Definition of the Target Groups
In Malta, separate special education needs provisions are usually provided for students having the following conditions:
- Profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) including multi-sensory impairment;
- Complex communication needs and/or intellectual impairment;
- Profound social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD).
There are cases when students may be identified by a team of professionals as benefitting more from attending Resource Centres (Special Schools) or Learning Support Centres (in the case of learners experiencing SEBD) rather than mainstream schools. This team advises the parents, however the latter retain the right to decide which provision is best for their child, particularly when students with severe special needs require specialised services and facilities that are difficult to make available in mainstream schools.
In Malta, there are four Resource Centres providing educational and professional services to such students while there is also a special unit within one primary school on the smaller island of Gozo.
The aim of these centres is to provide the educational support that these learners need to have access to the curriculum and to be able to reach their full potential. Since September 2010, four special schools were re-organised into Resource Centres. This re-organisation was deemed necessary to offer students the opportunity to proceed from one school cycle to another in order to experience the different phases in a learner’s life including the transition from primary to secondary and from secondary to young adult education and eventually to further education, employment or day centres whichever is best suited for the student. These resource centres work in close collaboration with mainstream schools and other institutions/agencies for the full benefit of the learners. Besides offering their specialised services to learners in mainstream schools in all colleges, they also network between themselves for the dissemination of good practice and use of resources.
Three Learning Support Centres are also available for students experiencing profound SEBD. These centres offer specialised programmes for a definite period only. Learners are eventually included within their mainstream school after successfully completing this programme.
Admission Requirements and Choice of School
The admission to any one of the centres is through a multi-disciplinary assessment carried out by a team of professionals. However the parents’ consent is required for learners to attend these centres. Learners who attend Resource Centres in general have attainment levels below that of Level Descriptor 1 of the National Qualifications Framework.
One Primary Education Resource Centre and one Secondary/Young Adult Education Resource Centre cater for learners with profound and multiple learning difficulties while another Secondary Education Resource Centre caters for learners with complex communication and/or intellectual needs. Finally a Young Adult Education Resource Centre caters for learners with complex communication needs and/or intellectual impairment who have finished the last year of secondary education. These students follow a six-year programme until the age of twenty-two.
Age Levels and Grouping of Pupils
Students as young as the age of 3 can be admitted to the primary school centre and continue attending until age 11 years and up to 13 years of age for learners with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD). From this centre, learners with PMLD move on to the Secondary/Young Adult Education Resource Centre which caters for students between the ages of 11 and 22 years.
The Secondary Education Resource Centre caters for learners from the age of 11 to 16. From here the students may progress to the Young Adult Education Resource Centre or other post-secondary education provision as the case may be. The Young Adult Education Resource Centre is open to students who are 16 years of age and older and who would have completed their compulsory education in an education Resource Centre and/or mainstream school and who have been identified as being able to move on to further educational institutions or vocational training.
Movements of learners from one centre to another are recommended, approved and monitored by a team of professionals in close collaboration with the parents/guardians.
Curriculum Subjects
Learners attending Resource Centres have full access to and follow the mainstream curriculum as appropriate. This is in line with the Government’s inclusive policy to provide equal opportunities for all. Learners with special educational needs follow their Individualised Educational Programme (IEP) which is based on the national curriculum. The IEP is reviewed and amended annually during an IEP conference with the participation of all the professionals working with the learner and parents and at times the learners themselves.
Teaching Methods and Materials
The special education programmes in resource centres are customized to address each individual student’s unique needs. Teachers adapt their teaching methods and materials to suit the learner’s Individualized Education Programme (IEP). In order to facilitate this arrangement, the learner-to-teacher ratio in such centres is kept low. Teaching methods are tailor-made for the different types of disability. For example visually impaired learners are taught via the use of Braille while hearing impaired learners are taught sign language and sign language interpreters assist these learners. Teachers also practise speech and language intervention methods to facilitate and promote adequate speech and/or language development.
Learners with severe speech, physical and/or communication disorders are also referred to a specialised unit, namely the Access to Communication and Technology Unit (ACTU). This unit within the Student Services Department comprises a core team of occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and Learning Support Assistants with specialised training to recommend and implement augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategies. AAC includes all forms of communication other than oral speech that are used to express thoughts, needs and ideas. Special augmentative aids such as picture and symbol communication boards and electronic devices are used to help learners express themselves.
Learners attending the primary education resource centre participate in a cognitive programme that aims at helping young learners to explore new ways of thinking about their environment while enhancing awareness, perception and comprehension of concepts and situations. In these sessions the individual child is exposed to games and exercises aimed at enhancing recognition, sense-awareness, problem-solving, remembering and imagining. Such a teaching methodology aims to lengthen the learner’s attention span and to enhance listening, observation and basic communication skills. The programme makes ample use of toys, a variety of tactile materials, games, songs, rhymes as well as self-initiated game routines.
The introduction of Inclusive Education Coordinators (INCOs) in primary schools enhanced the co-ordination of the service provision for pupils/learners with special needs attending the mainstream and/or the resource centres.
Resource centres have special facilities to assist the provision of special education programmes. Such facilities include specialised rooms, equipment and aids as well as specialised personnel.
The Primary Education Resource Centre houses a hydrotherapy pool while the teaching staff and LSAs at this resource centre received training to promote the Halliwick Concept of swimming and rehabilitation in water. Teachers use the pool to promote student socialisation, literacy, numeracy and music.
The Secondary Education Resource Centre houses a fully functional skills unit comprising an equipped food laboratory, a science laboratory, an IT laboratory, a Design & Technology laboratory and a multisensory room. These special resource rooms are used for activities/lessons in Home Economics, science, Design & Technology, IT, Physical Education and Music. A therapy gym is also available in the resource centre in Gozo.