FILADELFIA SCHOOL VISIT

Abacus Recruitment is proud to pronounce that we have placed many excellent candidates that completed their Senior Certificate (Grade 12) at Filadelfia Secondary School. We made a visit to the Filadelfia Secondary School in Soshanguve during September 2008.

Filadelfia Secondary School opened in 1985. At that stage it was the only secondary school for black disabled children. Mr Willem van der Merwe has been headmaster since 1998.

The school consists of 474 pupils who all live in the school hostels. Approximately 60 children are visually impaired, 200 children are hearing impaired and the rest of the children has physical disabilities. They come from all over South Africa. There are also learners that comes from Botswana and Swaziland.

Filadelfia Secondary School has different departments:

• Commercial;
• Typing and Compu-typing;
• Human and Social Sciences;
• Vocational;
• Educational;
• Technical;
• Language department which caters for Seven African Languages as a first language!

The remarkable aspect of each department is that every individual learner with their respective disability has to be accommodated. For example:

Adaptation in class for the severe hearing impaired:

• Use of sign language;
• Organise desks in u-shape in order for learners to see one another;
• Use as much visual stimulation as possible;
• Before starting a lesson, get the attention of all the hearing impaired learners by switching the light on and off;
• Give more than one example when explaining vocabulary;
• Accessible buildings.





Mr. Van der Merwe and two students working on the "Brail Production Services Project”.

One of Mr. Van der Merwe’s projects at the school is the “Brail Production Services Project”. The school installed a Brail Production Unit and their aim is to man this unit with enough personnel to run a Brail Printing Service on a large scale.

The School also has an Educational Support Services Team:

• Physiotherapy;
• Occupational Therapy;
• Speech Therapy; and
• Nursing department.

The learners at Filadelfia Secondary School get exposed to sports such as wheelchair basketball, athletics, cricket, netball, rugby, etc. The pupils get the opportunity to enjoy and compete against one another at Fila’s Sports day and Inter School Competitions. The achievers are chosen to compete in the Provincial and National teams.

One of the questions asked by Abacus Recruitment when interviewing candidates with disabilities is; “How did you overcome your disability?” Most of the candidates confirmed that being at a school together with other learners with disabilities made them realise that they are not alone. The fact that there are learners with the same or other disabilities gave them the confidence they needed to accept themselves the way they are and live life to the fullest of their ability.

It is clear to see that at Filadelfia Secondary School they do not only get acceptance from their peers but they are accommodated as an individual with their specific needs as a disabled learner in all the aspects of their development. Mr van der Merwe confirmed this statement by saying that his personnel put in a great amount of effort into each individual learner.

One of our employees at Abacus Recruitment, Vuyile, has been a pupil at Filadelfia Secondary School. Vuyile comes from rural Kwazulu Natal and in the year 2000 one of her teachers motivated her to complete her senior certificate (Grade 12) at Filadelfia Secondary School. This teacher saw the potential in Vuyile and did not want her to leave school in Grade 10, the highest grade in their local school. Young and enthusiastic Vuyile got on a train and completed her Senior Certificate at Filadelfia Secondary School in 2003.





Vuyile Nhlangulela

Vuyile came along on our visit to Filadelfia Secondary School. The teachers were overwhelmed to see her. It was clear that the teachers are involved and know their pupils by heart.

As one of the learners wrote in a poem called ‘Filadelfia Family of Love’:

You make life run like a fish when it swims
You lift our hands when we are tired
You give us shelter during trouble
You feed us during hunger
You’re our father

How can you get involved?

If you are a Company who wants to get involved with Filadelfia Secondary School, you are more than welcome to make an appointment with the headmaster.

Mr Willem van der Merwe
Tel: 012 793 1205.

If you want to get involved on a smaller scale, you have the opportunity to adopt a learner with a disability, pay their school fees and hostel fees or to provide them with pocket money.

Any other initiative is also welcome.