School Type: Special Needs

The Pretoria Preparatory School was established in 1977 by a group of parents, therapists and educators. It aimed to meet the needs of children who, despite good intellectual potential, were underachieving in regular schools because of specific or generalised learning difficulties.

The school began with one teacher in an old house in Hatfield but grew rapidly and by October that year, already needed larger premises and the move to the beautiful suburb of Brooklyn took place. Now, twenty eight years and many building projects later, we have a well appointed, thriving school. The school is non-profit making and is managed by a Board of Governors.

When a child is admitted to the school, the full remedial programme takes place during the school day. The children receive a great deal of individual attention, we have about one staff member for every five children. We have fifteen class teachers, four speech therapists, three occupational therapists, a resource teacher, a remedial maths teacher and a psychologist. Then there are several other subject teachers.

We have a very dedicated, highly qualified and experienced staff. The therapists and teachers work closely together as a multidisciplinary team holding bi-weekly case conferences. The aim is to remediate the children’s weaker areas and if possible place the children back into mainstream schools. Much attention is paid to producing self confident, happy youngsters who take pride in their achievement.

We try to help all our children achieve their potential and have had some notable successes. Children from our school have been accepted at all the local private and public schools and have continued to universities and other tertiary institutions in South Africa and around the world. We have many visits from past pupils eager to share their successes with us.

ASSESSMENT CENTRE

A child referred to our school initially receives a full multidisciplinary assessment which includes psychological, educational, speech and language and occupational therapy evaluations. This will identify the child’s specific strengths and weaknesses.

The team meets to decide the most appropriate intervention strategy for the child and the parents receive a verbal and a written evaluation report the following week. Depending on the results of the tests the child may be admitted to the school, receive afternoon therapy or suggestions could be given for the most appropriate school placement.

AFTERNOON REMEDIAL CENTRE

We offer remedial maths, spelling and reading lessons, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy to learners from other schools.

School Phase:

• Primary

Lowest Grade: Grade 0
Highest Grade: Grade 7
Boarding: No
Boarding From: No Boarding
Number of Pupils: 152
Founding Year: 1977
Religious Affiliation: Christian
Lowest Tuition Fees Per Annum (2008): R40800
Highest Tuition Fees Per Annum (2008): R40800
Postal Address: PO Box 36214, Menlo Park
Postal Code: 0102
Telephone: 012 362 0308
Fax: 012 362 0366
Website: http://www.pretoriaprep.co.za/
Suburb: Brooklyn
City/Town: Pretoria
South African Province: Gauteng
Country: South Africa