Parent and School Councillor, Munir S, says moving his son from a mainstream primary school to Emerson School six years ago helped his child progress from being non-verbal and highly dependent, to being a “chatterbox” who is involved in and enjoying school life to its fullest.
“Zayd transferred from a mainstream setting and started Grade 1 at Emerson in 2020 just before the COVID lockdowns,” Munir says. “At his previous school, Zayd was labelled as someone who couldn’t be handled and would have had to sit outside of his class at least three days a week.”
Munir says Zayd’s first teacher at Emerson, Mrs Gould, set the tone and assisted in establishing good strong boundaries. “This great work at the beginning was exactly what Zayd needed and has continued throughout our son’s time at the school. This support has contributed to helping him thrive.”
Munir says he joined the Emerson School Council two years ago and has enjoyed seeing what goes on behind the scenes to create an environment in which students are encouraged to reach their full potential.
“I have learnt since joining Council that the school community needs to do a lot more to hold the government to account for the blocks they put on schools such as Emerson,” Munir says.
“Previously, I was not fully aware of all the benefits that my son could receive from an education at Emerson.”
Munir, a research & development scientist, highlights that the quality of equipment and resources available at Emerson has been comparable to those available in tertiary institutions. “It’s not only the staff who are great, but also the facilities,” he says. “All the facilities at Emerson are amazing, and the Tech Centre is only one such example.”
Recent testing showed significant improvements in Zayd’s learning, a result that Munir says is hugely attributable to his son being at Emerson. “This is Zayd’s first year in Middle School and it is going very well so far, though there are still a few challenges around social skills and understanding others’ perspectives,” he says.
“Overall, our family is very happy with our decision to move Zayd to Emerson.”
[interviewed June 2026]
Photo credit: photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
