Castle Tower School, Ballymena
During an adjournment debate in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Timothy Gaston, TUV MLA for North Antrim, highlighted the pressing need for expansion at Castle Tower School, a specialist educational facility in Ballymena.
Gaston began by acknowledging Ulster Unionist MLA Colin Crawford for securing the debate and praised his commitment to special needs education, reflecting on Crawford's previous voluntary work.
Castle Tower School, which moved to its new facility in 2018 following a significant £21 million investment, is currently facing space constraints.
Despite its modern facilities spread over 13 acres, the school has reached its capacity, forced to operate across two sites due to the high demand for special educational needs (SEN) services.
"The issue facing the school is its extremely limited options for expansion," Gaston remarked. He pointed out that with class sizes already small for the benefit of specialised education, the school has had to turn away children in need due to lack of space.
The MLA commended Councillor Matthew Armstrong from Mid and East Antrim Borough Council for his efforts in addressing Castle Tower's expansion issues.
Armstrong had previously facilitated a meeting involving the school, the Department, and the council, aiming to explore creative solutions. However, Gaston criticised the Department's bureaucratic approach, stating, "to say that the Department loves wallowing in red tape would be an understatement."
Gaston proposed a potential solution to the space problem by suggesting the relocation of Ballymena Nursery School to a new facility, thereby freeing up the current nursery school's site for Castle Tower to expand.
"There is one thing that I will say about Castle Tower School. There is an option available to take over the old but dilapidated Ballymena Nursery School building," Gaston suggested.
He urged the Education Minister to directly engage with Castle Tower School to explore feasible options that could meet the growing demand for specialised education in the region.
Gaston's intervention in the Assembly underscores a broader issue of insufficient facilities for special educational needs across Northern Ireland, calling for not just incremental changes but substantial, forward-thinking solutions from the Department of Education.
The debate reflects ongoing concerns about the adequacy of SEN provision and the need for strategic planning to accommodate the increasing number of children requiring such services in North Antrim and beyond.