The LEAP model is focused on the positive transformation and development of the whole person, as the centre of a spiral of influence that expands to include the whole school, the whole community and ultimately the whole country.

Whole Person

We believe that long-term systemic impacts and improvements will only come as the result of an holistic approach to intervention. For LEAP learners to achieve academic goals, other changes need to occur as part of the learning process. The Life Orientation (LO) classroom is the space in which the interventions are most often triggered, managed and monitored, and this is the space where our learners develop a sense of internal structure, as well as the capacity to manage and overcome life and academic pressures.

Life Orientation is a compulsory and examinable subject in all schools in South Africa and is studied in all grades. LEAP devotes one lesson every day to Life Orientation and emphasises the internal dimensions of the subject. By incorporating some of the ideas and strategies of group work and positive peer influence on a daily basis for all learners, LEAP’s Life Orientation programme serves as a proactive preventative intervention rather than a reactive counseling response programme.

Whole School

The learners at LEAP (as for most township schools) have very difficult circumstances to deal with as a consequence of the destructive nature of apartheid, including the erosion of the social fabric and very real economic hardships. Many of the learners at LEAP are facing the reality of disintegrating families and illness- and violence-related deaths. As a consequence, the school actively and consciously creates the space and the relationships in which there is trust.

Life Orientation directly deals with the “voicelessness” of individuals. Often the only voice of township learners is a collective one, and there is a great fear of being out of step with the collective voice and this is particularly damaging in a learning environment. What is developed in our schools is the individual learner’s sense of wholeness, identity and belonging, and from this platform each of the learners builds an ability to risk, to be open and to identify and process real feelings.

LEAP creates a safe place in which any issue can surface and where learners can challenge and be challenged, thereby allowing each young person’s unique voice to develop. Learners learn to become comfortable with reflection and introspection, which allows them to deal with feelings, be they anger, sadness, loss or bitterness.

Whole Community

LEAP also places a high value on broader social responsibility objectives. Each our learners actively commits to at least one on-going community outreach initiative and strong emphasis is placed on giving back to the communities in which these learners live.

We are convinced of the profound effects on the learners and their communities that will occur through a combination of the internal empowerment that comes from acquiring true life-skills developing positive values, and the economic empowerment that comes from becoming skilled at Science and Maths.

Whole Country

LEAP acts as hub for a wide range of opportunities and activities created to enable people from all South African communities, as well as other countries, to meet and actively engage with one another.

LEAP is committed to providing teacher mentoring programs and sharing of resources with township teachers from partnering schools. By bridging the gap between economically and racially divided communities, we seek to play an active role in the transformation of both privileged and disadvantaged communities.

Through a desire to bring about the greatest degree of positive change in the shortest timeframe, we actively seek to share LEAPs innovation and entrepreneurial approach within the national public schooling framework.

“I used to be a shy and insecure girl, but LEAP has taught me to find my own voice.”

 Asanda, LEAP 1 (Langa), Grade 12