ELOUERA SPECIAL SCHOOL

COOTAMUNDRA

Students From Young

With the recent issues facing the Bellhaven School in Young we have been asked a number of times by the media and some parents if the Elouera Special School can take students from Young.  We felt it important to answer these questions.

It must however be said up front that we hope that a solution can be found to keep services open in Young as it is always a bad thing to see a reduction in services for people with a disability in our region. 

Can Elouera Take on Students from Young

The answer to this is a simple yes, The Elouera Special School has been advertising on Prime TV including in Young for some time that we have vacancies at our School.  Nothing has changed as a result of the problems faced by Bellhaven. 

We currently have two students from Young attending the school and we are happy to discuss with parents the needs of any student with a disability.  Parents have choices that they alone can make, be that sending their child to a Government or non government mainstream school or a special school, that choice remains today for the people in Young, Temora, Harden, Junee and of course Cootamundra. 

Can I Visit the School

Certainly, all parents of prospective students are encouraged to visit our School, see what we do and view our facilities.  Parents need to know as much as they can about choices available and we are keen to ensure you can make this choice confidently.  Just call our School Principal Annette Field on 02 6942 2064 in School Term periods or the Chief Executive Officer Allan Young on 02 6942 6586 in School Holidays.

Can you Cater for Severe Disabilities

Yes we can, our School has a number of very high support students now and six staff that have many years experience in providing the best quality of service, two of the staff at the Elouera Special School are in fact the longest service staff in the organisation. 

We only require that a student have a moderate to severe disability to discuss their needs.  The only time we are not able to provide services is when the student presents a clear danger to the staff and other students in the school and all interventions and efforts to reduce this risk have been ineffective. 

Is Elouera Special School Economically Sound

Yes it is, a recent Financial Health Assessment of all Independent Schools placed Elouera Special School in Group 1 which is Financially Viable.  Being part of the larger organisation of Elouera Association we have an economy of scale that assists us remain viable and the ability to use some of our commercial income to increase services in other areas. 

We also have access to the Harold Brady Trust that gives our organisation significant financial grants.  These grants largely allowed us to build the Harold Brady Building in 2003/04.

How will my Child get to Cootamundra

In all of the towns our students come from they have successfully applied for Taxi Services to and from our school paid for in full by the State Government, its a great service.  Young has been the exception to this as there is a Special School in Young so applications have been knocked back.  For this reason we run a bus daily from Young to Cootamundra.  Should Belhaven close its doors then Taxi Services will be available.  (Noting of course we would prefer this not to happen). 

What are the Facilities Like in Cootamundra

We have an amazing school that is about to get even better.  We have three class rooms operating, a Junior class and two senior ones, one for higher support needs and one the more able students.  We have well equipped class rooms, a library, multi purpose hall and a sound and light room that is also a mini cinema.  Soon we will have the new building with an additional class room to better house one that uses the hall and a purpose built art room.  To learn about this development have a look at the Building the Education Revolution page here.

ELOUERA SPECIAL SCHOOL

SCOTT AVENUE

COOTAMUNDRA NSW AUSTRALIA

PH (02)6942 2064     FAX (02)6942 4464

EMAIL principal@elouera-association.com

ELOUERA SPECIAL SCHOOL 2005 ANNUAL REPORT - FOLLOW THIS LINK