About Alta du Toit School

Alta du Toit School was established 55 years ago to provide access to education to severely intellectually disabled learners in high need of support. The mission of the school is to develop each child and staff member to their full potential. Through curriculum delivery of 80% practical work and 20% theory, learners are taught life skills to assist them in integrating successfully into society. The school is supported by three key pillars, namely Life skills, Sport and cultural events.

Alta Du Toit School Life Skills

Life Skills

The life skills pillar focuses on practical employment skills, including personal care, fundamental financial skills, and valuable job skills in fields such as woodwork, hospitality, ancillary health and arts and crafts.
Alta Du Toit Sports

Sport

Alta du Toit School provides a supportive and enriching environment where each learners potential is developed and the growth of each staff member is encouraged.

Alta Du Toit Culture

Cultural Events

Cultural events are supported and celebrated with care. The school is proud to have a marimba band and a clown program. These programs aim to train youth in townships to start marimba bands to keep them off the streets and integrate them into society while providing an opportunity to earn an income.

our Structure And Curriculum

At Alta du Toit School or classes are organized into 4 phases: the junior phase, the intermediate phase, the senior phase and the vocational phase. A learner may remain in a certain phase for two to three years but will be placed with different teachers within that phase. Emotional development, as well as the age and the level of progress that has been reached, will be considered before a learner is promoted to the next phase.

Foundational Phase

In the Foundation Phase, our learners are encouraged to be creative and imaginative by engaging in lots of free play and practical activities like art and music. Their key learning outcomes include:

  • Basic Life Skills – with a strong emphasis on ADL (activities of daily living),
  • Functional Literacy Skills – listening to instructions and following directions as they navigate their environment through effective communication including using SASL (South African Sign Language), and
  •  Functional Mathematics Skills – follow a daily routine, reading the time and counting money which will aid independent living in their future.
Intermediate Phase

Our curriculum ensures that our classrooms and teachers are able to implement inclusivity, as the curriculum can be used in such a manner that the needs and developmental skills of each child is accommodated within the classroom. In our phase we start looking at the practical skills required for Senior and Occupational phase. We build on the foundation that was done by our colleagues in the Foundation Phase.
We look at functional scholastic skills e.g. working on a calculator, identifying names of places /shops, being independent in self-care.


It is important that we prepare our learners for independence at home and in the world that awaits.
We have Grade 3 learners, according to the DCAPS curriculum. Two weekly themes guide us in planning, keeping 80% of activities practical. Our learners enjoy practical work instead of paper exercises, and we see better results in the prosecution of activities during practical work like packaging, gardening, consumer studies (basic kitchen safety and hygiene) and recycling, naming a few. Assessment is done by using the PACE app, an app that was designed for our school and schools with similar learners.

Senior Phase

HOW DO LEARNERS COPE AND HOW DO YOU ADAPT THE CURRICULUM TO THE BENEFIT OF OUR LEARNERS?

In the senior phase, it depends entirely on the level of functionality, ability and capability of the learner. Some learner’s find it easier to master content than others. Each child is unique in his/her acceptance of and coping with the curriculum. It also depends on the subject and the teacher’s attitude and enthusiasm to the execution of his/her content. To use Consumer Studies as an example. The assessment criteria and what is expected of learners is often way above what some learners are sometimes capable of. The teacher then went and looked at basic life skills of what is needed for the child to be more or less self-sufficient where safety and hygiene, general life- and also fine motor skills specifically are concerned. The Consumer Studies curriculum was then adapted so that even the learner with the weakest of the afore-mentioned skills can benefit.

In the Senior Phase, we try to be as integrative as possible. All the subjects are interconnected. We try to hone skills that should be encouraged at home, where parents should be the supervisory safety net our learners so direly need. This applies specifically where our electives are concerned. The curriculum still puts too much emphasis on bookwork whereas we encourage a much more practical approach, which will stand our learners in good stead later in their lives.

Occupational / Vocational Phase

In this phase, the focus is mainly on the development of acquired skills to ensure that our learners, as far as possible, will be equipped with the necessary skills to lead an independent life within his/her own ability. Self-care in all areas is one of main criteria for aftercare and protected workshops environment.
We work closely with our occupational therapist: Job Shadowing is arranged and monitored for learners who has the ability to apply specific skills as required. We have learners on a weekly basis attending certain venues where they gain exposure to a variety of work environments.
Our principal has developed an application, Jobjack, where people with barriers can register and see what openings are available and apply

Alta du Toit School’s  Curriculum

Alta Du Toit Self-Reliance-, Social- and Life Skills

Self-Reliance-, Social- and Life Skills

Alta Du Toit Effective Communication

Effective Communication  (language skills or sign language)

Alta Du Toit Self-Reliance-, Social- and Life Skills

Optimum Motor and Perceptual Skills

Alta Du Toit Nature

Awareness Of the Environment, Nature and Safety Measures

Alta Du Toit Vocational Skills

Vocational Skills

Execution Of Domestic Chores

Alta Du Toit Recreation and Relaxation

Meaningful Recreation and Relaxation

Alta Du Toit Understanding of Religion

A Simple Understanding of Religion

In memory of 

Alta du Toit

Alta du Toit passed away the 19th of July 2016 at the age of 61 years. Her life was a shining example to proof that every life matters and can impact other lives, even if you are born with a disability.

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– Kathy Calvin.

Alta Du Toit School

🗭  –  Email       I  admin@altadutoit.co.za

☏  –  Phone      I  021 903 4178

🖷  –  Fax            I  021 903 6021

⚐  –  Mail          I    Private Bag X10, Kuils River

߉  –  Location  Piet Fransman street, Kuilsriver

Alta Du Toit Fundraising Office

🗭  –  Email       I manager.development@altadutoit.com

☏  –  Phone      I  021 903 7744 / 084 520 5013

⚐  –  Mail           I  PO Box 170, Kuilsriver, 7579

߉  –  Location  Piet Fransman street, Kuils River

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