Improve School Readiness for Vulnerable Children

1.0.            Introduction

KCH recognizes that learning through play is a catalyst and a key vehicle to support young children’s development and learning outcomes throughout their lives especially children with learning disabilities. Research has it that learning through play builds the foundation for lifelong learning. It’s against this background that KCH implements activities that promote Inclusive play to enhance not only school readiness and transition for children with disabilities but also improve their learning outcomes.

This report gives a summary of activities that were carried out in the last three months aimed at promoting School readiness and transition for children with disabilities.

2.0. Activities

2.1. KCH Early Learning Center Activities

KCH’s Early Learning Center is a unit that manages children with disabilities like Cerebral palsy, Autism, and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). Children in this unit mainly present with learning challenges; the unit integrates play into therapies to promote learning. During this reporting period, the therapists and the special needs teacher engaged 15 children with learning disabilities in this unit. Through these play activities, children developed important skills from skills of daily living like brushing, toileting, feeding, and dressing to basic literacy skills like learning how to count and write. Understanding others’ emotions, working together, and problem-solving skills were also learned through these play activities.

 All these activities were aimed at improving the readiness of these children to transition to mainstream inclusive schools

2.2. The National Play Day Event

The first-ever National Play Day in Uganda was held on 30th April 2024. The Play Day celebrated play as one of the most transformative forces in a child’s life. The event included decision-makers, government officials, educators, caregivers, children, partners, and members of Uganda's private sector, counting over 600 people with a shared objective to learn and demonstrate the power of play.

The Play Day offered opportunities to learn about why play is so important for children’s development, to hear from children about why play is important to them, to hear from decision-makers about their ambitions on how to transform learning through play, and – of course - to play a little ourselves!   

The Government of Uganda organized Uganda National Play Day with support from UNICEF, The LEGO Foundation, Education Cannot Wait and Plan International. The event was implemented in partnership with civil society organizations and partners working to support and implement learning through play in Uganda of which KCH is among.

2.2.1.  Katalemwa Cheshire Home’s Involvement in the Event

KCH’s participation in the National Play Day launch was to showcase how investments in technologies can promote inclusive play thus enhancing learning among children with disabilities.  

 KCH and five other organizations including the Ministry of Education and Sports (Department of Special Needs Education), UNICEF, Finn Church Aid (FCA), Enabling Services Uganda Limited, and Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Uganda (SHA-U) exhibited in play Hub 10; “Interventions on inclusive play-based learning”. Play Hub 10 exhibited different interventions on inclusive play-based learning developed by the government and other partners to promote inclusive education in Uganda. The organizations exhibited the following:

Play and learning materials that included jingle balls, squeeze balls, puzzles, cloth alphabet, ludos, wooden blocks, jumbo chalk, goal balls, Football for the blind

Assistive Technology Materials Like Talking Calculator, Braille Bricks, Victor Reader, Blaze et, MP3 Player, Braille Kits, and Orbit Readers. Adapted learning materials like chats, maps, braille books, Sign Language manuals and dictionaries, wooden tactile boards, goal balls, and football for the blind

Accessibility Materials, which include wheelchairs, crutches, artificial limbs, arm crutches, walking aids, white canes, and modified shoes.

Conclusion

For all children with disabilities, Play provides an important window of opportunity to prepare for lifelong learning and participation stimulating involvement that is aimed at preventing developmental delays and promoting the acquisition of competencies.