In the leafy upper north shore suburb of St Ives is a very ‘special’ special school, The Sir Eric Woodward Memorial School (SEWS), offering a quality learning environment for students ranging in age from 4 to 18 years, with moderate, severe or profound intellectual or physical disability, complex conditions and/or an Autism Spectrum Disorder across two delivery modes, Face to Face (F2F) and Distance Education (DE).
SEWS offers a number of specialised programs including integrated services of a physiotherapist, occupational therapist and speech pathologist for all students enrolled. The school is dynamic in supporting all students with a holistic approach, through modifying the curriculum to support rich learning opportunities.
SEWS will be raising much-needed funds while having a good laugh, with its Comedy for a Cause at Hornsby RSL on Saturday, 20 October.
The funds raised on the night will assist with funding the best integrated services, including therapists, resources and technology to support children at school. With funds raised the school can continue to provide and even expand these services and resources, so children have the best opportunities preparing them for life outside of school.
“$25,000 funds integrated services including music for one day a week for a year is a huge goal for our small school,” says Namita Biswal, whose son is a student at the school.
“The specialised program at SEWS have made huge impact on my child’s development. He has now started holding a spoon to feed himself; pushing a switch (button) to indicate when he wants a drink or a meal; and manages his way around the school with confidence. Whilst these may not seem like big achievements by themselves, for us, we never thought he would be managing to achieve this within four years of commencing school,” she adds.
“We are appealing to our generous community to support this fundraising event by way of either purchasing event tickets, spreading the word among friends and local community groups; donating items that can be used on the night for silent auctions and prizes or making tax-deductible cash donations through our website. No help is too big or too small. Any assistance will be gratefully accepted and be put to good use for fundraising,” says Namita.
Comedy for a Cause was established in 2013 by Matt Wakefield, in hope of supporting not for profit organisations raise funds in an efficient and entertaining manner.
You can find out more about Comedy for a Cause on their website https://comedyforacause.net/comedy-for-a-cause/. The link for tickets is: comedyforacause.net/SEW.
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