{"id":51762,"date":"2022-11-08T06:00:11","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T04:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/school-in-pinelands-stoic-in-quest-in-overcoming-adversity-one-after-the-other-20221108\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T20:13:41","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T18:13:41","slug":"school-in-pinelands-stoic-in-quest-in-overcoming-adversity-one-after-the-other-20221108","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/school-in-pinelands-stoic-in-quest-in-overcoming-adversity-one-after-the-other-20221108\/","title":{"rendered":"School in Pinelands stoic in quest in overcoming adversity, one after the other"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cWhat does it mean to be a winner? There are three schools in the category that we are in. Any of the three schools, whoever doesn\u2019t come first, they are all still winners because of the things that the schools have done to overcome adversity, to deal with problems in their societies. They have highlighted that to the rest of the world and they told the world this is how we are solving some of the issues to make this planet a better place for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shereen Stadler, deputy principal of Pinelands North Primary School (PNPS), shared these words with learners just minutes before the announcement of the category winner on Wednesday 19 October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ | <\/strong>\u2018Now on to number one!\u2019: School in Pinelands targets global recognition<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school was one of the Top Three finalists in the World\u2019s Best School Prize for Overcoming Adversity<\/a>, with the other two being Escola Evandro Ferreira Dos Santos in Brazil, and Project Shelter Wakadogo in Uganda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And even though the top spot, announced via video link, went to Project Shelter Wakadogo, Stadler couldn\u2019t have spoken truer words. Highlighting and addressing the great need for inclusive learning in South Africa, PNPS is indeed a winner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporting children with different needs, the school\u2019s capacity-building model ensures that teachers and teacher aides, in collaboration with various specialists, help children to learn more effectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe that by including children and adults that are different, we all learn more. We, therefore, have enrolled children who find it hard to be included in most mainstream schools,\u201d the school\u2019s website reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PNPS is one of only 15 public primary schools in the country that are recognised for excellence in their inclusive approach to learning. As any parent with a child who doesn\u2019t fit the public school mould will tell you, this isn\u2019t nearly enough. Too often, the only option open to despairing parents are expensive private schools. Something that is unaffordable for most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PNPS\u2019s journey to becoming one of the country\u2019s leading institutions when it comes to fostering inclusivity in education began in 1997 when Ann Morton took over the role of principal. She says it all happened very organically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David White, who suffered a stroke at the age of one-and-a-half, was the first child with a learning difficulty to attend the school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stroke left him seriously learning delayed. Morton says when his mother enrolled him at PNPS in 1998, she did so with the idea that he would have fun, not necessarily learn anything. But he did learn and went on to pass his matric. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first transgender child came to the school in 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of them came here because a parent came looking for the right school. And, in each case, I was touched by the parent who was desperate. And in both these two cases, the families had been to lots of schools to try and see whether they could get the children in and no school was prepared to take the chance on them. That was when we said, \u2018Okay, let\u2019s try this\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe plan was that they came in and then we changed. So every time a new child came into school that had new learning difficulties, or challenges, we would change the whole school and the policies of the whole school to make it safer for everybody,\u201d says Morton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She explains that PNPS runs the same curriculum as any other public primary school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut we just make accommodations for children and that\u2019s mainly in the way they learn. So we have lots of children who currently have facilitators. We employ parents to come to school with them. They come to school with an adult or they are with an adult some time of the day, so the adult can help them specifically in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, there are teaching interns in the classes \u2013 adults employed by the school who help the learners and staff in the classroom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe give the children multiple opportunities to write their assessments. It\u2019s not about trying to catch children doing things wrong in a test. It\u2019s about creating a test that will test your knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With so few public primary schools that allow for learners with different needs, PNPS\u2019s admission policy makes provision for them being an applicant\u2019s \u201cclosest appropriate primary school\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo if you live in Bellville, we might be your closest primary school. With special needs applications, the parents will phone the school before they apply or they will send us the application with a motivation letter that has all the details, psychological reports and all that kind of thing. And then my learning support person and I usually meet with that family beforehand, because we need to know what the needs of your child are.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morton says that every primary school is supposed to be a place where every child in the community is supposed to learn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe truth of the matter is that that\u2019s not anywhere near that. Schools will phone us and say, \u2018We\u2019ve got a child that you need to take\u2019. Meanwhile, every school is supposed to be doing what they can and learning those things as you go along. Every school should be providing for the local children to feel safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAgain, it\u2019s not only for the special needs or the staff with special needs, it\u2019s about any of us learning to cope with society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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