Transcript

[Mosaic logo composed of people's faces, with Jesus appearing at the centre.]

Day for Life 2006 - WALES

[At school, Liz to camera]

Liz:

My name is Liz and I attend St Joseph's Comprehensive in Port Talbot. The disability I've got is cerebral palsy. I can't walk long distances, and with my eyesight I can't see very well, so in school my work has to be enlarged on to big print.

I like being at St Joseph's because I get on well with the teachers, pupils and support staff, and it's easy for me to access certain parts of the school. There's a lift to get up and down the stairs and there's special needs block for disabled people. In the special needs block they've got computers with big screens, and they've also got a program called Zoomtext which enlarges the print on the Internet and in Word. All the support staff help me as well, so that makes life much easier for me in school.

My favourite subject is music because I like to play the keyboard, and I've composed two songs. I cannot read music - it's difficult because it's so small. But I learnt to play the keyboard by listening to a piece of music, and picking it up from the music.

[Song]

# What do you see?
# When you look at me?

[Head teacher's office]

Mike:

My name is Mike Callus. I'm head teacher here St Joseph's in Port Talbot, and I've been here nearly ten years.

[Outdoor shots of Mike with pupils]

Within our own individual school, the mission statement "To become fully human in Christ" attempts to put across the idea that we believe that all individuals are very important - that they are all equally important in the sight of God. But, more importantly, that we need to look at all aspects of our humanity. So the academic development is important, but so is the social and the moral and the spiritual development of all young people.

[Mike to camera]

The school first became involved with disabled young people, probably twenty years ago when one of our students, Melanie Bowen, was involved in a very serious accident and was disabled as a result. And it's from the moment in time that we've now become a designated school within the local authority for youngsters who have physical disabilities.

[Outdoor shots of school and statue]

It's in our work with the parish that we get the fullest expression of our Catholic identity. We have a liturgy group within the school, and we work with the local parish once a month, providing the liturgy - musicians, singers, readers - and I think that's become a very important way forward to show people within the parish about the work that happens within the school.

[Liz in class]

I met Liz, and I think I was immediately impressed by her friendly disposition. I've never met anybody that doesn't really warm to Liz very very early on. I think it's her joy of living, in a sense that acts as a very powerful message to a lot of us who sometimes might feel down in the dumps at the way school is going. Talking to Liz for a few minutes changes that.

Her particular interest is in music. She performed extremely well at our carol concert recently and she has done each year that she's been in the school. She also composed and played a piece for the year 11 leavers' mass.

[Leavers' mass - song by Liz]

Liz:

# What do you see?
# When you look at me?

Mike:

That's always quite an emotional occasion as youngsters are coming towards the end of education, but it really summed up her full involvement within the school.

[Song]

Liz:

# When you look at me?

[Applause]

[Liz to camera]

For my GCSEs I composed a song called 'What do you see?'. I wrote the song for my family because it explains how I feel about them and how I like to be around them.

In the future when I leave school I'd like to become a composer. And the music lessons have helped me to develop that skill.

[Liz in class]

Being at St Joseph's makes me realise that I'm not different from any other person in school. I'll always be grateful for all the help and support they've given me throughout the five years I've been here.

[www.dayforlife.org]

[End]

Versions: Google | MP4 | Transcript

Videos: Troubleshooting

Buy all four stories in high quality video plus all four podcasts on our unique Day for Life DVD