St Dominic’s Wing for Deaf Children is alive and well and integrated with St Joseph’s School in Feilding, says principal Sister Gemma.
But she says with such a cloud hanging over the special education vote the need for the people of Feilding to support the unit is as great as ever.
Service clubs, organisations and individuals were very generous to the school in its old habitat.
There has been some confusion to the whereabouts of St Dominic’s, with some still thinking the school was operating at its former premises on Campbell Road, over the bridge. St Dominic’s relocated nearly two years ago and proudly took its name with it to its new home. The former school has been purchased and the new owners have nothing to do with the St Dominic’s Wing for Deaf Children.
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Sister Gemma says deafness is an “invisible, devastating handicap” and children face great difficulties with communication. “We hope each generation will, with better medical care, have less need for the service, but deafness still appears.”
St Dominic’s wing will have nine pupils next term ranging from five to 13 years. These children adapt quickly to the technological age and enjoy computer programs offered to them. However these are expensive and the wing is faced with replacing these at a cost of about $15,000. So the school’s parent teachers association has planned a food fair on October 20 to start off fundraising for the new computers and programs.
Sister Gemma says the children at the former St Dominic’s School were sheltered in their environment and the children at the wing mix well, “at play times they are hard to find.”
“The special character of the school and the readiness to understand the problems by the staff of St Joseph’s is making the new venture work.”
