Pathlight School
Pathlight School is a special school for high-functioning children with autism, located in Ang Mo Kio, Singapore. Founded in 2004, it is run by the non-profit Autism Resource Centre, and comprises one half of the national educational provision for autistic children. The school coaches students in social and life skills, teaches them mainstream curriculum subjects and prepares them for employment, in an autism friendly environment. With more than 1000 pupils enrolled, the school has been noted for its achievements in special education in Singapore.
History
In 2003, the Autism Resource Centre launched a project to provide comprehensive support for autistic Singaporeans, which included plans to set up the first autism-focused special school in Singapore. The ARC collaborated with the Rainbow Centre over a period of five months to renovate the temporary campus, recruit school staff, decide on the school values and develop the school programmes. After opening in January 2004 with 10 teachers and 41 students, Pathlight School conducted charity walks, merchandise sales and other events to raise funds for the introduction of more programmes for an expanding intake. In 2007, two teachers from Pathlight School won the inaugural Most Outstanding Special Education Teacher Award and Most Innovative Special Education Teacher Award, given by the Singaporean Ministry of Education and National Council of Social Service. In 2009, the Autism Association of Singapore launched a second autism-focused special school, Eden School, and the two schools formed a partnership. The following year, Pathlight School moved to its permanent campus and announced plans to develop student internship programmes, build an information technology centre, and set up a lifelong learning club for alumni.Campus
The permanent campus of Pathlight School at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, which was constructed by W Architects and cost S$34 million to build, spans. Its facilities include 45 classrooms, four computer labs, three courtyards, an industrial kitchen and a multi-purpose area, as well as special art, music and design rooms. The campus was designed to offer students "dignity" and an autism friendly environment. For example, the walls and floors have a simple colour scheme, to avoid triggering sensory overload, while the taps in the canteen are slightly different from each other to help students learn to adopt less rigid routines. Due to limited facilities, some academic lessons, known as satellite classes, are conducted by Pathlight teachers at nearby mainstream schools, including Mayflower Secondary School, Peirce Secondary School, and Yio Chu Kang Secondary School.Campus 2 Annex building was formerly used by Chong Boon Secondary School
As of 2012, they introduced two campuses as Primary 1 to 4 and Vocational Track were in Campus 1 while Primary 5 to 6 and Secondary School were in Campus 2.
In 2013, Primary 4 was moved to Campus 2 and in 2015 the Primary 3 were moved to Campus 2 and for Secondary School moved to Campus 1. Satellite schools assigned tend to vary year by year thus affecting integration. In 2018, Primary 6, Secondary and Track V moved to Campus 2 Annex and in 2020 the Primary 2 split into Campus 1 and 2 Main and Primary 5 moved to Campus 2 Annex.
| Campus | Cohort |
| Campus 1 | Primary 1 and 2 |
| Campus 2 | Primary 2 to 6, Secondary School and Vocational Track |
Students in Secondary School go to mainstream schools for lessons. Below is the list for 2020.
| Level | Transit to |
| Secondary 1 | Mayflower Secondary School |
| Secondary 2 & 3 | Yio Chu Kang Secondary School |
| Secondary 3, Secondary 4 and Secondary 5 | Peirce Secondary School |
Programmes
Unlike most special schools in Singapore, which place little emphasis on academics, Pathlight School uses the same academic curriculum as mainstream primary and secondary schools. The sole exception is that mother tongue lessons are replaced with classes covering social and life skills. The school accommodates the needs of students with smaller class sizes, staff trained to handle autistic children, more visual teaching methods, more predictable environments and individual education plans for each student. Satellite classes and special events give students regular opportunities to interact with neurotypical peers from mainstream schools; exceptional students are allowed to attend classes with mainstream students for some subjects. To prepare students for employment, Pathlight School runs computing courses, a design studio and a cafe staffed by students. The school also produces book compilations of thoughts written by students, conducts exhibitions of student artwork and sells merchandise made by students, to help students develop useful skills, raise funds for the school and raise awareness of autism. In addition, Pathlight School has hosted autism events such as the WeCAN Learning Congress 2010, where over 20 international experts shared their best practices in autism care with about 560 delegates.If you're taking N or O level, they will have 2-year programme, which will be taking 2 years in Secondary 4 for Express and Normal Technical while Secondary 5 for Normal Academic. We will be breaking up into half on course and will be sitting in the second year. So Express and Normal Technical will be 5-year course. While Normal Academic will be either 4-year course or 6-year course, Normal Academic will take both N and O Level if the pupils taking 6-year course.
Students
As of 2010, Pathlight School had an enrolment of over 500 students, of whom about 40% had their school fees of S$500 subsidised. The school caters to students with autism aged 6 to 18, who are able to access the mainstream curriculum because they are high-functioning, but would have difficulty learning in a mainstream school. Most students take mainstream national examinations, such as the PSLE and O Levels, with results comparable to students from mainstream schools, and some enter mainstream tertiary institutions. About 10% of students take a vocational track and may transfer to Eden School, which caters to lower-functioning autistic children and focuses on vocational training. Students from Pathlight School have participated in—and won—national competitions such as the National Youth Business Challenge 2010.In 2015, the student enrolment increased to 1,000 students, with 1,074 students in 2016. The numbers have been growing since then. As of 2019, there are 1,451 students.