Education Minister, Caitríona Ruane, has agreed to the proposal to close the Lindsay Hospital School, at Forster Green Hospital, on 31 August 2007.
The closure will facilitate the development of a new purpose built Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Centre at the site, which will include a new learning support unit to replace the Lindsay School. The new unit will be operational from 2009.
In agreeing the proposal, Caitríona Ruane commented: “The new facility will cater for the education of children and young people between 5 and 18 years old who have mental health problems. It will embrace a revised educational model that is more flexible and less academically focused, which is better tailored to the assessed health and attendant educational needs of the child or young person.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- The Lindsay School caters for the needs of pupils in the age range 5 to 14 years, with a variety of emotional or behavioural problems who are patients at the Child and Family Centre situated in the grounds of Forster Green Hospital, Belfast. The October 2006 enrolment was seven.
- The proposal to close the Lindsay School was brought forward by the South Eastern Education and Library Board (SEELB).
- New accommodation will be provided to replace the Lindsay School and will form part of the new Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Centre, being developed by the Belfast Trust on the Forster Green site. The new educational provision will cater for children and young people in the age range 5 to 18 years old providing places for up to 15 in-patients and 10 day-patients.
- Development of the new accommodation will be funded by the Health Service and the new facility is expected to be operational by 2009.
- Continuity of provision when the Lindsay School closes will be maintained and the SEELB will make alternative educational provision for children who are in-patients. The new provision will operate as part of the Board’s Special Education Service, with a management committee, which will include representatives from the Health Trust.
- Whilst refurbishment is undertaken on the Forster Green site, arrangements have been made to relocate the existing provision to suitable alternative premises at Minnowburn House on the Milltown Road, Belfast.
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