Sherlock Announces €11,000 In Emergency Funding For Rushbrooke NS

On Tuesday Minister at the Department of Education and Skills Seán Sherlock TD announced that Rushbrooke NS have been approved for €11,000 additional funding, following submission of an application by the school that morning.  

The funding has been allocated for emergency works to accommodations at Rushbrooke NS to facilitate provision for an extra Autistic Spectrum Disorder classroom and comes following advice from the Minister that the school should make the submission earlier this month.

Upon opening of the new €4.2million school earlier this month it became evident that three special needs pupils at the school could not be accommodated in a classroom. Outlining the process of securing the requested emergency funding, the Minister asserted, “Over the past four weeks I have maintained open lines of communication with all parties involved in this matter, The Principal, the parents, the SENO and the BOM.   All discussions and advice have been predicated on sound information that is made available to me, as Minister, by officials in the Department of Education and Skills on the facts of the matter and the ultimate issue at hand; the accommodation needs of these three special needs children.”

“This issue was originally raised to me through a parent of one of the children who informed me that she had been advised to contact my office by the school Principal. Later that week the Principal contacted me and we discussed the situation, at which time I advised him to submit an application for emergency funding in order to ensure that these children could be accommodated as quickly as possible,” Minister Sherlock explained.

The Minister went on to say that on the application was received by Department officials on the morning of Tuesday September 25th and the €11,000 capital was announced by Minister Sherlock later that afternoon, meaning that the works can now begin immediately.

“I have spoken with the parents and advised them that they should continue to communicate with the Principal and BOM in ensuring that the specific needs of their children are catered for as the works begin on the classroom, as I am aware that they still have some concerns and anxieties. I have been happy to support all parties throughout the past four weeks as the Department and the school worked to address the needs of these children.”

Historical context of planning submission and Departmental communication with Rushbrooke NS

A new school for Rushbrooke was completed recently at a cost of €4.2 million and opened earlier this month. The planning process for this school initially started in June 2008 and planning permission was granted in February 2009.

The long-term projected staffing for the school was agreed at a Principal, 24 Mainstream class teachers and two Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Units (each unit accommodates six pupils).
This was based on an analysis carried out by the Department of the Cobh area, which includes Rushbrooke National School. The analysis concluded that there were sufficient primary school places in the catchment area and that the staffing for Rushbrooke NS was sufficient.

In September 2009 Rushbrooke NS enrolled an additional junior infants class, however the department were not notified of this until February 2012 at which time the building stage of the new school was in the final stages of completion.

The school wrote to the Department in February 2012 advising that they had enrolled an additional Junior Infants class in 2009 and now have a Principal, 25 class teachers and 15 ASD pupils enrolled in the school and requested the brief for the school to be revised.

The Department advised the school that as the building project for the school was at an advanced stage of construction, the scope of works could not be changed and that the long term projected enrolments were to remain at a Principal, 24 Mainstream class teachers and 2 ASD Units.

To facilitate the extra mainstream class and additional three ASD pupils enrolled in the school, the Department advised that they could be accommodated in the school until they had completed their primary education. At the time, the school had Department-owned prefabs on site and the Department advised the Board of Management that the prefabs could remain on site until 2016 to accommodate the children.

The school wrote to the Department in March 2012 and advised that they wanted the prefabs removed from the site at the end of June 2012, and confirmed in April that they had sufficient accommodation at the school to accommodate a Principal, 25 class teachers and three ADS units until 2016. The Department-owned prefabs were then re-located to another school.

The three children for whom the emergency funding has been sought have been enrolled in the school since 2007 and 2008.