Cootamundra care

Since 1969, Elouera School has been educating children with disabilities, and the Elouera Association now offers all-of-life care.

Story Ken Eastwood   Photo The Southport School

When Cootamundra parents Debbie and Barry Rogers were told their 4-year-old daughter Katie was “globally delayed” the future looked bleak. “The paediatrician I visited had suggested she go to a mainstream school, so we tried that, but they said I’d have to give up my job to go and sit with her in the classroom every day,” Debbie says. “I just said no.”

Instead, Debbie and Barry turned to the Elouera Special School in Cootamundra. It has been providing an education for children with disabilities since 1969, when some locals established it in a local church hall. The school now has 5 classrooms, a multipurpose hall, 7 teachers and 8 learning support staff.

In addition, Elouera offers a range of care for former students. Some work in Elouera’s supported employment, including in recycling plants, a hire business and laundry service – and others attend 9am–3pm day care centres, where they have multiple activities and outings. Katie, now 30, attends the day centre 5 days a week.

“They’re all picked up from nearby towns such as Young, Gundagai and Junee,” Debbie says. “They do puzzles, dancing in the afternoons, craft days, outings, morning tea in the park, or lunch in a nearby town, go downtown to buy lunch or go to the library. Katie likes getting the paper on a Friday, so they take her down to the shops and she goes in and buys it.”

Debbie, who is now on the Elouera board, says it’s just part of the exceptional care they have received since Katie first went to the school in 1999.  “The teachers and support staff just meet all their needs,” she says. “It’s just so supportive and they try to work around any issues you might have.”