King David opens a remedial school in Victory Park

TALI FEINBERG

This is now about to change with the 2018 launch of King David Ariel, a Jewish remedial school on the King David Victory Park campus.  

“The SA Board of Jewish Education (SABJE) makes decisions, guided by three key areas of focus: Community, Excellence and Sustainability,” says Rabbi Craig Kacev, general director of the SABJE.

 “At times, these three create a paradox of sorts, yet in this case, with the establishing of a Jewish remedial school, all three came together.

“The King David Schools have offered the best quality education for 70 years, yet have not expanded this offering to all Jewish children. With the opening of King David Ariel, we broaden to more learners in the community.

“At the same time we believe that it will contribute to the sustainability of the other 10 King David Schools.”

Rabbi Kacev explains that the name Ariel is made up of two words, “‘Ari’ – Hebrew for lion, because our pupils will exhibit courage and the tenacious desire to succeed – and the word ‘El’,  which is one of G-d’s names indicating strength.

“We will draw on our Jewish heritage to build a strong and caring learning community,” he pledges.

Opening a King David remedial school means that Jewish children who experience barriers to learning will still be able to enjoy all the social, cultural, Jewish and sporting benefits of King David Schools, along with individual attention, top remedial teachers, therapists and academic support. 

The school will cater for children who have learning challenges and who require extra support. They will ultimately be able to re-enter the mainstream system smoothly, not least of all because they remain part of the same school system.

“These children have learning potential, but simply present with specific or general learning difficulties.”

A full range of extramural, cultural and sporting activities will be on offer, and most will take place together with the King David Victory Park Primary School learners.

“Ultimately, a King David Ariel learner could become captain of the cricket team – totally integrated with mainstream learners,” says Rabbi Kacev. While they may be having classes in a separate building, the entire system will aim to connect all learners with each other.

The new state-of-the-art school will initially cater for the foundation phase (grade 1 to grade 3, with grade R under consideration) and will ultimately grow to grade 7 in the future. 

The school will start with eight classrooms and all of the offices, spaces and therapy rooms needed. They will have the use of a media centre, an art room, a music room, computer laboratories, a hall and all sporting facilities as they share space with King David Victory Park Primary.

 “All therapies will be offered as part of the school day, such as occupational therapy, speech and remedial therapy.  All interventions will be under the guidance of the school head and an educational director tasked with looking after each child and their needs with the full team of professionals caring for each child,” explains Rabbi Kacev.

Sally Ann Knowles, current Preparatory Deputy Head of the Junior Prep at St David’s Marist Inanda, has been appointed principal of King David Ariel and will begin her tenure in April this year. 

Knowles has always taken a particular interest in the diagnosing and implementation of early intervention strategies for those pupils whose learning requires additional scaffolding and remediation.

She has headed up a multidisciplinary team of class teachers; bridging teachers and therapists; for a number of years and has built up an extensive network of medical and educational professionals. She is looking forward to serving the King David community with dedication, collaboration, and a commitment to personalised learning and 21^st century academic excellence.