SOCIAL SUPPORT Christel House SA’s Social Services Department is critical to the school’s success – the team’s one-on-one communication and human interaction is key to the provision of healthcare, psychosocial counselling and admissions support to our students. When President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster in March and our school had to close its physical doors, our priority remained the well-being of our students. As such, we put innovative plans in place to ensure that they still had medication, food and 24/7 access to a counsellor or a social worker.
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A successful fundraising campaign spearheaded by the marketing and fundraising team provided needy families with eWallets to purchase food and other essentials for six months. The social services team identified 300 families in greatest need and managed the distribution process, with the help of the operations team.
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Our Social Services team also produced engaging parent booklets as educational resources to parents. The booklets contained valuable information about the COVID-19 pandemic, best practice tips on how to prevent infection, advice on how to deal with the pressures of the lockdown, and practical ways on how to support one’s family during these challenging times. As always, character education and values-driven activities anchored the work.
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The 2021 admissions applications were made available online, moving away from physical forms.
Their efforts included: •
Telephonic consultations by counsellors and social workers with students to find out how they were coping and to offer support.
In December, the Social Services team hosted an intimate, socially distanced year-end parent appreciation event to acknowledge our parents for the exceptional role they played in supporting the school, including volunteering when needed. Congratulations to the Social Services team and their supporting departments, who made a huge contribution to the school’s successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 26 | CHRISTEL HOUSE SA 2020 ANNUAL REPORT
