“It is a disgrace that pupils at St Teresa’s with additional needs will be stripped of essential speech and language support through no fault of their own.”
A group of parents at a West Belfast primary school have launched a campaign to have speech and language provision at the school extended.
Currently, pupils at St Teresa’s Primary School who require speech and language therapy can access it within the school’s specialist centre until Primary 4. At this point, they have the option of moving into the mainstream at the school or transferring to another school that meets their needs.
Last month, Education Minister Paul Givan visited the school to officially open the new specialist centre, which comprises eight dedicated classes, providing tailored support for children with a range of additional needs. Three of the classes support children with speech and language, while four classes support autistic children, and an additional class supports children with severe learning difficulties. There are also plans to add an additional two classes next year.
Speaking to Belfast Live, parent Leah Magill explained how her daughter will have to move to Taughmonagh Primary School next year once her provision at St Teresa’s comes to an end.
“What we have been told is that by P4, the kids should be on par with mainstream kids. I think at the moment it is maybe only Taughmonagh and possibly one other school that continues speech and language right through to P7.
“Basically, what we have been told is that it is down to the Education Authority, and they don’t have the provision for Key Stage 2 speech and language.”
Explaining how this could impact her daughter, Leah recalled a recent visit to the shop with her daughter and how it impacted her.
“I can see my wee girl’s level of speech coming on, but I notice when she is out that people struggle to understand her. We went to the shop last night, and she is very independent. She was trying to ask for a straw and wouldn’t let me ask for her, but the shopkeeper couldn’t understand her, and in the end, she told me to come on, forget about it.
“She has a developmental language disorder, and she will have that into her adult life, and I worry that she will struggle.”
Another parent, Brenda McKernan, told us that she worries how her son will cope in a mainstream class.
“Oliver is a ball of energy and he finds it hard to sit still,” she said. “At the moment, he is in a class of 12 but going into a class of 29 is going to be a whole different story because it is not going to be the Oliver show.
“The kids in the class all have an amazing friendship and they depend on each other. They help each other. We are going to have to be the bad ones to tell them that at the end of this school year, they are going to be split up.”
West Belfast MLA Gerry Carroll said that there is more than enough demand for the service to be extended.
“It is a disgrace that pupils at St Teresa’s with additional needs will be stripped of essential speech and language support through no fault of their own. There is more than enough demand for speech and language provision at the school – and indeed across west Belfast – to justify services being extended to P7.
“Parents of these pupils are faced with an impossible choice – either uproot their child and move to a new school that offers speech and language therapy beyond P4, or stay at St Teresa’s and move to a bigger, mainstream class without this support.
“It is clearly the responsibility of the Education Authority to hire the teachers and classroom assistants needed to ensure these children can stay in the school they know and receive the vital, consistent support that they’re accustomed to.”
A spokesperson for the EA said: “Specialist provision for Speech and Language is delivered by Health, in collaboration with Education. This model is currently under review to ensure equitable, tailored support for children with speech and language needs across Northern Ireland.
“Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision is not a “one size fits all” model. Specialist Provision classes for Speech and Language are needs based, as pupil needs evolve the support required may change in order to best help them to reach their full potential.
“EA Local IMPACT Teams (LITs) will continue to actively support children and young people with language and communication needs.”
The Department of Health have been approached for comment.
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