"During the SOLE sessions, him and the others in the group were asked questions which were oftentimes puzzling and without a clear answer. He would often think about these questions for many days after. The children were encouraged to discuss their opinions, share their thoughts, and importantly listen to and appreciate the opinions of others. His experience here was completely different from that in school, where he hadn’t been given opportunities to express his ideas. Here he felt empowered. I see that now my son is slowly becoming a young man. He can stand up for and justify his opinions. He has also learned to listen to and respect the opinions of others".

"When my son comes to the SOLE sessions, he is more confident and able to be assertive in ensuring that his ideas are incorporated into the group. In part, this is because he knows his ideas will be listened to. As a result, my son has gained confidence and doing things he would have never tried before, like dancing classes and football. And all the children in this programme have gained the skills of cooperation and collaboration which are critical skills for life".

"My daughter has always been a good student. But the only things she knew was what she was told by her teachers, or which she learned from me. With SOLE, my daughter started to 76 understand the world in a different way. Through the facilitation of the social pedagogue, she explored bigger questions which did not have a simple answer. She learned to think critically and analyse and make connections with the information she was gathering with her group. Over time, I started to observe that my daughter has gained curiosity and independence to seek out knowledge and make connections on her own. She is extending what she is learning in school with the information she is gaining in SOLE. Through SOLE she now has a desire to constantly develop herself, and to not be satisfied with the knowledge she gets from adults alone. This is an important step in her development and something which the school or I could not teach".

"I noticed that through SOLE she learned to take into account the feelings and needs of others, and also became much more sociable. She made a number of new friends and became more willing to engage in the life of the home, her school and her community".

"In SOLE, children had the opportunity and time to share their ideas with others but also had sessions where they had to discuss their emotions and feelings individually. The teachers gave space for children to share their opinions and ideas individually and encouraged others to listen and respect those ideas. Through this, she learned to develop her own opinion, and more importantly to not be afraid of her speech difficulties, but rather, to just express them without fear of judgement. She also started to develop friendships and become more social with other children in her class. Through SOLE she has gained confidence, not only to speak her ideas but to solve her own problems and express her own needs. She now has resilience and independence, which are critical for her life moving forward".