Danebank Anglican School for Girls at Hurstville is to shatter the stereotype that private education is all about academic success when it becomes the first mainstream, independent school in Sydney to offer a scholarship to a child with a learning disability.
Danebank says it is aware of the high costs that caring for a special needs child imposes on families and wants to provide opportunities for more children to benefit from its special educational focus.
The school has been operating a Life Skills programs for girls with mild to moderate learning disabilities since 1979. It runs one class for junior high students and another for senior high students, catering for a total of 24 young women.
"The Life Skills students also have a special place in the "heart' of the school," says Jane Rees, Director of Development at Danebank.
"The Danebank scholarship was proposed by a member of staff who felt that the school's Christian ethos and history of assisting these students was an indication that a Life Skills scholarship would be appropriate for the School."
Southern Cross / Sydneyanglicans connection
The idea for the scholarship was on the table, but a bold challenge by parent John Sandeman became the catalyst for the final decision.
Earlier this year, John used his Southern Cross / Sydneyanglicans.net column to ask Anglican schools to do more to care for children like his daughter Hannah (pictured far left).
At that time, he wrote, “Jesus teaches us that our hospitality should not be aimed at those who can pay us back. We are to invite the poor and sick to our tables. So when issuing an invitation to take part in education at many of our schools why do we aim at those most likely to climb the ladder of success?
“If his instructions for holding a meal is any guide, Jesus " if he returned as a headmaster " would award scholarships to the "blind and the lame'. Why not a scholarship for a Down Syndrome kid? If it sounds radical, it is because we do not think the Jesus way.”
The first annual Life Skills Scholarship will be awarded to commence in 2007.
The scholarship will be assessed on a needs basis, by examining both skills testing information on the child and means-testing the family.
"Applicants will be asked to supply tax return details and also family costs details before any decisions are made," says Ms Rees.
"Clearly families with four children have more costs than families with two."
Apart from Anglicare's Kingsdene Special School, Danebank is the only Sydney Anglican school to especially cater for children with a learning disability in this way.
Indeed, the school has been committed to assisting children with a learning disability from its establishment.
"Right from early days, the school accepted students with learning disabilities," says Ms Rees.
"By the 1970s, it became clear we had enough students who could not cope with mainstream learning to form a separate class."
It was a pioneering step, she explains.
"The then Headmistress, Mrs Carole Tisdell, decided to form a separate group to concentrate on skills that would assist the students in finding jobs after leaving, such as typing. Staff had to write the programs and get Board of Studies approval. This was granted and it stayed this way until the Board of Studies introduced its own courses."
John Sandeman is very greatful for Danebank's decision but believes other Anglican Schools can do more to mirror the Bible's picture of heaven.
"As a Life Skills parent I have felt welcomed by Danebank already, but this decision confirms that our children are valued just as greatly as the ones who will get their names in the Herald come the HSC," he says.
Photo: Wesley Lonergan /St George Leader
