Gesher School’s founders launch £400k appeal to take their vision further

When Ali Durban and Sarah Sultman began exploring the idea of a community special needs school in response to their own experiences, they knew it would be a considerable challenge.

Gesher began its journey in 2017, on the site of a former Norwood Therapy Centre in Willesden with just seven students. Eight years, five Outstanding Ofsted reports and countless happy parents later, the school they conceived is about to turn to the community for help to take it to the next stage.

Ali and Sarah, both awarded MBEs for their work with special needs children, are launching Gesher’s 36-hour crowd-funding campaign from Sunday 19th October to raise £400k for essential works.

The school, which moved to the old Moriah Primary site in Pinner in 2021, works to meet the needs of children in the Jewish community who cannot flourish in mainstream education, relying on local authority funding to do so.

Pupils have a range of mild to moderate special educational needs, including autism, ADHD, dyslexia and Downs syndrome.

Sultman tells Jewish News: “Eight years ago, Ali and I were driven by a firm belief that our community couldn’t ignore these children. We were passionate about delivering a meaningful education and a community of friends for them. And hearing the parents’ stories first hand of their struggles and pain propelled us and galvanised us into trying to setting Gesher up.

“Looking back at what has been achieved has shaped us as people, taught us much and inspired us on our respective journeys to continue to advocate for those with SEN [Special Educational Needs] in both our own community and the wider community.”

Initially specifically a primary school, Gesher, meaning ‘bridge’, recently expanded into secondary provision up to Year 11 and now has a total of 70 children.

Reflecting on the decision to grow its offering, Durban says: “About four years in to Gesher opening it became apparent that there was also a scarcity of specialist secondary provision. At the same time, a number of our parents began asking us what would happen to their children who were thriving at Gesher and coming to the end of their primary experience. Where would they go and what would that setting look like? We realised very quickly that we would need to expand into secondary education.”

The funding challenge now is to complete some classrooms and rehouse a life skills room.

“Many of our children arrive damaged from mainstream education, so we don’t just pick up the pieces of their learning differences”, says Durban.

“There’s systemic damage from them not being able to survive or fit into mainstream education.”

She adds: “The fundraiser is really important to us, because we believe very passionately that the places and the spaces that our children need to learn are as important as what they’re learning and how they’re learning.

“For us equipping our children and young people to navigate the real world beyond life at school is as important as equipping them with the skills they need to get jobs.

“So our life skills room is critical to that, and really that’s what the fundraiser is about. It’s about finishing the building. It’s about some core funding costs, but also by completing all of that work, it allows us to look forward to the next five years, because the building is then complete, the funding is in place, and we can start to think more strategically.”

Sultman believes that SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities)  “touches everyone. No family is immune from it, regardless of whether you’re ultra orthodox, orthodox, liberal or progressive reform. It doesn’t make a difference if you live in a wealthy area or a non wealthy area. Being cross- communal is what makes Gesher so uniquely placed in our community.”

She adds that it’s “one of the few schools that transcends religious politics or socio economic politics, because at its core, it’s about the children, and those children come from every community across across London. That is really the key to its necessity.”

Gesher’s ethos is not necessarily just about early intervention.

Durban says: “These are children that are growing into young adults and we’re shaping young lives. Who are they going to be? How can we help support them with the gifts and the talents they have? What kind of members of society do we want to create that are valued and valuable?”

Together with Sultman, Durban describes the creation of the school as “an incredible journey” that “hasn’t just been about our Jewish community.”

What the team has always sought to do is “to build a model of excellence with the hope of inspiring other learning communities and other schools.”

Gesher welcomes observer schools from around the globe. Currently receiving their third visit from educators in Hong Kong, they’ve had more than 100 delegates from Israel over the past month, as well as future visitors expected from Malta, Denmark and Australia.

Sultman believes passionately that there is no other school “providing both the education, the opportunities and the community that Gesher provides for these children. So it’s a case of: does the Jewish community care about this cohort of children? We care about all our other children, because we have so many mainstream schools for them. We talk about a community that cares about educating everyone, and that’s always been the Jewish way, hasn’t it? To be very first and foremost caring about education. So do we care about this group? And I would like to think that the answer is an unreservedly ‘YES, we do’.”

She says that Gesher doesn’t “just give these kids a bit of band aid, a bit of therapy here, or a bit of therapy there, and watch them fail. We’re building them something that’s going to give them lifelong chances. That’s what Gesher is.”

Durban adds: “These are your children as much as they’re ours. They’re all of our children, right? The child has to come first, because they’re our future.”

• Click here to find out more about Gesher and here to support the campaign.