Imagine you said yes...
58+ years of experience offering excellence in education
- Training over 7000+ professionals and schooling 280+ students a year
Globally recognised
- in developing education, intervention and curriculum to learners of school going age
Consultants to large schools, private and independent
- as well as various directorates in the Department of Basic Education
Proven model of innovating educational methodology
- implementing and measuring impact in our learners and sharing effective techniques on scale
Why a middle school?
Mediation of all learning be it social, cognitive, physical or emotional, starts in a person’s primary development years when the foundation for lifelong learning is built and fundamental values and attitudes are formed.
Initiated first in the home, and then through high quality early childhood and primary school practice, the learning synthesises in the adolescent and young adult years.
Middle schoolers are curious about the world and themselves.
They are exploring their identity, opinions and position in society. In adolescence, they are risk takers who will keenly pursue what is relevant or of interest to them.
Each individual has potential to be an ethical citizen and a global change maker. Their world lies beyond geographical boundaries and their career opportunities are largely undefined.
They need mediators around them to see them through to their full potential.
Imagine College Birdhaven
- Bellavista School has launched South Africa’s first middle school built on the premise of cognitive modifiability and proven cognitive development programmes for adolescents in Grades Eight and Nine with and without disabilities
- Imagine College Birdhaven offers a curriculum and learning mediation model that answers the educational needs of middle schoolers on cognitive, motivational and social-emotional levels.
The Imagine College Birdhaven campus not only benefits the students who attend daily and their families. It is the site where Bellavista S.H.A.R.E., our professional development centre, creates and researches the aspects of the middle schooling model that can be shared on scale.
It is our intention to influence schools, educators, policy makers and allied professionals to implement the pedagogical principles we deploy across Southern Africa and even worldwide.
Creating a Campus
The Imagine College Birdhaven campus not only benefits the students who attend daily and their families. It is the site where Bellavista S.H.A.R.E., our professional development centre, creates and researches the aspects of the middle schooling model that can be shared on scale.
It is our intention to influence schools, educators, policy makers and allied professionals to implement the pedagogical principles we deploy across Southern Africa and even worldwide.
Neighbouring Bellavista School facilities include a media centre, collaborative design venues, the auditorium and hall, as well as the multi-sensory environments, will be accessible to the middle school students after primary school hours.
Sited on Marshall Campus on Wingfield Avenue in Birdhaven Johannesburg, the school includes
- four classrooms and an indoor/outdoor art studio
- an auditorium for lectures or assemblies
- a large common room for independent work, collaborative projects or a game of table tennis
- multimedia setup in all venues including VR
- flexible ergonomic furnishings to ensure communication, collaboration and creativity as fundamental 4IR skills
As a school committed to the principles of cognitive education practice, including the fundamental premise that all children have the propensity to learn, are the key to this new model.
- Our academic toolset as a cognitive school includes:
- a mainstream curriculum aligned with national requirements and enriched with inquiry based practice
- the development of vocabulary and terminology for learning, research aptitude, knowledge, critical thinking and collaborative skills
- trained educators with multidisciplinary backgrounds steeped in the work of Feuerstein, Greenberg, Ben-Hur, Falik and Zehr
- Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment programme
- Cognitive Enrichment Advantage - the shared language for thinking
- Learners attending Imagine College Birdhaven will have deep and rich exposure to:
- the United Nations Sustainable Goals
- ethical decision making informed by sound knowledge and considering other points of view
- robust critical thinking processes to solve real world problems
- public speaking and the power of persuasive arguments
- restorative practices to strengthen relationships in a community
- creativity across all subject areas
Curriculum Enrichment Opportunities
- Pedagogy of Play
- Research as a modality to access knowledge (vs chalk talk input)
- VR experiences
- Entrepreneurship incl, business skills, patenting, copyright, basic accounts, contract law, marketing
- Real life mentoring from business/specialist experts
- Life coaching
- Physical fitness activities to support wellness
- Multimedia creative projects
- Exploration of local exhibitions, experiences, galleries and museums
Spaces lend themselves to pedagogy, sensory regulation and a feeling of safety and belonging.
Social time is vital for middle schoolers and one of the key motivators behind attendance and success at school.
It is at school that they live out their personalities, build relationships and develop responsibility towards each other. Chatting together, debriefing the day and sharing interests are well facilitated over lunch and other light snacks.
As such, we have common areas that belong to the students:
- a chill zone with flexible seating, individual areas for focused work and areas for small group collaborations or a game of table tennis
- an equipped kitchen – why can’t teenagers have a cool lunch vs a soggy warm sandwich?
- an outdoor courtyard as well as beautiful gardens with outdoor blankets close to hand
- Creativity has free rein in our art studio and robotics rooms, which have indoor and outdoor work spaces
- Resident artists will use the studio to develop their works, modelling skills, mentoring and encouraging the students
- Visible and open, the art studio has spaces to conceptualise design and expression, deploy technology for digital art, and freely use various mediums for visual arts
- As creative expression develops a sense of self, builds confidence and facilitates an emotional outlet, the art studio must validate, affirm and facilitate this critical aspect of the 4IR educational mandate
- Our students will curate and host an art exhibition of local artists on the Imagine College site
Art adjacent: a collaborative work by the class of February 2025
Urban Sports Vision
- Adolescents need fun activities that provide physical exercise and promote wellness as well as a sense of mastery over their bodies
- Accessing local facilities like padel courts is part of living an urban fitness lifestyle
- Membership at a local Planet Fitness gym allows for functional strength training, swimming, track and yoga
- To get 'up and at it' each morning, the students participate in a high intensity exercise session be it boxing or basketball
- Every student is encouraged to pursue their competitive sporting interest through area clubs and will be recognised at school for their achievements
- Physical activity is key to mental health and the more a teen gets of it the better
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Gross Annual Fee: |
R167 000 |
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Annual Fee: |
R 156 000 |
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Development Levy: |
R 9 000 |
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Innings and Outings: |
R1 000 |
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PA Levy |
R1 000 |
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Entrance Fee (new): |
R 52 000 (60% refundable on graduating at the end of Grade Nine) |
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Entrance Fee (Bellavista): |
R 52 000 (60% refundable on graduating at the end of Grade Nine) |