The ACe Department was honoured and took pride in celebrating Autism Awareness on 2nd April 2014. There was much preparation within the Department making colorful boards to display around the school and hosting a parent engagement afternoon was among a few of activities. 'Blue' being the color denoting Autism it was indeed a pleasure to see the ACe department staff adorned in all hues of blue to support and show pride of being an integral part pf this event. The members of the School Leadership Team supported the event by enabling to display video clips on the monitors around the school. Teachers spoke to their respective students and videos were shown in the classrooms during the form time. Hopes & Dreams of the Achievement Center “YES ! I can !” The Achievement Center (ACe) has grown from strength to strength, in the past years boasting of a decade long period of success. The founder and backbone, Mrs. Suzie Hachez is the Director of “Achievement Center”. The minute number of 3 students in the year 2001 have now increased to a whopping 121 students in its fold and a strong nurturing team of 47 Learning Support Assistant (LSA) in total.
Whilst leading this dedicated team, Mrs. Suzie has developed a suitable environment to support the students’ cognitive, emotional and social abilities throughout these many years at CIS. All students with specific education or behavior needs are in “inclusion” and are supported in mainstream class room scenario following the regular curriculum. Of course an Individual Education Plan (IEP) is tailored for each of these students to support their specific needs. It is honourable to mention that the whole student body at CIS have accepted and understood the need for this inclusion, and even more an honourable mention, that the Department was nominated for, The Sheikh Khalifa Award in APRIL 2012, for our effort in supporting ACe Students as “inclusion” in mainstream at CIS. The department liaises with the various subject leaders to differentiate and modify the curriculum to accommodate and adjust to each individual student’s ability. The department has taken pride in advocating and directing students from FS through to KS5. The development of a student to become an independent and responsible young adult is the key concept of this support. Instilling and nurturing confidence academically and socially has enabled the students to achieve higher goals. A notable example is one of the ACe students, who successfully completed the Advance Subsidiary Level (As/L) and is now in the second year of College and some others who have completed IGCSE and are now employed. 7 students faced yet another As and IGCSE in this academic year, and 2 students completed the BTec course successfully. ACe Support in FS to KS3: The quintessence of the department this year has been the inclusion of students in Year 1 with autistic spectrum and the remarkable progress they have made with the support of Learning Support Assistant (LSA). Some of the success stories from our Year 1, LSAs are as follows: The children came into school with very poor social and communication skills hence were unable to access the curriculum. It was a struggle for them to settle down. Some of the students would not sit still and would lay on the floor whilst some were withdrawn and refused to talk to anyone. One child constantly made loud noises and refused to listen to any instructions given by the teacher. One particular child struggled with letter formation and wrote only a few words on an entire page. However by the end of this academic year these same children have shown remarkable change and are now capable of blending with the rest of the students. The ACe department’s continued focus is to support students from key stage 1 to 3 for phonics, reading and numeracy needs. These programs have proven to be successful aiding students to grasp numeracy, phonics and to boost confidence in their reading. The Ruth Miskin’s Program is one such program that enables students to gain independency and read fluently. 'Numicon-Closing Gaps’ and ‘Early Math 1, 2, 3’ have helped the students to visualize and make sense of challenging Math concepts by making Math fun!! Feedback -Progress Reports The Individual Educational Plan (IEP) aims to support each individual’s need. It gives suggestions and an insight to the teachers and the parents to aid the students accordingly. On the other hand, the ACe report (twice annually) shows a‘snapshot’ of the students’ academic and social progress. English Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) The English Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) program, co-ordinate by Mrs. Suzie Hachez, is in its secon year running, it has grown from 4 teachers in 2009-2010 to 9 teachers in 2011-2012 with 114 students. Next year, it will support a maximum of 91 students. The program is tailored to develop, English reading, speaking and writing skills for a diverse international student body at CIS, whose mother-tongue and first language is not English language. Throughout the past decade the ACe department has worked hand in hand with the main body of the school, developing and enhancing the growth of the ACe students. It has been truly rewarding to work and witness the progress made by the students who have been entrusted to our care. |
AuthorSUZIE HACHEZ Archives
October 2015
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WELCOME TO ACe DEPT
At Cambridge International School the Achievement Center is catering for students who have medical, emotional, behavioral, learning difficulties and/or learning disabilities. The department has grown from strength to strength, in the past years boasting a decade of success. Started in 2000 with 3 students and supporting over 120 today under the supervision of Mrs. Suzie Hachez who is the founder and the backbone of the department.