School social workers make 'huge difference' for pupils

"Since Covid in particular, parents are looking to the school for things beyond teaching and learning."

Fiona Cromie is the principal of Abbey Community College in Antrim, one of eight post-primary schools across NI that employ a social worker.

Holy Trinity College in Cookstown is another.

Its social worker Clare O'Loan told BBC News NI she meets "the pupils on a one-to-one basis to address some of the concerns or the issues they're having".

She has a lot of contact with parents, families and teachers in the school.

"We're trying to create an environment where the children are supported as much as possible so they can learn."

Ms O'Loan said the support she offered to pupils, staff and families could be wide-ranging.

"Some of the practical work I would do with families, for instance, would be linking them to external agencies that offer support," she said.

"I meet with parents and I can go out and do home visits to maybe give parents a bit of support.

"I also have a lot of one-to-one, face-to-face work with children, so that can be coming down with issues around their attendance at school or maybe problems they're having at home and how we can help to resolve that."

Ms O'Loan previously worked in family and child care services in Armagh and Dungannon.

Holy Trinity's principal Isabel Russell said that Ms O'Loan was "a go-between between the school and the home," especially for pupils suffering from anxiety which was affecting their attendance at school.

Families of pupils can also come into the school to meet Ms O'Loan.

"They will help to try and put that support in place for the child, who is the most important person in all of this," Ms Russell said.

"It's getting them into school because the long-term goal is that you want their academic achievement to be good and that they will have good prospects down the line.

"We now have this additional person on board to help the pastoral welfare of the children and their emotional wellbeing," she added.

With tight school budgets, Holy Trinity had to seek its own funding through a grant from Community Foundation Northern Ireland and the Seamus McAleer fund to pay for a social worker.

The Northern Ireland Social Care Council has launched new guidance for schools and other employers on employing a social worker.

Some families can reach crisis point before they contact social services, but having a social worker in their child's school can help them to get support earlier.

Dylan Sloan is the social worker in Abbey Community College.

"People don't have to wait," he said.

"There are no waiting lists to come in and speak to somebody in school the way you're seeing in external services such as the GPs, food banks.

"For example, with poverty I can access the food banks and provide hampers to those families in need.

"There is a level of need that's being placed at the school's door."

Mr Sloan added that those face-to-face interactions with parents, carers and members of the community help pupils deal with their situations.

Fiona Cromie of Abbey Community College said that having Mr Sloan on the staff made a real difference for pupils.

"The school is very busy, and teaching staff don't always have time to spend with a young person who maybe has a need during the school day," she said.

"He does a lot of signposting to services and he is able to advise us in school in terms of what interventions may be required in order to support a pupil.

"There may be lot of families already involved with statutory services, but as we know those resources are becoming more and more limited.

"A family may have been identified as needing family support, but the waiting lists for that are quite long - Dylan can give the families the support that they need."