Saint Augustine's School

Enrolment Process

What happens when a child has been referred to Saint Augustine's?

Criteria for Enrolment

Saint Augustine's is a school for children up to 18 years old who have special education needs. Students who attend Saint Augustine's usually have a mild intellectual disability and often their basic skills in reading, writing and maths are delayed.

Saint Augustine's is not a therapeutic school for children with significant behavioural difficulties, although we do support a number of young people who experience some behavioural difficulties, secondary to their learning difficulties. The school has approximately 155 students in the primary and post-primary departments.

Referral

Anyone can refer a child to Saint Augustine's, although it is expected that parents/guardians will always be consulted. Sometimes parents make the referral themselves, sometimes School Principals, Social Workers or Psychologists make the referral. The person making the referral simply writes to or phones, the Programme Manager or Principal of Saint Augustine's, asking to refer the child and an information pack and application forms will be sent out.

Visits to Saint Augustine's

Parents/guardians may visit the school during school hours by arrangement. This helps you decide if you wish to refer your child. On this visit you will usually have an opportunity to meet the School Principal and to see the programmes and facilities on offer at the school.

Decision re. Assessment

Next, Saint Augustine's School will collect information about the referred child. We try to get the following reports if available; School Report, Psychological Report, Social Work Report, Speech Therapy Report. When this information is gathered the Assessment Team reviews it.

The Assessment Team tries to decide if the staff at Saint Augustine's School could best meet the referred child's needs. If the answer is yes, the next step is assessment. If the answer is no, the parents/guardians and the person who made the referral will get a letter explaining the reasons for this decision.

Sometimes the Assessment Team may feel that they cannot make a decision until further information is collected e.g. a Psychiatric Report. A decision will be deferred until this information is collected. Sometimes a meeting is needed between Saint Augustine's and other agencies.

Assessment

• Visits to Schools
  As part of the assessment, we sometimes find it useful if one of the Psychology Team can visit your child in their present school and carry out an observation. This is done very discreetly and usually neither your child nor the other children in the class have any idea why the Psychologist is visiting. At this time, the Psychologist can also discuss your child's strengths and difficulties with the school staff. Such school visits are entirely at the discretion of the School Principal. Before such a visit takes place, parents will be consulted.
• Assessment Day
  Whether or not your child is observed in school, a date for assessment is set when the child and parents come to Saint Augustine's. If the child or parents have not previously visited Saint Augustine's, this is an opportunity for them to be shown around and meet with the School Principal. It is also the time when the Psychologist can do some in-depth assessment of your child. This might include an IQ Test, reading, writing, spelling and maths activities. IQ Tests include such things as making puzzles, answering questions and drawing shapes. Psychologists are specially trained to put children at ease and help them relax. The Psychologist will chat to your child about his/her experience of school, likes and dislikes, hobbies and interests.

When a child is working with the Psychologist, the parents meet with a Social Worker and discuss the history of the child's needs and abilities in the context of the whole family.

Decision re. Enrolment

After the assessment the team prepare reports for the Enrolment Committee. At the next meeting of the Enrolment Committee your child's needs are discussed and the Psychologist and Social Worker present their reports. Usually a decision is then made about whether to offer a place. Parents (and the referring agency, if appropriate) are informed of this decision in writing. The Enrolment Committee usually meets every month.

Approval for transport and other supports

If your child has been accepted by the Enrolment Committee, the School Principal then writes to the National Council for Special Education asking it to approve transport arrangements and other appropriate supports. This process may take a number of weeks.

Start Date

As soon as this approval is received a starting date can be set and parents receive details of school uniform/rules/application forms etc. This whole process can take anything from a few weeks to a number of months. If you have any queries/concerns about a child's application, you can contact the School Principal or Programme Manager.

Information on Enrolment Policy

Saint Augustine's Information Booklet 2011