Mary is 15 years old and suffers from Down Syndrome. At 12 years of age, she lacked many of the skills shared by her peers. Today Mary uses public transport unsupervised, buys her own food from her favourite outlet, handles money and loose change, cooks, and has a circle of friends.

This is only one of the many success stories that Maria Assumpta School in Hamrun can boast of. Through its Inclusive Education Programme, sponsored by the HSBC Cares For Children Fund (HCCF), a number of students with special needs are benefiting from a customised educational programme that pivots around their individual needs and abilities.

It was clear that Mary had no post-secondary career prospects, but other aptitudes were identified by her facilitator. So, instead, last year she participated in the Special Olympics held in Rome, winning a much-coveted bronze medal. She is now all set and excited about the next edition of the Olympics to be held in China in September.

What started as a three-year pilot project, with the support of HSBC, is now a fully-fledged programme which has been extended for a further three years with a second grant from HCCF of Lm3,000.

Tailor-made to

individual needs

“Families tend to over-protect their children. But while fully understanding their natural concerns, we are adamant to provide children with precisely those skills that make them grow into independent individuals,” said Ray Vella, head of school at Maria Assumpta.

The Inclusive Education Programme is being run in collaboration with the National Commission for Persons with Disability (KNPD), coordinated by Anne Marie Callus on behalf of KNPD and by Ms Jane Micallef on behalf of the school. It is based entirely on the individual needs and aptitudes of students, and aims at personal growth and the attainment of life skills.

The programme identifies areas of development for each student, and sets goals tailor-made for them. Needs assessments and “mapping sessions” are held on a regular basis. These ensure that targets are re-visited if the need arises. Students get a mixture of mainstream lessons, together with a number of one-to-one sessions. Specific lessons which are deemed irrelevant to the student’s future are replaced with tailor-made skills sessions. This is called “withdrawal teaching” and is negotiated with the parents.

The HCCF funds go towards employing a school coordinator, providing in-service courses for the already-qualified facilitators, literature, and a large number of work resources such as visual magnifying aids, classroom tools, special computer software and individual aids.

The programme benefits from important links such as the University of Malta, Leicester University and Razzett tal-Hbiberija, which make professional contributions and give updates of news and developments in the sector. The programme has the support of all parties involved, where facilitators work hand in hand with parents, teachers, guidance teachers, link persons outside the school, and social workers.

The programme currently services 11 to 14 students. However the school’s ethos is to attempt to include in the programme all those students who have special needs, as far as resources allow.

Facilitators follow their students throughout the day with great commitment, making sure they are not isolated.

The facilitator is very much part and parcel of school life, liaising effectively with class teachers, helping out in difficult class situations and forming an integral part of class dynamics and strategies without being invasive.

In the meantime, facilitators make sure their students learn how to go about on their own, the value of money, and how to make choices. This ensures that students gain the necessary life skills to attain a basic level of independence, and gain their own fulfilment while relieving some of the strain that their families experience daily.

An environment

of inclusion

Inclusion at the school is subtle. Much care is taken not to make students conspicuous and that no spotlights are thrown on these students. “Our experience of inclusion is very heartening. All our students in the programme have a circle of friends and are well taken care of by their peers. For example, the school does not make use of any special transport arrangements for the students because fellow students take care of their peers, providing an informal and subtle supervision in a natural environment.”

The school’s Inclusive Education Programme also benefits the so-called “mainstream” cohort, where students are exposed to different life experiences and situations, and learn solid values for life.

“This programme is very much at heart for us. It is human, it has a face and a personality, and with each success story, we get an additional spurt of motivation which keeps us going,” continued Mr Vella.

“The programme gave tangible results from the very beginning, and it gives us all intrinsic satisfaction, as we all build on our successes together,” he added.

“We have had two visually-impaired students who experienced great difficulties before the programme. We are proud to say that they are now both at Higher Secondary continuing with their studies,” said Mary Zahra, facilitator at Maria Assumpta.

“Before starting the programme, Doreen, an autistic 12-year-old, was an isolated girl who lived in a world of her own. She did not have a social persona.

“However she was very good at maths, physics and played the piano like a virtuoso.

“Today, Doreen takes part in each prize day and in a host of other events outside the school.

“She has learnt to smile and to take a joke, something she was previously not capable of.

“She has opened up to a set of close friends and with the help of her facilitator, has integrated with other teenagers as much as is possible for her to do,” said Helen Bezzina, a teacher at Maria Assumpta.

“We started with a simple dream – that of helping and of giving a service.

“We did not know where this vision would take us.

“Three years on, we know where we are at and what we have achieved.

“We have the aspiration to continue learning from other success stories, and to share our experiences with other schools interested in similar projects,” said Ray Vella.

“HCCF’s contribution over the years has been very significant, giving us the impetus to work at what we believe in, with added fervour,” he added.

The names of students are fictitious