‘There can be violent outbursts or total apathy’: Principals call for counselling supports at primary level

Primary school, says principal Róisín Hickey, is supposed to be a haven where children can play, learn and have fun with their friends. Increasingly, for a significant cohort of pupils, it can be a very different experience.

“You’re in a cycle of trying to educate a child who isn’t available for education – and there are so many of them,” says Hickey, who has been principal of Our Lady of Victories Boys’ National School in Ballymun, Dublin, for three years.

“Fundamentally, I’d define it as an absence of success … you see everything from violent outbursts to total apathy, zoning out or opting out. It can present in so many different ways.”

More children than ever, she says, are struggling with psychological problems which may be linked to issues such as trauma, family instability, the threat of homelessness or post-pandemic anxiety.

Her school isn’t alone. A recent survey of 19 schools in the Ballymun and Finglas areas – which include some of the most disadvantaged areas in the State – found that almost 20 per cent of children were estimated to be in need of therapy or specialist emotional counselling to deal with significant trauma or adverse childhood experiences.

Among the issues flagged by school principals among pupils in the survey include anxiety, refusal to attend school, low self-esteem, mistrust of adults, inability to regulate emotions, aggressive behaviour, depression and even self-harm and suicidal ideation.

The findings come at a time when the Government is piloting school-based counsellors and psychotherapists across a number of schools.

The development comes in response to rising rates of anxiety among pupils and evidence from other jurisdictions that are providing these services.

[ Almost 50% of pupils in 17 Deis schools experienced major personal trauma ]

Two very different approaches are being piloted. One involves one-to-one counselling to support a small number of primary school pupils in counties Cavan, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan and Tipperary. The other involves providing more general support and wellbeing programmes in clusters of schools in the Cork, Dublin and Carlow areas.

Paul Downes, a professor of psychology of education and director of DCU’s Educational Disadvantage Centre, says generalised wellbeing programmes are not sufficient to support vulnerable children who have suffered trauma and adverse childhood experiences.

“Generic, non-specialist supports rather than specialised one-to-one counsellors/therapists in schools is frankly a slap in the face to younger generations,” he says.

While some schools in the primary pilot will have access to one-to-one counselling, Downes says this is subject to an “indefensible restriction” of six counselling sessions per child. This, he maintains, shows little understanding of the time needed to build up relations of trust with children.

Hickey says she has seen first-hand the benefits of one-to-one counselling over a longer period.

As part of the Young Ballymun initiative, a pioneering early intervention programme funded by the Department of Children, seven full-time therapists are shared among 11 primary schools.

At Our Lady of Victories, it means there is access to a therapist one day a week. Individual students who are referred for therapy get anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour of one-on-one counselling each week. The child’s family is also involved.

Counselling can take place for as long as it is needed – sometimes a year or a year and a half. A formal evaluation is due soon, but Hickey says the results have been phenomenal.

Individually, she sees pupils who are sleeping better, more at ease with themselves and better able to handle their emotions. It is also transforming the atmosphere in the wider classroom.

“It’s like dropping food dye into a bath – the benefits wash over all the class,” she says. “If you have one child who is very difficult and likely to explode or have a strong response, then all the others are on edge. They’re afraid someone will blow … but, with the benefits of therapy, they’re no longer hypervigilant. They’re calmer, happier and more available to learn.”

There was a time, Hickey says, when she worried about taking classes out on tours due to behaviour issues. That’s not so much of a concern any more.

“You’d be worried about the boys kicking off, would they be able to line up and get on and off the bus … it’s definitely improving. In general, everyone is getting on an awful lot better.”