New Jewish school in Cape Town greeted with optimism and relief

Aimee Chiat, Herzlia Constantia’s foundation phase head of department, has taken a step that some might say is risky, but has been met by relief by many parents.

Chiat is opening Salisbury House, a new, independent Jewish primary school in Cape Town’s southern suburbs, in January 2021. The move comes after United Herzlia Schools announced in June that it would close its Herzlia Constantia primary school campus next year, and that Jewish children from the southern suburbs could be accommodated at its other campuses which they could travel to on free bus rides.

“It has long been my dream to start my own school,” she says. The school, for grades 1 to 7, will be registered with the Western Cape Education Department, and will follow a CAPS syllabus. The education received at Salisbury House will be officially recognised by other schools when the pupils move on after Grade 7.

“We are a community-based school, striving to inspire children to be creative and critical thinkers as well as responsible citizens ready to meet the challenges of the future,” said Chiat in a webinar for interested parents on Tuesday, 11 August, attended by about 48 people.

Current Herzlia Constantia parent, Professor Amanda Weltman, says the school is needed. “According to the Kaplan Centre Jewish Community Survey of 2019, roughly 25% of the affiliated Jewish community live in the southern suburbs, so it’s critical to the lifeblood of this community that there is a Jewish primary school [in the area],” she says.

“The launching of Salisbury House is an important and needed response to the sudden closure of Herzlia Constantia. [Chiat] has stepped in to fill the educational and communal gap, with no large donors behind her, just her own beliefs and ideas about what a community school means to our community,” says Weltman.

“She is clearly building her school on Jewish values and with a ‘no-Jewish-child-left-behind’ mentality that I suspect will come as a great relief to many in the community who have felt abandoned in recent months.”

Chiat says the school will be accommodated at the Cape Town Progressive Jewish Congregation (Temple Israel) campus in Wynberg. It will offer pluralist Jewish education, and some of the Jewish studies and Hebrew lessons will be taught by Temple Israel’s three rabbis. Pupils will celebrate chaggim and Shabbat, and the school will close at these times. It will be open to children of all backgrounds, and children following all streams of Judaism are welcome. Hebrew and Jewish Studies will be taught three times a week during the school day.

Says Rabbi Greg Alexander of Temple Israel, “Our congregation supports Jewish education in all its forms, and like many in the community, we were very surprised at Herzlia’s announcement that the Constantia campus would be closing next year.”

Continues Temple Israel’s executive director, Eric Beswick, “We immediately reached out to our members who were directly affected by this to see how we could support them at the time. Some families asked if we could make space available on our Wynberg campus for a Jewish school, as we have classrooms already set up for our cheder. We were clear that it could go ahead if the school was liberal in nature and taught both Progressive and Orthodox approaches to Judaism.

“Meetings since then led to the formation of Salisbury House. We have stipulated that we don’t want to own any part of the school, but that we are looking forward to having a Jewish school in the southern suburbs that is committed to teaching pluralistic Jewish values to its learners.”

Beswick says there is no desire to compete with Herzlia Schools, “as many of our members are Herzlia families. However, we have found that after decades of varied approaches to Herzlia to open its Jewish studies curriculum to Progressive teachings, we are still in the same situation that only Orthodox materials and only Orthodox rabbis and teachers are permitted to teach our children. This doesn’t reflect nor serve Herzlia’s position as the largest community school in Cape Town, or the Jewish demographic reality in our city.”

Rabbi Alexander says that the Progressive movement is “strongly invested in building a cross-communal ethos in Cape Town, and that we will do everything we can to help connect all Jewish schools and pupils in the city”.

Chiat says Salisbury House will be a co-ed school with a ratio of ten pupils per teacher. There will be “multi-grade classrooms” where learners will work on the same theme but do tasks at their own level. This will give pupils the flexibility to reinforce areas where they may be weaker, or to push on towards the next grade’s work if they are ready.

Outings or interactions with guests will occur at least once a month. The school will follow government protocols regarding COVID-19. Fees will be in line with other “cottage schools” and private schools.

The school will operate out of three classrooms that are in good condition, and there will be a large outdoor area that will have play equipment and astroturf. The Cape Jewish Seniors Association utilises a room in the building, and Chiat envisions interactions between school children and the elderly, which is beneficial to both. She says she has a number of excellent teachers who are interested in joining the staff, but it all depends on numbers. The school hopes for a cohort of 20 pupils when it opens in January.

Chiat says she is “passionate about education, and can’t imagine doing anything else”. She attended Herzlia for her entire school career and spent a gap year in Israel on kibbutz. She returned to Cape Town, and completed her Bachelor of Education at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, followed by Honours in inclusive education. She has taught in the Herzlia system for ten years, and is currently a Grade 3 teacher at Herzlia Constantia as well as being head of department and head of a portfolio assisting pupils to initiate campaigns to protect the environment.

Chiat emphasises that Salisbury House will be a “warm, nurturing, and inclusive environment, as children need to feel safe and valued to learn”. It will also have a strong partnership with all stakeholders, including parents, teachers, and children. The school will encourage children to have “Respect for honesty, loyalty, perseverance, and compassion. It will gently nurture and build up resilience, which is crucial in today’s world.” It will also include environmental education, as Chiat feels children must understand the impact of climate change and the world they are inheriting. There will be a lot of emphasis on group work and partnerships, and the child’s role in their own education.

Romy Saitowitz plans to send her daughter to the school. “Jewish families in the southern suburbs are passionate about our community and the values of diversity and inclusion. To this end, we are thrilled that outstanding educator, Aimee Chiat, has taken the initiative to open a Jewish school in Wynberg that will allow our children to benefit from a well-rounded education based on our Jewish values,” she says.

“Small classes and a nurturing environment are of great value to me. I love that the school welcomes parental involvement, and the fact that it’s close to my home means that I can be involved in my daughter’s schooling while she is young. In the midst of what has been an exceptionally difficult year, I’m excited for 2021 and grateful that my daughter has a place at Salisbury House.”