Anthos House Marks One Year of Caring for Special Needs Children

A Lagos-based school for children with special needs, Anthos House, a subsidiary of Greensprings School, recently marked its first year anniversary with a ceremony at the school premises.

In her remarks at the event, the Head of School at Anthos House, Dr. Kimberley Scollard said as it has been for the past one year, the school will continue to encourage its students to be more independent, adding that besides academics, the aim of the school is to ensure that students gain necessary life skills such as cooking, shopping and the ability to take care of themselves.

Also speaking, the Executive Director of Greensprings School, Mrs. Lai Koiki said: “The one-year journey of Anthos House has been amazing, but I must say that the special needs journey is almost as old as the journey of Greensprings School. This is because we believe it is important to allow our special children to have some form of inclusive education, and there is no reason for families with special needs children to be ashamed. We are all special in one way or the other.

“So, over 30 years ago, we started a special needs unit in Greensprings known as learning support; this initiative was born out of the necessity for children to have the opportunity to socialise. Moreover, children with special needs can be very valuable to society if they are given the appropriate environment to flourish.

“I thank God that quite a number of parents took the opportunity of Greensprings special needs unit at that time. Anthos House has now grown out of the vision we had about 35 years ago, and it is positioned to provide older children with a pathway for independence, self-management and the high possibility of experiencing work and life.”

A parent, Mrs. Angela Emuwa expressed delight about how things are going in the school, saying, “I am very excited with the progress Anthos House has made within a short period of one year. When we joined, the school was still under construction, but today, I am happy with what I am seeing, most especially with the school’s focus on improving the life and entrepreneurial skills of the students.”

Anthos House is located in Jakande, Lekki and as a special needs school, it accommodates students from 10 to 17+ years old, with autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, ADHD and other learning difficulties.