Where charity begins

THE INFORMATION on the cover of the modest leaflet about St Vincent's School on the Navan Road, Dublin, is accurate but misleading. It tells you that the school was established in 1963, which is true enough. What it omits is that the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, who run the school and the its various services, have been in situ and looking after the care and/or education of those with special needs since 1892.

A French order that has long worked with the socially disadvantaged, the nuns came to the Navan Road via Drogheda, where they had arrived in 1855. Then they were, as Sister Aine McNamara, principal of St Vincent's special school puts it, "invited to take over this big, grey building".

Big it is, and very grey, but the lives and work of those who occupy it not to mention lashings of colour and cheer in the decor - have long done away with even the vestiges of Victorian melancholy.

When the nuns arrived in 1892, the building was a workhouse for boys and girls. By 1925 the nuns had decided they could more usefully run a school there and were devoting themselves to the teaching of children with mental disability. Thirty eight years later, in 1963, their work was sanctioned by the Department of Education.

"The Daughters pioneered education for the mentally disabled in this country," says Aine McNamara with justification and some hesitancy at her own immodesty. "The feeling for years was that the moderately handicapped could not be taught. The only way to show the Department that it could be done was by doing it."

Today's buildings around the big, grey house contain a complex of services for people with disabilities, seeing to their care "almost from birth to tomb", says the principal. On campus there is medical, psychological, social and therapeutic care, as well as skills training and development and nursing care.

The special school is an integral part of this. Its 74 pupils are moderately handicapped boys and girls (the categories are mild, moderate, severe and profound) aged four to 18 years. There are eight classes, eight teachers and two classroom assistants. The catchment area is a broad swathe of northwest Dublin, and students come from every social background. At least one third have Down's Syndrome; others having difficulties ranging from language problems to cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

AT ONE TO 10, she feels the teacher pupil ratio is still too high for children with moderate mental handicaps. "It was one to 12 and has slowly come down over last three years. Ideally, it should be one to eight, which was the recommendation of the Special Education Review Committee in 1993.

"We're looking for classroom assistants too - at least one for every two classes but ideally one for every single class. We got a second CA two years ago, but we need eight - we're going to keep writing to the Department until we get one per class." All pupils are introduced to the "three Rs", McNamara explains, "but their needs come first. For some, social skills might take up more of the day than for others, but we are continually changing the programme."

Some pupils can deal with basic reading; all are taught the "social sight words" ("ladies", "gents", WC etc) as well as basic numeracy (telling the time, counting money) and how to write their names. Some children learn much more.

The aim, at all times, is to prepare them for a life of as much independence as possible. "We would like them to be marginalised as little as possible, so skills like table manners are important."

St Vincent's has the usual morning and lunch breaks, with pupils aged 12 and over using the staff canteen where they can "make mistakes and be helped". Canteen facilities' on the Navan Road haven't been ideal up until now but, after much pleading and letter writing to the Department, the foundations for a new, larger canteen for pupils have been laid. It is expected to be up and running for Easter.

In what Aine McNamara calls "an extension" of the school, there are six special classes for pupils with severe and profound mental handicaps. When a 1983 report on such children asked schools to take part in a pilot scheme, the order did so in both the Navan Road and Limerick. "We have 31 pupils in total in that area. They need a medical input as well - it's an ongoing, multi disciplinary approach and we do need more help there.

The needs of all pupils are changing, the principal says - "maybe because more handicapped are actually getting into the education system now that they have the right and we know about them."

St Vincent's offers a "service for life", says the order's director of services, Joe Fallon. "Early intervention is vital - once a handicap is discovered a person is linked into the service. From four to 18 they can attend school here; after that they have the options of the training centre, skills development or day activities.

"But we need more facilities," he says. "We need curriculum development and in teacher special training. If the resources are there when children are young, then you've at least given them a good start."