On Purim, and as a prelude to our Careers week, Gesher staff inspired our students to ‘Reach for the stars!’ Enjoy watching!
Gesher’s World Book Day celebration was a resounding success, with a host of educational activities aimed at fostering a love of reading among students. The day’s highlight was ‘The Big Write,’ a collaborative story-writing exercise where each class contributed a part to create a whole-school story. The students’ enthusiasm and creativity shone through as they worked together to weave a compelling tale.
 In the afternoon, the classrooms were transformed into magical worlds inspired by some of the best books, allowing students to immerse themselves in their favourite literary worlds while learning at the same time. This thematic approach to learning provided an engaging and exciting experience for the students, who left the day feeling motivated and inspired to continue reading and learning.
Rimon class celebrated by exploring the theme of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! They even made a video tasting different kinds of chocolate to see which ones were their favourites. It was a sweet way to honour the importance of reading and the joy of books.
The celebration of World Book Day highlighted the transformative power of books in transporting us to new worlds, sparking our imaginations, and broadening our perspectives. From classic literature to modern-day bestsellers, books have the ability to inspire, entertain, and educate us. By reminding students of the magic of storytelling, we were able to emphasise the incredible impact that books can have on our lives.
Overall, World Book Day was a great success, fostering a love of reading and inspiring students to continue exploring the wonders of literature.
The Big Write – by Gesher School
Once upon a time, in a land far far away a superhero went swimming in a pool. Then she flew back home to eat an apple. After, she went to the beach to go swimming. She was feeling happy. Later, she went to the jungle and met a bear. She took carrots and ice cream to the jungle and ate them there. Later the superhero went to Westminster Abbey by the Jubilee Line. She sat on a chair with lights all around her and met King Charles. Â
She took the train to see her daddy, who lives in the scary jungle. On her way, she saw a fox. He was busy eating a burger. He was soft and he was as wide as a train! He was as long as a snake. She was visiting her daddy because she hadnât seen him in a long time⌠and she had something important to tell himâŚÂ
Jonny the Rabbit, the SUPERVILLAN was coming to steal his bedroom and EAT HIM! This made her feel sad. But she had to save her daddy.
She needed help, so she called her friend Jack who was another superhero. He had lots of powers, including speed, fireballs, lighting, super strength, and ice blast!Â
He teleported onto the train – BANG! She was shocked, but she said âI am so happy you are here. Now help me!â âI can help you but we have to be quick because I donât have much time. I am a very busy person and I have to go to Dominos for pizza later!â The superhero girl, who was called Anna, said âBut I really need help or my dad will be eaten by a supervillain rabbit! Do you really choose pizza over my dad?â
Anna and Jack realised they needed a plan to help Annaâs dad. They needed rope, carrots, and a giant trap. Jack compromised and said he could help if they got Dominos delivered so he could eat pizza while he helped. Anna agreed and they super-blasted to her dadâs house. When they got there, her dad was shouting for help. Anna and Jack told him they were there to help. They were both nervous but Jack was too busy being hungry and thinking about his pizza.
Anna turned to Jack and said, âorder the pizza, Iâll start the fight then set up the trap. Iâll have a pizza with olives andâŚâ âSure, but please hurry, Iâm hungryâ, said Jack. âIâll have extra cheese,â Anna exclaimed as she ran towards the house. She heard her dad screaming inside for help. âAhhh, help the bunny is attacking me with a carrot sword. Heâs about to hit my head!â screamed Annaâs dad. Anna slowly entered the house and started creeping up the stairs to her fatherâs master bedroom. She opened the double doors gently and saw the seemingly cute, adorable bunny trying to kill her father. Anna instantly felt anxious, worried and filled with fear. She started thinking: Iâve got to save my dad, or else⌠I need to get that bunny outside into Jack’s trap. Maybe with lots of carrots. But how?
Anna came up with a plan whilst eating her scrumptious Dominos. She dug a hole so deep and gigantic that the rabbit would never be able to escape. She took the carrots and placed them on the floor and started to walk over to get the job done. Anna decided she was going to karate-kick the bunny in the face. She kicked as high as the sky and the rabbit went flying. After this, Anna began to impersonate the rabbit by hopping quickly. The bunny soon noticed the long trail of neon orange carrots and frantically hopped over. The rabbit couldnât stop in time and fell into the hole – SPLAT!Â
The rabbit fell hard onto the brown mud and soil. He was slightly wounded and he hurt his leg. He wanted to trick Anna and her dad, James, so that he could carry out the mission and kill him. He decided to fake his own death. He screamed as loud as a fart for 30 seconds to deceive the superheroes. After a short while, the screams stopped and the rabbit was not moving. Anna and her dad sighed in relief and jumped for joy as they thought the evil rabbit was dead. They skipped away merrily.Â
Everyone went to the kitchen and they met two new superheroes. One was a superhero who wore blue and red and the other one was a superhero who wore yellow. The blue and red superhero was feeling sick and the yellow superhero was feeling sick too. They had to go to the doctor which was in Waterloo. The doctor used temperatures and a thermometer to make them better. When they were feeling better the superheroes went climbing. Then they felt happy.Â
Hey everyone!
Just wanted to give you all a quick update about the Gesher School Open Day that was supposed to be happening in March. Unfortunately, we’ve had to postpone it until October for some unforeseen reasons. We know some of you were looking forward to it, but we hope you can bear with us on this one.
The good news is that we’re still going to have an amazing Open Day in October and we’re going to make sure it’s even better than we originally planned. We’re excited to show you what Gesher School has to offer and we hope to see you all there!
Thanks for your understanding and we’ll keep you posted on the details for the October event.
Cheers,
The Gesher School Team
Sarah Sultman, Gesher Co-Founder
Over the past decade, weâve been on a journey to launch Gesher, with seven years as a flourishing school following three years of deep research and engagement with the sector to anchor our plans.
Myself and my co-founder, Ali Durban, have learned many valuable lessons about what it takes to set up an organisation from scratch – and yet how far we still have to go to inspire the wider education sector about what needs to change to achieve equity for children with SEN and those who learn differently.
Weâve been building relationships with people to share our learning. We are particularly keen to share how we designed and built our school â creating a blueprint around a vision, purpose and design principles that we carry into everything we do.
Although Gesher is a special school, the idea of using a blueprint to define your work is not limited to the creation of a school. Our approach provides plenty of ideas for youth movements, communities and other education organisations.
In pursuit of our aims to reach a wider audience, at the end of last year, Ali and I were delighted to be invited to speak at Limmud Conference at the NEC in Birmingham to people of all ages and interests from across the Jewish community.
Limmud Conference is an annual five-day learning experience that brings together thousands of people to celebrate Jewish culture through arts, dance, song, book reviews and talks. Here we delivered two sessions: one on the âGesher Blueprint â from start-up to Outstandingâ and the other on âSEN and the systemâ.
We were pleased to welcome educators, parents and adults with SEN to our first session to hear about our journey to build Gesher. As one attendee, Tal Bassali from Zehud Jewish Online School said:
âI was fascinated that someone had re-invented, redesigned something in education – the idea that anything was broadly by design was exciting to me. Most solutions need to be reverse-engineered.â
Our second session on âSEN and the systemâ again drew an audience of parents of children who learn differently, educators and local authority employees with a SEND interest who asked us questions about our personal experiences and sought advice and support on how to navigate the complexities of the system.
While both sessions offered us a brilliant chance to share ideas, listen and contribute to other peopleâs work and lives, we were aware that we rarely reach beyond a SEND audience when we talk to people.
Our aim of broadening our reach means we want to engage the wider world of education to help achieve greater understanding and inclusivity for children who learn differently, but also because we believe that we can learn from each other.
Last year was an enormously busy year for us at Gesher and for our community as a whole. As we start 2023 and reflect on the achievements of 2022 there are two members of the Gesher community we would like to extend a special congratulations to. Firstly, Rama Venchard, our Chair of Governors, who received an MBE in King Charles IIâs first New Years Honours List for his services to education. And secondly, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who has received a knighthood in recognition of his interfaith initiatives, work with the Jewish community, and involvement in education programmes, of which we at Gesher have been lucky enough to be a part of. Mazal tov from Gesher!Â
Rama Venchard MBE, Gesher Chair of Governors
The current education system in the UK is setting up many autistic young people to fail. This is especially true of the assessment practices where the current system relies heavily on out-dated and old-fashioned standardised exams and tests which are unable to capture a young personâs real strengths and abilities. Â
Joshua is an autistic young person who did not attend Gesher but spoke at our most recent Critical Friendship Group meeting, sharing his lived experience of the assessment process and his insights into how it could be improved for neurodiverse young people. Â
Here, Joshua, now aged 18, tells his story of mainstream education and offers his advice to schools.
The importance of school support
In my early years I struggled to make friends. Some of my earliest friends were basically asked by my teachers because they felt bad for me.Â
I was diagnosed in the summer of 2012 between Years Three and Four though I wasn’t told until later that year because my parents were working with my school to find the right way to explain it to me and my peers.
During primary school, my needs were well provided for. When I got my diagnosis, the school helped my parents put together a small Powerpoint that was used to explain it to me. This was then lightly adapted and shown to my classmates so they too could understand better.
I could leave lessons to take a breather and a walk if I needed to, as I struggled to sit still and focus for extended periods, I had a dedicated space I could go to cool off if I had gotten into an argument or fight over something, which was common because I was easy to anger as a child. Any time I felt I had a problem, I knew where I could turn.
The school helped me nurture the talent I had, often letting me complete tasks in a different way to the usual methods if it meant I was able to do it “my way” which would often involve a very flashy Powerpoint presentation.Â
When schools focus on results, not the pupil
When I got to secondary school, however, there came a change. The school very much ignored any kind of ability outside of traditional educational achievement: you either fit their mould for a good student or you didn’t. And if you didn’t, you were left in the dust.
At secondary school, support I had grown dependent on during primary was almost non-existent and the staff were not friendly towards students. Even the SEN staff seemed to be less than interested.Â
I will never forget the time I went to our KS4 mental health advisor and told her about how bad my depression had gotten at the time, to which she laughed and told me that I seemed to be very good at telling jokes. A story I genuinely wish I was making up.
When it came to work, methods I had grown so accustomed to were shut off to me because the school only wanted results in one specific way. You did it their way, or you failed entirely.
How the current assessment system sets neurodiverse children up to fail
I moved from secondary school to a different sixth form where support was available and actively advised to be used, and where I could work how I worked best, even if that meant going back to the flashy powerpoints like I would have done aged 10. As I grew up and came to understand what autism is and what it is to be autistic, I found it easier to make friends, especially in cases where they were also autistic.
Despite being in a better school, I spent most of my A-level time suffering extreme mental health issues and it was a miracle I even made it to sit the examinations
And now thereâs a big problem. I’m currently looking for apprenticeships in software development, but on my applications, I can only put my grades, not the fact that I have neurodiversity where often the pressures of the school can break a student so easily and so quickly.
Starting out on your career becomes really difficult when, even though you are a strong candidate, the only important thing is your grade which says:Â “you got this – this is all you are worth”.
How schools can learn from studentsâ experiences
For schools, honestly, I think my main piece of advice is just to listen to autistic students. A lot of schools, teachers, and just people in general confuse autism with being unable to look after yourself and understand your own needs, when in reality, it’s very much the opposite.
I was very lucky as my primary school helped me every step of the way to understand myself and be as comfortable talking about it as I am now.
The person who knows best what the autistic person needs, will ultimately be the autistic person.
With Chanukah just around the corner we got celebrations underway this week with the unveiling of our 18 foot tall, LEGO Chanukiah. We were hugely fortunate to have the Chief Rabbi visit to officially cut the ribbon and present our students with their own mini versions to build over the Chanukah holidays!Â
This project has been in the pipeline for over a year and was inspired by our studentâs love of LEGO. It finally came into fruition through one of our Teaching Assistants, Danny Cazzato, who in a previous role, worked at LEGO.
Work started on the project back at the start of the year with Danny coming up with a design for the Chankiah and presenting to our students for feedback. Then, at the end of the November the build began with students spending an afternoon at school constructing the nine candles for the top of the Chanukiah. These were sent away to a factory to be glued together and have their lights installed. With the candles complete, construction also began on the base and the main stem, this time by a LEGO ‘master builder’. Once complete, these 5 large pieces, made up of a whopping 80,000 bricks, were transported to Gesher and secured to a wall in the school hall in less than a day!Â
Tamaryn Yartu, Gesherâs Co-headteacher, said: âIt was really important for us that the Chanukiah was made from LEGO because it’s something that our students really love to be creative with, both at school and at home. It was also fantastic to have the Chief Rabbi officially cut the ribbon and wish our students a happy Chanukah. Festival celebrations are something we love doing at Gesher as it brings the whole school together really beautifully.â
This year, Chanukah will begin on the evening of Sunday 18th December and finish on the evening of 26th December so we wonât be at school to light a candle each day, but everyone at Gesher is very much looking forward to being able to do this next year, when Chanukah falls into term time.
In November, Gesher attended a reception to mark the 2nd year anniversary of the Abraham Accords, hosted by Elnet UK and the Board of Deputies, the keynote address was made by Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.
Gesher’s blueprint and design principles have been informed by best practice from schools and learning communities all over the world including India, New Zealand, the United States and Israel. The school has been working with Elnet over the last year to highlight to central Government, in particular the SEND APPG, best practice in Israel in terms of teaching and learning and early identification of SEND.Â
by Ali Durban, Co-Founder Gesher School.
With the constant merry-go-round of Education Ministers and no appointment of a SEND minister since Kelly Tolhurst, we have been looking at what has progressed with the Green Paper since its submission in July. The answer is not much – other than an exchange in the form of a letter to current Minister of Education MP Robert Halfon, (and former Chair of the Education Select committee) from former Minister of Education, Kit Malthouse who writes:
âWe are proposing to establish local SEND and AP partnerships. These partnerships would be responsible for delivering a local inclusion plan which sets out the provision that will be made available in line with the national standards.â
To be clear, the Children and Families Act 2014 is the national standard (as opposed to a local inclusion plan), it already sets out a legal duty on LAs to secure and maintain Special Educational Provision through an EHCP. If provision is specified and quantified properly in an EHCP and the general principles of section 19 upheld (the need for the LA to have regard for what will help the child or young person to achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes), then an inclusion plan is not necessary.
What does need to be established is a clear accountability framework. Local Authorities need to be held to account when they do not uphold the legal standard (namely the Children and Families Act). At present the only setting for this is tribunal. It can take parents years to reach tribunal level, and the journey to get there is arduous, exhausting and often quite traumatic. Shockingly, around 95% of tribunals are upheld. This stark figure reflects that one of the biggest weaknesses of the system is in fact Local Authorities not doing what they should do legally. Establishing ânew partnershipsâ to deliver what is already written in statute will without doubt add another layer of delay to families trying to achieve the appropriate provision and outcomes for their child.
Tragically the human cost in all of this is the child or young person, who is at this point often in crisis.
Kit Malthouse goes on to write âThe local inclusion plan will inform the tailored list of settings from which parents and carers are able to choose provision where their child requires an education, health and care plan (EHCP). The expectation is that all schools on the list will be settings that can meet the childâs special educational needs as identified in their EHC needs assessments. This aims to give parents and carers clarity on what is available locally which may still include mainstream, special, independent, or out of borough provision. Our intention is that this will lead to greater transparency about what is available for children and young people in their local school and greater clarity about how it can be provided. We also aim for this to improve the choice offered to parents and carers by suggesting options they may not have otherwise consideredâ.
This ambiguous statement shows a deep lack of knowledge of the SEND system. It infers freedom of choice.
However, choice is something that many families of children with SEND have never had.
The tailored list that Mr Malthouse refers to already exists in the form of a local offer. This list is drawn up by the Local Authority and typically based on cost. It does not and could not list a school to meet each and every need because:
â There is a lack of provision across the UK and the quality can differ hugely between LAs. Figures obtained by the newspaper âSchools Weekâ show that over half of special schools had more pupils on roll than the number commissioned by their council. This was a 15% rise from 2017-18. There simply isn’t enough provision in-borough or nationally to meet need.
â Much of the provision comes out of the independent sector. In order to make the local offer list, a school must agree to section 41 – reciprocal duty to co-operate with the local authority on arrangements (admissions); this means that LAâs loosely control admissions and could see a school end up with a very mixed and challenging cohort of children. For this reason, many independent schools choose not to be part of the local offer.
There is no indication of what will happen if there isnât an appropriate school on the list. Will parentâs once again need to battle to reach a tribunal to access the provision they need, whilst, once again, (same story hereâŚ) the child is left in crisis?
There is no mention in Kit Malthouseâs letter of placing the child and their needs at the centre of decision-making. A true local inclusion plan would see a timely and thorough multi-disciplinary assessment, followed by the family and LA working together to find the right placement with the childâs needs at the centre of all decision-making.
The reality is a 2-3 year wait for a full assessment, which is often not accurate because there is a vested interest to keep âneedâ to a minimum (if at all) in order that there is less of a requirement to procure an EHCP and LA spend. When it comes to placement, the LAâs decision-making is based on budget and very often they will write âmainstream schoolâ or the next cheapest placement in Section I.
Kit Malthouseâs letter highlights the disparity between what the central Government thinks inclusion is, versus the reality of what children, young people and their families face.Â
We know the system is broken. Report after report after report has evidenced that children with SEND and their families are being consistently damaged and failed by the system. Much of it might be legally questionable. The proposed changes in the Green Paper continue to raise significant concerns as to the future of SEND provision.
What we need is a long-term plan for education, designed with those who bring their lived experience to a collaborative and inclusive process. We need to take the 7000+ responses from the Green paper review, analyse and publish the responses, as Tania Tiororro of Special Needs Jungle recommends. Â She also writes:
âDELAY further plans for improvement, DITCH the Green Paper in its current form and PUBLISH a straight analysis of the consultation as soon as possible
And perhaps most importantly, we need someone bold and brave who is willing to make real change and for once, put this group of children and young people and their needs first.
Gesher School in Pinner is delighted to share it has maintained its Outstanding Ofsted rating after an inspection in late September.Â
Gesher is an all-through school for young people with mild to moderate learning needs. The school was last inspected in 2018 when it only had 13 pupils aged 4 to 7 based on a smaller site in Kilburn. This inspection was conducted at the schoolâs new site in Pinner with more than 50 pupils aged 4 to 14.
This is the schoolâs second Outstanding rating since opening. Ofsted recently changed its inspection framework making it much more challenging for schools to achieve this status.
Based on the latest inspection, Ofsted said:Â
Pupils receive an exceptional quality of provision. Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum which is taught by the schoolâs expert staff.Â
Together, the curriculum and therapies encourage pupilsâ independent living skills and emotional well-being very successfully.Â
Therapists, teachers and teaching assistants work together seamlessly as one team. They truly understand how to meet pupilsâ varied special educational needs. While staff are nurturing, they also have high expectations of all pupils. As a result, pupils work hard and learn well. Â
Ofsted also drew attention to positive comments made by parents through the online survey they were asked to complete: âParents often commented that their children are thriving at Gesher. They described the schoolâs work as âin a different leagueâ and âlife changingââ.Â
Download:Â Gesher Ofsted Report 2022
Leadership at Gesher was also described by Ofsted as âexceptionally strongâ with âsenior leaders are supported and challenged in equal measure by the schoolâs governing bodyâ.Â
Gesherâs Co-Heads, Tamaryn Yartu and Nikeisha Webb-Hardy said âWe are extremely thrilled and proud of the hard work and commitment that our staff has shown resulting in such a phenomenal achievement. Our students have made us very proud, and we are delighted to share in this outstanding achievement with our parents and wider community. We remain resolute in ensuring that we remain a flagship school- leading the path to success for all our students.Â
âWhat began as a small project and primary school has grown into a thriving all-through school. Under Tamaryn and Nikeishaâs stewardship the schoolâs innovative approach to education has taken root with students happy and flourishing. This recognition by Ofsted is important in cementing Gesher as an exceptional school in the community and we are truly thrilled and excited for what the future holds for our studentsâ say Ali Durban and Sarah Sultman, Co-Founders Gesher School.
