'I can't believe there are nine children who won't be getting into Little Angels'

Parents of children denied a place at the Little Angels Special School in Letterkenny say they are shocked at the exclusion but are determined to have the decision overturned.

At least nine children who sought a place at Little Angels from September have been turned down, even though the school is due to move from its existing premises at Knocknamona in Letterkenny to a new purpose-built building nearby later this month.

“With the new building, I didn't think there'd be much issue with getting a place for my son Ben,” Kilmacrennan woman Patricia O'Donnell says.

“Perhaps naively, I assumed they would have factored in the demand for places when building a new school, given that the current premises don't have capacity, and that it would be fit for purpose. The new school is a fantastic building, but it can't cater for the number of children that need to attend it.”

Little Angels is the only school in Donegal that caters for children with moderate, profound or severe learning disabilities and had 133 pupils enrolled as of September 2024.

Deputy Pearse Doherty raised the situation with Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the Dáil on Tuesday, demanding that temporary accommodation be put on site for September and that permanent additional accommodation be provided to meet demand.

The Taoiseach said Minister of State Michael Moynihan has been informed that Little Angels is planning to convert two rooms in the new school premises into classrooms to provide additional capacity.

Patricia says 'nine mammies' came together to campaign for places for their children collectively rather than individually, and they met with local TDs and public representatives on Sunday to highlight their predicament.

“I was absolutely devastated,” Patricia says when she was informed that Ben, who turns five in May, had been denied a place for September. “Sending your child to a special school isn't an easy decision to make and it took us a while to make peace with that.”

Like the other children concerned, Ben has completed the cognitive assessments that are a requirement for pupils seeking a place in Little Angels. He is on the severe end of the autism spectrum, is non-verbal and has a moderate intellectual disability.

“We sought advice from every professional, every speech and language therapist, every principal of a school with ASD classes that we could find, and everyone felt that Little Angels was the best place to educate him,” Patricia says. “It took us a while to come to that realisation, but then for him not to get in is soul-destroying.”

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Patricia, who is an intellectual disability nurse, says early intervention is vital for children with additional learning needs.

“Ben is my third child, and it has been very different from rearing neuro-typical children,” she adds. “The stress levels are far, far higher, and we really had enough on our plates without this fight.

“Early intervention is the gold standard when you're looking for better outcomes. Little Angels is a place where Ben, and every other child, will be welcomed and helped to reach his full potential.”

Michelle Doherty says her five-year-old daughter Saoirse has come on in 'leaps and bounds' through attending the preschool autism unit in Woodlands NS over the past two years, and worries that those hard-won gains will be lost if the decision to exclude her from Little Angels isn't reversed.

“The progress Saoirse has made since starting in Woodlands has been unreal,” Michelle, from Rathmullan, says. “It will be heart-breaking if she can't get a place in Little Angels from September.”

Michelle took a call from the principal on 14 February breaking the bad news.

“I was in shock and could hardly speak,” Michelle recalls. “I rang back on the Monday once I'd got my head around it and was told Saoirse was on a waiting list. But no one is going to turn down a place for Little Angels - you're not applying to it unless you need it.”

Michelle doesn't know where else Saoirse could go in September. A typical ASD unit in mainstream school isn't suitable and she emphasised that a decision needs to be made sooner rather than later. It's not something that can be left to August.

“Children with special needs need to familiarise themselves with the classroom and the school they're going to,” Michelle said. “Routine is very important to my wee girl.”

Marie Murray is from Kerrykeel. Her four-year-old son Finn has autism, is non-verbal and has moderate learning disabilities. He too was recommended for a place in Little Angels by the SENO (special educational needs organiser).

Marie was shocked to receive a telephone call telling her there was no place in the school for a child with needs like Finn's.

“An ASD class in a different school wouldn't work for Finn, and we won't settle until we get the right place,” she insists. “I still can't believe there's nine children who won't be getting into Little Angels. You'd think they'd have planned the capacity right. What's going to happen next year and the year after?

“More and more children are being diagnosed with autism and different disabilities and there needs to be more spaces provided for them in special schools. They can't just go into any other classroom.

“They need a special school, and Little Angels is the only one in Donegal and it's the only option we have.

Each parent is cautiously hopeful that a solution will be found to provide a place in 'big school' for their child come September. Given their special educational needs, there is no alternative.

“The play-school here in Termon has done great work with Ben and helped him progress, but if he has to stay at home for a year he will regress,” Patricia adds. “Children with autism thrive on routine and he gets that at playschool.

“Holidays are already a struggle for us. And the idea of no school placement for Ben in September doesn't bear thinking about for us as a family.”

Marie is determined that her son, and the other eight children, will get the place they need and deserve.

“Little Angels is a school that a child stays in until they're 18 and that's great, because it means there'll be no upheaval at moving to a new secondary school," she says. "I hear that the school is amazing, and we're just going to keep the pressure on to get the places we need.”

Michelle is similarly determined, and is glad that this isn't a fight that she must make alone. “This would be very daunting on your own, so we're lucky we have each other, she says. “Hopefully, we get what we're looking for. After all, every child is entitled to a proper education.”