Autistic pupils can stay at north Belfast school

Two autistic pupils who were due to leave a Belfast school next week can continue their education after fearing they had nowhere to go in September.

The Education Authority (EA) has made provision for Devin North and Oisin Cosgrove to remain at Cedar Lodge for another year.

An EA role, which could have helped them, has been vacant since March 2020.

Heather North said her son Devin's mental health was suffering due to the uncertainty.

The 16-year-old had been due to leave Cedar Lodge, in north Belfast, on 18 June.

Speaking before the new provision, Ms North explained: "On that day, he's meant to give a presentation, on where he's going to and what he'll be doing, to his peers.

"He has nothing to say."

Ms North said she felt Devin's anxiety was "starting to ratchet up".

"I can see his mood becoming a lot less stable. I can see his mental health suffering.

"His self-image is dropping significantly due to all the uncertainty, and this has been going on since January so it's been six months of people saying we don't know."

Devin is academically capable and was in a mainstream primary school, but Heather said he had suffered from anxiety and bullying there.

"We moved to Cedar Lodge for his first year of post-primary and Cedar Lodge was good because it did mainstream education but in an environment for children with Devin's issues," she said.

She said Devin had been happy there and there had been no bullying.

But, as Devin is almost 17, he was due to move on from Cedar Lodge - which does not offer post-16 provision - and neither he nor Heather had any idea where he could have continued his education.

"He's been turned down by one mainstream school," she said.

She said Devin had been left "high and dry".

There are two education transition co-ordinator posts in the Education Authority (EA) for the Belfast area, but one has been vacant since March 2020.

The transition co-ordinator is meant to help young people with special educational needs (SEN) and their parents plan their future in education or training.

A spokesperson for the EA confirmed that "one of two posts of education transition co-ordinator for the Belfast area has been vacant since March 2020".

"This post has been filled on a temporary basis, pending external recruitment.

"In addition to the temporary recruitment, the transition coordinator for south and east Belfast and the senior adviser for the Belfast area have also been available to support schools."

However, Jackie Cosgrove's autistic son Oisin, who was also about to leave Cedar Lodge, did not know if he could continue his education either.

Like Devin, Oisin moved to Cedar Lodge after being in a mainstream primary school which was unsuitable for him.

"He's quite academically capable, he's bright, he's articulate, he's got a cracking sense of humour. He's really droll," Jackie said.

"He's a great kid and he deserves every chance he can get but we have to fight for it."

"These kids are caught between a rock and a hard place.

"Our kids want to go on to further education."

Jackie Cosgrove said about five other young people at Cedar Lodge were in the same position as Oisin and Devin, and she criticised communication from the EA.

"It's soul-destroying," she said. "These kids are very bright and they're left sitting there going 'what's the point?' and that's not fair.

"It's eroded their self-confidence and belief in themselves.

"The EA have a duty of care to provide him with an education."