Presentation to Killard Special School
On 15th April Donaghadee Rotary Club had a most interesting talk about Killard Special School, which recently moved to the premises previously used by Donaghadee High School. The Principal Bill Haddick gave some history of the school. The original Killard House in Newtownards was built as 2 semi-detached houses for Montserrat Walker J.P in 1910. It was opened as a Special School in 1958 for girls who were considered to be educationally sub-normal. Initially it provided some boarding places, but eventually was used totally for day pupils. As the demand increased building conversion work was carried out. However the accommodation was not ideal and the opportunity to move to Donaghadee High School premises has proved to be far more suitable. Some 163 children aged between 4 and 16 years are currently involved, cared for by a total of 56 staff including specialists, teachers, assistants and ancillary staff. Pupils are helped under 4 different headings: - Diagnostic Unit has a maximum of 8 pupils at Primary 1 level. The unit can deal with children who may have language, motor or play skills. Difficulties with independence or social interaction are also addressed. Speech and Language cater for the P1-P3 age group where there are difficulties with articulation, expressive or receptive language and semantic or pragmatic problems. Speech therapists are available to help throughout school age. Moderate Learning Difficulties (the biggest group) deal with language, communications, specific learning, perceptual motor skills, and social emotional and working memory problems. Outreach Department has 2 staff who go out to help children in other schools. Stephanie Curry is a Physical Education Teacher at Killard Special School. She provided photographs and a commentary of the group of children who went to Worchester last year to play tag rugby. This year a group is booked to go to Swansea to take part in a similar event. The opportunity for travel and the interactive mix with other children provides great benefit for the children involved. President Mike Camlin passed on thanks and presented a cheque for £250.00 towards the cost of the trip. |
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