Glenveagh parents offer to help so strike-hit school can reopen

Unite workers protest outside Glenveagh School in south Belfast

Some parents have asked for their children to be allowed to go into a special school closed by strike action next week.

The parents said they would be willing to attend Glenveagh School in south Belfast with their children if necessary.

Classroom assistants at the school are among Unite members in Northern Ireland on strike over a pay dispute.

As a result, pupils haven't been taught in school since before Easter.

The school in south Belfast educates many pupils with profound Special Educational Needs (SEN) and is the only one of 39 special schools which pupils cannot attend during the strike.

However, the Education Authority (EA) said pupils at one other special school - Rossmar in Limavady - are due to attend on a rotational basis during the strike action.

Industrial action by Unite members is due to continue in most councils, the Housing Executive and the EA until Monday 9 May.

The union also staged a week-long walk out in March.

'Denied access to education'

A number of parents have now written to the Glenveagh school principal and board of governors to urge them to allow children into school next week - even on a part-time or rotational basis.

BBC News NI has seen a number of the letters sent by parents.

They point out that their children are being denied access to an education, contrary to Article 16 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Order (2005).

That states that disabled pupils should not be "placed at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with pupils who are not disabled".

• Pupils at special school to stay home during strike

The parents also wrote that remote learning is not suitable for their children and they miss the interaction with other pupils and staff.

The parents go on to ask the school to bring the children in even on a "rotational" or part-time basis next week.

"This would be of great benefit to the children and better use of time than watching videos," the letters state.

Some have offered to attend school with their children so that they can get some face-to-face teaching.

Anne Gribbin, whose 16-year-old daughter Aoife has a condition called Angelman Syndrome, is among the parents who have offered to help staff in the school.

She told BBC News NI, the situation has left her child feeling "very confused".

"It's not just school for Aoife, this is her whole social life," Ms Gribbin said.

"It's her friends, it's her routine, all of her therapies - her speech therapy, physio therapy and her music therapy, which she absolutely loves.

"It is her legal right to be at school...if my son's school closed I would do the same."

EA being held to ransom

Ms Gribbin said she is "terrified" in case the union Unite decides to push the school closure as far as June, after seeing how lockdown affected Aoife.

"We watched her slowly decline over lockdown over the six or seven months she was off school, and she did decline, she regressed," she said.

"I cant have that happening again and I'm sure other parents in the school feel the same way."

She has also accused Unite of "using" the pupils for their own gains.

"I think it's despicable that they would do that to these children," Ms Gribbin said.

"I think they are holding the EA to ransom by using special needs children - which is deplorable.

"If Aoife continues to be off school until June it's unthinkable for her. We will manage, we will make sure of it but I cant explain to her what is happening."

Anne Gribbin and Claire McLean say not being able to go to school is having a big impact on their children

Another parent, Clare McLean, spoke to BBC Newsline on Tuesday about how the school's closure had affected her 12-year-old daughter, Katie.

Katie has the same condition as Aoife.

"Katie is completely non-verbal - she has very poor mobility, she has seizures, she has poor sleep and she really needs school," Ms McLean said.

"She opened her school bag the other day and brought me her school jumper and that's her way of saying why aren't I at school?

"We can't explain to her what's going on, we can't explain to her why she's not there."

Claire and her daughter Katie

On Friday, the EA's assistant director of HR Robbie McGreevy said the authority had again asked Unite to exempt staff supporting special schools from strike action after previous requests had been turned down.

"Whilst the EA fully respects the right of staff to take industrial action, we also very much recognise the significant impact any reduction or change to learning patterns can have on children and young people, particularly those with special educational needs," he said.

"We are working very hard to implement a range of contingency measures to minimise disruption as much as possible during this time."

Mr McGreevy also said the EA could not renegotiate a local government pay deal for 2021/22 which has been agreed with other trade unions across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Unite, however, said employers like the EA could "develop local formulas that would allow an offer above the present 1.75%".

The union said employers could adopt local agreements on things like holiday pay, overtime rates and shift work, for example.

"Movement on any combination of these aspects could open the door to resolve this dispute," the union said.