'No definite data' on children attending special schools

The National Association of Special School Principals (NASSP) is looking to work with all special school principals to change the current system of special education. File Picture: Danny Lawson/PA 

A newly formed organisation for principals of special schools has said there is no data to show how many children are attending their classrooms.

The National Association of Special School Principals (NASSP) was formed on Thursday and gave details of the challenges faced by the sector.

The committee met at Buswells Hotel, in Dublin, where they revealed that 10 principals have been selected to represent the entire population of special schools in the country. 

The aim of the group is to be recognised and included by the Department of Education in policy initiatives, to influence special education decisions, and to harness the expertise of all special school principals to change the current system.

The principal of St Paul’s school in Montenotte, Anne Hartnett, told the Irish Examiner: “There are common areas of issues that we all have, as well as individual issues in the schools.

“One of the main problems in the cities, in particular, is the lack of teachers, but another problem throughout the special schools is the lack of multi-disciplinary teams.

“Physiotherapy, speech and language, behavioural issues, we don’t have the therapists. It is a very challenging job, and there are violent behaviours by some.

“You’re dealing with mild to profound special needs.

“We also need continued professional development, staff training, crisis prevention intervention, manual handling, and the administration of medicines — we need more nurses too.

“More than anything, we want a seat at the table.”

Ms Harnett’s school has 97 students, aged from four to 18 years.

Anne Hartnett, principal St Paul's School, says the school has children with moderate to severe or  profound intellectual disabilities. Picture: Jim Coughlan

“We have eight classes with children with severe or profound intellectual disabilities, and we have seven classes for children with moderate intellectual disabilities,” she said.

“We have 15 class teachers and 44 special needs assistants. We are very happy with our pupil-teacher ratio in St Paul’s, we are happy with our special needs assistants. What we need desperately is therapists.

“In our school, all 97 children need speech and language therapy and, unfortunately, the disabilities services are challenging.

“It’s not the people involved — the people are wonderful — it’s the system overall, that does not work.

“There is a place for us at the table to speak up for the children and parents, and that’s what we hope to do.”

Keith Ó Brolacháin, principal with St Francis Special School in Kerry, said: “This is a positive move. We want people to come to us with their specific points of concern.

“We want to progress special schools and provide support to the children and our staff. Special education has become larger, but special education places remain the same.

“There are 130 special schools that we know of in the country, but not every school has a principal.

“There are possibly 125 principals for special schools. We wrote to all of them. 114 respondents indicated they would like representation for special schools.

“That’s a huge amount.

“There is no definite data on how many children attend special schools and we want to change that and build on that. We need data to help us develop.”