PEET grants for - Sir David Brand and Burbridge, and Montrose Primary School

11/4/98

The Sir David Brand and Burbridge schools for students with disabilities, and Montrose Primary School have all received grants from a special trust fund which supports innovative educational projects developed to benefit Western Australian students.

Education Minister Colin Barnett announced today that they were among 22 schools, community groups and individuals who have received a total of $109,000 in grants this year.

Mr Barnett said the funding was provided from the Public Education Endowment Trust (PEET), which was established in 1909 to support outstanding educational programs that help a wide cross-section of students.

Mr Barnett, who is chairman of the Trust, said the grants were made in four categories aimed at:

·      developing school and community links;

·      improving early childhood education;

·      assisting geographically isolated and disadvantaged students; or -

·      supporting students with disabilities.

The Minister said the special programs at the three schools were excellent examples of the innovative work being undertaken in WA schools.

Burbridge School in Koondoola received a grant of $3,545 for further development of its very successful, state-of-the-art Multi Sensory Environment (MSE) project.

Burbridge is a purpose-built education support facility for children with specialised educational and therapy programs.

The school's philosophy is to develop each student's individual abilities so they can participate in the family and broader community.

The Multi Sensory Environment project involves stimulating the individual senses of children with disabilities by using a variety of lighting effects, music, touch and movement experiences and aromas.

It is being developed in three stages. Stage one was completed last year with the opening of a purpose-designed and furnished MSE room. This was partly funded by a $14,000 PEET grant in 1996. Stages two and three involve the purchase of key pieces of equipment that will ensure appropriate activities can be provided for all students.

The 1998 grant was sought specifically to purchase a 'Soundbeam', which is designed to encourage children with multiple disabilities to experiment with movement and sound. It is seen as an essential item in the second stage of the MSE facility.

The Sir David Brand School and the Cerebral Palsy Association received a grant for $9,993 to provide equipment that will help severely disabled students gain more control over their environment.

The grant will be used to install two computer-aided remote controls systems for use by children who are confined to a wheelchair and are unable to control anything except either a head switch or a simple 'banger' switch.

The equipment was developed in Perth in a collaborative project between the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Western Australia, the Cerebral Palsy Association, the Sir David Brand School and the Community Support Group.

Dubbed 'an experiment that worked' which is now ready for practical application, the computer-aided remote control will provide even the most severely disabled students with some measure of control in operating electronic equipment such as a compact disc player, a television set or a VCR.

In the early stages of therapy, the control can help severely disabled children learn basic cause and effect concepts. For example, when connected to their head or banger switch, the control could help them turn music on or off.

Montrose Primary School received a $1,200 grant for its early childhood Maths Language Project, which aims to develop young students' mathematical skills and to improve their problem-solving skills.

The grant was provided for the development of maths kits, containing a mathematical game and a factual/fictional book with a maths focus. Parents will join their children in the classroom to help them develop the games.

The kit will be used at weekly workshops in the school's two pre-primary classes and will also be available for children to take home and use with their family.

Media contacts: Justine Whittome, Minister's office (08) 9222 9699 Penny Valentine, Education Department, (08) 9264 4597