Embedded Files
1 Caregiver Parent and 1 child with autism
3 volunteers, Allan, Tasha and Eva who are supporting in running of Bilberries Blue Lighthouse. Eva, the behavioural coach, selected the 8 students for Blueberries Blue Lighthouse
4 circle volunteers (Allan, Tasha, Santosh and Royce) who are supporting Hong Kai. Our circle meetings are online. We meet on the 1st Monday evening of every month from 7pm to 8.30pm.
Volunteers are required to assist with a 6-month long leadership programme that takes place on Thursday afternoons from 3pm to 5pm at Spectra Secondary School. If you are interested please contact Hong Kai at hongkai@bilberriesblue.com
With so many specialised schools for special needs children, we would need to strategize, communicate the vision and show the results for a fully inclusive school at Bilberries Blue Lighthouse
We would like to do an asset mapping exercise of Spectra Secondary School e.g. rooftop garden to see what we can involve our students with during the 3pm to 5pm slot.
To move towards Peng Ean's vision of a fully inclusive school, we would need to gradually move from programmes just for special needs children to programmes that are for neuro-diverse children as well. “Placemaking is the process of creating quality places that people want to live, work, play, and learn in.” Placemaking is a process. It is a means to an end: the creation of Quality Places. In Singapore, placemaking has traditionally been top-down. But in the US, placemaking is ground-up and community-driven (something that Tak Takut or Participate in Design do). Bilberries Blue should be a sanctuary for special needs kids or even neurotypical kids, a place where people can celebrate themselves, their gifts, foster friendships with people who enter the space, freely discover their interests and move freely, where the community decides how they want the space to become, including the rules for governing it or allocating resources.
In addition to placemaking, Peng Ean hopes that special needs children can be hospitable hosts, where they host people who are neuro-typical so that they can develop the confidence to participate in society.
Realizing the noble vision of a fully inclusive School of life for everyone
Realizing the noble vision of a fully inclusive School of life for everyone
Background
Peng Ean (https://www.linkedin.com/in/peng-ean-khoo-279a5912b) is a visionary caregiver and founder of Bilberries Blue Lighthouse (https://bilberriesblue.com) or the Happy Heart School (https://thehappyheartschool.wordpress.com) that has the mission of realizing fully inclusive schools worldwide. Her son Keith, 15 years old, inspired her to bring the community into the education of special needs children.
Peng Ean is assisted by a team of volunteers, one of whom is Hong Kai. Hong Kai was inspired by Tak Tatuk by 3pumpkins, a community space embedded in rental flat estate that is nutured by fun and caring adults. Hong Kai wants to create a similar outfit for spectra students with special needs where children develop their authentic inner voice.
Below is Peng Ean's quote on what her vision of a fully inclusive school is about:
"It is a school, a community that does not discriminate, is not afraid, and simply loves each child and each other to bits, to the fullest, and would do anything and everything, to build and hold this wonderful environment and world for our children and for ourselves to discover deeply and affectionately ourselves, our earth and our humanity. And that we stop the vicious cycle of teaching our children to divide, to discriminate, to value human beings based on worth and ability, but we model and receive from our children to embrace frailty and vulnerability and how to love, support and empower this dynamism of growth and life that is a dance of frailty and strength.
Keith already belongs in my heart, in his Daddy’s heart, his sister’s heart, his grandparents’ hearts, his aunts’ and uncles’ hearts, his cousins’ hearts, his therapists’ hearts, his teachers’ hearts, his friends’ hearts, our extended families’ hearts, our family friends’ hearts – and us in his heart – he is already our whole world, and we are already his whole world. What we need to do then is to keep extending this world of hearts into a true community, with as large a mix of culture and communities, so that life for him and for us, is truly in celebration of diversity, in true knowing, love, support and empowerment, and living engagements that are deep and complete experiences of moral courage, peace, love and joy. To truly receive the seed of one school is when we are able to participate in the sorrow of others, however momentary or however long, without bolting, without being afraid, and without doubting that there will come a time, a moment, however momentary or however long, when that sorrow will turn into joy, when a growth will unfold, and to endure and celebrate these pulses of heart beats, these moments, in complete faith and trust with full understanding that the cycle will churn again and again in the glorious cycle of growth and life, and living. And we endure, celebrate, endure, celebrate, endure celebrate and do a jazz of pulsing heartbeats with full gusto of living a life fully and completely, with others, in love, singing: “How Wonderful Life is While You’re in the World”."
The school environment is very tough currently for special children to be learning in a fully inclusive school due to old mental mindsets and models of what a school is or even what education provides. Many are still thinking that children are to be groomed to go into the labour market or that children are trophies to be displayed or that our love for children is best served by enabling for them successful school performances. A very much deeper awareness needs to be reflected upon and it really takes a lot of honesty and courage by parents to truly support the needs of children to unfold in their own time, and be celebrating just exactly that. Some swing to the other extreme of unintentional neglect in the sense that there isn’t sufficient mediation or motivation for a full living, so a child does not receive sufficient boundaries of safety and security, personal growth, expectations of pro-community life skills. We have seen many children being caught in this trapping of poverty of expectations, especially special children, and then certain negative behaviours eventually become habituated and profiled with the special condition of the child. We have also seen many special children receiving a good balance and integration of push-pull who have truly blossomed and are able to come into their own fully as children and adults."
Circle Objectives
Circle Objectives
To help assess the suitability of Hong Kai's programmes for every Thursday, he would like our monthly Monday circle meetings to be a test-bed and a sounding board for his ideas. Royce, Santosh, Tasha and Allan would also be supporting Hong Kai with the capability development plans for the volunteers at Blueberries Blue Lighthouse.
The Circle is looking for volunteers or adhoc parents/caregivers to take care of the after school care for the special needs children alongside facilitators Hong Kai, Allan and Tasha. The programme takes place every Thursday afternoon from 3pm to 5pm and is a 6 month long leadership programme.
With so many specialised schools for special needs children, we would need to strategize, communicate the vision and show the results for a fully inclusive school at Bilberries Blue Lighthouse.
We would like to do an asset mapping exercise of Spectra Secondary School e.g. rooftop garden to see what we can involve our students with during the 3pm to 5pm slot.
To move towards Peng Ean's vision of a fully inclusive school, we would need to gradually move from programmes just for special needs children to programmes that are for neuro-diverse children as well. “Placemaking is the process of creating quality places that people want to live, work, play, and learn in.” Placemaking is a process. It is a means to an end: the creation of Quality Places. In Singapore, placemaking has traditionally been top-down. But in the US, placemaking is ground-up and community-driven (something that Tak Takut or Participate in Design do). Bilberries Blue should be a sanctuary for special needs kids or even neurotypical kids, a place where people can celebrate themselves, their gifts, foster friendships with people who enter the space, freely discover their interests and move freely, where the community decides how they want the space to become, including the rules for governing it or allocating resources.
In addition to placemaking, Peng Ean hopes that special needs children can be hospitable hosts, where they host people who are neuro-typical so that they can develop the confidence to participate in society.
NUS Comms Project - Bilberries Blue Lighthouse.mp4Volunteer recruitment BBLH 2023.pdfPage updated
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