Its hard enough to get into schools for these kids.
17 suspensions in three years
Freedom of Information requests, submitted by parents and shared with the Irish Examiner, confirm that Carrigaline Community Special School issued 17 official suspensions between 2021 and 2024.
The school currently has 45 students.
The last official suspension at CCSS happened in 2024. There hasn’t been an official suspension at the school since parents raised concerns.
Suspensions in other special schools
The FOI documents also show Rochestown Community Special School has issued 14 official suspensions since it opened in 2022 and June of this year.
17 suspensions in that length of time is a terrifying number, the poor kids
Often, suspensions are more for the benefit of other children in a class or school than for the suspended child. And sometimes, it’s a job for parent’s to deal with a poorly behaved child rather than a school.
The staffing issue seems like a much more concerning problem.
I’ve worked in a special school, these are some of the most vulnerable kids in the country dealing with unimaginable trauma/circumstances. The education system/government is failing them at every step of the way, these kids cannot operate in a main stream setting and are sent off to special schools who get zero support financially as special does not fall into ‘deis’ category despite the majority of these kids coming from a ‘deis’ setting previously.
Shoe-horning 8-15 of these kids into a classroom and expecting it to work with 1 teacher and at the most a couple of SNA’s is beyond impossible and suspensions aren’t handed out lightly in these circumstances, I’ve seen teachers threatened & physically assaulted, classrooms completely smashed up, kids with ASD put in the same classes as kids who’ve come from rough upbringings and expected to work together. It is an absolute nightmare but the system/lack of support is to blame but blame is being put on teachers/staff who do not have the resources or abilities to manage some of the most delicate situations you can imagine.
4 comments
Its hard enough to get into schools for these kids.
17 suspensions in three years
Freedom of Information requests, submitted by parents and shared with the Irish Examiner, confirm that Carrigaline Community Special School issued 17 official suspensions between 2021 and 2024.
The school currently has 45 students.
The last official suspension at CCSS happened in 2024. There hasn’t been an official suspension at the school since parents raised concerns.
Suspensions in other special schools
The FOI documents also show Rochestown Community Special School has issued 14 official suspensions since it opened in 2022 and June of this year.
17 suspensions in that length of time is a terrifying number, the poor kids
Often, suspensions are more for the benefit of other children in a class or school than for the suspended child. And sometimes, it’s a job for parent’s to deal with a poorly behaved child rather than a school.
The staffing issue seems like a much more concerning problem.
I’ve worked in a special school, these are some of the most vulnerable kids in the country dealing with unimaginable trauma/circumstances. The education system/government is failing them at every step of the way, these kids cannot operate in a main stream setting and are sent off to special schools who get zero support financially as special does not fall into ‘deis’ category despite the majority of these kids coming from a ‘deis’ setting previously.
Shoe-horning 8-15 of these kids into a classroom and expecting it to work with 1 teacher and at the most a couple of SNA’s is beyond impossible and suspensions aren’t handed out lightly in these circumstances, I’ve seen teachers threatened & physically assaulted, classrooms completely smashed up, kids with ASD put in the same classes as kids who’ve come from rough upbringings and expected to work together. It is an absolute nightmare but the system/lack of support is to blame but blame is being put on teachers/staff who do not have the resources or abilities to manage some of the most delicate situations you can imagine.
Comments are closed.