Work underway at special learning facility

Work underway at special learning facility

14 January 2015

THE development of a new special school for young children is finally underway in Dundrum.

Contractors have moved on to the site of the former Downshire Primary School to develop the area’s first early years assessment unit for infants with severe special needs.

The new £2.1 million school will cater for up to 32 children from three to eight years old in four classrooms. It will become a junior feeder school for Knockevin Special School in Downpatrick, which will then become a dedicated senior school.

Knockevin principal, Mrs. Anne Cooper, who will be responsible for the split-campus facility, has been campaigning for the new unit for several years.

She said she was delighted with recent developments in the project following lengthy delays and was looking forward to the school being ready for its first intake within 12 months.

She said the new unit would help alleviate pressure on places at Knockevin, which is oversubscribed and currently caters for 96 pupils in Downpatrick in a building originally intended for 65. Some of this provision is from temporary mobile accommodation.

Mrs. Cooper said it was difficult to have to tell parents, many of whom use Knockevin’s mothers and tots group, that their children could not be accommodated at the school and said the new development in Dundrum should mean fewer children will have to be turned away.

“After such a long time we are delighted that this is coming to fruition,” she said.

“It will make a big difference by allowing us to provide additional resources that will help pupils and parents.

“It is exciting to get a new build. Early years intervention is so crucial that the sooner we can have pupils in our classrooms the better and the more impact we can have on their learning and progress.”

The development of the infant school is part of the Department of Education’s School Enhancement Programme, which will inject £134million into the refurbishment and extension of schools across Northern Ireland.