Presbyterian Moderator praises Special Educational Needs at Kilronan Special School in Magherafelt

During a visit to Kilronan School in Magherafelt, Dr Murray also welcomed the promises made in the recent Programme for Government with regards to SEN, the Moderator said, however, that the commitments made needed to be more than aspirational.

Dr Murray was visiting the school as part of his recent week long tour of PCI’s Presbytery of Tyrone, one of the Church’s 19 regional bodies. Having already visited Harberton Special School in South Belfast, Roddensvale in Larne, and Castle Tower in Ballymena, his visit to a Kilronan was his fourth visit to a special school since becoming Moderator in June last year.

He also visited a collaborative project that the school runs in partnership with First Magherafelt Presbyterian Church for a group of its school leaver pupils.

Welcomed by principal, Mrs Sharlene Deehan, she said that the school provides a learning environment where children and young people from three to nineteen can ‘Learn, Grow and Achieve Together,’ which is at the heart of the school’s mission. Dr Murray toured the school with Rev Jonathan Curry, minister of First Magherafelt, meeting staff and pupils.

Talking about his visit to Kilronan, and SEN sector in general, Dr Murray said, “I really appreciated the opportunity to visit the school and found a really warm and welcoming atmosphere where the staff team are clearly passionate about providing the best educational opportunities for their children and young people, and care deeply for them.

“Having visited a number of Special Schools on my Presbytery Tours, I have found this same passion and commitment in teaching children and young people with diverse, complex and often challenging special educational needs. I cannot praise them more highly as they work with parents to provide the best learning opportunities to meet their children’s needs, abilities and potential, in a system that is obviously stretched.”

The Moderator continued, “Talking to Mrs Deehan, and other SEN principals, I have become very much aware of the ‘cliff-edge’ that young people with additional needs face when they leave fulltime education at 19. This is why the relationship with First Magherafelt and the Café Revive initiative is so important. But it is just one option out of too few for those in the runup to leaving school.”

Talking about the promised reform of SEN provision in The Executive Office’s recently published Programme for Government, and the accompanying Special Education Needs Reform Agenda and Delivery Plan 2025-2030, Dr Murray said, “While we welcome the commitment to having an agreed SEN Agenda and Delivery Plan in place by the end of 2027, at this stage these goals, while necessary, feel ambitions.

“Having said that, along with parents and teachers, I look forward to seeing the improved outcomes promised for the children and young people who will ultimately benefit from the reforms, especially the cross departmental commitments to ensure further training, education, or employment, at post 16 and post 19. The first duty of government is to protect and support the most vulnerable in society, I think everyone involved will be ‘watching this space.’”