Values and diversity
I speak as a parent of a child with Down syndrome who attended this school from the age of 5 until he moved onto his next school at age 10. St Pius lives and breathes all the values of equity, diversity and community participation through its successful inclusion of my son and others like him. My son was accepted at the school and valued as a participating and contributing member of the school community. Other pupils attending the school learned an inestimable amount of values through seeing the example given by the Head Teacher in her acceptance, encouragement and support of my son. It became second nature to the children to treat him fairly and with respect; they knew no difference.
This is in stark contrast to my experience of diversity when I was a child - i.e. all children with special education needs were sent on a bus somewhere and we were fearful of them.
I congratulate the Ministry of Education on its new curriculum and its focus on values. I also encourage other schools to welcome Disabled children as it is a natural means of teaching important lifelong values to all children (and it won't take extra education sessions because it will be occurring naturally through having diverse children in the classrooms). This will also mean though that there will need to be continued support in including Disabled children effectively by the Ministry of Education so that inclusion may continue.
- Tags:
- primary
- values
Published on: 14 Oct 2008
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