‘Damage’ to children due to reduced SNA support sparks Dáil protest

Parents who say their children’s education is being “severely damaged” due to reduced access special needs support protested outside the Dáil on Wednesday to demand more resources.

Scoil Naomh Colmcille in Togher, Co Louth, a 175-pupil school, has 15 pupils who have been assessed as requiring additional support in order to fulfil their potential.

However, school principal Anne-Marie Ford said the school has just one SNA to support 12 students from senior infants to sixth class. Another part-time SNA assists three children in junior infants.

Ms Ford said the school’s appeal for additional support has been rejected and it has since been advised to “reprioritise” resources to the most vulnerable students.

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“We’re robbing Peter to pay Paul,” she said. “These are the children who missed out most due to school closures during Covid and they’re missing out again now.

“These are children with medical needs or autism who need all the support they can get, but we’ve had to take resources off some to give to others.”

The irony, she said, was that the children have made great progress within a mainstream class. However, they would receive more resources if they were in a special class.

“This seems to be a policy issue, not a resources issue. The sensory needs of these children aren’t being acknowledged.”

Ms Ford said many of the children need regular breaks from the classroom due to sensory overloads. However, this was not possible due to reduced access to SNA support.

“We were advised to consult a document on movement breaks, which was drawn up for post-primary students. It suggests that children should do exercise routine like ‘swimming movements’ or ‘cycling movements’ while staying in their chair.

“It is unbelievable. It’s like going back to the days of wearing the dunce cap in class.”

Parents and children at the school protested outside Leinster House on Wednesday with placards demanding more help for the pupils. They say three more SNAs are needed to meet children's needs.

The school’s “parents’ action group” said the provision of SNA support for the school was “wholly inadequate” and contrary to the Department of Education’s own policy of maximising the integration and involvement of all children.

Róisín Devlin, whose daughter Caitlin (8) is diagnosed with Landau Kleffner syndrome, which is linked to seizures and speech difficulties, said her child’s access to SNA support had reduced this year.

“She was always used to having someone by her side. They understood her if she was struggling. That’s been taken away.

“We had to fight for that support. Now, if she’s struggling she gets very emotional. Our children need a break from the classroom due to their sensory needs. It can have a huge impact on their education and wellbeing . . . any are missing out on that now.”

School-based resource

The department said it did not comment on individual cases.

However, in a statement, it said that ensuring every child is in suitable education placement was a key objective of Government policy.

“Placements range from a placement in mainstream class with the appropriate additional care and teaching support through to a placement in a special class or special schools in line with the level of complex needs in each case,” it said.

It added that there was funding for an additional 1,165 SNAs in 2022, which will bring the total number to 19,169 at the end of December 2022.

It said SNAs were not allocated to individual children but to schools as a school-based resource.

The deployment of SNAs within schools is a matter for the individual principal/board of management of the school.

“SNAs should be deployed by the school in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated,” it said.