Curamus to campaign for funds and needs your help
Curamus School is a special needs school for learners with autism.
The principal of the Curamus School is pleading with the community to help raise funds so that they can pay their staff, as the school can not function without them.
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The Curamus School for Autism is a school for learners with special educational needs, especially on the autism spectrum. It is run by the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) and provides high-quality education and equips the learners with the abilities they need to contribute to society.
On March 4, the school started a BackaBuddy campaign to raise much-needed funds to provide better education for their learners.
Although they hired extra support workers, such as class and bus assistants, they also received personnel and resources from the GDE. The school took this action to reduce student-teacher ratios and to enhance monitoring and support for their learners’ safety.
”We are funded by the Department of Basic Education but due to the demand for schools for learners on the spectrum, we don’t have enough staff to keep the learners safe and to ensure optimal education,” said the school’s principal, Michelle van Zyl.
The school provide a self-funded food programme to assist the majority of the families who are unable to pay for school fees.
We raise our own funds for the school, we hold many fundraisers including markets and golf days.
“To maintain our support team, we will keep working with stakeholders to generate money. To ensure that our budget will last until the end of the year, we aim to raise R300 000 in the next two months,” she said.
“My strong desire is to foster an atmosphere where each child feels respected, understood, and capable. It served as my inspiration for teaching learners with autism. Learners who think and see the world differently have always captivated me, and I wanted to be a teacher who embraces these differences rather than attempting to alter them,” Jano Kotze, a teacher at the school, said.
“I create a disciplined yet flexible learning environment that integrates real-world applications, sensory-friendly methods, and visual tools. I place a high value on connection because learning happens organically when learners feel seen, safe, and supported.”
The school offers services such as nursing, occupational therapy and speech therapy and has social workers. Those who would like to donate can contact Michelle on 084 526 5000 or they can do so through their BackaBuddy page at www.backabuddy.co.za.
