St Lucy’s: A special school for special students now expanding into the secondary years

Growing … St Lucy’s School is moving towards K-12.

Wahroonga’s much-loved Catholic primary school for students with intellectual disabilities is offering Year 7 places next year and adding subsequent year levels to become a K-12 school by 2024.

“Rising demand for special education and the popularity of St Lucy’s School are the driving forces behind the school’s expansion,” says Principal, Mr David Raphael.

“Population growth in northern Sydney has led to an increasing demand which needs to be catered to, for students and families,” Mr Raphael says. “We have students from Parramatta to the Central Coast.”

Responding to demand … St Lucy’s principal David Raphael with students.

St Lucy’s School currently has 105 students at its main campus in Wahroonga and offers satellite programs for another 30 children at schools in Narrabeen and Narraweena, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.    

An ambitious building program commencing next year will see the construction of 16 new classrooms to modernise the school’s learning environments and cater for an eventual 100 secondary students by 2024.

“We’re designing a whole new complex to create a purpose-built facility for students with special education needs and we’ll re-purpose the old classrooms for the library and other uses. We’re building a car park for staff with a kiss and drop area to take traffic off the road and increase safety,” Mr Raphael says.

New era … drawings for St Lucy’s planned complex.

St Lucy’s School adheres to principles of the Reggio Emilia philosophy of education that emphasises experiential learning and the symbolic “languages” of the creative arts.

“All students who come into the school have a diagnosed intellectual disability and quite often they have other disabilities as well.”

“We accept each child as they are and work with their interests on an individual basis to help them access the curriculum. By communicating through artistic expression, their interests in the Arts helps to lead them on their learning journey,” Mr Raphael says.

Art of communication … at St Lucy’s, students learn to express themselves through the Creative Arts.

This approach is especially well-suited to students with intellectual disabilities, he says.

“We have a student who was non-verbal and loved the Art Studio and painting; he liked a very dark palette — almost black. On this particular day, his teacher asked him what colour he would like to paint with and he replied, ‘Blue please.’ It was the first words he’d ever spoken and through this language of art making, he has gradually acquired more traditional language skills,” Mr Raphael explains.

With about 60 per cent of St Lucy’s students on the Autism Spectrum — the development of communication skills is at the heart of the school’s mission to foster independence and self-determination.

The school uses an integrated approach incorporating technological aids such as Proloquo2Go, a symbol-based communication app that helps students express themselves with voice-output communication, and Key Word Sign. The school’s staff are proficient signers and the school offers workshops for parents and siblings to learn the basics of sign language to facilitate intra-family communication. Teachers are supported by two teacher’s aides per class and the school’s occupational therapist, speech pathologists and psychologist.

Tech talk … the Prolo2Go app helps St Lucy’s students to acquire communication skills.

Preparing students for adult life will be a central aim for secondary students, Mr Raphael says.

“We’re introducing a Life Skills curriculum developed by the NSW Education Standards Authority. This means that Maths, English and the rest of the NSW curriculum subjects can be designed for the individual student,” he says, describing it as a “competency-based approach to education” that will result in a Record of School Achievement or Higher School Certificate credential.

“In years 9 onward, we’ll be introducing a VET program. Our situation gives us access to a whole range of industrial and retail sites to give our students work experience in the community,” Mr Raphael says.

The school’s commitment to practical education is seen in its Mathematics with Meaning program that teaches children real-life applications of numeracy such as how to use money and identify bus numbers.

“The functional elements of life need to be deliberately taught so that students can be as independent as possible in their adult lives and as effective as possible in the community and be advocates for themselves in the adult world,” Mr Raphael says.

But St Lucy’s is more than just a school, it nurtures the whole family, Mr Raphael says.   

“We try to offer as much love and support as we can not only to students but to parents and siblings as well. Siblings can often feel a bit left out. It’s very important to support the family as much as we can. We do this through our pastoral care, through our psychologist, through our community nights, and by providing a place for parents just to come here and talk to each other about their children and their challenges.”

“We’re passionate about what we do,” Mr Raphael says, and consequently the school’s influence is felt well beyond its immediate community.

“We have a number of very supportive schools nearby: Prouille, Abbotsleigh, Knox, Santa Sabina, Shore. They engage with our students as play buddies, participants in our Creative Arts programs, student volunteers at our holiday program and camp, and other student immersion experiences. It’s very powerful for the visiting students and they often go back and help raise funds for us. We advocate for children with disabilities generally to be included and accepted; simple things like lift access at a train station can make a huge impact.”

For more information on St Lucy’s and its move to K-12 please see their website: stlucys.nsw.edu.au

 

Coming soon: The Southern Sydney Schools’ Expo

There are close to 300 independent schools in the Sydney metropolitan area with the greatest numbers found in the South and Southwest regions of the city. With so many schools to choose from, finding the right one for your child can be a complex undertaking.

Fortunately for families in the St George and Sutherland shires, these precincts are well-served by a wide range of excellent schools catering to students of every level of talent and ability.

To help families discover more about academic options in the area, the Southern Sydney Schools’ Expo will be held on Sunday, May 22, at the Novotel Sydney Brighton Beach.

The Expo offers parents and children the opportunity to meet face-to-face with representatives from some of Sydney’s top schools.

Expo participants include day and boarding schools, faith-based, single-sex and co-ed schools from preschool through to year 12, in one convenient location. Instead of hours of research and travelling to different schools, parents can get all the information they need in a single outing.

To get the most out of the Expo, it’s important for families to know what they’re looking for in a school.

Australian parenting website Raising Children suggests that parents take these issues into account when researching schools:

  • What do you want a school to do for your child?
  • Does your child have special language, education or other needs?
  • What’s your child’s preferred or best learning style?
  • Is location a factor in your school choice?
  • Does the school need to be within walking distance?
  • Or does your child have special transportation needs?
  • What costs are involved?
  • Is religion an important factor?
  • What are your child’s views and feelings about the school?

At the Expo, parents are encouraged to engage with school representatives and explore their offerings in detail.

Teachers and administrators are happy to answer all your questions to help you make the best decision for your child.

This is a wonderful opportunity not to be missed.

Where: The Novotel Sydney Brighton Beach, Corner Grand Parade and Princess St, Brighton Le Sands
When: Sunday, May 22, 2016
Time: 10 am to 4pm
Cost: Free
Parking: Free parking is available onsite

For more information contact Dorothy Willoughby on 0412 233 742

Read more:

School selection: practical steps – Raising Children Network with the Centre for Adolescent Health, October 26, 2015
http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/choosing_school_checklist.html

Research: Private schooling adds 12 per cent to lifetime earnings

Australian-first research commissioned by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research shows that graduates of non-government schools earn an average of 12 per cent more over their course of their careers than do their public school peers.

The income differential is attributed to the non-academic “soft” skills that private school students acquire making them good candidates for highly-paid upper managerial positions. “These findings suggest that private schooling may be important in not only fostering higher academic achievement, but also in better preparing students for a working life,” the paper says.

While the report focuses on the Catholic system, these results would also hold for graduates of independent private schools say study authors Nikhil Jha and Cain Polidano because of the sector’s “greater emphasis on the development of non-cognitive or soft skills that are important in explaining labour market outcomes.”

Read more

Long-run Effects of Catholic Schooling on Wages: Nikhil Jha and Cain Polidano for the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research
https://www.melbourneinstitute.com/downloads/working_paper_series/wp2013n39.pdf

Coverage of the report in the Australian Financial Review
http://www.afr.com/news/policy/education/private-schooling-boosts-future-earnings-20140105-iybxe