“It is a vocation. It has to be” – Castlebar school staff speak out

“We’re going to fight it. This is only the start of it”


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Edwin McGreal

When you listen to Teresa Lydon, Karen McGuire and Teresa Varley talk about their roles as Special Needs Assistants at St Anthony’s Special School in Castlebar, you can’t but notice the passion in their voices.
They feel their roles are hugely important and are struggling to comprehend how a proposal to cut four from their number of 13 could be sanctioned.
“It was a very raw feeling when we heard the news,” Karen McGuire told The Mayo News. “We were numb and shocked and very emotional.”
The SNAs clearly feel very strongly about their roles in St Anthony’s and are angry that they are being told that nearly a third of them are surplus to requirements.
“It is a vocation. It has to be,” Teresa Lydon from Kiltimagh explains. “You have to love them as if they are your own. And we do. The work is very demanding but we love the job that we’re at. It is very rewarding. You know when you go out that door at the end of the day that you’ve made a difference.”
“To have done it in the short time that they did angers us,“ continues Teresa Varley. “They should have sat with the children and looked at their needs on a daily basis. I think their minds were made up before they came. They knew what cuts they had to make and the inspection was a cosmetic exercise.”
But if one thing was apparent from the public meeting, which saw the school mobilise incredibly well in less than 48 hours, it is that St Anthony’s are not going to go down without a fight.
“But we are saying no, firmly, said Karen McGuire. “We’re going to fight it. This is only the start of it, Batt O’Keeffe doesn’t know what is going to hit him.”

MEANWHILE Geraldine Hastings, whose daughter Louise is a student at the school, outlined how important the role of Louise’s SNA is.
“Louise has no spatial awareness or sense of danger,” Ms Hastings told The Mayo News. “She can have a seizure without warning. Her assistant, Rosemary, needs to be with her at all times. A psychological assessment reported that she needs one to one care. Rosemary is like a big sister to Louise, like her guardian angel.”
However Ms Hastings is concerned that planned cuts will compromise the care Louise has been receiving.
“St Anthony’s is a lovely school, it is a warm, friendly and caring environment. All the students and parents want is to be treated with respect and dignity. Up to now I felt safe and secure that Louise was in a perfectly safe environment. Now I’m living on my nerves.
“What seems to be suggested is that Louise and a girl in her class, who is non-verbal, share the same SNA. They have completely different needs and their care would be completely compromised.
“At the moment Louise can do activities she loves like cooking and bowling. But without one-to-one care she won’t be able to do any of these. Do they want St Anthony’s to just become a babysitting service? Where staff just keep an eye on the students and don’t do any of the things that can give them a real sense of fulfillment?”
And while Geraldine Hastings concern is for her daughter there is no doubt that Geraldine, who cares for her daughter full-time, is burdened personally by the planned cutbacks.
“I’m a teacher but I am unable to work because I live my life around Louise. We don’t know when she is going to have a seizure. She has about four to five a month. When Louise is at school, those few hours are my respite. I can meet someone or go for a walk but I won’t have peace of mind unless I know my daughter is having a good time and not just sitting in the classroom all the time, which could well be the case with these cutbacks.”