Estate Living Digital Publication Issue 4 April 2015 | Page 44

in its narrow passageways. The school
was an old Victorian building, with narrow
classrooms leading off from the corridors.
The client acknowledged it would cost
several million pounds to make the
renovations.

CURRICULUM

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The team made a site visit, and, after
observing the chaos that occurred
when the school bell rang to signal a
change in periods, they made a simple
recommendation. Installing a series
of bells that go off at different times in
different places would mean that class
periods were staggered so learners would
‘distribute’ through the corridors and this
would only cost several hundred pounds.
Architecture is not simply about selecting
an architect to erect or renovate a building
and neither is education simply about
appointing teachers and designing a

syllabus. Education involves developing
the right environment for knowledge
creation. The revolution of WikiHouse
was not that it discarded the basics of
design. In fact, it grounded itself in those
basics, but made them available for
everyone to participate. The foundations
of education must be equally grounded,
but must include the participation of the
learners.
A lot more is needed than simply
building more schools. The environment
we have built at Curro Holdings offers
everyone the same choice: high quality,
independent school education to every
learner throughout South Africa.
Curro Holdings strives to create a
knowledge environment that fosters
a value system that honours child
friendliness, endorses discipline, respects