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Guardian Angel School
Farsons Street
Hamrun HMR 05
E-Mail:- guardianangel.sns@gov.mt
Tel:- 21 223496, Fax:- 21 223496
Guardian Angel School
Guardian Angel School is a school for children with severe learning difficulties. It forms part of the Education system under the direction of Ms M.R.Mifsud, Director, Student Services and International Relations, as are all other Special Schools on the Island. Originally designed to take 40 children in 1963, it was extended in 1969 and later in 1972 and presently caters for 80 students aged between 5 and 24 years. The greater percentage of the students have Down's Syndrome, the rest have various mental disabilities thus requiring special educational attention.
The School Environment
The environment of the School is exceptional compared to normal schools. It has ample grounds divided into play areas and open spaces within which many trees, shrubs and seasonal flowers grow. These give life to the school, provide shelter for 'picnics in the shade and further more embellish the environment. An adventure playground officially opened in 1993, is another asset to the School.
Most of the eleven classrooms are completely detached and fairly self sufficient, with washrooms and toilets. The School has a large Hall which is used for Assembly and all social events. It is also used as a music room, for P.E. and all other activities that require space larger than the classroom. Sometimes a Disco is also organised for the children in the Hall.
When in need of a respite, a chat or a coffee there is always the staff room, and for medical attention there is a well equipped clinic.
The Staff
The school has a well experienced and dedicated Staff made up of teachers and kindergarten assistants, a nurse, peripatetic staff for P.E, Drama, Music, and Art and Craft. The Head of School also utilises the services of an Assistant Head (General Services) and a School Secretary, three general hands, a handyman and a gardener. Moreover the nurse and a visiting doctor look after the medical side of the students.
The aim of School Activities
The specific aim of the classroom activities is to enable each individual to develop independent living skills to the best of one's ability in order to live in harmony with oneself one's environment and with others. Most of the skills covered are cognitive, gross motor, social, language, both receptive and expressive, self help, cooking, sewing and others. Good health and personal hygiene are promoted and given utmost importance throughout the children's stay at school.
It is a well known fact that the children benefit a lot from out of school activities. With this in mind we organise visits to various places such as San Anton Gardens, Sliema etc. Visits to the Park of Friendship, M'Scala, take place every week. Children are also taken for three days at a stretch to Villa Psygon or Gozo or M'Xlokk for independent living experiences. Shopping sprees to Hamrun or Valletta are frequent. A small group of children go to Targa Gap weekly to attend lessons in filigree, stone work and pottery with the students of that school. A group of other students integrate well with students from Maria Assumpta School for Gymnastics, English lessons and Home Economics. They are well received by the Staff and children from that school.
Other activities during the year include horse riding and day outings. The students are also encouraged to take part in activities abroad. Four children won medals in the last Special Olympics in Holland, including a Gold Medal. Malta is also a member of the LS.S.F. a Sports' School originally started in the Isle of Man and many times our students placed first.
The school is very fortunate to have the professional services of Ms A. White and her sister Ms Lizzy who come to school once a week to give lessons in movement to music and dancing on voluntary basis. These activities are much loved and enjoyed by the students.
Our students are encouraged to take part in various art exhibitions, dancing competitions and sports activities both locally and abroad. The children boast of a number of trophies, medals and certificates.
Another activity the school is proud of is the Christmas Concert held annually. Almost all the children take part in a two-hour programme where they show their abilities.
The School Timetable
The students take lessons in Drama, Music, Art and Craft and P.E. by peripatetic staff members once a week. They also have speech therapy by the four Speech Therapists who are in attendance twice weekly each.
They also make good use of the one computer installed in each class.
Life skills programmes i.e. self help, self care, health and social education. Individual life programmes i.e. feeding, drinking, toileting, dressing and undressing, washing; etc.
Self awareness, becoming an adult, exploration of the environment, survival self-help skills i.e. health and safety, sex education, cookery, personal hygiene, at home, shopping, appropriate behaviour and emotional development.
The senior classes are furnished with cookers, fudges, washing machine, kitchen equipment, etc. These are all used regularly.
Inclusion
It is the School' s main objective that children attending school should integrate with normal people as much as possible. Visits to Guardian Angel School by school children attending normal schools are encouraged to the full, while groups of students from this school have lessons with normal children at Maria Assumpta Girls Secondary School, and children often go to the School of Hair Dressing and the School at Targa Gap Craft School.
The senior groups love going to the I.T.S. for a meal or a snack. Besides having a meal they are also trained to use the bus and pay for the ticket.
School-Home Contact
Continual contact between the school and home is maintained. For this reason every child carries with him what is called a 'Contact Book'. In this Contact Book any relevant information the teacher wants to convey to the parents or vice-versa is jotted down.
Provisions
The Education Department provides each child with a hot meal, free of charge, every day. The menu, spreading over a two-week period, consists of a two-course meal, namely a main course and a fruit. Meal time is a continuous lesson in table manners and etiquette. Besides children are also provided with milk every day. Transport is also free. Escorts accompany the students to see them safely to and from school.
School Council
To help with the running of the school, Guardian Angel has a hard working School Council made up of eight members. The President of the Council is appointed by the Minister of Education, while the Head of School is Secretary/Treasurer. Three elected members represent the Staff while another three represent the parents.
The Council meets once a month and is responsible for the organisation of social activities and helps with the raising of School Funds.
Students' Visits
Our school plays host regularly to a good number of University students and others attending the Pre-Vocational School. The Staff does its best to help these students acquire valuable experience for their future careers. The School does what is humanly possible to create opportunities for the children to mix with their peers and improve their relationships with others.
Final Remarks
Every single experience must be directed towards helping the student grow as an individual and as a member of a group - a school group - a family group - a community group. To do this successfully there must be a staff which is supporting and in their turn feel supported by other professional support.
The strength of Guardian Angel School lies in the enthusiasm of all members of staff to work as a team and to treat each pupil as an individual person with patience, understanding and genuine affection.
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