At Scoil Ghormáin Naofa, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive school. We operate as ASD class and have a team of SET and SNAs who work hard to differentiate where appropriate. As a mainstream school, we value inclusion and recognising the learning styles, strengths and difficulties of our individual students, whom we all value equally.
The Vision of Inclusive Education :
‘To provide that people with special educational needs shall have the same right to avail of, and benefit from, appropriate education as do their peers who do not have such needs’ EPSEN (2004)
• Responsibility of each and every teacher
We believe that the population of our schools allows for all children to be seen, known well and have their needs met.
We don’t tolerate difference, we celebrate it.
Some images of our lovely classroom!
BRAND NEW SENSORY SPACE!!
Huge thanks to parents Laura Molloy and Shane Fleming for their trojan work in completely revamping our sensory space! We just love it! This space is a wonderful hub for a time out for children with diagnoses or for children who may need a time out. It will get so much use. Enjoy this before/after reel for a glimpse of this super space!
Our great outdoors!
We are blessed to be surrounded by such stunning landscapes and these are utilised regularly for outdoor movement breaks and learning opportunities. Children with extra educational needs often use this space with teachers and SNAs both in their whole class and reduced ratio settings. See our outdoor classroom page for more information.
Ongoing Professional Development
We engage regularly in ongoing professional development, in particular with NCSE (National Council for Special Education) and PDST (Professional Development Service for Teachers) as we strive to keep abreast of emergent teachings.
Communication
Home/school communication is hugely important to us. We use a school app, Class Dojo, which is a tool for daily communication between home and school. A daily whole school update is posted along with individual class and teacher messages. We have found Class Dojo to be particularly effective with regard to children with SEN as the informality of the note exchange it offers can be hugely helpful in understanding how a child is feeling on a given day.
Supports for parents
https://www.middletownautism.com/training/parents
https://www.education.ie/en/Parents/
https://www.tusla.ie/tess/information-for-parents-and-guardians-tess/
We are guided by the following document:
TEACHING STYLES
We use a variety of teaching styles in order to meet the various learning needs of our pupils. In class support from SET (Special Education Teachers) works well as a means of inclusion. At other times, withdrawal might be appropriate and we have two lovely learning support rooms for this purpose.
Benefits of team teaching:
Inclusive environment
• Self-esteem
• Continuity of learning
• Interactive and engaging
• Practical benefits
• Peer support
• Experiencing different
teaching methodologies
Benefits of withdrawal:
• Confidentiality
• Quieter environment
• Time and attention
• Pace
• Easy use of ICT
• Similar ability groups
• Concentration level
Other useful information:
We are currently accepting applications for places in our ASD class. Please contact the office on 0402 37596 for more information.