Rationale

 The Rutland National School Care Team Policy aims to provide a co-ordinated approach to caring for the children in the school. This policy sets out the rationale for holding care team meetings, the procedures for such meetings and reasons for referral of children. Weekly care team meetings are held to ascertain if there are any concerns about children in a particular class.

Objectives

  • To provide an integrated whole school and community approach to meeting the needs of the children identified as being at risk
  • To share relevant information about children between the principal, HSCL, class teachers and resource teachers/SNAs
  • To discuss children who have been identified as requiring extra targeted supports /children who are on the school alert list/ on the School Completion Programme target list
  • To decide interventions and measures to support these children in particular and to support their parents and teachers where possible

Structure of Care Team meetings

  • At the beginning of each school year the HSCL co-ordinator, principal and deputy principal meet to review the previous year’s care team and set out a timetable of meetings for the term ahead. Each class will receive one care team meeting per term and at the end of the 8 weeks the HSCL, principal & deputy will meet to review the needs of the children and interventions put in place
  • The Home School Liaison co-ordinator will organise the timetable on a termly basis and remind the relevant teachers and teachers covering classes on a weekly basis

The Principal will also notify staff of these meetings via the staffroom noticeboard

  • Attending the weekly Care Team Meetings are the Principal, Niamh Murray, the HSCL co-ordinator, Emma Nugent, and the relevant class teacher. Supporting staff will attend on a rotational basis – in terms 1 and 3 a learning support/resource teacher working with the class will attend and in term 2, the SNA assigned to the class will attend for the child in question

Process

  • The Care Team will meet on Thursday mornings from 8.30 – 9.15am. A resource teacher will cover the class for the teacher attending the meeting.
  • The Home School Liaison Teacher will chair the meeting, beginning by reading the minutes of previous meeting for the class in question.
  • Concerns about the children are discussed by those attending the meeting.
  • Suggestions are made about possible interventions within the school by staff or referrals to outside agencies for the children. Suggestions are also made for supports which could be put in place for parents by the HSCL or outside agencies
  • Action plans for each target pupil (what action, by whom and when) will be recorded.
  • Children will be monitored on an on-going basis if necessary and supports and interventions provided will be reviewed

  Criteria for referral are non-exhaustive but include concerns about

  • Emotional wellbeing
  • Social skills and interaction
  • Poor and /or inconsistent attendance
  • Academic progress
  • Behavioural difficulties – eg. aggression/bullying
  • Neglect/hygiene issues
  • Isolated or withdrawn behaviours
  • Traumatic events which a child may experience
  • Family circumstances – eg. Parental addiction/mental ill health
  • Housing difficulties/homelessness

 The Care Team is not the only forum for referral in the school. Concerns about Child Protection are immediately reported to the principal, academic concerns to the deputy principal, who is the special educational needs co-ordinator and concerns about family circumstances to the principal and/or HSCL.

Outcomes:

  • Support may be provided for the child within the school from the Special Education Team
  • Referrals may be made to outside local agencies or statutory bodies by the HSCL co-ordinator or the school principal

Agencies to which referrals may be made include…

  • ASP / Adventure Sports Project
  • AESEP Sherriff St
  • Barnardos Bereavement Service
  • Belvedere Youth Project
  • CAMHS /Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
  • CASPr / Community After Schools Project
  • Child and Family Agency
  • Community Gardaí – Mountjoy Square
  • Crosscare
  • EWO/ Education Welfare Officer, TUSLA
  • Focus Ireland
  • Foundations Project
  • Jigsaw
  • NEPS / National Educational Psychological Services
  • NYP1 / Neighbour Youth Project 1 (children aged 8-11)
  • NYP2 / Neighbour Youth Project 2 (children aged 12+)
  • Ozanam House
  • Hill St. Family Resource Centre
  • National Education Welfare Board
  • The Talbot Centre
  • TUSLA / Child and Family Agency (Meitheal)
  • YPAR / Young People at Risk