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School at NRH

Located on the NRH Campus, Our Lady of Lourdes School a service provided and funded by the Department of Education and Science (DES) to cater for the educational needs of students attending the National Rehabilitation Hospital.  It is controlled and governed by the School Board of Management under the patronage of the Archbishop of Dublin. The School is held accountable and is evaluated regularly by the DES inspectorate and the Whole School Evaluation process.

Service Provision

• The school provides an educational service for students attending the National Rehabilitation Hospital, ranging in age from four to eighteen years. On initial enrolment each student is assessed with a view to drawing up an education programme tailored to meet the student’s abilities and needs.
• Contact is made with students’ local schools so that where possible continuity of school programme is maintained.
• For primary school children we aim to deliver the current primary school curriculum, adapted in many cases to meet individual needs.
• At secondary level where the curriculum is subject based, we strive to provide a broad range of subjects at the level appropriate to the student.
• Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate Examination centres are provided in NRH during the month of June to facilitate students resident in NRH at examination time.
• On students’ discharge, we co-operate with the relevant programmes in the National Rehabilitation Hospital in seeking an appropriate school placement for each student.
• We provide an Outreach Service which offers support to enable them provide an appropriate education to students who have Acquired Brain Injury.

Outreach Service

On discharge from rehabilitation the prospect of returning to school can be a daunting one not only for the young person who has sustained a Brain Injury but also for the school to which the student is returning.  With the support of the Department of Education and Science, the school in NRH provides an Outreach Programme which offers support to schools where students who have Acquired Brain Injury return following their period of rehabilitation.

Intervention by the Outreach Service takes many forms, for example:

• School visits
• Community / multidisciplinary meetings
• Video-link with schools and community
• Telephone link
• Written response / reports
• Meetings with Special Education Needs Organisers (SENO)
• Training for class teachers and resource teachers
• Training for Special Needs Assistants (SNA) both in school and in the National Rehabilitation Hospital with multidisciplinary input
• Video, DVD and printed information on Acquired Brain Injury is supplied to schools

The Outreach Programme also participated in meetings with parents and students to prepare for return to school. Many of the meetings also had input from team members of the NRH rehabilitation programmes. Parents report greater satisfaction with the schools to which their children return and are more involved in school life in partnership with the teachers. Schools now promptly report any difficulties experienced and look for advice and support and this can be quickly provided by multidisciplinary teams from NRH.

Meetings With Other Schools

In-school meetings are held which are attended by Principal teachers, Class teachers, Resource and Learning Support teachers, Special Needs Assistants, Community medical and Paramedical staff, Psychologists, SENO’s and multidisciplinary personnel from NRH.

Dun Laoghaire VEC supply an Art teacher and a Computer skills teacher for one session weekly for our students.

Contact Number for the School at NRH: 01 235 5225