The Department of Education observes its annual Special Education Needs (SEN) Week from Sunday, February 7th to Friday, February 12th. The theme for this year’s week is: “Different Abilities, One AIM” with the acronym AIM: Acceptance, Integration and Mentorship. The week’s activities began with a church service at Life Impact Centre in West End.
The Moderator of the service, Mrs. Vanda Richardson, gave a special welcome to the attending parents and teachers of the children with limited abilities: “We extend a very special welcome to you for joining with us in the service this morning,” she said.
Present at the event were Chief Education Officer, Mr. Bren Romney, as well as Education Officer, Mrs. Tracelyn Hamilton, with responsibility for Multi-professional Support Services.
In the absence of the church’s Leader, Apostle Luciene MacDonna, the sermon was preached by Pastor Joan Robin, following a session of lively worship. Pastor Robin declared that all of us have some disabilities, and so all of us need one another. “You need me, and I need you,” she said. “Together we need each other.” Her sermon’s text was 1 Corinthians 12:14-26, in which Apostle Paul observed that in the body each individual part has a need for the other.
In explaining how the needs of children who require special education are met, Mrs. Tracelyn Hamilton gave an in-depth address to enlighten the congregation about the functions of the SEN Unit:
“In Anguilla, students with special education needs are catered to in a variety of ways. Students who are functioning above their grade level are catered to through differentiated work. Students who are functioning below grade level or either placed in the mainstream school, with support, or in support units. These units are small classrooms with no more than twelve students. These classrooms feature special education teachers and assistants . These units are attached to schools to encourage an inclusive approach to educating our students.
“Currently, there are four student support units: one at the primary and three at the secondary level. We have centres for mild and severe learning needs, and these cater to students with mild to severe learning disabilities. These students function below their academic peers, and benefit from small classrooms where they can work at their own pace. These units are located at the Orealia Kelly Primary, the Adrian T. Hazel Primary School, Campus B at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School (ALHCS), and we now have a new unit at Campus A at the ALHCS.”
Mrs. Hamilton continued: “We also have our emotional and behavioural disorder unit. This unit supports students who are experiencing difficulty managing their own behaviour within a school setting. These students require a small classroom arrangement to gain educational success. Students in this unit also benefit from behavioural strategies put in place to help them manage their behaviour. This Unit is located at The Valley Primary School.
“Students with severe developmental delays are catered to at the DOVE Centre. (The acronym DOVE stands for Developing Our Vision for Education.) Students at DOVE include those whose development is physically impaired, medically challenged — or those who have been hampered by multiple disabilities. The DOVE units are located at the Alwyn Allison Richardson Primary School in West End, and at a branch of the ALHCS which is housed at the Auckland Building in The Quarter.”
Mrs. Hamilton then went on to give an outline of the theme “Different Abilities, One AIM”, which she said the Department of Education has been rallying around for the past three years. She also sought to dispel the popular discriminatory myths of “special education”. Her address was followed by a special song —rendered by all the SEN students — entitled I am a Promise.
– Staff Reporter, James R. Harrigan
