Curriculum

A Plan for Every Child

At Crossroads School we recognise that every child has unique challenges. We use Individual Education Plans (IEP’s) to ensure that teaching is customised to meet each individual child’s cognitive profile and learning ability whilst following the CAPS Curriculum. Many of our learners have experienced a vulnerability in learning and additional support is provided through a trans-disciplined approach.

This consists of:

• Classroom Educators (remedial trained)
• Speech-Language Therapists
• Occupational Therapists
• Educational Psychologists
• Learning Support Therapists
• Specialist Educators: Art, Computers & Robotics and Physical Education
• Parents

Crossroads School emphasises collaborative team-work between learners, parents, therapists, and teachers. The involvement of all concerned with the learners, allows an understanding to develop whereby the learner is given unspoken freedom to flourish and the opportunity to excel in all aspects of growth and development. The skills that are taught in various therapies are reinforced in the classroom setting which allows all learners to cement these skills in practice. This serves to allow the learner to deal with further education in a focused, disciplined and confident manner.

Crossroads is continually enhancing our approach and evolving the programmes used to improve learning based on ever-increasing research and development of new innovations.

The below approaches and programmes are some of what is used continuously at Crossroads, with others being adjusted accordingly:

• CEA – Cognitive Enrichment Advantage. CEA is all about ‘learning to think and thinking to learn’.  The CEA approach instills ‘Building Blocks of Thinking and Tools of Learning’ preparing our learners with a broad range of metacognitive thinking skills.
• COGMED – “Cogmed is the single most scientifically validated method that improves working memory and attention. Working memory is key to the brain’s processing capacity. It is vital for concentration, reasoning, learning and resisting distractions.”
• NUMICON equipment – facilitates a better grasp of conceptual maths – Numicon is a distinctive multi-sensory approach to children’s mathematical learning that emphasises three key aspects of doing mathematics:  1. communicating mathematically, 2. exploring relationships, 3. solving problems in everyday life (generally).

Crossroads Therapy Department

The Crossroads Therapy Department is intrinsic to the holistic offering of our remedial intervention. Ours operates with an integrated and multidisciplinary team where we aim to nurture and develop the learner’s skills in order to achieve their full potential. With this goal in mind, we strive to work together in collaboration with caregivers to create the optimal support structure for the child. The therapy team values the establishment of open communication channels with caregivers for the benefit of the learner, and joint engagement in the identification and intervention of focus areas. 

The therapy department provides services based on the individual assessment and specific needs of each learner attending Crossroads. The therapy unit aims to provide a comprehensive support structure to the remediation of the child as an individual. This indicates that not all learner academic and therapeutic programs will be identical, and includes ongoing evaluation of intervention plans tailored to the dynamic and changing needs of the learner.

Therapy may be provided in individual sessions, pairs or small groups, or a combination of these approaches. Class therapy is also provided by each discipline in conjunction with input from the teacher to support engagement with the curriculum through therapeutic strategies. Class therapy serves to provide a practical experience and opportunity for support in application of the acquired skills for class work.

2023 was an exciting year for new initiatives as Crossroads introduced a new model of intervention incorporating intensive joint input from the speech therapist, OT, and teacher called “SPOTT therapy” which provides a further opportunity for the integration of therapy and curriculum. In addition to this, Crossroads launched a pilot Therapeutic Boxing Programme in partnership with Fight with Insight. The programme’s clear benefits in fostering safe and inclusive spaces for children and adolescents to develop physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive skills have led to its permanent inclusion in the school’s offerings.  The aims of this initiative are multi-fold and include: 

• Empowering and encouraging the child/adolescent to recognise their rights and responsibilities, take accountability and understand the consequences for their actions.
• The group dynamic is utilised to establish a feeling of universality and shared experience, while also providing structure and accountability, with positive ‘pressure’ to willingly take on challenges and push current abilities and limits – not ‘competitive’ but targets and competes against individual goals, records and challenges.  
• The programme leaders/coaches tend to be strong role models, particularly males, supporting the paternal function, and encouraging/reinforcing principles of compassion, respect for self and others, and appropriate social interaction. 
• The goal of integrating this programme into a school setting includes the development and empowerment of school staff/external coaches to understand, embody and facilitate these skills. 
• Sessions enforce clear rules and rituals around social behaviour, greeting, making contact and impressions, taking turns and participating in a group. 

Aftercare

Aftercare is offered to all children by Joanne Harrison (082 336 8768 / 076 818 9039). Joanne and her team have a holistic approach to Aftercare and value the family unit to work alongside them in offering your child the best care and support. They have an open-door policy and welcome you to come in and talk to them at any time.

The Aftercare Centre is managed independently from the school but is located on the school’s premises for your convenience.

Joanne graduated as an educator and has a passion for children and adults with remedial and special needs. She has been involved with teaching and managing various education centres, catering for children and young adults of different education levels for the past few years.

Thokozile is a qualified nurse with experience working with children in this field and has a passion for remedial and special needs children.

Contact info@crossroadsschool.co.za for enrolment and further information.