Indie School Elizabeth is a school offering students on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and others the opportunity to engage in learning, after previously having fallen through the gaps at other schools.
Often students on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and those with intellectual disabilities can struggle at some schools with average student attendance prior to enrolling at Indie school sitting at 40%.
Head of School at Indie School Elizabeth, Scott Dirix, who is a trained Primary and Middle school teacher, said they are there for ‘kids who don’t have a chance’.
Mr Dirix said feedback from parents of students attending the Indie school has been extremely positive.
“The parents are so happy about the positive mental health of students. They tell us, for example, ‘we are so grateful to have our son back’, since the school provides a nurturing learning environment, triggering positive changes in their home life too,” Mr Dirix said.
With dynamic learning techniques available, the school caters to students with all styles of learning abilities and fosters a flexible educational experience. The school is federally funded and doesn’t charge parents any fees, including for school excursions.
Autism Specific Learning Techniques
The school liaises with Royal Life Saving South Australia in order for students to obtain the Bronze Medallion. Students can also avail themselves of extracurricular activities and vocational skills including Certificate I in Hospitality and Certificate II in Digital Media.
Curriculum areas such as English can see the utilization of video gaming technology and pop culture as the basis for the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) & Australian Curriculum (AC) English at the school.
“We try to be really engaging and interactive in the way we teach and students learn. We want the curriculum to be fun and are gamifying the curriculum means it may also include playing video games during some English lessons as well as writing journals, reviews, and reflections,” Mr Dirix said.
“The school operates under three core pillars meant to bridge the gap for students with ASD and other intellectual disabilities, who have struggled at other schools in the past,” he said.
Operating under the pillars of ‘wellbeing, learning, and agency’, wellbeing is seen as the central pillar of the program, where they believe everything staff and students do is impacted by their current state of wellbeing.
After surveying our students about their needs, it became apparent that a range of issues that could be encompassed under the banner of ‘wellbeing’ needed to be addressed for students quickly to remove barriers to engagement in learning, and also to help them live happy, safe and successful lives.
Learning is the core business and at Indie School Elizabeth, they strive to ensure the curriculum is fun, engaging, and accessible to all students.
Agency is the third pillar that exists in order for students to build life skills that enable them to be successful and independent adults.
The school incorporates eSports and is expanding with a Salisbury campus due later this year. For more information on the school, contact Scott Dirix on 0409895911 or at Scott.dirix@indie.edu.au or go to the website www.indieschool.edu.au
At Assured Home Care, we believe in making a positive difference to peoples lives everyday, including those on the Autism Spectrum. Assured Home Care provides services that can assist people on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to engage and be active in the community. If you are an NDIS participant and would like to learn more about our range of services and how we might best be about to assist you drop us an email at enquiries@assuredhomecare.com.au or call us on 08 83742444.
