An education for everyone

South China Morning Post

9th July 2017

An education for everyone

ESF long-serving staff: Jane Foxcroft

Strong conviction regarding the importance of inclusiveness, excellence and community service has seen West Island School (WIS) establish itself as one of the trend-setters in the Hong Kong’s education landscape.

“If a child walks through the door and we accept him or her, we are going to provide a suitable environment for that student no matter what,” says Jane Foxcroft, former WIS principal. She joined the school in 1991 as part of the founding team after a six year stint as an English teacher at Island School.

“It’s just a matter of looking at what resources you can use in a creative way, and the staff has always been willing to walk the extra mile to make it happen,” says Jane.

The school embraces diversity in every sense – be it in regards to nationality or ability. It was one of the schools to launch learning centres for students with special learning needs such as autism and downs syndrome, and integrate them into the mainstream education system.

“ESF has really led the trend in terms of inclusive education,” explains Jane. “While society sometimes tends to avoid people with disabilities because of misunderstandings, we embraced them. We helped them access the mainstream system as much as possible, and as a result our students are not afraid of people who are different from themselves.”

http://www.scmp.com/presented/news/topics/esf-first-50-years-people-stories/article/2097460/education-everyone