P.O. Box 01084
Osu, Accra, Ghana
Tel/Fax: 233-21-772878
E-mail: nhorizongh@yahoo.com
Website: http//: international.egmont-hs.dk/nhss/
NEWS UPDATE
New Horizon Special School is a day school geared to serve trainable and educable children and adults who have mental handicap and their families. It is voluntary, non-profit making, non-racial, non-sectarian charitable institution. The school has two distinct parts:
(a)The academic section provides basic education on an individualized basis for children aged between 6 to 17 years.
(b)The sheltered workshops section gives training and employment in vocational daily and living skills to those who are older.
Enrolment
There are currently 85 students in the basic education section and 65 at the workshop. There are many more people on the waiting list for admission. Attendance has increased since last year and students come to school regularly. The basic school has eight teachers and six teachers assistants. The students are divided into seven groups according to their age, ability and maturity. A teacher and an assistant supervise each group of ten or twelve except group 5. areas covered at the basic section can be grouped under the following headings:
1. Language Development
a. Functional Reading
b. Functional Academic skills
2. Numeracy
3. Music – Singing and Dancing
4. Arts and Craft
5. Introduction to vocational skills
6. Activities of daily living skills
7. Physical Education
8. Computer Literacy
At the school’s sheltered workshop there are 57 matured students aged above 17yrs. Some of the students are able to read and write simple sentences and have reached a moderate level of productivity. They work as trainees with little or no supervision. Items made at the workshops include: Christmas cards, all purpose cards, baskets of all types, trays, stools and beds with woven bases, doormats, tie-dye and batik materials and table cloths, traditional kente (woven material), and Ghanaian dressed dolls. The students in this section also receive continuous education to re-enforce their acquired basic skills in reading, writing and numeracy. They also receive allowances from the sale of items they make. So they also feel a sense of achievement like their ‘normal’ counterparts in the community.
School Performance
There has been remarkable improvement in the performance of the children. Parent who were at the IEP commented that they saw positive changes in their children. Also about 2/3 of parents from the Educational section were at the individual Evaluation program of the children.
Workshop – There has been progress at the workshop – some children have acquired skills in one vocation and have joined another group to learn yet a second vocation. The girls have learnt the making of new doormats, which they are able to do even better.
Volunteers – There was one Danish volunteer and 3 Norwegian Volunteers in the school during the latter part of 2002. This year we had no volunteer at the beginning of the year till September when one Ghanaian volunteer and an Indian and two Danish volunteers came. Two new volunteers from England are with us and will hopefully join us in the next year with the Indian.
Visit – A visit by 25 Santas who have come together from different countries were received on the 1st December 2003. They gave small gifts to the students, the students showed their appreciation by singing for them.
Activities Undertaken
Fun-day Games
New ‘T’ shirts were design for the students and for the first time there were no sponsors. Only a few donations were from Nestle and Cowbell. The school had to sponsor it all.
Special Olympics.
This time Special Olympics took us to Ireland where we participated in atheletics and shot put and won silver and bronze medal.
Christmas Programme
Last Christmas was exciting. Students learnt a new choreography also, which they performed well to the admiration of their families who were present.
Cultural Performance
The students performed very well at the University College of Education, Winneba when they had the Special Education department’s week celebration. The members of the University were impressed.
Annual Exhibition and Demonstration
The annual Exhibition took place as usual but with the educational section exhibiting a few of their works. The patronage was good.
Open Day
Being an annual program to expose the works of the student sat the workshop, Parents were present to see and buy some of the items made by the students.
Pacid Ghana
The Association has it’s annual general meeting in May and on the 23/10/03 Pacid organized a Seminar with the topic “Educating the Media on Children with Intellectual Disability and Autism” at the North Ridge Hotel, all the media houses where invited to this seminar, there were also Radio programmes organized in the vernacular language also educating the general public on intellectual disability and promoting Promoting the Fundamental Human Rights of Children with Intellectual Disability.
Future Plans
We are hopeful that we can extend facilities of the school to embrace the new people on the waiting list and also enhance our teaching with better and more learning.