Over 200 secondary school teachers gathered at an education conference in Dublin this week to share ideas on providing for children with special educational needs in their schools. The conference - which was hosted by the Joint Managerial Body (JMB) at the Marino Institute of Education on Monday - aimed to equip teachers with creative ways to overcome the challenges they will face as a result of education cutbacks.
''Today is about gaining a renewed spirit so we can continue the sacred work of looking after children with special needs,'' said JMB President, Noel Merrick in his opening address.
Also speaking at the conference, Ferdia Kelly, JMB general secretary said he feared December's impending Budget could pose further difficulties for already struggling students: ''Children are being squeezed; the classes are larger, they don't have access to the same range of subjects and pupils studying higher and lower level subjects are being taught together. With teachers under pressure to prepare for exams, children with literacy and numeracy difficulties can easily be left behind.
''Education is all about providing for future generations and I fear the Budget will interfere with that. These kids can't turn around in 10 years time and say 'I was a child of the recession' - it doesn't work like that, young people don't get another chance.''
During the course of the day, the teachers undertook peer-delivered workshops covering areas such as teaching social skills, individualised student planning and transition policies from primary to post primary for children with special educational needs.
Participants had the opportunity to question policy makers and support service providers. Michael Redmond, research and development officer with JMB, said the current challenging times present the perfect opportunity to learn from fellow colleagues: ''There are occasions when we need the advice of experts but we should also listen to each other. I hope teachers will come away from this conference with an awareness of effective ideas that have worked elsewhere. If they can find at least one idea that's possible to implement in their own school, that makes this all worthwhile.''
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