Who we are:

Parkland Special School was formed at the beginning of 2006, when the Eastern Cape Education Department built a new facility to accommodate the amalgamated McClelland Special School and Parkside Training Centre to form a new entity. We took “Park” from Parkside and “land” from McClelland, and that is how the name of the school was decided upon.

What services do we provide?

Our school caters for learners, aged between six and eighteen years old, who are intellectually impaired.   Many learners have secondary disabilities such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, epilepsy, minor visual impairment, etc. The current enrolment is 271 learners in total. 

Learners who are admitted to our school need high levels of support due to the nature of their disabilities.  Professional reports are required to determine admission. The criteria for admission is carefully considered by the School Based Support Team (SBST) and the District Based Support Team (DBST).

Staff:

All educators at our school have to be formally trained, with a teaching degree or diploma. Educators with Foundation Phase, remedial or special needs training are preferred. There are currently also two therapists employed, a Physiotherapist and an Occupational Therapist.

There are a number of departmentally employed support staff members, i.e., drivers, teacher assistants and cleaners, who are essential for the smooth running of the school.  The drivers transport learners on a daily basis from home to school and back home in the afternoons.

There are also School Government Body (SGB) employed support staff members at Parkland Special School. Furthermore, there are ex-learners employed under the government Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) who assist with general cleaning duties.

There are also personal assistants who offer additional support to specific learners, some of whom are employed under the government Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

Therapy Department:

Parkland Special School has a well-resourced Therapy Department where learners who require specific therapy are treated. Presently the school has an Occupational Therapist and a Physiotherapist employed who work together as a team to assist the learners. The Therapy Department consists of two treatment areas an aqua therapy pool and a sensory room.

Click here to view Therapy information 

Curriculum:

The Severe Intellectual Disability (SID) curriculum as well as the Profound Intellectual Disability (PID) curriculum are followed at Parkland Special School. The focus shifts to more practical work as from the age of 14 years. The school offer eight electives (practical subjects) of which learners must choose three electives until leaving school. The electives are: Arts & Crafts, Needlework, Ancillary Health care, Hairdressing and Beauty care, Beauty and Nail Technology, Maintenance, Food Production and Woodworking & Timber.

Work Programme:

Parkland Special School offers an internal and an external work programme.  Younger learners and learners who do not have the required abilities, mostly participate in the internal work programme. This programme takes place on a daily basis and consists of two aspects. Learners have jobs like emptying bins that have to be performed daily. The other aspect of the internal work programme takes place once a week where learners do jobs like cleaning, acting as teacher assistants, gardening, car washing and tea garden where learners cook or bake for staff members who ordered food. The external work programme takes place once a week. Learners are taken with school busses to various open labour market places who are willing to accommodate our learners. The older learners also attend a weekly work/life skills group run by an Occupational Therapist. Learners in their last school year have the opportunity to complete a standardised work skills assessment and are provided with a report with recommendations. Learners who are able to transition into post-school education or employment, receive a Curriculum Vitae to assist them with applying for work.

Sport:

The learners participate in sport according to their abilities. The following sporting codes are offered: soccer, netball, table tennis, mini-cricket, indoor rowing, bocce, hocker, black ball pool and special olympics. Learners have the opportunity to participate in the annual regional and provincial sport competitions.

Annual Activities:

The school celebrates the following events on an annual basis: Valentine’s Day, Autism Awareness Big Walk, Slipper Day, Down Syndrome Day, Prader Willi Syndrome Day, Youth Day, Nelson Mandela Day, Deaf Awareness Day, Heritage Day and Teachers’ Day.

Our fundraising events, such as The Family Fun Day, take place annually. The aim of this day is to let our learners, their families and caregivers enjoy a day of fun and enjoyment with games, water slides, music, and refreshments.

The prize-giving ceremonies and Christmas meals are enjoyed by all of our learners at the end of each year.

The school has also started a food parcel distribution project which takes place at the end of each year. The School Governing Body (SGB), as well as private donors, make generous contributions towards this project annually.

Financial Management:

Our school is a public special school catering for Learners with Special Educational Needs (LSEN) which falls under the Eastern Cape Education Department. A portion of the school’s funding is allocated by this department and is strictly controlled according to the Public Finance Management Act. Additional expenditure for the benefit of the learners and the school’s running costs needs to be sourced from either parental contribution, fundraising or donations. 

Fund Raising Events:

The major yearly fund-raising events are the High Tea, Big Walk, Street Collections and Carnival.

The High Tea takes place in the second term each year to generate funds for the School Leavers’ Farewell function celebrated in the fourth term.

The Big Walk generates funds which are utilised for projects and to purchase much needed items for the learners. Recent completed projects were: a walkway from the main gate to the hall, shade roofing for learners in the playgrounds, playground equipment and a sensory room. Workshops for electives were also equipped for example the nail and beauty salon and the sewing classroom.

The annual street collection also raises some funding for the school.

We will have our first ever Carnival on the last Saturday in November 2022.

Parent-teacher Meetings:

Parent-teacher meetings are held at the end of every term to discuss learner progress. A parent information meeting is held the day before schools reopen in January. This is a very important meeting whereby parents are introduced to school matters, like uniform, school fees and school rules. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) takes place in November each year where the school fees for the following year are introduced to parents for adoption.

Parkland Press

The school distributes the Parkland Press news at the end of every term. Most of the happenings and news are contained inside the Parkland Press. This news magazine has grown from strength to strength.

Resources:

The school is privileged to be well resourced. Buildings and grounds are very well maintained.

Safety and Security:

A high measure of safety and security is maintained with policies in place. CCTV cameras are installed in all classrooms, playgrounds, passages and other critical areas. An intercom system is in place.

Community Involvement:

The community is involved in the life of the school. Beacon Bay Life Hospital has contributed to the school via a fundraising donation project. The McClelland Trust also donates on an annual basis. First National Battery, Moodie’s, PNA Stationers (now called Gussie’s), Roadwing, Stirling Baptist Church and Dutch Reform Church in Nahoon are some of our other regular donors.

The school also benefitted from the Buffalo City Municipality (BCM) grant-in-aid.

There are other numerous donors and individuals who donate items, either in kind or monetary donations.

We enjoy a warm relationship with the community and are very appreciative of the generosity of all our sponsors.

ESSS/ BCM District Involvement:

The CES (Chief Education Specialist): ESSS (Education Specialised Support Services), the Circuit Managers and all other departmental officials involved with Parkland Special School assist the school and we are grateful for this support.