Hot ideas to help kids learn vital skills

Bloom Special Needs school in Ballito has hot ideas to help pupils expand skills and learn about social integration.

One of these is up and running: a bakery which sells the pupils’ baked goods to customers. It’s been such a success the school aims to open a coffee shop which will employ pupils after they graduate.

The pupils grow and sell vegetables and flowers while helping with the bakery.

Nicola Stirton, director and head of the SET (Supported Employment Training) programme at Bloom, said the school was a creative space of hope and support where children felt loved, safe and accepted for who they are.

“We teach and care for children who have a variety of diagnoses; Down Syndrome, Autism, Low IQ, Cerebral Palsy, non-specific learning difficulties and children who are not coping in mainstream schools.

“We also cater for typically functioning pre-school pupils in our mainstream classroom. Our belief is that if we can integrate mainstream and special needs learners from an early foundational stage, this will be beneficial to both streams and will educate the mainstream community on how to embrace differences from a young age.”

Their youngest pupil is 3 years old and their oldest is 20.

“The senior children will be enrolled in Supported Employment Training (SET), which aims to equip them with skills they will need as they get older,” she said.

These include understanding themselves and the community, social and interpersonal skills, money management, cooking and gardening skills, employment and vocational skills.

“We aim to equip our children to be independent and responsible within these areas, each to their own ability but always expanding them and building on their knowledge and skills,” said Stirton.

Each term, SET pupils have the opportunity to get involved in a Bloom Job. The jobs range from easy with basic skills to those that require advanced skills.

“Each child will have exposure to the job that is best for their ability, skill and understanding, including garden maintenance.”

In the bakery, pupils are involved in the whole process from mixing, kneading, baking and receiving money from customers. They also make brownies to be sold in local coffee shops and at the Umhlali school tuck shop.

Produce from the school’s vegetable garden is sold to the community.

“Bloom pupils plant, water, pick and wash the veggies. The flowers are very generously donated to us by a local company and then our pupils arrange them into beautiful bunches and sell them.

“Our local community is an incredible support. Flowers are sold on a Tuesday, bread on a Wednesday and veggies on a Thursday,” said Stirton.

“It gives them so much purpose and joy: they are always so excited to help,” said Stirton.

The school is raising money to build their coffee shop.