community special schools are State-funded special schools established under the patronage of local education and training boards.

At Leinster House, parents called for full-time behavioural therapists to be put in place immediately, for a multi-disciplinary team for each school, and for a Hiqa-style statutory unit in the Department of Education to carry out spot checks.

Culture of suspensions

Last September, a number of parents at the Carrigaline school highlighted their fears about a culture of suspensions at the school, which they believed were happening without addressing the root causes — leading to students becoming dysregulated and “lashing out”.

Niamh O’Grady, whose child attends Carrigaline Community Special School, told TDs that these suspensions and shortened hours were often done without process or consultation, and without mandatory reporting, which can lead to parents being “pushed, forced, or guilted” into accepting shortened days for their children.

She said therapies should be made available without years-long waits.

“When you get those kind of resources, it really helps,” she said. “But you shouldn’t have to wait five years for that to happen, and particularly with regard to the therapies.

“I agree that special schools should be opening, but you need to open them fully resourced. You need to open them right. Otherwise, you’re setting our children up to fail, to be dysregulated and misunderstood.”

Teething issues

However, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that while there have been “teething issues”, the model is working.

He said: “When we established the Carrigaline community school model under the auspices of the Education Training Board [ETB], we did so deliberately and with an eye on the future, because the State has to get more involved directly in the provision of special education.

“I think the ETBs have a key role in the future in special education.

“Quite a number of parents have been pleased with the journey that their children have had in Carrigaline Special School.”