Scottburgh Residential Community Engagement Project 2026
From 9 to 14 August 2026, 29 Grade 10 and 11 students from St Stithians Boys’ and Girls’ College travelled to Scottburgh, KwaZulu-Natal. They spent five days at Schola Amoris School as part of a residential community engagement project. The project allowed students to learn about disability and neurodiversity while contributing to the school community through practical work and shared learning.
An important part of the experience was preparing our students to engage appropriately with the learners at Schola Amoris. This was not an interaction they could simply enter into without preparation. Before meeting the learners, students participated in a workshop that introduced them to disability, neurodiversity, and the different ways in which young people may experience and respond to the world around them. This preparation encouraged students to reflect on their own assumptions and consider how they could communicate respectfully and appropriately with learners whose experiences may differ from their own.
Each morning, the Schola Amoris community welcomed our students to the school. Students were divided into different workstations and provided with the materials, equipment, and instructions required for the day’s tasks. Each group was responsible for completing a defined task by the end of the day.
The work was practical and, at times, physically demanding. Students carried equipment and construction materials across the school grounds. They painted benches and plant pots, worked with building materials, and helped assemble the wooden structure that would become the school’s sensory room. The weather also presented challenges throughout the week. Despite these conditions, students continued to work, adapted to the circumstances and supported one another in completing their tasks.
One of the activities involved making sensory toys from recycled materials in partnership with Clothes to Good. Students were required to consider the materials available to them and how these could be transformed into sensory resources for learners at the school. The activity provided a practical connection between sustainability, creativity and an understanding of sensory needs.
The sensory room became the largest undertaking of the week. Students participated in transforming a wooden structure into a dedicated sensory space. The room will provide learners with an environment where they can receive support with sensory and emotional regulation when required. Students also had opportunities to spend time learning alongside the Schola Amoris community and to experience some of the practical and vocational skills offered by the school.
One of the most significant aspects of the week was observing students navigate experiences that were unfamiliar to them. They learned to approach new people, communicate in different ways, and work collaboratively. They developed practical skills through construction, painting and making. They also experienced the demands of sustained physical work and the importance of perseverance when circumstances were not ideal.
By the end of the five days, the students could see the results of their work. A sensory space had been developed, areas of the school had been restored and improved, and sensory toys had been created using recycled materials.
The experience provided learning that could not be fully replicated within a classroom. Students developed a greater understanding of disability and neurodiversity through preparation, interaction and practical experience. They also experienced the responsibility and satisfaction that come from contributing to a project through their own time, effort and skills.
#OneLegacy #SaintsJourney #InspiringExcellence #OneAndAll #MakingAWorldOfDifference #SaintsExcellence #SchoolForFamily #FamilyForSchools #HappyFulfilment #PassionDriven #PurposeInspired #Legacy
