AnnuAl RepoRt 2011/2012

Taking on The nexT level

In 1992, Rainbow Centre Singapore was established as a registered charity with the Registry of Societies. The Centre was subsequently granted the Institution of a Public Character (IPC) status under the Charities Act.

The Centre runs two Special Education (SPED) schools and two Early Intervention Programme (EIP) centres at Rainbow Centre - Margaret Drive School campus and Rainbow Centre - Yishun Park School campus for children with special needs. All the Centre’s programmes adopt a holistic developmental curriculum in the areas of language and communication skills, cognitive skills, social and emotional skills, fine and gross motor skills, and adaptive daily living skills. They are carried out by a multi-disciplinary team of trained Special Education Teachers, Speech Language Therapists, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Psychologists, Social Workers, and Music and Art Therapists.

In addition, Rainbow Centre provides Family Life Services by a team of social workers, and a Training and Consultancy team to build professional capabilities in the area of special needs in Singapore and the region.

About RAinbow CentRe, SingApoRe

Our Honorary Patron: Professor Tommy koh, Ambassador-At-Large, Republic of Singapore

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Vision Leading in Special Education, Making a Difference Mission Beyond Disabilities, Maximising Potential We are committed to enhancing the quality of life of children with special needs through education and training to enable them to achieve their fullest potential by:

• providingaholisticdevelopmentaleducationalprogrammeforourchildren;

• collaboratingwithparents,thepublicandprivatesectors;

• committingtotheprofessionaldevelopmentandpersonalfulfilmentofourstaff;

• contributingtothetraininganddevelopmentinthefieldofspecialeducationlocallyandregionally;and

• engenderinggreaterpublicawareness,understandingandacceptanceofchildrenwithspecialneeds.

Core Values We serve with Dedication, Integrity and Compassion, and strive to achieve Excellence in our services for the betterment of our children. We believe in Teamwork and Respect to bring out the best in our team and those we serve.

MiSSion, ViSion And CoRe VAlueS

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“Our core business is teaching and our top priority is learning. With extensive training, coupled with documentation and development of our RC curriculum resource, we can be assured of our continuity to deliver quality programmes to our students.” Angela Lee, PrincipalJessica Wee, vice-PrincipalRainbow Centre - Yishun Park School

6 pResident’s messAge

9 the yeAR in bRiefhighlights & Achievements

19 moving into A new eRA Significant Milestones

Towards Inclusion The Next Lap in Our Journey

25 oRgAnisAtion

33 finAnciAl stAtement

39 donoRs And suppoRteRs

43 testimonies

contents

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Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels and what one achieves…Nehru.

Indeed it has been time well spent for us at Rainbow Centre as our staff and management not only rose to the challenges to ensure all our programmes and schools continue to deliver desired outcomes but also stretched ourselves by taking on many projects and initiatives which will have significant and long lasting benefits for all our stakeholders.

In early 2012, the government accepted the recommendations of the Enabling Masterplan 2012-2016. With that, the stage is now set for a period of fundamental changes and improvements which should see significant enhancement of services and options for people with special needs when these recommendations are implemented. In future when we look back at 2011-2012, we would probably reminisce that this was the start of a new era for the special education sector in Singapore.

At Rainbow Centre, we have aligned ourselves with these initiatives and will continue to raise the quality of our service to all our clients. In this respect, we have again pushed the envelope further to take the lead and collaborate with all our stakeholders to ensure that we stay relevant as well as continue to provide excellent value for our students and stakeholders.

We restructured and improved our organisational effectiveness. In line with that, we have recruited and appointed Mr Lee Wee Song to the newly created position of Director, Corporate services. He will assist the Executive director and help oversee various projects which will be crucial to position Rainbow Centre for the future. Following the organizational enhancement, we have also improved and revised our staff remuneration scheme and aligned these competitively in accordance with their job emplacement.

Other important milestones includes :

1) The implementation of the integrated iT Management application system for hR, Finance and student database.

2) We have offered more local and overseas training scholarships for promising staff to ensure we have a pipeline of qualified professionals in RC.

3) We will start the Senior STeP programmes in 2013. This is the result of extensive preparatory work to extend our Junior STeP programme for people with autism to cater to those between 13-18 years old.

4) We had a successful fund raising gala dinner in September 2011 and raised more than $ 456,000 for our early intervention programme. This will go a long way to help the needy students in this programme.

5) RCTC collaborated with SSTi and aRC to run preparatory courses for the eiP sector. apart from their hectic local training courses and consultations, RCTC also continued to actively engage in training and consultation for our regional partners in Myanmar and indonesia.

6) We co-organised a nationwide “World autism awareness Day” with our collaborators aRC, aaS, SaaS and the Duke- nUS graduate Medical school.

7) RCMDS was the recipient of the Moe-nCSS innovative award 2011 for their health education for absolute learning Project, a health enhancement initiative, at the inaugural “Special education Conference 2011”.

pReSident’S MeSSAge

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We are appreciative for our many partners who have collaborated with us in many different ways to add value to our students and make their lives more fulfilling. Special mention must also be given to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital for the Minimart project, My PALs and Pre-School By-The-Park for the integration programmes and our partner school including Chung Cheng High School.

We thank the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, the National Council of Social Service, our sponsors and friends for their support and generous contributions to our programmes and services.

I would also like to express my heartfelt appreciation to our Board, School Management Committee, various sub-committees, management team and staff, as well as our community partners whose many contributions have benefitted our students and their families.

We have our fair share of sincere letters of appreciation from parents of our children appreciating the special effort in nurturing our students and helping them cope. This was gratifying but the most moving experience for me was when a student, who since joining Rainbow Centre, has only been able to sit silently during lessons, but was in the last year enskilled by her teacher to communicate with her classmates, using her newly acquired assistive technology.

Singapore.

Mr Yew Teng Leong

She said: “My teacher has helped and enabled me to communicate and has changed my life forever, i am very grateful to him!“

These words probably summed up our collective motivation and the aspirations of our teachers and professionals. I would like to sincerely thank all our staff and management at Rainbow Centre for their sacrifice and passion to give our very best to our students.

We have made good use of our time but we can continue to innovate and improve. We are motivated to make a greater impact on the many who are with us on this special and meaningful journey.

Together let us engender a more inclusive society in

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the yeAR in bRief

Highlights & Achievements for 2011

Amongst the therapists, professionalism is very evident. They would consistently strive to upgrade their skills and knowledge and develop a greater sense of professionalism.Fauziah Ahmad, Principal Rainbow Centre - Margaret Drive School

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Another year has ended and once again, it is a time to reflect and take stock of what we have achieved and experienced. The journey had been fulfilling. The achievements did not happen overnight. As a team together with our stakeholders, supporters and the community, we had another good year of exciting initiatives and activities which had enhanced our mission and benefited our beneficiaries.

HigHligHtS & ACHieVeMentS

MOE-NCSS Innovation Award 2011

We are humbled by the recognition of the H.E.A.L. (Health Education for Absolute Learning) project by the staff of Rainbow Centre Margaret Drive School who received the MOE-NCSS Innovation Award 2011 at the inaugural Special Education Conference on 2 November 2011 at the Resorts World Sentosa Convention Centre. The project involved 37 pupils with ASD from the STEP programme. The project outcomes showed significant increase in physical strength and endurance, level of alertness and readiness to learn, healthier and more balanced diet and improved social and communication skills.

Collaboration With Partners

The World Autism Day 2011 & 2012 were successful projects jointly organized between Rainbow Centre and the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Autism Resource Centre, St Andrews Autism Centre and Autism Association of Singapore. A forum as well as a series of concurrent workshops on autism were organized for professionals and caregivers at the inaugural World Autism Day 2011 at the Rainbow Centre Yishun Park School. The event was jointly held by Rainbow Centre and the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School on 2 April 2011. The Guest of Honour was Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports. This year, the World Autism Day 2012 Committee organised a Light- Up at the ION@Orchard on 30 March and a seminar at the Pathlight School on 31 March.

Rainbow Centre continued to collaborate with Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) for clinical attachments for their physiotherapy students, and with the National University Singapore (NUS) for their NUS Post - Graduate Speech Pathology students.

Charity Gala Dinner SENSES 11

Rainbow Centre had a very successful fundraising event on 15 September 2011 at the Shangri-La Hotel to raise funds for the EIPIC Fund to support the early intervention programme. Attended by over 400 supporters and donors, the event raised $456,909,41. Our heartfelt thanks to the Guest of Honour, Ms Ho Ching, Executive Director of Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd for gracing the event and her ardent support to our mission and cause. The success of the event is also due to the hard work and commitment of the Organising Committee of the Gala Dinner, the volunteer artistes, staff and students of Rainbow Centre who gave a memorable and spectacular performance at the dinner and all the corporate and individual donors for their generosity and presence at the dinner.

highlights & achievements10

Curriculum Development

All teachers were guided on how to use the new curriculum and documentation with on-going training as well as updates were provided as the schools enhanced on the new curriculum resources.

Students Award 2011

Funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE), deserving pupils in RCMDS and RCYPS received one of the following awards:

• MostOutstandingAward • SpecialAchievementAward • PerfectAttendance • GoodProgress

The presentation of the awards to the pupils was well received by their parents as the awards recognized their child’s good performance and progress.

Transition Project with St Andrews Autism School (SAAS)

Funded by MOE as a pilot, the transition project was implemented at RCYPS and SAAS to provide transition planning for graduands from the school to SAAS. Co-ordinated by a Senior Teacher, the project involved a work plan drawn up by the Transition Co-ordinator (TC) to familiarise our graduands to SAAS with teachers from SAAS going to RCYPS to observe and know more about the students and their educational needs. This project has enabled both the sending and receiving schools to collaborate in the transition plan and support for the graduands from RCYPS to SAAS.

ICT Programme

This is a school-wide project to increase learning and learning outcomes through the use of technology. The pilot project involving pupils from STEP and PPMD has opened up a new world for them. Here are examples of some of the improvements made by our pupils.

• Danielisverbalhoweverhisspeechisunclearat times. The use of the QWERTY board has enabled him to improve his spelling and literacy skills.

• Abigailiscognitivelyhighbutsheisnonverbal. With the sentence stripes, she is now able to call out her teacher for help in her school work and also form sentences. She is able to ‘tell’ her teacher what she wants and how she feels. It has helped her in her literacy and language skills.

• KennethstartedusingtheiPadinOctober2011and is currently using it in his new class during snack time.

• JasmineisusingtheiPadinclasstopracticeher calculation skills as the normal calculator’s screen is small for her to see and key in the numbers.

The Art Therapist has introduced the use of iPad during her art therapy sessions as a pilot at RCMDS in the beginning of 2012. Out of the 62 pupils, 13 of them have demonstrated strong interest in using the iPad drawing app as a digital art medium. Falcon iPad: Noteshelf for Art: another programme was introduced at RCYPS to spur the use of iPad in the classroom by the Visual Arts , IT Club and Prevoc. ICT has benefitted our pupils who are not only enjoying using the device but have gained independence in their communication and social interaction with their classmates and teachers.

Mobility Scooter Project A project by the Occupational Therapy department at RCMDS was introduced to increase accessibility options for pupils with physical disabilities. Donated by Posterscope and supervised by the occupational therapists, the trials on the power scooter proved to be a good start to motivate the pupils who are heavy and passive in the wheelchairs to move within the school premises transiting from one room to another for their lessons and therapy with reduced stress on the hands of the caregivers and staff.

Adapted Feeding Tube Clamp

This is another project by the Occupational Therapy department at RCMDS campus. The OTs designed a simple cost effective clamp which can be attached to the child’s buggy or wheelchair frame. The syringe held in place by a device and attached to the clamp allows feeding formulas to be well placed so as to reduce abdominal discomfort. As the drip mechanism usually takes about 40 minutes, this clamp has proven to be effective in enabling caregivers to free their hands from holding onto the syringe and enabled the caregivers to interact with the child. All caregivers have expressed satisfaction in using this method, and are using it at home with their child.

Project Foot Care

Initiated by the Physiotherapy Department at RCMDS campus, Project Foot Care was started with the objective of customising ankle foot orthoses and weight line training for our pupils at lower cost than what is available in the market. 22 students have benefited from this project.

Programmes and Activities to Enhance Pupils’ Development and Learning Reading Mastery (RM)

Reading Mastery implemented in January 2011, had extended to more classes with pupils in our programmes showing improvement in their reading and language. RM has helped pupils in:

• Speakinginsentenceswithlessprompting • Clarityinpronunciation • Abilitytofollowgroupinstructionsevenin other lessons • Abilitytocompleteworksheetsindependently • Increaseinattentionandfocus • Increaseinvocabularyandimprovementin receptive communication

More teachers have received training in conducting RM from MOE. In addition, Senior teachers were sent to attend the Corrective Reading Workshop.

highlights & achievements12

PATHS (Social Emotional Learning)

17 classes had implemented the PATHS curriculum. Visuals were displayed within the school compound to support the learning of social and emotional awareness and expression.

Fitness Programme

Two teachers were sponsored to attach to the Boston Higashi School in the US for a week to learn about their Higashi Daily Life Therapy Exercise for children with ASD. Since their return, they have adapted the programme and started a fitness programme to achieve general fitness, regulation to aid arousal level and improve social awareness.

Art Expression & Art Exhibition

An Art Exhibition was held to showcase the artistic talent of pupils. There were two main categories — assisted and unassisted. Some of the pieces were successfully auctioned to raise funds for the talent development of our young artists.

Prefect Investure

16 pupils from RCYPS were given the appointment as members of the Prefectorial Board on 12 May 2012. With the motto of “Beyond Me, Beyond Now” these prefects were given opportunity to serve during school functions, attend leadership workshops and practise independent skills.

The CCAs were categorised into Modular and Specialised CCS which allow for them to be rotated for the modular CCAs for greater exposure to a variety of enrichment programmes through their school years with Rainbow Centre. Modular CCAs offered included Swimming, Information & Communication Technology (ICT), Batik Painting, Gymnastics, Art & Craft, Rock Climbing & Badminton. Specialised CCAs are conducted outside of the pupils’ curriculum time in school and are designed to develop special talents and skills of our pupils such as performing arts like dance.

CCAS FOR ENHANCEMENT OF TALENT DEVELOPMENT & LEARNING

Combined Sports Day at Bukit Gombak Sports Complex

The combined Sports Day on 8 July 2011 for students from both RCMDS and RCYPS provided a platform for teamwork/sportsmanship as well as interaction between students and staff from the schools.

13highlights & achievements

SPED Fun with TOTAL Swimming

A swimming programme specially tailored to meet the needs of individuals with the needs of individuals with special needs was initiated. This pilot programme started in early 2012 for EIPIC pupils at both campuses, has received very encouraging feedback from parents who are pleased of their children’s progress in the water. Parents or caregivers are encouraged to be in the pool with their children. Subsidy from the Pupils’ Welfare Fund provided for needy pupils so that no child is deprived from this project because of financial difficulty. The programme will be extended to more children in the EIPIC programme.

Young Athletes

Initiated by the Special Olympics Singapore Committee for children with special needs aged eight and below, our pupil participants benefited from the programme. Teachers were trained and this impacted the PE programme in school.

Camps

A number of overnight and day camps were organized during the year for our pupils from all the programmes to provide opportunities for the generalization of skills taught in the classrooms, especially in the areas of self-help skills, communication skills and social skills. RCMDS held an overnight camp for the STEP pupils at Outward Bound School with involvement from the Raffles Girls’ School. The experiences proved to be mutually beneficial for our pupils, staff and the volunteers. While the majority of the children had no problems in settling down to sleep, there were children who had separation anxiety from their parents. Our appreciation to our staff and volunteers for looking after them throughout the night.

The multi-disciplinary team of Rainbow Centre therapists, psychologists, social workers and teachers worked as a team to deliver individual, joint and group sessions or class consultations for our pupils. While we had lost a few of the allied health professionals to private organisations or other agencies, we are pleased that we are able to retain committed and experienced staff and our effort to recruit replacements and new therapists had not been futile.

They continued to provide assessments, individual and group therapy intervention plans and sessions to our pupils and training and professional support to teachers and caregivers. Their direct intervention had no doubt provided quality treatment to overcome difficulties associated with the pupils’ conditions and improve their quality of life through specific intervention programme and approaches. The team is constantly exploring new ways and approaches to improving their intervention and skills through learning and training and best of all, they initiated innovative projects to better help their cases under their charge.

The sharing of the team of 31 allied health professionals among our programmes in EIPIC and SPED had effectively enabled as many pupils as possible and families to benefit from their professional input and support.

Therapy Intervention by Allied Health Professionals for EIPIC and SPED Programmes

highlights & achievements14

By 2013, we will have another three Rainbow Centre speech language therapy scholars graduating from the NUS Speech Language Pathology Master programme.

Speech Language Therapist 8

Occupational Therapist 8

Physiotherapist 6

Psychologist 7

Music Therapist 1

Art Therapist 1

Total 31

Staff Development under Rainbow Centre Training & Consultancy (RCTC) & External Agencies & Resources

Staff development and training is built on a multi-faceted model that targets at both professional development in terms of width and depth of knowledge, refinement and expansion of skills, as well as the shaping of perspective and mindset to incorporate a more holistic, meaningful and progressive framework of reference.

All staff of Rainbow Centre participated in the Staff Learning Journey at Outward Bound School held in June and September 2011 to enhance teamwork and communication amongst all levels of staff. Many gained insights on the effectiveness of teamwork, and relationships were strengthened within and across departments and schools after the learning journey.

RAINBOW CENTRE TRAINING & CONSULTANCY IN 2011/2012

RC Senior Staff Retreats were initiated and organized by the individual programme/schools to enhance team building and to review and plan strategies to align their programmes to Rainbow Centre’s organization direction and vision. The retreats led by the leaders of Rainbow Centre Yishun Park School (RCYPS), RCEIP@YP and RCEIP@MD provided the senior staff consisting of teachers and therapists an opportunity to engage together as a team to encourage ownership and empowerment in the journey as one big family.

We had a series of dynamic training initiatives from RCTC that included a training programme for new Rainbow Centre staff together with partners such as National Council of Social Service, Social Service Training Institute and Autism Resource Centre, etc. Several training workshops on specific topics focusing on behavior and sensory management, new documentation for IEP processes, curriculum development, team building, etc. were organized. In addition, external trainers were engaged to run specialized workshops for our staff as well as staff sent for training outside of Rainbow Centre.

During the year, RCTC with a team of two full-time trainers and consultants headed by the Deputy Director of RCTC continued to give their full commitment to meet the demand for the training of 2096 trainees (teachers, allied health professionals, health workers, volunteers, senior staff and caregivers) both locally and regionally. RCTC was engaged to provide needs assessment conducted at the Eden Centre for Disabled Children (ECDC) in Yangon, Myanmar in Feb 2012 with the potential attachment for their staff at Rainbow Centre, and further training and consultation at ECDC in Myanmar. In addition, RCTC provided training and services to Medan in Indonesia.

Research Projects

Rainbow Centre continued to offer opportunities for collaboration on research. A research project that looks at an ACC hybrid communication system that our Speech Language Therapy (SLT) Department at RCMDS has designed for children with autism is currently being studied together with our two Rainbow Centre SLT scholars and NUS psychologist Dr Tan Seok Hui.

15highlights & achievements

FAMILY LIFE SERVICES (FLS)

The Family Life Services department continued to work closely with parents and other professionals to identify support and training needs of the caregivers of our pupils. The social workers played multiple roles to support the families. Financial counselling and assistance took up the largest part of the casework followed by work related to information and referrals.

Types of Support & Intervention Casework

Intake Interviews 221

Financial Counselling 13

Financial Assistance 294

Individual Counselling 49

Couple Counselling 3

External Transfer/Transition Planning 99

Parent Support & Education 41

Information & Referral 197

Service Co-ordination 75

Students’ Matters 74

Home Support 42

Crisis Management 6

Total 1,114

The year also saw 57 new families joining the PILLARS Support Group membership which entitles parents a discount to attend training and talks on the registration fees. The FLS department organized a serious of KOPI-Talks sessions for accompanied caregivers in mind.

The FLS and the Centre for Fathering jointly organized the 1st Father-Child Bonding Day camp in March 2012 at RCMDS for a group of fathers and their children. The event enhanced bonding between the fathers and child, and the role of fathers in the care of their special needs child.

CORPORATE SERVICES

The forming of CS is yet another important step in consolidating resources and looking at shared services from a corporate level. On practical basis, CS is about leveraging assets, resources and capabilities but more importantly finding a balance between optimising resources and operating efficiency; between risk management and empowerment and between keeping the tradition and adopting new ideas (including new technologies). The fundamental objective of it all has got to be to the benefit of our children.

highlights & achievements16

HUMAN RESOURCE

The recruitment of trained and experienced teachers and allied health professionals remained a challenge for the sector. As at 31 March 2012, the total full-time equivalent for Rainbow Centre was 385 with about 76.9 % in the teaching category followed by 8.0% of allied health professionals. This excluded relief and contract staff employed to relieve female staff on maternity leave and teachers attending the Diploma in Special Education (DISE) programme at the National Institute of Education. The following provides the breakdown of the staff strength at Rainbow Centre.

Declaration of Conflict of Interest & Annual Remuneration of Top Key Executives

All Board & Management members and staff are required to declare that they do not have any personal or private business or associates that might be a conflict to their functions or employment with Rainbow Centre. Board members do not receive any remuneration for their involvement in and contributions to Rainbow Centre.

The remunerations of the top key executives for the year FY11/12 were :

$50,000 — $100,000 - 2

$101,000 — $150,000 - 2

$151,000 — $200,000 - 1

The salary bands included salary, annual wage supplement, variable bonus, annual performance bonus and employer’s CPF contribution.

Category Number

Senior Management 9

Trainers & Consultants 3

Teachers 296

Allied Health Professionals 31

Social Workers 9

Social Work Assistants 3

Finance Manager 1

Accounts Executive 3

Human Resource Manager 1

Admin Managers 5

Admin Staff 8

Operations Staff 2

School Nurse 2

IT Executive 1

Support Staff (Cleaners & Drivers) 11

Total 385

Rainbow Centre continued to invest in staff and talent development by sponsoring them on several training according to their training needs and tracks. It is hoped that within a culture of learning and sharing, the knowledge and skills gained will generate greater synergy and creativity that will further promote progress and development. In the long run, this consistent and continued cycle of learning and empowerment will increase staff motivation and productivity, thus realizing RC mission of maximizing potential for both our pupils and staff.

During the year, we saw a number of teachers graduated from the DISE programme, the Certificate and Diploma in Disability Studies by SSTI, the Advanced Diploma in Early Childhood Intervention (Special Needs) programme at Ngee Ann Polytechnic and courses on ASD. We would also like to extend our congratulations to Faridah Ali Chang and Sharifah Yokoyama for successfully completed their Masters of ARTS and Bachelor of Education (Special Education) respectively.

Sponsorship was also extended to other relevant training programme(s) both local and overseas for allied health professionals, senior staff and administrative staff. In-house training by RCTC and our senior staff continued to be a regular feature in our time-table in Rainbow Centre.

FINANCE

Funding

Rainbow Centre continued to receive per capita funding from MOE and NCSS for our special education programmes. Means test funding from MCYS continued to base on the per capita income tiers of parents and the MCYS/NCSS means test framework.

Government grants for Rainbow Centre for the period of FY11/12 constituted 83.2% with the rest of the income came from receipt of training and programme fees (9.3%), donations an and fundraising (5.7%) and other miscellaneous income (1.9%).

Compliance With the Code of GovernanceReserves Policy

Rainbow Centre has a reserves policy for sustainability of all its programmes and continuity of services to its beneficiaries as a contingency when it incurs an operating deficit in any year. For this purpose, Rainbow Centre aims to build up reserves that are equivalent to three years of its operating expenses less regular subvention expected to receive from the Government and NCSS. The reserves can only be used with the approval of the Board of Governance.

Operating Expenditure

For FY 11/12, manpower salary cost was 78.6% of total cost. Eligible employees were paid variable bonus in July 2011 and December 2011 according to the NWC recommendations. Annual Wage Supplement in Dec 2011 and Performance Bonus in March 2012. Other operating costs including transport cost for clients was $4,257,142. The overall surplus for FY 11/12 was $2,981,851.

17highlights & achievements

The biggest challenge in the non-profit sector is sustaining or expanding successful programmes. Rainbow Centre is no exception. As we move to large scale implementation to advance our mission to create greater social impact on the special needs sector and the community, this challenge has stirred intense interest and urgency in replication and expansion strategiesJune Tham, executive Director

moving into A new eRA

STAR

T

Towards Inclusion

Significant Milestones

The Next Lap in Our Journey

19moving into a new era

1986 The Need For Special EducationA task force under the leadership of Dr Kenneth Lyen conducted a needs assessment on the number of children with multiple disabilities who were not receiving any services. The survey indicated that there were more than 150 such children.

1987 Margaret Drive Special School (MDSS)The Singapore Council of Social Service (SCSS) started MDSS at 501 Margaret Drive with a Programme for Children with Multiple Handicaps (PCMH), and took over the Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Young Children (EIPIC) from the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS).

1989 Margaret Drive Special School (MDSS introduced the Structured Teaching for Exceptional Pupils (STEP) programmeMDSS became the first special school to introduce a programme for children with autism from 2 years to 12 years old.

Margaret Drive Special School (MDSS) registered with the Ministry of Education (MOE)MDSS registered with the MOE under the Education Act and began receiving shared per capita funding from the MOE and the Community Chest.

1990 Official Opening of Margaret Drive Special School (MDSS)The official opening of MDSS on 26 May 1990 by Dr Tay Eng Soon, Senior Minister of State for Education.

1992 The formation of an umbrella body to run Margaret Drive Special School (MDSS)MDSS became autonomous from the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) and came under the umbrella of Rainbow Centre, which was established and registered with the Registry of Societies in the same year. Dr Ee Peng LiangbecamethefirstHonoraryPatronofRainbowCentre.

1993 Parent Training Programme

The Parent Education and Training Programme was introduced for parents of children registered on our waiting lists.

1995 Balestier Special School (BSS)Rainbow Centre started BSS at 8 McNair Road, Singapore 328517 as her second school to cope with increasing number of children on our waiting lists. The school was later renamed as Rainbow Centre - Balestier School (RCBS).

1996 Official Opening of Balestier Special School (BSS)The official opening of BSS on 1 October 1996 by Dr Wee Kim Wee, President of Singapore and Honorary Patron of Rainbow Centre.

Educational Therapy

Educational Therapy was introduced to serve more children waiting for enrolment to our programmes.

1997 Margaret Drive Special School (MDSS) celebrated her 10th AnniversaryMDSS celebrated her 10th anniversary with a concert at the Singapore Labour Foundation Auditorium on 3 October 1997. The Guest-of-Honour was RDM Teo Chee Hean, Minister for Education.

SignifiCAnt MileStoneS

New premises for Margaret Drive Special School in July 1998..

moving into a new era20

Rainbow Dreams (First Edition) Rainbow Dreams (First Edition) – a book especially written for parents, educators and caregivers, was co-edited by Dr Lee Eng Hin, Dr Kenneth Lyen and Mrs June Tham.

1998 New Premises for Margaret Drive Special School (MDSS)The redevelopment of MDSS project was completed in June, and staff and pupils of the school moved into their new building in July. The new school was built with special facilities to cater to the needs of children with a diverse range of learning difficulties. A separate office for Rainbow Centre was also established within the new building.

1999 National Training AwardRainbow Centre was a finalist for the 1999 National Training Award and was awarded a Certificate of Commendation in recognition of our exemplary achievements in employee training and development.

Official Opening of the new purpose-built Margaret Drive Special School (MDSS) The official opening of the new MDSS on 19 July 1999 by Dr Aline Wong, Senior Minister of State for Education. Our corporate video, “Our Rainbow Dreams” was launched at the official opening.

2000 Preschool Integration Enhancement Programme (PRiEP)The Preschool Integration Enhancement Programme (PRiEP) was introduced to provide training and professional support to pre-school centres with children with special needs. The Family and Marital Therapy services were also introduced as part of our professional support services to families of children attending our programmes. PRiEP has now been renamed as Rainbow Centre Training & Consultancy (RCTC).

2001

Rainbow Dental ClinicThe launch of two new initiatives, the Preschool Integration Enhancement Programme (PRiEP) and Rainbow Dental Clinic on 24 September 2001 by Professor (Dr) Lee Eng Hin, then President of Rainbow Centre.

2002 Formation of Rainbow LinkThe formation of Rainbow Link – a programme to promote volunteerism and to support and educate volunteers at Rainbow Centre.

2003 Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) commissioned Rainbow Centre to conduct training courses MCYS commissioned Rainbow Centre to conduct training courses for its maiden Integrated Childcare Centre Programme (ICCP) for teachers and heads of childcare centres.

Rainbow Centre’s websiteThe launch of Rainbow Centre’s website – a community project developed by Alternate TV.

2004 Collaboration with Autism Resource Centre (ARC) Rainbow Centre and ARC jointly started Pathlight School in January 2004 at the former Chong Li Primary School. Pathlight School is an autism school for children between six years old and 16 years old with autism, and who have the cognitive ability to access the mainstream curriculum. The collaboration was the result of a joint paper entitled ‘Project Platinum’ to the Ministry of Education (MOE). Pathlight School is now fully run under ARC.

2005 Family Support Group (FSG) programmeRainbow Centre was selected by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) to run the FSG Programme to provide peer emotional support for caregivers and family members to manage and cope for their disabled dependents. This programme was officially launched in November and aims to impart family life

education and skills to the families.

Balestier Special School (BSS) celebrated her 10th AnniversaryThe school celebrated its 10th anniversary with a carnival on 1 October 2005 with Mr Heng Chee How, Minister of State for Trade and Industry (MTI) as the Guest-of-Honour. “Where the Rainbow Begins,” a coffee table book, was published to commemorate the occasion.

2006 New Patron for Rainbow CentreProfessor Tommy Koh, Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large, was appointed to succeed the late Dr Wee Kim Wee as the Honorary Patron for Rainbow Centre.

Renamed Rainbow Centre programmesTo promote Rainbow Centre as the brand name, all programmes use Rainbow Centre as the prefix. PRiEP was renamed to Rainbow Centre Training & Consultancy (RCTC).

Kevin’s World Kevin’s World – the children’s picture storybook about autism by Ms Min Lim and Mrs June Tham was published by Rainbow Centre and launched on 14 May by LG (NS)Lim Chuan Poh, Permanent Secretary for Education.

moving into a new era 21

2007 Rainbow Centre — Margaret Drive School celebrated its 20th AnniversaryRainbow Centre — Margaret Drive School celebrated its 20th anniversary with an inspiring concert “I See Your True Colours,” on 23 October at the Singapore Polytechnic Convention Centre. Rainbow Centre Training & Consultancy (RCTC) went regional by collaborating with INDOCARE, Jakarta, Indonesia, in the provision of training courses and consultations for their teaching staff. Ngee Ann Polytechnic collaborated with Rainbow Centre Training & Consultancy (RCTC) for the new Advanced Diploma and Certificate in Early Childhood Intervention (Special Needs) courses.

2008 MOE-NCSS Innovation Award

Rainbow Centre Yishun Park School (Staff Resource Library) won the MOE/NCSS Innovative Award.

New Rainbow Centre — Yishun Park School at Yishun New TownRainbow Centre - Balestier School (RCBS) and Rainbow Centre Early Intervention Programme (Balestier) moved

to the new premises at 15, Yishun Street 61. It was renamed as Rainbow Centre - Yishun Park School (RCYPS) and Rainbow Centre Early Intervention Programme (Yishun Park) respectively.

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of National Education and Indocare, IndonesiaSigning of MOU with the Early Childhood and Special Education branch for training of teachers and therapists for special needs.

2009 MOE-NCSS Outstanding Special Education Teacher Award Ms. Sharifah Mastura Shahab of Rainbow Centre won the MOE-NCSS Outstanding Special Education Teacher Award.

Official Opening of the new Rainbow Centre — Yishun Park School (RCYPS) and Rainbow Centre Early Intervention Programme (Yishun Park)Official opening of RCYPS and Rainbow Centre Early Intervention Programme (Yishun Park) on 1 October 2009 by Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister of Education and Second Minister for Defence.

2010 MOE-NCSS Innovation Award Rainbow Centre – Yishun Park School won the MOE-NCSS Innovation Award for its Minimart Social Enterprise programme.

2011 World Autism Day on 2nd AprilThe Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School and Rainbow Centre Singapore jointly organised the first World Autism Day in Singapore with a series of workshops on related topics for parents and professionals at Rainbow Centre - Yishun Park School. The event was graced by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports as the Guest-of-Honour.

Rainbow Centre Singapore To enhance Rainbow Centre’s corporate identity, Rainbow

Centre is renamed to Rainbow Centre Singapore.

MOE-NCSS Innovation Award Rainbow Centre – Margaret Drive School won the MOE-NCSS Innovation Award for its Health Education for Absolute Learning (H.E.A.L) project.

2012

MOE-NCSS Outstanding Special Education Teacher Award

Ms. Siti Tasrifah Bte Abdul Shukor from Rainbow Centre received a commendation letter.

MOE-NCSS Innovative Award

Rainbow Centre – Yishun Park School received a Commendation Letter for its Student Leadership Programme.

Rainbow Centre - Yishun Park School (RCYPS) moved to the new premises at 15, Yishun Street 61.

moving into a new era22

“... Learning and development plans for teachers in Rainbow Centre were consolidated, parent training programmes with the Caregiver’s Training Grant subsidies were rolled out and regional collaborations were extended.”Manoj Pathnapuram, Dy Director RCTC and Professional Services

oRgAnisAtionOrganisation Structure

School Management Committee

Sub-Committees

Information on Board of Governance

Board of Governance

Senior Management

organisation 25

Front Row :Mr Pek Choon Lee, Assistant Treasurer, Professor (Dr) Lee Eng Hin, Past President, Mr Yew Teng Leong, President, Mr Alban Kang Choon Hwee, Vice President, Mr John Tan Yew How, Honorary Treasurer, Mrs June Tham-Toh Syn Yuen, Ex-Officio/ExecDirector,

Back Row :

Mrs Saras Sivagnanaratnam, Committee Member, Mr Damien Tan Lip Wui, Honorary Secretary, Dr Kenneth Lyen, Committee Member, Assistant Professor (Dr) Kenneth Poon, Committee Member, Dr Yvonne Ling Li-Fang, Committee Member, Ms Chee Nian Tze, Co-opted Member, Mr Vincent Chen, Committee Member, Dr Sylvia Choo, Co-opted Member (not in photo)

boARd of goVeRnAnCe

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SCHool MAnAgeMent CoMMitteeFrom Left to Right: Assistant Professor (Dr) Kenneth Poon Kin Loong, Committee Member,Mr Damien Tan Lip Wui, Committee Member, Mr Vincent Chen Wei Ching, Committee Member,Mrs Saras Sivagnanaratnam, Chairman, Mr Yew Teng Leong, School Supervisor,

Ms Fauziah Ahmad, Secretary, Mrs Angela Lee Lian Siang, Secretary, Mr John Tan Yew How, Treasurer, Mrs June Tham-Toh Syn Yuen, Executive Director, Dr James Hai, Committee Member (not in photo),Jean Sia, MOE Representative (not in photo)

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From Left to Right:

Ms Jessica Wee Keok, Vice-Principal, Rainbow Centre - Yishun Park School

Mrs Angela Lee Lian Siang, Principal, Rainbow Centre - Yishun Park School

Ms Tan Sze Wee, Vice-Principal, Rainbow Centre - Margaret Drive School and Head of Family Life Services

Mr Lee Wee-Song, Director, Corporate Services (DCS), Mrs June Tham-Toh Syn Yuen, Executive Director

Mr Manoj Pathnapuram, DY Director, Rainbow Centre Training & Consultancy and Professional Services

Ms Ja’izah Hj Embek, EIPIC Manager, Yishun Park, Ms Fauziah Ahmad, Principal, Rainbow Centre - Margaret Drive School

Ms Angie Chen Shuixin, EIPIC Manager - Margaret Drive (Not in photo)

SenioR MAnAgeMent teAM

oRgAniSAtion StRuCtuRe

PROFESSIONALISM

SERVICE DELIVERYGOVERNANCE

Board of Governance

School Management Committee

Sub-Committees

Professional ServicesFamily Life Services

RC Training & Consultancy Allied Health Services

School Health

Executive Director

Corporate HQ* Corporate Services

Early Intervention Programmes

Special Education Schools

Finance HR ITCorp Comms Fundraising Special Projects

Corporate Services

RCMDS / RCYPS RCMDS / RCYPS

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2

In our effort to streamline the Documentation process for both SPED and RCEIP, training was conducted for all teachers and Senior Teachers by the Curriculum Development Team.Ja’izah Embek, eiPiC Manager Yishun Park School

finAnciAl stAtementsNote: A soft-copy of the full audited statements is available on request.

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“Taking on the next level is not about breaking old rules. It is giving organisation the autonomy to operate to their fullest potential. When we are able to understand the founding basis of policies, and then make the necessary adjustment to meet the needs of the changing environment. As RC grows in size and complexities, Governance becomes even more important. not to increase process burdens but if we think hard enough, it is really about empowerment and accountability.”Lee Wee Song, Director - Corporate Services (DCS)

donoRs & suppoRteRs

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Like the butterfly emerging out of the chrysalis, it is a struggle but one that we undertake in the firm belief and hope that these changes will bring about great rewards for the children, staff and community. Angie Chen, eiPiC Manager - Margaret Drive

These quotes are from the senior staff of IYAD Perdaus

“The MBTI profiling by RCTC and the personal feedback has helped me to be a more reflective person. The emphasis made by the trainer is not only value-laded but the presentation skills and its opportunities and experiences given to me have made me more aware of my behavior when i am in front of audiences”.

“it has provided me with significant learning and a great discovery of how much we (senior staff) have grown through the Developing valued Professional (DvP) programme by RCTC”.

“i am able to make use of each and every part of the workshop, definitely. I will make use of the knowledge to me at my level best in my daily life, personally and professionally”.

Senior Staff, IYAD Perdaus

Caregiver’s Workshop on Personal Growth run by the Social Workers, Family Life Services

i found the sessions very enriching and looked forward to be at the session each time to learn and share with other caregivers. i got to know other caregivers – learning, sharing and exchanging our thoughts and experiences. I found this experience very valuable and beneficial.

Understanding the various character types and personality traits, erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, understanding of self and others without being judgmental are all very useful tools in helping us deal with everyday situation. Taking care of ourselves so that we can care for our loved ones. lessons on financial planning and planning for the future are also very important.

What touched me most was seeing everybody’s enthusiasm and willingness to learn and share together at each and every session. i sincerely hope that Rainbow Centre will continue to provide such workshop for caregivers and reach out to many more caregivers.

Winnie Carolina

This course has affirmed my ability and changed the negative experience through my different phases of life, and preserve the positive experiences of the past upbringing to my current family. Through determination and wisdom, it makes me happy that i can change to make lives better for people around me, to keep the peace and harmony.

Anita Low, Mother of Anna

Testimony from Sepia Tang, mother of Samantha Chan (Sealion 3AM class)

i would like to express my gratitude of having Teacher veer as my daughter’s teacher in charge this year. Samantha has been under Rainbow Centre’s care for almost nine years since she first started in EIPIC. We have been blessed by different teachers every year since then.

Teacher veer would make use of any opportunity to get all the kids to play or do something together in Softplay, multi sensory room and even the swimming pool. kids would do music and action in the ball pool inside the Softplay room.

Samantha and her peers have been given opportunities to practise independence in class. i am really appreciative of Teacher veer’s effort in this area of training because i believe our kids can only be able to maximize their potential when they are allowed to be trained to be independent.

Teacher veer is not only able to motivate me and other caregivers to work better with our kids, she also motivates her co teacher, Teacher Marn Yee to work together as a team.

Sepia Tang

teStiMonieS

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CORPORATE INFORMATION :

Rainbow Centre, Singapore Rainbow Centre Family Life Services501 Margaret Drive, Singapore 149306 Tel: (65) 6475 2072 Fax: (65) 6473 9739 Email: rchq@rainbowcentre.org.sg

Rainbow Centre Training & Consultancy501 Margaret Drive, Singapore 149306 Tel: (65) 6475 2072 Fax: (65) 6473 9739 Email: rctc@rainbowcentre.org.sg

Rainbow Centre — Margaret Drive School Rainbow Centre Early Intervention Programme (Margaret Drive)501 Margaret Drive, Singapore 149306 Tel: (65) 6472 7077 Fax: (65) 6473 9739 Email: mdss@rainbowcentre.org.sg

Rainbow Centre — Yishun Park School Rainbow Centre Early Intervention Programme (Yishun Park)15 Yishun Street 61, Singapore 768548 Tel: (65) 6482 2592 Fax: (65) 6482 2593 Email: rcyps@rainbowcentre.org.sg

www.rainbowcentre.org.sg