New special classes have been approved by the Department of Education for three primary schools around Laois.
Those schools are The Rock National School, Presentation Primary School, Portarlington, and Ratheniska National School.
Principal at The Rock NS, Mr Liam Ahern, confirmed that the new classroom will facilitate six students with a diagnosis of Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
An application must now go through the Department of Education for the cost of the new modular-built classroom.
The school are keen to manage the build themselves, having already experienced four bricks-and-mortar extensions to the school building in previous years.
A new teacher will also be appointed to the classroom as well as two Special Needs Assistants (SNAs).
The current plan is for the new class to be fully operational by August 27 for the start of the 2025/26 academic year.
Some current students at the school with an ASD diagnosis may attend the new classroom, however, enrolment will be made available to new families as well.
The parameters for Presentation Portarlington are broadly the the same, with Principal Frankie Andrews saying the school are “excited about the addition.”
In 2011, the school opened two Early Intervention classes which cater for preschool children with autism, and in September of 2024 they opened their first special class, enrolling six pupils between five and six years of age.
That was a retrofit of an existing classroom which also included the conversion of an adjacent classroom into a sensory room for the pupils.
The school will again be able to utilise a free classroom for this latest project.
Like The Rock, staffing for the new class will consist of one teacher and two SNAs, with the enrolment process set to get underway in the coming days.
“We are blessed to be in a position to build on the great work of previous principals and staff in our school since the build of the Early Intervention Classes in 2011,” Ms Andrews said.
“We are excited about the addition of the two new Primary Special Classes as it enables our school to meet the needs of our pupils with Autism.
“The staff at Presentation Primary school are an amazing group of people and they have been key to the success of the Special Classes that we have now and will have into the future.”
