The girl had last been assessed when she joined the school at the age of eight. Now, at 18, she badly needed an assessment before she could move into adult education.

For the staff of Scoil Chiarain, this is a regular issue. Every year they battle to have as many students assessed as possible. Every year, just six or seven pupils get seen. That's over the quota that the school has been allocated, but it doesn't even begin to cover the needs of the 143 pupils with learning disabilities.

"When the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) was set up with their five-year plan to roll out a dedicated psychological assessment nationwide, we were very excited, " said Monaghan, the school's principal.

"Our health board services were withdrawn because it was thought that NEPS would be looking after our needs. But then it emerged that NEPS would not be covering special schools and we were left with nothing. It was a disaster."

Instead, Scoil Chiarain has had to commission psychologists to assess their pupils. Assessment is extremely important for the pupils who all have a learning disability and ideally need to be assessed every two years so their teachers know how they are progressing and whether they are getting the right level of education.

But because of the embargo on how many students can be assessed every year, the majority of students are only getting assessed when they are moving into adult education . . . something they can't do unless they've had an assessment.

"There are 31 schools like ours around the country and every year it's getting worse, " said Monaghan. "Our pupils are aged between five and 18 and so much can change in that length of time. But because we can only get the very worst cases assessed, we can't find out if most of the pupils are progressing as they should be and if this is still the best place for them. Instead, we're left looking at three-, five- and sixyear-old reports knowing that they do not reflect the needs of this child anymore. It's very frustrating."

Most people agree that while the NEPS service is excellent, there just isn't enough of it to go around.

Scoil Chiarain currently has a waiting list of 86 pupils, with just 14 places to offer each year.

"In mainstream education, there are children waiting years to be assessed to get in here, " Monaghan said. "Even with an assessment, they're not guaranteed a place. We simply cannot keep up with the demand."

Twelve students will be leaving Scoil Chiarain this year. All will need assessments, but only six or seven pupils in the entire school will receive one.

"We're caught in a bind, " said Monaghan. "Once again we have to explain to parents why their children can't be treated. It's no way to run a school."