Education

Kindergarten, Occupational Activities and Special Teaching

Education has always been one of the priorities of the Obra Social and Cultural Sílvia Cardoso.

Our kindergarten serves 95 children, distributed by 5 rooms supported each by an educator and an auxiliary of education.

"We can safely say that our main objective is to provide children, in particular children carrying disabilities, a constant support helping them to develop all their physical and intellectual skills, while promoting a perfect and harmonious growth."

We also provide occupational and recreational facilities for the children who attend primary school outside our institution in our ateliers (A.T.L.). These are attended by 35 children, more or less. The A.T.L. is also used as a complement to Special Teaching, and for children with special learning needs or disabilities.

We provide Special Teaching for children with mental disabilities from ages 3 to 16 years old, as well as psychological support and care. For the older children, we have an occupational activity the C.A.O, where young people over 16 can learn basis skills and attend several ateliers.

All these facilities work together. Leisure and recreational activities provided for children in the A.T.L. and kindergarten function as Integrated Teaching, that is children with or without disabilities attend the same facilities and work and play together. According to the nature an degree of their disabilities they are obviously given the proper pedagogical assistance, by the educators and auxiliaries of education.

Besides this, we also prepare and assist children in Special Education in their transition to basic school, in primary schools outside our Institution. This preparatory level to basic education is also attended by children with learning disabilities or some kind of special educational needs.

At this level we seek not to overload the children too much, that's way part of the school period is passed in workshop activities in the A.T.L.

Our work with children carrying disabilities is also extended to children with deep mental deficiency. Although these children cannot attend Special Education they are cared for and stay with us for most of the day. This gives their parents the chance to go to work knowing their children are properly looked after. We also serve as an emotional support and counselling source for the families of these children, which as it happens with the more needed families, sometimes lack the resources or knowledge to properly care for the child's well-being.

The Centre for Occupational Activities (C.A.O.)

The C.A.O. (Centre for Occupational Activities) is a space for occupation, formation and rehabilitation for children carrying disabilities over the age of 16. In this centre are thought basic skills, such as domestic, hygiene and social skills.

Part of the C.A.O's facilities is designed as a "miniature house", with bedrooms, kitchen, living and dinning room. In this "miniature house" the young men and women learn basic domestic skills, like baking a cake or setting of the dinner table which will help them not only to interact with themselves and others but that will also help them later in their own house with their families. By learning and demonstrating these aptitudes they feel rewarded and their self-esteem is increased.

In the C.A.O. these young men and women also have the opportunity to participate in different workshops, learning, according to their personal taste and skills, to perform simple mechanical work such as folding and constructing cardboard boxes (which are sell to pastry shops and bakeries), carpentry, basket making and gardening.

This work will enable some of them to acquire useful skills that will make more easy their integration in the employment market. But mostly this work builds their self-esteem giving them a sense of self-worth.

All the educational and social support provided in OSCSC for all of the children, is supported by athletic activities like gym and swimming classes. Our swimmers have won several medals in national competitions.

We can safely say that our main objective is to provide children, in particular children carrying disabilities, a constant support helping them to develop all their physical and intellectual skills, while promoting a perfect and harmonious growth.

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