The controversial closure of the Woodlands Speech and Language Unit at Belmont House School in Derry is to be put back by a year, Education Minister John O’Dowd has announced.
There has been outage in a number of quarters since Mr O’Dowd announced last month that the specialised unit was to close as a result of an amalgamation with Foyleview School in a project costing in the region of £7.5 million.
A protest rally against the closure will take place in Guildhall Square at 1.00pm on Saturday week, 19 October.
Mr O’Dowd was speaking during Education Question Time in the Assembly in response to a question by Derry SDLP MLA who questioned the “rationale” behind the proposals.
However, in announcing the postponement, the Minister defended his decision to close Belmont House School.
He said: “It is evident that the Woodlands facility has served children well. However the Speech and Language provision that Woodlands Special Unit provides was delivered under the management of a special school and was not in line the policy of Inclusion as set out in legislation in the Education (NI) Order 1996.”
Mr O’Dowd said the new arrangements would provide increased and more localised provision for the future based on a tried and tested model which fully complied with the legislation.
He added: “I firmly believe that the key to success for the proposed changes will be a managed transition to the new arrangements to ensure that quality provision is in place before any change is put in place at Woodlands. That way parents can be confident and assured that their children will receive appropriate education to meet their needs.
“For that reason I modified the proposals for the new provision to commence from September 2014 rather than 2013. This will allow sufficient time to ensure all the necessary steps have been taken to get the new units up and running.
“Children currently enrolled at the Woodlands Unit will, if necessary and in line with parental wishes, be able to complete the two year period in the Unit. However, should any parent wish to avail of a place in the new units before the two year period is over, then I have asked the WELB to give these children priority when allocating places in the new units.
Mr O’Dowd said the new arrangements would provide increased contact with and support for mainstream teachers in the three primary schools – Ebrington, St Anne’s and Ballykelly.
He concluded: “This has not been an easy decision, however I believe it is in the best interest of children who will need this service in the future.”
