Canossaville Children and Community Services: Looking back on 2021

Canossaville Children and Community Services: Looking back on 2021 How we supported families during this year Our Mother Foundress, St Magdalene of Canossa, had a great love and heart for the poor.

Every day, she would distribute food to the needy of Verona from a side door of her family home. Each morning, the poor would sit on benches outside the door to wait for St Magdalene. Eventually, this door became known as the Bread Door. Inspired by her love in action, we Canossians carry on her mission here in Singapore.

When COVID-19 hit Singapore, many families under Canossaville’s care suffered a drastic drop in income. Many held manual or daily rated jobs, and strict measures to contain the virus meant that they could not work to support their families. To meet these urgent needs, Canossaville organised four distributions of food, groceries, daily necessities, and supermarket vouchers in 2020, each time benefiting about 150 vulnerable families from across the Canossian Village. Remembering our roots, we named these care pack distributions Bread Door Events.

Each care pack is lovingly packed by hand by our Canossaville staf

Almost two years from the start of the pandemic, Canossaville continues to support the vulnerable in our midst. By the end of 2021, we would have had seven more Bread Door Events, with a further eight planned for next year. St Magdalene never turned away anyone who needed her help, and by her example, we will always be committed to a continual support of all in our care.

Canossaville Preschool - Inclusion in practice: Co-teaching model Canossaville Preschool (CPS) is an inclusive environment where students with hearing loss study alongside their mainstream classmates. Since the start of 2021, Canossaville Preschool and Canossian EIPIC (Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children) have jointly adopted a co-teaching model and approach during English lessons. Co-teaching is a collaboration between preschool teachers, EIPIC teachers, and allied health professionals where there is:

Joint Planning

Co-conducting lessons

Reflection

This framework helps provide various levels of support for students with different needs such as hearing loss, delayed speech and language, and delayed learning skills. There are 6 models of teaching which both the EIPIC and CPS teachers use for their lessons.

Parallel Both teachers are involved in teaching similar content with similar styles. Students will be split into 2 groups, with both teachers in charge of one group

Stations Both teachers will be assigned to each take a station where students will carry out an activity. Students will move from station to station

Teaming Both teachers are paired up to teach the same content to the whole class

Alternative Both teachers will be teaching similar content but using different teaching methods. Students will be split into 2 groups, with both teachers in charge of one group

One Teach, One Assist One teacher will be teaching the class while the other will be supporting students who require help

One Teach, One Observe One teacher will be teaching and the other will be observing how the lesson is being presented. Later, feedback will be given to the teacher teaching

“As an EIPIC teacher who has been involved in co-teaching since the start of the year, I have been reminded of the beauty of teaching. I truly hold dear to my heart those moments when my students surpass my own expectations. Co-teaching has re-emphasised for me the capacity that each child has for learning, and as an educator, I am tasked to provide these environments for them to learn.” – Abigail Wong, Associate Psychologist and EIPIC Teacher

Canossaville Student Care - Canossian Care Curriculum The Canossian Care Curriculum (CCC) is our signature values-driven programme, specially curated for our children at Canossaville Student Care (CSC).

The cornerstones of the CCC are based on Canossian values of Charity, Humility, Forgiveness, and Faith. The objective is to nurture each child in her/his own way. The lessons within the curriculum are dedicated to enlightening our children to be independent learners, to form their hearts to be loving and empathetic, and to empower their lives so that they grow to be resilient individuals, with a clear moral compass and a compassionate heart.

Brother Brandon explaining to Primary 3 students why patience is a virture

In 2021, we were blessed with seminarians and friars who had chosen to do their pastoral attachment at Canossaville. The brothers’ presence and inputs added an invaluable facet to CCC! What are our seminarians’ sentiments about the CCC programme and their attachment?

For Friar Nelson, it’s a tool for him “to help the children comprehend God’s teachings in a way that makes sense to them.” Friar Marvin finds “learning alongside the children exciting” and it has strengthened his belief of the importance to be exposed to good values at a tender age. Brother Brandon was inspired by the student care teachers’ “amazing gift of recognising the talents in each child” and using teachable moments to reinforce the values taught during CCC.

Friar Marvin shares his experience on being charitable

Perhaps their pastoral attachment to Canossaville is best summed up by Brother Francis who said: “I have most certainly deepened my own appreciation of the call to the priesthood through this attachment; understanding the role of a priest in guiding young children to grow, while at the same time, supporting and encouraging the teachers and parents.”

Brother Francis affirming a P4 student on his commitment to complete his work

Canossian Child Development Unit – The start of the Canossian Family Care Services As a continued effort to support our children at Canossaville, the Canossian Child Development Unit (CCDU) expanded our services in 2018 to include the Canossian Family Care Services. Some of our families struggle to provide a conducive and nurturing environment at home for their children. They may not have access to resources for help with financial, emotional, and mental health issues, or may have social emotional barriers to seeking the help they need.

Our team at CCDU expanded to include a counsellor trained in Family and Marital Therapy, a social worker, and a social work associate to serve the specific needs of the families. Using a systemic approach of building a relationship of mutual trust, openness, and relevant interventions, we endeavour to help our families create real and sustainable change.

To do this, the team works closely with our partners in the community and schools to identify children and families who may potentially be at risk. We use screening tools for assessments, gathering data, and tracking progress of the families engaged. Our work is manifold; parents and caregivers attend therapy sessions in Canossaville or are visited at their homes by our team members. The team also helps to facilitate conversations between the external agencies and the families seeking help. However, at times, the work may simply involve supporting a family day by day with food and grocery vouchers while seeking more sustainable help for them.

The parents are our children’s first educators, and it is within their families where they establish their own identities, values, and sense of belonging. Our hope is to engage and empower our families to be able to do this successfully for their children.

Canossian EIPIC - Opening of EIPIC standalone class On 13 September 2021, Canossian EIPIC (Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children) opened the EIPIC @ Centre, an in-house programme for children with hearing loss who do not attend Canossaville Preschool. This is to enable children with hearing loss to receive early intervention as soon as possible while they wait for a place in the inclusive Canossaville Preschool. Timely intervention empowers families and maximises the potential of children.

Speech therapist in session with a student

The programme is based on the ECHO framework, a functional outcome measurement system and service delivery model for early intervention centres in Singapore. It focuses on a child’s natural everyday routines. ECHO adopts a holistic view of a child’s functioning, looking at 3 global child outcomes: 1. Children have positive social-emotional relationships.

2. Children acquire and use knowledge.

3. Children use appropriate behaviours to meet needs.

The programme starts off with the EIPIC team conducting hearing checks for the children’s hearing devices to ensure optimal hearing; Audition must first happen for children with hearing loss before hearing takes place. Following which, the programme encompasses a variety of natural routines from circle time, worktime, playtime, snack time, and toileting time.

These natural routines allow children to learn to be independent with feeding, cleaning up and toileting. They provide children with ample opportunities to strengthen their social, communication, and emotion regulation skills. Worktime routines enable the children to acquire and use knowledge through developmentally appropriate activities such as sensory based activities, art and craft activities, and the use of differentiated worksheets.

Incorporation of various activities into EIPIC sessions

Besides receiving learning opportunities in a small group setting, the children receive therapy services such as speech and language therapy and occupational therapy. We hope that through this holistic approach, the children will be able to achieve their fullest potential and grow into confident, independent individuals.