Fast Forward to the future with King David Schools

by Rabbi Ricky Seeff – General Director of the SABJE and King David Schools
FAR LEFT: Rabbi Ricky Seeff, General Director SABJE signing the Microsoft Education Transformation Agreement with Jaye RichardsHill, Senior Education Specialist at Microsoft. ABOVE, MIDDLE and RIGHT: Students at King David Primary School Victory Park in a Design and Technology lesson building and constructing in The Hub – a space that incorporates the multi-faceted elements of learning needed in a modern world. The Hub includes an auditorium for presentations, a modern library with reading ‘coves’, a collaboration space for group work and research, and a Maker Space for robotics, coding, 3D printing, and creative tinkering.

The Hebrew word for education is Chinuch. Rashi explains that the word is used to describe anything that is being initiated into a life-long designation or process, whether that be a holy implement or a human being.
When one embarks on a process of educating a child it needs to be with the end in mind. Educators and parents need to critically assess if they are empowering their children with the skills and knowledge that will stand them in good stead – for life.
Given the rapid change in the world it is becoming patently clear that education cannot be focused primarily on content. Today, content is readily accessible to people of all ages in volumes which could never have been imagined in years gone by. We are also unsure of what content the students need for a future world of work which remains undefined.
Education today must be focused on developing the skills students need to succeed in uncertain times. Innovation, problem solving, creativity, collaboration and others are the skills at the heart of the new educational landscape. King David Schools have signed a unique Education Transformation Agreement with Microsoft, the first of its kind in South Africa, to partner

with us in creating a roadmap to transform the way we teach, and the way our students learn, to ensure that they are equipped to face the future. This approach combined with the strong Jew
ish identity and meaningful Jewish education King David gives our pupils will undoubtedly stand them in good stead and give us the comfort to say that we have indeed truly educated
ABOVE, LEFT: Students at King David Primary School Sandton, using critical thinking and creativity in a lesson in the magnificent, new Elements Media Centre. ABOVE, RIGHT: Students at King David Pre-Primary School Linksfield enjoying a lesson on their I-Pads, incorporating 21st century skills preparing them for the future. BELOW: The Maker Space room at King David High School Linksfield