Unlock Learning South Africa

11/08/2026

We are incredibly grateful to have been invited by Dr Gad Elbeheri to join the International Dyslexia Association Global Network Open Forum as a Friend of the IDA Global Network, representing Unlock Learning South Africa. 🇿🇦

To be part of a forum that brings together people from across the world who share a commitment to improving understanding, support and opportunities for people with dyslexia is both humbling and exciting.

For us, this is an opportunity to listen, learn, collaborate and bring South Africa into a wider global conversation about dyslexia and inclusive education.

There is so much knowledge and experience across this network, and so much we can learn from one another.

At the same time, we hope to continue sharing the realities, challenges and possibilities within our own South African education context.

Thank you, Dr Gad Elbeheri, for the invitation and for opening this door. We feel very privileged to be part of this community and excited about where these conversations and connections may lead.

When we connect across countries and continents, our collective voice for children who learn differently becomes that much stronger.

08/08/2026

If every child in our classroom is different, why do we so often teach them as though they are the same?

I’m excited to be speaking at ResearchED on 12 September on a topic I feel incredibly passionate about:

Differentiation: What does it really look like in the classroom?

Differentiation isn’t about creating 30 different lessons or making teaching more complicated.

It means recognising what each learner brings to the classroom and intentionally adapting our teaching in creative, meaningful ways so that every child is supported to engage, grow, and achieve their full potential.

But what does that actually look like on a Monday morning, with a real class, a curriculum to cover and limited time?

In my session, we’ll explore the WHY, HOW and WHAT of differentiation and, most importantly, some simple, practical ways we can make learning more accessible without lowering our expectations.

Same destination. Different support to get there.

I hope to see you there!🇿🇦

02/08/2026

Great conversations. New connections. Shared purpose. 💙

We spent the morning at the ORT SA Cape Education’s Elevate and Connect 2026 Conference, surrounded by people who believe in the power of education to change lives. It was a wonderful reminder that when passionate educators, organisations and communities come together, meaningful change becomes possible.

We left inspired, encouraged and even more committed to our mission of ensuring that every child has the opportunity to unlock their potential.

Here’s to collaboration, hope and a future where every child belongs. 🇿🇦

31/07/2026

Today, we attended the Elevate and Connect Conference 2026, and we were inspired from beginning to end.

Tracy Winde reminded us that many children are living in survival mode and are simply not emotionally available for learning. Belinda Petersen shared powerful insights into transformative leadership, while Leora Hessen challenged us to consider the positive role of AI in education and how it can help us focus on the learning that truly matters. She also left us questioning why we continue to follow an education system developed in 1892 for a world that no longer exists.

Dr Xolisa Guzula highlighted the reality that so many South African children are expected to learn in a language that is not their mother tongue. Lisa Wingham brought energy and humour to the important conversation about cultivating critical thinkers by empowering teachers, and Theresa Soci reinforced that emotional intelligence lies at the heart of learning and is one of the most important future-ready skills we can develop.

Our brilliant master of ceremonies, Alan Committee, kept us laughing throughout the day and brought everything together beautifully.

We left feeling energised, inspired and encouraged. Most importantly, we left ready to keep questioning, learning and working with renewed passion and commitment towards an education system that truly serves every child in South Africa.🇿🇦

OrtSACape

27/07/2026

Every child needs a CHAMPION! Children cannot learn from someone who they don’t trust!

What do we remember most about school years later. It probably isn’t the worksheet we completed or the test we wrote. It’s the teacher who believed in us and understood that something special about us.

Every child deserves to be known, understood and valued. Learning begins with trust. It grows through encouragement, patience, forgiveness and the quiet, everyday moments when a child realises, “Someone sees me. Someone hasn’t given up on me.”

Every child needs a champion. In a world where many children carry unseen struggles, we have the privilege, and the responsibility, to be that one adult who changes the trajectory of a child’s life.

That is the heart of education.

18/07/2026

67 years changed a nation. 🇿🇦

Mandela Day honours Nelson Mandela’s 67 years of service to South Africa and humanity by encouraging each of us to give 67 minutes of our time to make a difference.

This Mandela Day, let’s invest those 67 minutes in what Madiba believed was our greatest tool for change: education. Every child we encourage, every book we share, every lesson we teach, and every act of kindness helps build a brighter future for South Africa.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela 💛📚🇿🇦

26/06/2026

Desmond Tutu’s words remind us that every child should experience education as a place of belonging, kindness and possibility, never as an outsider. This is the heart of our vision. 🇿🇦

25/06/2026

Education should do more than produce efficient systems and standardised outcomes. It should celebrate diversity, reduce inequality, and be rooted in love, humanity and care.

The world we live in today is, in many ways, a product of the education systems we have created. So we must ask:

❓Who shapes education policy, and whose interests do those policies serve?
❓Are we prioritising efficiency over quality?
❓Are our systems truly working for the collective good, or are bureaucracy, colonial mindsets and a lack of humanity simply maintaining the status quo?

Nelson Mandela reminded us that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

But meaningful change requires courage:
⭐️the courage to question what is not working
⭐️to listen to children and families
⭐️to build an education system in which every child is seen, valued and given the opportunity to thrive.

Intelligence does not always look the same. It is time for education to recognise that.

17/06/2026