With a 37-year history of outstanding service to remedial education Flamboyant School in White River, Mpumalanga, has grown from strength to strength. We aspire to overcome barriers to learning and so enable each individual child to become a productive member of society.
Learning difficulties take on a variety of forms that do not affect a child’s basic intelligence, but may cause frustration, low self-esteem, emotional, social and behavioral disorders, and a great deal of heartache for parents, children and teachers.
Flamboyant pupils are normal children who have average to above average intellectual potential, but who struggle with reading, writing, spelling, and mathematics. A multidisciplinary, specialised team consisting of the head of the school, the class teacher, an occupational therapist, educational psychologist, speech therapist and remedial therapist monitor each child’s progress thoroughly and regularly.
Identifying challenges
After the shut-down of our physical school in March 2020, we moved to a whole new way of teaching, which, for learning disabled pupils, was extremely challenging. As teachers, we had to consider each child’s individual needs and abilities. Zoom or Microsoft Teams lessons had to include a parent, tutor or caregiver as our pupils were unable to manage the lesson independently.
Both occupational and speech therapy lessons were conducted remotely, but it just did not work for every student. Some of our parents did not have the means to facilitate lessons or therapy sessions via the internet.
As a result, many children lost out on these valuable therapy lessons, which in turn had a detrimental effect on their academic performance, as well their emotional and mental well-being. Furthermore, the mandatory wearing of masks for both teachers and children negatively affected the learning experience.
Due to physical limitations, especially difficulties with speech and hearing, sensory intolerances, and behavioral concerns, we were forced to look at ways to make up for the fact that staff had to wear face masks which hindered the child’s ability to hear and process what was being said or read to them.
Choosing the right portal for Flamboyant School
Various computer software programmes were investigated by our panel of therapists so as to alleviate the above concerns. In the end we went with Exam Portal (powered by V-Soft Technologies), which is a cost-effective software programme utilising a text-to-speech engine that caters for learners in the way of both reading concessions and/or computer accommodations.
This is also available as a home edition package which was the perfect way for the school to collaborate with families. The pupils were already familiar with the school edition, so were acquainted with the look of the programme as well as the functionality thereof.
Psychological support
Addressing the psychological needs of our pupils has been an ongoing process since the onset of COVID-19. During the lockdown period, psychotherapy sessions were conducted remotely, but if a high-level need was recognised, our educational psychologist would arrange for a face-to-face therapy session.
Despite the fact that we are well past the crisis period, the anxiety levels of our pupils remain relatively high. Our school community and our team of specialists have done their utmost to collaborate with families to consider each child’s individual needs. We have encouraged our parents to be acutely aware of any change in their child’s mood, behaviour or activity and to share this information with our educational psychologist.
Partnerships eliminate the missing puzzle pieces
Partnerships are essential for helping pupils to achieve their maximum potential. Whilst parent/school communication has always been a cornerstone of remedial education, since the pandemic, the level of parental involvement has increased and the rapport between teachers and parents has intensified.
Our teachers have developed a deeper understanding of the challenges that many of our parents face and remote teaching has afforded them an opportunity to bond with both the child and his or her family, as most of our pupils were unable to work without the support of a parent. Parents, in turn, realised that fulfilling the role of a teacher was no easy task and they have readily handed this task back to us.
COVID-19 has certainly amplified the need for strong collaboration between home and school. Educating children without family involvement is like trying to solve a puzzle when you are missing pieces. A child’s job is to learn, and effective learning requires a strong relationship between parent and teacher. Fostering the connection between home and school is a passion that was ignited long before COVID-19.