# cyprus



## torie68 (Apr 1, 2009)

Hi there,
I have a 6.5yr old son with Dyspraxia and dyslexia, I understand there is a school in Cyprus called Newhope School specifically for kids with learning problems. Is there anyone out there that has heard of this school, had children at it etc. Any feedback would be much appreciated. There is only one school in NZ for dyslexic kid with only 24 students so needless to say I need to look further afield. Thanks.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

torie68 said:


> Hi there,
> I have a 6.5yr old son with Dyspraxia and dyslexia, I understand there is a school in Cyprus called Newhope School specifically for kids with learning problems. Is there anyone out there that has heard of this school, had children at it etc. Any feedback would be much appreciated. There is only one school in NZ for dyslexic kid with only 24 students so needless to say I need to look further afield. Thanks.


Welcome to the forum Tori.
I have moved this thread from the Greece forum to the Cyprus forum.
We have a member called Kimonas who is in the Education system here in Cyprus and may well be able to answer your question for you.

Regards Veronica


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## kimonas (Jul 19, 2008)

Hello

Dyspraxia, Dyslexia and other conditions affecting learning are generally misunderstood and poorly catered for within the majority of educational systems anywhere in the world, unfortunately. There are nevertheless many specialists working to understand these conditions and develop strategies to mitigate against them. The best specilaist schools are in places like Canada and the UK. Cyprus has very little to offer within the state system I'm afraid to report, however, there are well developed support groups for a range of additional learning needs within the private sector (and a growing realisation that the state system needs to address a whole range of physical, emotional and developmental difficulties of pupils within its schooling systems). The additional learning needs tend to be grouped together (sometimes inappropriately) to include Asperger's Syndrome and other autism spectrum disorders as well as ADHD. As far as I understand it, Newhope is in Nicosia (the capital) and caters for children with severe to moderate learning difficulties as well as dyslexia. The School runs as a day school between 7:50 am and 12:50 pm Monday to Friday. These times are extended twice a week to 1:50 pm for sports activities.

They aslo run the New Hope Tutorial School which caters for children with learning difficulties who attend day schools in the public or private sector and require a special programme of teaching to supplement their normal school educational activities. New Hope Tutorial School runs between 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm Monday to Friday. I have no direct experience of the school - but have a vague suspicion that it acts as a 'dumping ground' for children that cannot be placed elsewhere because of the exclusive nature of most private sector school entrance exams (which make no attempt to cater for bright dyslexic children, for example). 

Another private school in Larnaca (Mediterranean School) has adopted a different approach in establishing a Learning Enrichment Centre within the mainstream school which is staffed by specialists in ADHD, Dyslexia, Asperger's etc. They run supplementary classes and specialist help to try (as far as possible) to integrate the LEC students into the mainstream school. The teaching within the LEC is often one-to-one intensive and therefore attracts an additional fee. 

I hope other forum members will be able to help when it comes to direct experience of these schools in judging whether they might be suitable in catering for your son's needs.


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