Welcome to Sure Start Inclusive School
Sure Starts Inclusive School Tanzania is a purpose-driven learning community providing high-quality, inclusive education for children aged 1 years to 12 years. We create a nurturing environment where every child—regardless of ability or background—is supported to learn, grow and thrive.
Guided by our core value of Empathy, we embed inclusion into our culture, teaching and relationships, ensuring it is lived daily, not merely stated. Our broad, child-centred curriculum, enriched with specialist teaching in Art, Drama, ICT, Music and Physical Education, is delivered across Day Care, Pre-School, Elementary School and Secondary School within a framework of Enjoyment, Creative Learning and Achievement.
Inclusive education is central to who we are. We are committed to 100% quality inclusive education, integrating learners with Special Educational Needs into mainstream classrooms through individualised support and trained staff, while using transformational, learner-led teaching approaches.
We also prioritise life skills, independence, and real-world readiness, supporting older learners through our Special Education Unit and Life Skills & Independence Programme. Our values—Empathy, Resilience, Kindness, Confidence, Humility and being Givers, not Takers—shape confident, socially responsible learners with a strong sense of belonging and purpose.
Vision
To see every child reach their full potential, equipped with the academic, social, emotional, and life skills needed to thrive independently and contribute meaningfully to society.
Goal
To establish and sustain a Centre of Excellence for Inclusive and Diverse Education, recognised nationally for high-quality inclusive practice, transformational teaching methodologies, successful life-skills transitions, and measurable learner outcomes.
Mission
To deliver high-quality inclusive education that responds to the individual needs of every child, prioritises social and emotional learning alongside academic development, implements transformational learner-centred methodologies, nurtures each child’s natural abilities, interests and prepares all learners, particularly those with additional needs for independence, life skills and meaningful participation in society.
Our Value
- Kindness
- Empathy
- Respect
- Independence
- Quality Education
- Human Rights / Child Rights
Daycare and Preschool (1 year – 5 years)
In our Daycare and Preschool (3 months – 5 years) aims to nurture our children’s desire to learn, experiment, play and to gain independence. Our curriculum is based on the UK’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and is designed to foster the emotional, physical, social, intellectual and creative development of each child.
EYFS recognizes the holistic nature of development and learning, with a strong emphasis on children learning through interaction with others and exploring the world around them. Classrooms are arranged into interest areas of varying educational toys, materials, and games. These learning sections provide places for books, blocks, art, puzzles, science, manipulative materials, and dramatic play. They provide practice in making decisions, following directions, working independently, and learning the care and use of materials. Group lessons include stories, music, gross motor activities, language experiences, and discussion of the current unit of study.
Our educational programmes involve activities and experiences for children as follows:
- Communication and language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
- The three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are
- Playing and Exploring
- Active Learning
- Creating and Thinking Criticially
Primary Education
We offer British National Curriculum combined with a unique and broad curriculum called GROUNDED.
Beyond the taught curriculum we offer a wealth of opportunities for learning and performing in the Arts. We offer a curriculum which is balanced and broadly based that will promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of the children both at the school and in the society.
Our curriculum will better prepare children at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
Inclusive and Special Needs Education
Meeting the individual needs of all children lies at the heart of both the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and the British National Curriculum and at Sure Starts this commitment is central to our practice. Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support necessary to fulfil their full potential.
All children who are able to access the curriculum are placed in age-appropriate mainstream classes, where they are supported to learn, contribute and participate fully in school life. Inclusion at Sure Starts goes beyond placement, it involves adapting classrooms, teaching methodologies, lesson plans and learning materials to meet the diverse needs of our learners.
Children with additional needs are supported through individualised learning plans (IEPs), classroom accommodations, differentiated instruction and collaboration with our inclusive education team. Where appropriate, we also provide a Special Education Unit for children with more complex needs, delivering a functional and life-skills-based curriculum alongside opportunities for interaction with the wider school community.
Our approach ensures that learning environments are safe, respectful and responsive whilepromoting interaction, dignity and participation without separation or discrimination, while maintaining high standards of quality inclusive education for all.
Our Teachers
At Sure Starts, every child is supported by a dedicated Key Person who builds a close relationship with them and works in partnership with parents and caregivers to support their growth and wellbeing.
Our teachers are qualified and experienced in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the British National Curriculum and inclusive education practices. We carefully select staff not only for their professional expertise, but for their empathy, sensitivity and commitment to child-centred learning.
Each class is supported by an Assistant Teacher, ensuring that children receive individual attention and that learners with additional needs are fully supported through tailored strategies and Individual Education Plans (IEPs).
All staff undergo thorough safeguarding checks, continuous professional development and hold Paediatric First Aid certification. The safety, wellbeing and holistic development of every child remain at the heart of everything we do.
Shadow Teachers
To ensure that children with additional needs are fully included in classroom learning, Sure Starts works with Shadow Teachers when appropriate.
A Shadow Teacher is a trained educational assistant who provides focused, individualised support to a child within the mainstream classroom. Their role is to facilitate participation, encourage independence and implement strategies aligned with the child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Shadow Teachers collaborate closely with class teachers and the inclusive education team to ensure that each child can access the curriculum meaningfully, engage with peers and develop both academic and life skills in a supportive environment.
Volunteers and Interns
Sure Starts provides opportunity for individuals, mainly young people and gap year students to volunteer or work as interns.
Volunteering helps candidates gain experience and exposure in a working environment. We invest in our volunteers through training, giving sense of work ethics, mentorship and on the job coaching.
Extra-Curricular Activities
The Arts
Art, Music, Drama and Dance enrich a child’s social and emotional development. We work towards developing a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary practice of art by striving to introduce a new culture of art to cultivate a broad-spectrum approach to artistic possibilities that respects tradition and encourages innovation.
Sport and Outdoor Education
Social Education
- To develop sensitivity, tolerance and respect within and beyond our community, in the spirit of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- To nurture a sense of moral and social responsibility, and responsibility for the environment.
- To affirm and celebrate our school’s diversity of cultures and nationalities.
Board Members and Curriculum Advisors
Elizabeth Mleli
Elizabeth is a Social Entrepreneur who believes in innovative solutions to social problems. She is the founder of Sure Starts Children’s Centre, an inclusive school. Through Sure Starts, she is working on improving the education system by ensuring that every child access education. Using her own school as a pilot to provide an inclusive setting that promotes equality of opportunity which does not mean that all children should be treated the same, but that the unique skills and abilities of each child should be recognized and developed, and that inclusion is not optional.
Elizabeth is an experienced trainer, facilitator, a motivational speaker and she is committed to social change. She is passionate about building capacity in the workforce here in Tanzania and beyond through training, coaching and mentoring individuals within work settings. Elizabeth is zealous about empowering other women in business and leadership and currently focusing on Women SMEs especially rural women in food and agribusiness industry. She is also a mentor with African Entrepreneurship Awards. She holds Masters of Social Science in Economic of Social Studies from University of Wales, Swansea – U.K and PGD in Leadership from Aalto University, Finland in partnership with Uongozi Institute, Tanzania.
Elizabeth has over 20 years of working experience in both public and private sectors. Prior to starting Sure Starts, she was a Senior Consultant/Institutional Capacity Building Manager in the Strategy and Operations Department of Deloitte Consulting in Tanzania for three and a half years. Before joining Deloitte she worked for four years with Action in rural Sussex, U.K. a leading charity organization in Building Capacity of community organizations and she has also worked for nearly four years with the Scarman Trust and Lloyds TSB Bank in the U.K.
Terry Hayward
Terry has been involved in education and the development of young people for over 30 years, through business, with charities and as a School Governor in the UK.
Terry strongly believes that every child has the ability to succeed, provided they are given the opportunity and the encouragement to do so and they are allowed to explore, experiment and challenge themselves, albeit in a safe environment.
He has worked with all ages from primary upwards and was, for a number of years, closely involved in the training of English gap year students to work in schools in Tanzania.
Helen Lumgair
Helen Lumgair is a Montessori teacher, Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Mediator, Education Consultant and author. Helen created the framework and initial lesson plans of the empathy-focused Think Equal curriculum which was recognised with a 2020 WISE award for innovation and the addressing of global educational challenges.
Helen recently released a book on Using Stories to Support Learning and Development in Early Childhood and previously contributed a chapter on using the process of narrative to develop empathy in early childhood in the book, Developing Empathy in the Early Years: A Guide for Practitioners.
Helen holds a BA (Hons) in Early Years Teaching, a Montessori International Diploma and is a Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Mediator. She is passionate about developing holistic educational strategies to meet the needs of every learner, and about stories.
Valerie A. Lovegreen
Valerie has a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Rhode Island College and a master’s degree in Communicative Disorders from the University of Central Florida and is a Ph.D. candidate in Psychology.
Valerie has been a Speech Language Pathologist for the past 30 years and has specialized in the areas of cognition, language development, stuttering therapy, voice and articulation therapy.
She is a Certified Trainer in Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Standard and Basic levels, and has training in Lindamood processes, Wilson Reading, Conscious Discipline, Balametrics, Fast Forword, Interactive Metronome, and It Takes Two to Talk. She has combined her cognitive training, teaching experience and speech and language expertise and has homeschooled students, started the Magic Forest Institute, a small private school for students with varied learning abilities, then worked at Providence Foundation, a K through 12 school and full clinic, providing intensive academic interventions and therapies to children with learning differences. She served as clinical director, principal and guidance counselor for Providence Foundation. She runs a private clinic, working with clients from age 2 to adult. She has written chapters on Social Cognition and Language and Cognition in Narrative.
Valerie’s passion is interacting with children, teachers, therapists and parents to provide training, mentoring and therapy to improve critical thinking, communication, collaboration and enhance the quality of life of all with whom she works!
Helen Garnett
Helen is a wife, mother of four, and currently works as an Early Years author, consultant and speaker. Helen started her career as a teacher, working in the primary level as a class and music teacher. In 2005 she co-founded a preschool where she developed a keen interest in neuroscience and the positive effect that prompt and specific support has on a child’s development and progress.
In 2017 Helen wrote ‘Developing Empathy in the Early Years: a guide for Practitioners’, which is one of the finalists for professional books in the Nursery World Awards 2018. Helen also writes articles for leading parent magazines such as Parenta, Education for Everybody, and the Early Years Teacher Organisation.