At Scoil Bhréanainn we are committed to the holistic growth of each child. We encourage the uniqueness of all our students and so the addition of our Autism class in 2020 was a natural progression to this. Until then, there were no Autism classrooms available to the pupils in the South Kerry area.
We at Scoil Bhreanainn celebrate the differences and unique personalities of all our pupils and we strive to create a unique personalised learning plan for each neurodiverse child in our care. We recognise that each child has different needs and strengths and we use our learnt expertise to enable each child to perform at the best of their ability. Our teachers have upskilled in best practice in areas such as sensory, behaviour, TEACCH, PECS, Communication and Anxiety, and use their combined knowledge to create a calm, flexible learning environment best suited to our pupils. Such approaches helps children develop important social, communication and play skills, that provide the basis for future learning.
There is a greatly reduced pupil teacher ratio of 6:1, plus additional SNA support. This enables our pupils to reach their full potential, at their own pace.
The Autism class is a calm space where pupils can take a break from the business of mainstream and relax, learn social, emotional & life skills and have fun. We strive to integrate our children into mainstream as much as they are able with an open door policy where if the children need a break from the classroom they can take it (or if something fun is happening in mainstream they can go there!) We can see that being an inclusive school has a positive effect on the whole school population.
We recognise that pupils cannot learn if in a deregulated state so our main priority is regulation. We use the principles of emotional accountancy to fill each child’s bucket at different points in the day so they can handle changes that may arise.
In our Autism class we teach children to learn to self regulate, recognising & learning to deal with their emotions using programmes such as the Emotional ABCs, Zones of regulation and recommended books.
We use recommended programmes such as Time to Talk & the Talkabout series as well as social skill games to improve pupils social skills.
We adapt to each children’s learning style and enable them to learn in their way at their pace.
Transport for pupils enrolled in our Autism Class is provided and funded by the transport section of the Department of education.
Parental involvement in the learning and teaching of children with Autism is imperative in order to foster consistency between all environments for the children. Scoil Bhréanainn promotes and facilitates close liaison with parents so that the home and school environment can compliment and reinforce learning. The teachers and SNAs of Scoil Bhréanainn are committed to supporting parents of our pupils while they are in our care.
We are fortunate to have a brand new, temporary space which has a variety of diverse resources, including a sensory area and individualised work stations. We are looking forward to a purpose built extension in the near future.
As a DEIS school, the children receive a free school lunch every day funded by the Department of Social Protection.
If you are a prospective parent of a child with Autism and would like further information or to visit the school and see our wonderful resources first hand, do not hesitate to contact the school on 066 9477211 or email portmageens@gmail.com to get more information.