Emergency teaching cover appeal by NI special schools

It has been warned that schools are facing a "perfect storm"

Substitute teachers have been asked to provide emergency cover in special schools due to a staffing crisis.

The appeal was made in an email from the Northern Ireland Substitute Teacher Register (NISTR).

One principal of a special school said a "perfect storm" of staff absences meant it had to close early for half-term.

Some special schools have had to cancel classes and ask pupils to stay at home at short notice due to lack of staff.

The Education Authority (EA) said special schools were facing "increased challenges in sourcing and recruiting staff".

NISTR is a database of all substitute teachers in Northern Ireland, which schools use to book staff to cover teaching absences.

An email to substitute teachers from NISTR earlier this week - obtained by BBC News NI - said there was "currently a very high demand for qualified teachers to provide emergency cover in special schools".

"If you have experience of working with pupils with complex needs OR have an interest in gaining experience in this area AND you have some immediate availability (ie in the next few weeks/months), we would like to hear from you," it said.

"We would also ask substitute teachers who remain registered but have not been actively working at this time to respond if willing to provide short-term emergency support to special schools."

Early closure

The email asked teachers to contact the emergency resourcing team at the Education Authority (EA) if they were available.

Arvalee Special School in Omagh, County Tyrone, closed for the half-term break on Wednesday, two days earlier than planned.

Clifton Special School in Bangor, County Down, also told parents in a letter on 11 October that the school was experiencing "high levels of staff absence due to a number of reasons: sick leave, bereavement, vacancies arising from late confirmation of staffing allocations, injury at work and Covid-related matters".

"Until these staff recruitment issues are resolved, it will unfortunately be necessary to close some classes," said the letter.

Jonathan Gray said on some days almost half of the school's staff had been off

The principal of Arvalee Special School, Jonathan Gray, told BBC News NI he was devastated that the school had to close early for half-term.

"We've stayed open for our pupils through two lockdowns and were open for them over some of the summer," he said.

"We have over 80 staff and on some days recently, almost half have been out of school.

"It's not just our teachers, our classroom assistants are also vital.

"We need staff who are trained to work in a special school, who can provide intimate care to a child if it's needed or who can recognise when a child might need medical help.

"I'm standing here in the school and there should be children here too.

"It's more than Covid, it's things like other staff sickness and reasons for absence but it's created a perfect storm."

'Huge impact'

Claire Smyth said her son Daniel, who has learning difficulties, accesses "all his main therapies in school", including physiotherapy and speech and language therapy.

However, on a number of days recently he has been informed he cannot go to his school, because it does not have enough staff.

"It has a huge impact on Daniel, we can see that his behaviour starts to worsen, he is very upset, difficult to settle at home," Ms Smyth told BBC Newsline.

"That poses huge challenges for us in terms of being able to continue to work and also to meet Daniel's needs at home."

Claire Smyth said her son Daniel accessed a number of therapies through his school

One parent of a special school pupil told BBC News NI her son had been told to stay at home for more than a week this term due to school staff shortages.

"We don't know each day if he'll be going in the next," she said.

"I struggle to understand why a longer term plan can't be put in place.

"There's also always an underlying feeling that this simply would not be tolerated in mainstream schools.

"Time and time again, we're told all schools are facing a similar situation - but on the ground we've yet to hear of any other children not being able to go to school because their school doesn't have enough staff."

In a statement, a spokesperson for the EA said "special schools are currently facing increased challenges in sourcing and recruiting staff".

"The limited availability of substitute teaching and non-teaching staff has, in some cases, resulted in a number of class closures," they said.

"Any decision to close a class is a difficult one for schools but it is done in an attempt to mitigate risk."

"EA recognises the difficulty for schools and families in this situation and has taken a range of measures to address the staffing deficit."

Justin McCamphill, from NASUWT, said younger teachers were being attracted to other jobs with better salaries

But Justin McCamphill, national official of the teaching union NASUWT, said it was not only special schools that were affected by staff shortages.

"We are receiving regular reports from principals that they cannot get substitute teacher cover for absent teachers," he said.

"The main factors are increased demand due to Covid absence, older teachers not wanting to return to the workplace due to fear of catching Covid, but increasingly the reason is that younger teachers are being attracted by secure jobs with better salaries elsewhere."

"The minister of education needs to get a handle on this situation to ensure that the education system can continue to function."

National Association of Head Teachers NI President Graham Gault said he had been warning of a staffing crisis for some time.

"We predicted a perfect storm of circumstances that would come together to contribute to the serious difficulties that our schools are now facing: staff illness or isolation compounded by other factors, including the unavailability of substitute teachers," he said.

"Special schools will be the first affected, given the very limited numbers of specialist staff available to meet the needs of the children.

"The problem will, however, impact all schools."