The Inclusive Outdoor Classroom was created in January of 2016. This creation was the result of the outcry of parents who had children with special needs but lacked resources and services that met their needs and their child(ren)’s needs. Many of the parents were ashamed and embarrassed because of their special needs child(ren) and often because of the embarrassment would confine these children to the home where they would not be exposed to the public. In addition, research suggests that children who are typically developing can be enriched through an educational environment with children who have special needs. Skills such as cooperation, teamwork and consideration are magnified in an inclusive environment
The Inclusive Outdoor Classroom (IOC) began in the front yard of the founder of the programme. With a shoestring budget consisting of mostly small donations, a group of interested and caring parents and a cohort of volunteers, mainly university students, the IOC began its work. Simply put, children with disabilities would not have had an environment that would welcome them regardless of their disability if not for the IOC. The foundation of the IOC is the direct service provided to the children and young people who are enrolled; the recruitment and training of volunteers who assist with the direct and indirect services; the advocacy aimed to raise awareness about inclusion; and, finally the engagement of parents.
Children with special needs in the light of COVID 19 had difficulties coping with online classes. Therefore The IOC decided to conduct a Pilot programme by creating its own Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to cater to the new norm and the different needs of each participants (children).
We piloted a session in response to the parameters around COVID19 by conducting remote trainings for our team of volunteers to be equipped. Seed money from Persatuan Malayalee Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan supported the remote trainings with experts from the United States and the founder of the IOC.
We could only accommodate 10 children to participate in the Pilot Programme. We could not accommodate the many who wanted to participate due to the budget constraints. We have 55 children registered in the IOC. Parents who participated were relieved to have an opportunity for their child/ren regardless of their abilities.
We have partnered with the Jawatan Kuasa Penduduk Zone 3 (JKP3) MBSJ and consequently the space we now use is fully sponsored by the local council. With the support from our councillor from MBSJ, and the hard work from our team members, we had a huge success. We were able to pull of social connections with physical distancing.
Because our dreams are big, we can’t do this alone. We are seeking your assistance to carry out our activities and training programmes to educate the community at large that Inclusion is a Right in the new norm.
Our current space sponsor is Majlis Bandaraya Subang Jaya (JKP3), funder for monthly activities is 3lyon a public listed company and training partner is Willow Tree, USA.
Partners who supported us from 2017 to date are:
The video links for the pilot project and the media coverage for year 2020 are enclosed below for your reference.
Pilot Programme Video Link
Activities in the New Norm at IOC
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1776446369186365&extid=7yethaceHdDr9CNJ
Media Coverage 2020
June 20 Video for the Global responses to covid19 pandemic for our Exchange Magazine USA, series of free videos on the pandemic. Video #7 of this series. https://www.childcareexchange.com/surviving-to- From - Time 15:14 to 16:08
March/April Exchange March/April publication The Early Childhood leaders’
magazine
Building an inclusive community in an Outdoor
classroom
https://www.childcareexchange.com/article/postcard-from-malaysia-building-an-inclusive-community-in-an-outdoor-classroom/5025266/
Raised MYR 2,738
