Alma School, Pretoria

Children are admitted from 3 years old and then follow a stimulation program. They progress to a phase of perceptual training and are then ready for adapted academic work. When they have attained their academic potential, we concentrate on life and work skills that can be used in sheltered work places. Because of our learners' severe disabilities they need intensive specialised physiotherapy, occupational therapy and teaching which makes it an expensive kind of education. Extra help is needed in the classroom for feeding, toilet training, nappy changing and to help learners in and out of their wheelchairs.
Most of the children make use of the school’s transport system. Six mini buses follow routes covering the whole Metropolitan area. Other learners use taxis with many coming from as far as Winterveld, Mabopane, Garankuwa, Soshanguve and Mamelodi, including Atteridgeville and city suburbs.

Our learners cannot make use of public transport, because the transport has to be specially adapted to carry wheelchair bound learners and some learners must be fastened to adapted safety chairs to prevent injury. The school has to run this system itself.