About
Alma School's Vision & Mission
The GDE Vision:
Ensuring every learner does well at school and leaves our institutions with
the knowledge, skills and qualifications that will give them the best chance of
success in adult life.
The GDE Mission:
To ensure quality learning and teaching take place in the classroom every day.
ALMA Vision 2025
Make sure every learner at Alma School flourishes and is enriched to maximum
potential to exit Alma School with capabilities such as self-respect, self-worth,
and skills. This will provide them with the highest quality of chances of
achieving their full potential in life.
ALMA Mission 2025
To facilitate maximum cognitive, socio-emotional and skills development for
each individual learner, as prescribed in the Differentiated-Curriculum and
assessment policy statement (DCAPS), by utilizing well-trained educators,
therapists, and assistants. The support of parents and the community should
be enlisted, and appropriate physical resources procured and managed to send
well-prepared learners into society.
Alma School's Learners and Disabilities
Alma School needs you to make a difference in the world of a child with special
needs.
These children of all races, between the ages of five and eighteen, need
specialised education. This educational environment offers a highly specialised
approach that is designed to fit the profile of every individual learner.
Our learners are:
•
Severe intellectually disabled coupled with epilepsy, syndromes, cerebral
palsy and hard of hearing.
Highly trained and dedicated staff support the learners from Alma School daily
with:
•
Physiotherapy
•
Occupational therapy
•
Sensory/perceptual stimulation
•
Feeding and life skills support
•
Adapted specialised education
•
Vocational skills
To support these services the following apparatus and material are needed:
•
Wheelchairs
•
Walking and standing frames
•
Crutches
•
Special compatible chairs and tables
•
Educational toys
•
Handwork equipment
•
Garden and farming equipment
•
Tea Garden facilities – furbishing of kitchen, bathrooms etc.
•
Custom-made eating utensils
•
Teaching materials
•
Material and aids for occupational therapy
Support Services
When working with disabled learners it becomes evident that specialised
education and therapy go hand in hand in ensuring each individual learner’s
optimal development. Our learners need intensive specialised physiotherapy,
occupational therapy, teaching and medical care.
Extra help is needed in the classroom for feeding, toilet training, nappy
changing and to help learners in and out of their wheelchairs. The salaries for
extra staff members are a huge financial outlay.
Alma School manages a feeding scheme that provides a balanced diet to a
number of less fortunate learners. This ensures optimal learning and well
nutrition children.
We also provide much needed food parcels to go home during school terms as
well as holidays.
Transport
1.
Many of the learners make use of the school’s transport system. Four
minibuses follow routes covering a big area of the Tshwane Metropolitan
area. Other learners use private taxis coming from as far as Winterveld,
Mabopane, Garankuwa, Soshanguve and Mamelodi. Our learners cannot
make use of public transport because of their disabilities. The school has
to run this system itself. It involves many financial implications. Many of
our parents do not have the financial means to contribute to school fees,
in such cases we assist these learners and help with sponsorship,
reductions or subsidies.
2.
Our Learners come from the greater Tshwane area and are transported
to and from our school. To sustain this much needed service, we need:
•
Customised buses
•
Fuel for transportation
•
Maintenance of the transport infrastructure
•
Salaries for full time bus drivers.
Alma School's History
Alma School’s founding dates back to 1963,
when parents of disabled children formed a
care group, giving one another a bit of free
time to accomplish other things. In 1974 the
Alma Care Centre, situated in a house in
Soutpansberg Road, opened its doors in
Pretoria to mainly take care of disabled
children.
During the 80’s Alma Care Centre relocated to
bigger premises in Waverley, Pretoria. By then
Alma Care Centre resorted under National
Education of South Africa. After the first
democratic election in 1994, Alma School was
registered and resorted under the Gauteng
Department of Education providing special
education for cerebral palsied, intellectually
and physically disabled children of all races.
On 13 June 2000 Alma School was registered as
a Non-profit Organisation.