Michelle Kirk, advancement officer for Unity College, explained that the idea for the open day was for potential parents to experience a normal school day so that they could see exactly how the school functions on a daily basis.
Unity College is a special needs school on Cedar Road. Pupils in Unity College have delayed scholastic ability and perform below their chronological age in various school subjects. The college caters for students from six to 20 years old.
Kirk explained that each child has the potential to learn but often the learning potential is more of a practical ability, and pupils excel using their hands and from practising skills.
Some of the activities that visitors could see the pupils do on the day were horticulture, maintenance and essential food hygiene.
Kirk said that the school is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of South Africa and is also Independent Quality Assurance Agency accredited. She explained that it was important for parents to take note of this because there were a lot of fly-by-night institutions that did not adhere to the standards set out by the two organisations.
The Unity College pupils were certainly the stars of the day with their polite and friendly demeanours and readiness to help.
