More than twenty second-level schools across the country have been granted planning permission for facilities such as PE Halls and and special classes for those with intellectual and physical disabilities over the last five years to enhance the lives of students.
However, after years of campaigning for a P.E. Hall and a dedicated ASD (autism spectrum disorder ) unit, Seamount College Kinvara has been denied access many times. Those in both the local and school community are left in frustration as to why this is still the case.
A PE Hall is a crucial facility to improve and maintain student physical health and mental wellbeing. Students benefit in terms of a space for physical education, but a PE Hall offers so much more to a school. It can also be used to hold the school’s annual musical production rather than travelling to Kilcornan Hall, a fifteen-km trip from the school, wasting valuable rehearsal time. It can be used to bring all the school community together for school assemblies rather than dividing by year group.
In addition to the construction of a PE Hall, Seamount College has been campaigning for an ASD unit to be built on the grounds to provide a learning environment tailored to those with additional learning needs and be given much-needed support from teachers and SNAs (special needs assistants ) with specialised training.
Seamount College opened a single class ASD Unit at the request of the National Council for Special Education (NCSE ) in 2022. The class operates from a very small space within the school. This class caters for six students. The class is currently full with no spaces available for September 2024. There are currently 30 students in ASD classes in the local primary schools. A major issue is fast approaching for these students and their parents.
The Board of Management of Seamount College have engaged with NCSE and the Department of Education over the past number of years, and submitted plans and costings that proposed renovating and reconfiguring an existing part of the school. This development would see a multi class ASD unit opened, catering for the imminent need in the local community. Despite a number of queries and follow ups, this proposal has yet to be sanctioned.
The denial of such a facility suggests to parents of students with special needs, their teachers, and the students themselves that their needs are not a priority. Denying the construction of an ASD unit in the school is discriminatory.
As a Transition Year student in the school, I, as well as many other students, parents, staff, and the community, am deeply frustrated with the denied permission to build on the facilities that many other schools already have.
For PE classes, we have to use the outdoor astro turfs or walk to the local community centre which wastes at least half an hour of our classes walking to and from the school.
There is the added health and safety factor of students and teachers in charge having to cross two dangerous junctions n order to reach the hall. Our PE classes are also heavily weather dependent and cannot go ahead if it is stormy, very wet, etc. Living in the West of Ireland, this is a common occurrence. Leaving Certificate students are also at an unfair disadvantage of not having the privilege of studying PE as a subject. We sincerely hope that this situation can be rectified without further delay.
Maisie Curtis is a TY student at Seamount College Kinvara and is on work experience in the newsroom at the Galway Advertiser.
