New hope for school this Youth Month

Jungle gym, clinic get much-needed upgrade

ON THE eighth day of Heart FM’s 16 Days for Youth initiative, Astra School in Montana received a new jungle gym and upgrades to their clinic.

Peninsula School Feeding Association provided a meal for the children after some performances by local musicians Jimmy Nevis and Robin Peters.

Astra School is an institution for pupils who have physical and learning disabilities. It opened in 1987. They are funded by the Western Cape Education Department.

They have 250 pupils and a boarding facility and a medical centre with a team of qualified practitioners on hand to respond to the day-to-day medical needs of these pupils.

One of the biggest challenges faced by the teachers is being able to adapt the learning material to the needs of a variety of learners in a class of up to 15.

The teachers need to understand the individual emotional and psychological states of the learner in terms of their home background in order to gauge their level of competency and thus mediate knowledge effectively.

There are practical classes that offer arts and craft lessons for pupils who may not be academically strong but have a lot of potential in other areas.

“I always tell my educators that it’s important to know the child’s story. If you know the story of the child then you can build a relationship with the child,” said Melanie Mabotha, Astra School’s principal.

The majority of pupils who are at the hostel are incontinent and need to be catheterised.

Although the school is well- equipped to perform these necessary tasks, the biggest barrier is the lack of nappies due to scarce funds. Many of the pupils come from broken homes or single-parent homes.

Austin Klaasen, 15, a pupil from the school said: “I like dancing and drawing. When I finish Grade 9 I think I want to go to a college to study graphic design.”

Mabotha believes it is critical to teach children soft skills and values such as respect and caring for others even when their own circumstances seem dreadful.