Child care services
Special Needs Education...
In Romania there are thousands of children with disabilities who have no access to schooling. FARA aims to give these invisible and forgotten children an opportunity to be integrated into main stream education.Two years ago, FARA opened the Samuel Centre – a Specialist Learning Centre run in partnership with the Child Protection Department in Bucharest. Up to 20 children with special needs from three years old attend the centre daily where FARA’s trained team offer special education, physiotherapy, speech therapy and family support. The aim of the programme, whenever possible, is for children to be integrated into mainstream schools.
Parents are encouraged to participate in their children’s education and ongoing family support is given. This initiative is the first of its kind in Bucharest and is proving a lifeline for families, by changing social attitudes to children with complex needs.
FARA has developed an outreach programme offering Home Schooling to pre-school children on the Samuel Centre waiting list. Trained educational psychologists work with families in their homes offering an educational programme, and providing medical equipment as required.
Parents are also able to attend monthly meetings at the Samuel Centre which provides invaluable support for families socially isolated and caring for a child with disabilities.
Latest Initiative - Project Swallow
Early in 2009, FARA received an offer from two specialist teachers from the Sunderland Council to provide us with equipment and training in special needs education for our Samuel Centre. As a result they have now visited the Samuel Centre twice during the summer and provided chairs and equipment, not available in Romania, to the children at the centre.
They have named this as the Project Swallow and are now undertaking fund raising in Sunderland to finance future visits and are very keen to involve more staff from the Children’s Services in the City of Sunderland. They plan to make three further trips during 2010.
This project will provide sustainable support for FARA in the form of resources for children to aid their daily living and also offer training for colleagues in Romania.
They are extremely enthusiastic, energetic and dedicated and FARA is delighted to have been chosen for this partnership which will make an enormous difference to the quality of life of our children with disabilities.
