HOW DOES CONDUCTIVE EDUCATION SUPPORT CHILDREN AND FAMILIES IN CANTERBURY?

Conductive Education Canterbury is a Ministry of Education accredited early intervention provider and a licensed early childhood centre operating from a new purpose-built facility in the grounds of Addington Primary School.

We employ a Conductor and an Early Intervention Teacher who work together to deliver the Conductive Education (CE) programme. The Early Intervention Teacher works together with the Conductor to incorporate the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum (Te Whaariki) into the CE programme.

Every child has an Individual Education Programme (I.E.P.) which is based on their needs and the aspirations of their family/whanau. These goals are reached in conjunction with everybody involved in the child’s life – parents/family/whanau, specialists, mainstream teachers, etc. The venue for this meeting is selected by the family/whanau. These meetings occur every 6 months or as required.

Conductive Education Canterbury provides high staff to child ratios to ensure that children are able to participate and benefit from the programmes. Children attend group sessions depending on their age and needs. Young children may attend twice per week for an hour session while older children may attend up to three times per week for 2-3.5 hour sessions.

Families are encouraged to enrol their child in one of their local early childhood centres, as well as attending CE, to further extend the learning outcomes of the programme by generalising the skills they are learning. This also gives the child the opportunity to socialise in their local community. A team of Education Support Workers/Teacher Aides are employed by Conductive Education Canterbury to support children in kindergartens, pre-schools etc following the guidelines set out in the child’s I.E.P. while being continuously supported by the Conductor and the Early Intervention Teacher.

For children over 2 years, horse riding at Riding for the Disabled forms part of the programme.

Weekly swimming at the Burwood Hydrotherapy Pool is available to all children.

Families meet and receive support from other families who are in a similar situation by being in the group session with their child, organised outings and social meetings. Parents can also meet before, after or between sessions.

Regular opportunities are provided for children and their families/whanau to access new experiences in the community, e.g. shopping, going to children’s theatre, ice skating, picnics etc which are related to the topics/curriculum of the term.

Conductive Education Canterbury employs a part-time Speech Language Therapist (SLT) to provide additional support to children who have communication difficulties. CE staff work together with the Speech Language Therapist to develop the child’s goals. Beside the child’s individual sessions with the SLT their goals are implemented into the CE programme. Basic augmentative communication systems are developed for those children who are non-verbal.

Conductive Education Canterbury contracts therapists as required for the provision of equipment.

Conductive Education Canterbury has professional relationships with other services who may be working with your child, e.g. Elmwood Visual Unit, Van Asch etc.

Our staff are available to support families at professional appointments (paediatric, orthotic, orthopaedic etc) as required.

Assistance and support is offered to families looking at both early childhood and schooling options. A complex transition process has been developed to support both the family and the education setting.