Mother Teresa School, Harrison, has partnered with the University of Canberra (UC), in a pilot program that will see Occupational Therapy students working with children in primary schools on a weekly basis.

Endorsed by Catholic Education, Occupational Therapy students from the University of Canberra will work with children in the classroom, supporting them in building day-to-day skills. The initiative will pilot at Mother Teresa School, with the hope of extending the program to support additional schools across Canberra.

The idea was initially put forward by Karen Garrity, a Kindergarten teacher at Mother Teresa School. Ms Garrity worked with the Faculty of Health’s Clinical Educator of Occupational Therapy, Jacqui Etherington, to develop the program.

“We are always supporting additional needs in our diverse learning team, and my son also has additional needs, so I value early intervention really highly,” Ms Garrity said. “With long waitlists for occupational therapists, the idea came about from thinking that if we can give children access to short, focused interventions with specialists in the classroom, it could be really successful,” she said.

Catholic Education Director, Ross Fox, attended a signing at Mother Teresa School, with UC's Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President Academic, Professor Geoff Crisp.

“Mother Teresa School, Harrison, is known for a lot of things, but particularly, its great staff and enthusiastic students. It’s wonderful to again see its innovative and student-first approach to learning,” said Mr Fox. “We can’t stand still when it comes to meeting the needs of our students and the occupational therapy initiative is one we would like to see expand and grow to service other students in the future,” he said.

Professor Geoff Crisp said the partnership was an excellent initiative for the Canberra community.

“I want to thank Mother Teresa School for their innovation and willingness to partner with the University of Canberra in this initiative,” he said. “Not only will we see a benefit to the students and their learning outcomes, but it sees our Occupational Therapy students getting hands-on experience within our community.”

The Occupational Therapy students started working in the classroom from March this year, assessing around 100 Kindergarten children and their needs. They have also been working with some Year 1 students who also require extra support.

“We want these children to have a sense of accomplishment and to feel proud of what they are doing,” Ms Garrity said.