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Special needs education

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  • 05-11-2020 3:42pm
    #1
    Lucy0202
    Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭


    Hie,

    Can a principal of a special needs school decide on how many hours a child should be in school?

    My friend has a son(8yrs) with additional needs(autism and ADHD) and apparently the principal is suggesting that her son only attend school for 1 hr everyday because “they can’t handle him”........ is that allowed?


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    #2
    Cakerbaker
    Registered Users Posts: 850 ✭✭✭Cakerbaker


    Lucy0202 wrote: »
    Hie,

    Can a principal of a special needs school decide on how many hours a child should be in school?

    My friend has a son(8yrs) with additional needs(autism and ADHD) and apparently the principal is suggesting that her son only attend school for 1 hr everyday because “they can’t handle him”........ is that allowed?

    There’s been a lot of coverage on reduced timetables recently. I think the Department of Education are publishing guidelines on their use but I’m not sure if it’s happened yet.


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    #3
    byhookorbycrook
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 12,475 Mod ✭✭✭✭byhookorbycrook


    Lucy0202 wrote: »
    Hie,

    Can a principal of a special needs school decide on how many hours a child should be in school?

    My friend has a son(8yrs) with additional needs(autism and ADHD) and apparently the principal is suggesting that her son only attend school for 1 hr everyday because “they can’t handle him”........ is that allowed?
    Your friend needs to talk to the principal and the SENO.


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    #4
    mariopepper
    Registered Users Posts: 20 ✭mariopepper


    CharlieWex wrote: »
    There are times when they look at performance in general . Even for children with special needs there are some standards for learning. A friend of mine has one of the children with similar problems. He is still in primary school. He wasn't doing well in maths and his mother suggested that he should be taught more at home. There is no way he can learn the maths.

    There are a lot of good tutorials for math learning. Even basics


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    #5
    Qwertyminger
    Registered Users Posts: 96 ✭✭Qwertyminger


    The issue with reduced timetables is that the school don't have the staff to manage the child. Usually this is the situation when the student can be physically difficult or unpredictable.

    The best thing imo would be for these children to be absolutely welcomed into the "mainstream" school system with open arms at 4/5 years old. School should be a magic place where they spend most of the day roaming beautiful (safe) outdoor areas and picking and choosing from activities they enjoy indoors. It should all be child-led. That's the Finnish and Dutch system.

    Instead we force them to sit down and write and be quiet. No wonder by the time they're 7 or 8 they're sick shyte of it. *Mod Snip* even though it doesn't make our education system better, we keep copying the English one with our methods of punishment and discipline instead of inspiration and play-based learning.

    Special schools exist because they don't want to spend money to hire SNAs to assist every child with special needs, even though it would hugely benefit them.

    Write to your local councillors, set up your own schools, this is the only way we can get the system to change.


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    #6
    Qwertyminger
    Registered Users Posts: 96 ✭✭Qwertyminger


    Oh and I forgot to say due to the admissions policy legislation changes in 2019, no school can now refuse a pupil entry, on basically any grounds anymore (except private schools, and it is mind-boggling that they exist anymore because they should be abolished).

    Send your child to mainstream. Streaming children according to disability IS actually like the mother and baby homes (hi Josepha) because people who are differently abled shouldn't be hidden away and segregated. Support the school in getting them the resources they need. Every school should have the resources to accept every pupil of every demographic in the community.

    We should facilitate all childrens' full inclusion with their peers so everyone sees from a young age that people of all types deserve acceptance and welcome. Hiding away difference is so 1980s. It's the funding that's lacking and that won't be provided until we force the system to change.

    Best of luck to the child on the reduced timetable. It's an appalling practice but as I said usually only done because the school is under-staffed, under-resourced and doesn't have access to the experts it needs.


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    #7
    DubCount
    Registered Users Posts: 1,065 ✭✭✭DubCount


    Qwertyminger wrote: »
    ....Send your child to mainstream. Streaming children according to disability IS actually like the mother and baby homes (hi Josepha) because people who are differently abled shouldn't be hidden away and segregated.....

    I disagree - and I think your comment is highly disrespectful to those who were mistreated at the hands of the mother and baby homes.


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    #8
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,111 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    Mod: This is not a ranting thread. The OP's question was answered before Christmas.
    Thread closed.


  • Options
    #9
    byhookorbycrook
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 12,475 Mod ✭✭✭✭byhookorbycrook


    Qwertyminger wrote: »
    The issue with reduced timetables is that the school don't have the staff to manage the child. Usually this is the situation when the student can be physically difficult or unpredictable.

    The best thing imo would be for these children to be absolutely welcomed into the "mainstream" school system with open arms at 4/5 years old. School should be a magic place where they spend most of the day roaming beautiful (safe) outdoor areas and picking and choosing from activities they enjoy indoors. It should all be child-led. That's the Finnish and Dutch system.

    Instead we force them to sit down and write and be quiet. No wonder by the time they're 7 or 8 they're sick shyte of it. *Mod Snip* even though it doesn't make our education system better, we keep copying the English one with our methods of punishment and discipline instead of inspiration and play-based learning.

    Special schools exist because they don't want to spend money to hire SNAs to assist every child with special needs, even though it would hugely benefit them.

    Write to your local councillors, set up your own schools, this is the only way we can get the system to change.

    Special schools have a wide range of therapeutic resources that would be impossible to replicate in each mainstream school. A special class would have 6 children , against 30 in mainstream.
    The curriculum for special schools is vastly different to what is taught in mainstream.
    Inclusion is more than a chair in a room.
    The infant rooms in most schools use Aistear , which is play based.


This discussion has been closed.
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