seeingeachchild POSITIVELY

Maya Jagjivan Kalicharan Pays A Visit To The Wonderful Browns School

with cerebral palsy.

Classes are small, between seven to 15 per class. The school follows the CAPS curriculum and once the remedial group of learners complete Grade 7, they enter mainstream schools. Brenda says they track the progress of learners, and several have completed matric. “Some have taken longer than the conventional five years, but they have an academic matric, which is awesome.”

Autistic learners are at school until the age of 18 and they are equipped with life skills so they can become a meaningful part of society. “All our parents have that fear – they are not going to live forever, what’s going to happen to their disabled child? Every year, we try something new. Cooking is one of them, and we are trying gardening. We’ve got beauty skills too,” she explains.

ABOVE: Teacher Carol Levy takes learners through an interactive lesson.

LEFT: Making memories with their friends, these playful ones loved saying cheese.

The Browns School has physiotherapists, occupational therapists, a speech therapist, a psychologist and nurses. This is in addition to the 41 teachers – many of whom have been at the school for over 20 years.

Fundraiser Lyn de Klerk says the school has weathered Covid-19, the riots and the devastating floods. “The school is state funded, but this does not cover salaries for all teachers, and there are many activities for which we fundraise,” she explains. Only about 50 percent of parents can afford to pay school fees. Brenda emphasises, “We have never, and will never, turn a child away that cannot pay school fees.”

This year, the school needs at least R2-million rand in cash to continue running the way it has.

A tour of the school allows me to see why. It’s wellmaintained and spacious, with specialised facilities and a multi-media library – the ideal environment for children to flourish.

I sit in on a lesson with Carol Levy, departmental head of the foundation phase. The learners’ eyes light up as they touch, feel and understand more about groceries. Carol, who has been at the school for 20 years, smiles as she explains, “It’s rewarding watching a child who couldn’t read or couldn’t write, who was battling with themselves, become the best they can be.” *

FOR MORE INFO www.brownsschool.co.za

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It’s a far cry from Super Sourdough’s roots in a Winston Park garage, where Greg and Janita Bold were making just a few loaves a