If the Department of Education wanted to adopt a model system of schooling for children with profound learning disabilities, it could look no further than Rosedale. For Rosedale in Galway city is now synonymous with an enlightened attitude towards and respect for the child.
They won't admit it, but this is in large part due to the approach of Mr Paddy Greally and his working partners, including school principal Ms Breda O'Connell, team manager Ms Mairead Vaughan, and clinical nurse manager cum nurse educator Ms Debbie O'Toole.
Mr Greally is head of children's services with the Brothers of Charity - a voluntary organisation now working towards putting a chequered past behind it.
Rosedale has been in existence since 1994 and is jointly funded by the Department of Education and Science and the Brothers, through the Western Health Board/Department of Health and Children. This "partnership" approach extends into the classroom, with Department of Health and Department of Education staff working side by side.
If this sounds like a recipe for friction, partly due to different working conditions, it isn't, Mr Greally says. "What we do is we put the child first, and problems then recede into the background as they arise."
The 37 children currently on the books include 14 with autism, 14 with a learning or physical disability and another nine with a combination of both conditions. Some have additional challenging behaviour and significant medical problems. Therefore their needs are intertwined, according to Ms O'Connell. The holistic approach demanded by this is far better for the child in the longer term, she says.
"It means that the child who has severe medical problems can still participate, and the skills mix of staff brings a lot of expertise into the classroom," Debbie O'Toole explains. Trained as a nurse, she is an "educator". This role, developed over the past 20 years, does not separate input but seeks to combine and integrate effort. Each child has a designated key person, while the group of staff working together includes an educator, a teacher and one or more special needs assistants.
In many ways, it is like any school, except that the age range is from six to 18, and space is at a premium due to the variety of equipment required by each child. It also opens throughout July. It was Brothers of Charity practice to provide this, and the July service is now funded by the Department of Education and Science.
While this is welcomed by parents, there are difficulties involved in recruiting substitute teachers, special needs assistants and an acting principal. No one, no matter how enthusiastic, can take on this sort of post without specific training, Mr Greally stresses, and Rosedale's existing special needs assistants are regarded as a very valuable group.
The school has adopted the Hungarian conductive approach to education, which depends on a classroom team. It offers good support services, ranging from physiotherapy to speech therapy.The structure of the board of management is also a positive factor, largely due to the fact that Mr Greally is its chair.
Clearly, the staff find their work to be both challenging and fulfilling.
As Debbie O'Toole says, "it allows parents, who have spent so much of their time as carers, to be parents again."