Thank you for supporting Epic Arts and our mission to create a world where every person counts!
Earlier this year we announced our newest class, Growing Class, a weekly class for 3 - 6 year old’s with disabilities and their caregivers.
One mother shares her thoughts about bringing her son to study at Epic Arts,
“I want him to go to public school in the future. My son is 6 years old, I knew he had a disability from a young age but I wasn’t sure what kind of disability. When I joined Epic Arts the teachers told me that from his behaviour and their experience with other students that they could tell he is autistic.
I am very happy that my son can join the class at Epic Arts.Coming to the class is beneficial for him because it has helped him to build social skills with other students by playing together with friends in the class.
He will also get good learning experience from the teachers, because the teachers at Epic Arts have a lot of experience with children with disability.
I feel good about meeting other parents who also have children with disability. I can ask them about what’s happening with their children, and we can discuss real life stories. I feel quite lucky because I have a supportive family who accept my son, I feel that I can be supportive to the other mothers in the class”.
- Say Thyna, Mother of Growing Class Student
We currently have 8 young children with disabilities attending the class and it’s going well. Teachers and parents are seeing positive changes and because of this we’re planning on adding another class for the students!
If you’d like to support families like Thyna’s to help children with disabilities receive an education please consider setting up a reoccurring donation for 2019!
Happy New Year from the Epic Arts Team!
The last few weeks have been pretty exciting for the 13 students on our Inclusive Arts Course (IAC). The students embarked on a local tour of Kampot province, performing dance, music and drama outside of the walls Epic Arts for the first time.
Over four days the IAC students visited 7 local primary schools and NGOs to perform for over 700 children.
The students have been focused on creating the show during the past term, the dance performance was inspired by the term’s theme "The value of art from around the world".The show started with a contemporary dance piece inspired by the music and contemporary dance from Africa, the students performed animalistic-looking movements from the beating of the birds’ wings to the prancing of a gazelle. While the ensemble sections of the piece had been choreographed by Caroline, each student choreographed a solo by themselves. The best ones were then chosen to showcase.
The drama performance which followed was devised solely by the students in the theme of a journey. The performance followed colourful characters on a quest to get a magic diamond whilst the heroes faced monsters and ghosts. The whole production had been created by the students, everything from the costumes, props and the set design were a product of the students’ hard work during the last term.
The students also performed some songs which they have been learning and practicing for the last term. The music pieces were mainly Cambodian songs with a modern twist influenced by western pop music.
Besides performing outside of EA for the first time, the IAC students also got the all-round experience of being on tour. From loading and unloading to van to setting up the stage and finding a place to display their artwork every time, the students were responsible for what was necessary behind the scenes and dealing and overcoming any problems they faced.
At the very end of the tour, after their last performance at a school in Kep, the students and teachers of IAC headed off to a well-deserved afternoon at the beach, where they celebrated the success of the tour. The whole team at Epic Arts are so impressed about how much they improved in such a short amount of time in both organisational and performance skills and we couldn’t be prouder.
Thank you for donating to the Inclusive Education Programme, wihout your donations our students wouldn't be able to attend our Inclusive Arts Course, which has transformed their self esstem and confidence. Please consider setting up a monthly gift to our programme to enable our studnets continue building their confidence and artistic skills.
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This month our Special Education Project was awarded national recognition from the Ministry of Education, for the work we’re doing with children and young adults with learning disabilities.
“It’s amazing that the government have recognized our work at a national level because the work we do is not just inclusive education, it’s inclusive education through the creative arts.
Inclusive Education through creative arts is a unique concept in Cambodia and Epic Arts are pioneering the way forward.
I believe that the arts are the key to making inclusive education move forward and help even more children with learning disabilities access education .
The arts are a great way for children with disabilities to forget about the discrimination they face, to express themselves and to bring them happiness.” - Co-Director, Onn Sokny
We currently run three classes for children from age 3 to 27 with learning disabilities. Each and every child in our classes has a individual learning plan and personal targets to help them progress and develop. We have 33 students and our classes are small so that teachers can give attention to every student.
In Kampot, we’re the only organisation offering education for children with learning disabilities. Children with down’s syndrome or autism aren’t accepted into the public school system and there is limited knowledge about inclusive education.
Our Special Education Project couldn’t run without your donations. Why not set up a monthly donation this year to help us continue our work.
As little as £10 a month can help pay for the tuk-tuk to bring children to our centre, buy fresh fruit and snacks for the children or buy the materials and resources which the teachers need for their classes.
Thank you for donating to Epic Arts Inclusive Education Programme (IEP) because of your donation we’re able to transform lives by providing education to young people with disabilities, who without our programme wouldn’t have the chance to have access to education.
Currently we have students aged from 7 to 27 involved in our Inclusive Education Programme.
We felt we were missing an important demographic, so we have an exciting update for the IEP.
In May we’re opening our classrooms to pre-school children with disabilities from 3 – 6 years old.
Ten children with disabilities and their parents will join an informal weekly class where they’ll build important social skills and learn through play. The children will make new friends and their parents will find a supportive network with each other and with our teachers.
Following a three year project with Aide et Action, to integrate children into the public school system, we’ve seen the need for children with disabilities and their parents to be supported into that process.
We believe that our new class will help change families perceptions around disability and what their child can and cannot do.
“I’ve met a lot of parents who don’t believe that their children can learn just because they have a disability” - Chanthat, Social Worker
When the time comes, Social Worker, Chanthat will work closely with families to create an individual exit strategy for each child. The student will be assessed and supported in their next step whether that’s moving to another class at Epic Arts, or Epic Arts lobbying for the child to be enrolled at their local school.
We’re creating this new class because learning benefits every human being and we believe that every child deserves an education regardless of ability, gender or race.
If you believe that education should be available to all children consider setting up a monthly donation to help us work towards the Global Goals #4 – Qualtiy Education & #10 Reduce Inequalities.
We’d like to wish you a happy new year from all the staff and students at Epic Arts!
Both our Special Education classes and Inclusive Education Course are back after some much needed rest.
Inclusive Arts Course
Our Inclusive Arts Course began in late October thanks to you and your generous donations. We welcomed 13 students on to the course. They finished their first term in December and all thirteen students returned back in early January.
“I really enjoy coming to Epic Arts course it is so good to work creatively together with others and to be accepted as me” – IAC student
“I joined Epic Arts because I saw all their videos on Facebook. I want to be the star of the next one!” – IAC student
“I’ve been blown away by how much they’ve grown and developed in my class!” – IAC Dance Teacher
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Special Education Project
The Special Education team are back with Peace Class (6-11) and Independent Class (13 – 27) We have exciting news in the pipeline for our Special Education Project in 2018 we will be looking for children with disabilities under the age of 6 to join our project. This is the first time we’ve formally had a class for younger children but we have had a few success stories from children we’ve taught.
“I’ve seen from my own son, Nak - who has Down’s Syndrome and has been at Epic Arts since he was three years old, that when we teach children from a younger age it really develops there ability to learn” - Kagna, SEP Team Leader & Senior Teacher
"I'm happy because we get to reach more families to show them that their children can learn. I’m excited because I believe that this will lead to more children with disability being accepted into primary schools, which will give them more opportunities in life!”" - Chanthat, Social Worker
We can’t support these young adults and children without your generous donations, Thank you from
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