Refugee starts Welsh-inspired special education centre amid missiles in Kyiv

A young Ukrainian refugee who taught children with special needs in Wales has returned to Ukraine, despite the ongoing war, to set up an educational centre which she has given a Welsh name.

She now teaches children through power shortages and under the constant threat of missile attacks, like the attack which damaged a children’s hospital on Monday.

Natalia teaches a child as her watch shows her that there is a potential missile attack.

Whilst she was in Wales, Natalia Klymenko taught at Ty Gywn Special School in Cardiff, in a class called ‘Enfys’, which is Welsh for ‘rainbow’.

She then named her special educational centre Enfys.

Natalia said: “Calling my centre Enfys is my way to say thank you to Wales and to Ty Gwyn Special School.”

She recalled how she ended up in Wales: “When the full-scale invasion started, my only aim was to stay alive and not be raped.

“At the age of 28, I wanted to listen to the advice of a psychologist on ‘How to prepare for pregnancy and motherhood’ not ‘shit under yourself so you don’t get raped’.” 

She took the step to flee the conflict and become a refugee with her boyfriend’s support, leaving him behind in the process.

He was unable to flee the conflict as men between 18 and 60 cannot leave Ukraine due to martial law.

She chose to come to Wales under the Homes for Ukraine scheme because she spoke English and had heard that Welsh people are kind.

She subsequently applied for a job as a Teaching Assistant in Cardiff.

Natalia's work aims to help children with their development and bring a smile to their face during the war.

“I still remember the interview,” said Jamie Brotherton, Headteacher of Ty Gwyn Special School.

“She was really grateful for the opportunity and was well qualified for the role.

“Her being able to add so much to the school whilst going through what she was going through personally, with her boyfriend and family in Ukraine, really put things into perspective.”

In 2024, Natalia moved back to Ukraine to establish Enfys because she felt like her country, and the children with special educational needs in it, needed her.

“God sent Natalia to us,” one parent whose child goes to Enfys said.

Another said that their heart “bursts with joy” when they think of the progress that their child has made at Enfys, having started speaking in more complete sentences.

Natalia is still in contact with old colleagues in Wales, and plans to visit them in the autumn.

The centre primarily caters for children with autism and communication difficulties.

Natalia  thinks that her time at Ty Gwyn exposed her to different approaches, which has been useful in teaching children who have had their development interrupted by the war.

She is still in regular contact with her recent Welsh colleagues, whose advice she sometimes seeks.

While some of the problems she faces are just the same as those faced in UK schools, others are unique.

A visual aid to help children who struggle to communicate understand that they need to leave the classroom and head to the bomb shelter

For a while, Natalia struggled to find a suitable location for Enfys which was close enough to a bomb shelter.

“I’m terrified for the children in my centre every time the air alert goes off for a potential missile attack,” Natalia told us.

“I just hope I can provide support to these children and their families.”