Carrigaline special school to reopen next week after incident forced closure

The school has been closed since Friday morning

Carrigaline Community Special School

A special school in Carrigaline has remained closed this week following an incident last Thursday that left a number of staff members injured. Carrigaline Community Special School remained closed the following morning and is expected to reopen next week, with further support from the Cork Education and Training Board (CETB).

The school is for students who have both an intellectual disability and a formal autism diagnosis, with the National Council for Special Education providing a behaviour advisor to the school on a bi-weekly basis. The school has also availed of support from the Department of Education and Youth.

The CETB declined to provide details of the situation that led to the closure and emphasised that the organisation remains fully committed to ensuring the highest possible standards of safety, care, and support across all its schools and centres. Parents were informed of the closure via letter.

The unexpected closure has been a source of frustration among parents, who have called on the Government to provide the school with additional staff and support to ensure it can remain open going forward.

Over the next few weeks, the school will avail of additional whole-school training provided by the National Council for Special Education, and the school will continue to engage with the HSE-led in-school therapy pilot programme, which provides 15 hours per week of both Speech and Language and Occupational Therapy supports on-site.

A spokesperson for the CETB told CorkBeo: “Cork ETB is fully committed to ensuring the highest possible standards of safety, care, and support across all our schools and centres. We work closely with school leadership, staff, the Department of Education and Youth, and relevant external agencies to ensure that appropriate measures are in place to safeguard both students and staff at all times.

“Cork ETB has introduced a number of measures, in particular, to support the in-school leadership team in the school and will continue to work with the Department of Education and Youth and the NCSE to consider what additional supports may be necessary to support the school.

“Cork Education and Training Board does not comment on individual school matters or incidents involving students or staff. Due to the sensitive nature of the situation, and out of respect for the privacy and well-being of those involved, we will not be providing further details at this time.”

The school is expected to reopen on Monday, March 9.

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