Grades 000 and 00
Grades 000 and 00
These grades are situated in a large house that has been renovated to provide bright, airy classrooms with a warm, familiar atmosphere, in which our children quickly settle into their daily routine.
Activities are planned to be holistic, catering for every aspect of a child’s development: physical, social, emotional, creative, intellectual and spiritual. An interactive emergent curriculum allows the teachers to plan projects and topics of enquiry based on the children’s interests and observations. The curriculum also ensures that the children are equipped with the necessary skills for Grade 0.
Upon arrival the children are greeted by a staff member, waiting at the Little Saints entrance. They enter through the piazza, where different activities are set up for them to explore. The children then hang up their bags and make their way to their classroom. Each class has a teacher and teacher assistant.
In the early morning, children spend time in the classroom working with the teacher on various skills and activities. A quick runaround in the big garden is encouraged before ring time. During ring time each class engages in discussions relating to the current enquiry, as well as completing activities, learning songs and rhymes. A fruit snack is then served, and open plan and free play begins.
Open plan is a time when the Fairy Garden, Piazza, Big Garden and outdoor Atelier are open to explore. The teachers have set up various provocations in these areas and invite children to experiment, investigate and even have fun with messy play. At this time, children are free to choose where they would like to spend time and with whom.
Snack time is a wonderful opportunity for the children to socialise and build relationships with their peers. After their snack the children enjoy free play in the Big Garden. In the playground, the cycle track winds between sandy mounds, indigenous shrubs and open grass patches.
Easels are dotted around the perimeter for those children who would prefer to paint, and often children pause to swing across the monkey bars as they run from one activity to another. Our playscape ensures the children’s motor planning and gross motor skills are challenged as they clamber over and crawl through it the various equipment.
The day ends with all the children back in their respective classrooms, relaxing while the teachers read them a captivating story. The children are then collected from the classroom, or move on to privately run co-curricular activities, waiting class or aftercare.
Flow of the day and snack
07h00: Arrival
07h45: School begins and gate closes
08h30: Ring time
09h30: Fruit snack and open plan time
10h30: Snack time
12h00: Story time
12h20: School ends, children are collected from the grass areas outside SMOGs
12h20: Aftercare begins. Co-curricular activities begin
For their fruit snack, the children receive cut-up seasonal fruit such as apples, bananas, oranges, pineapple, watermelon, naartjies, grapes etc.
For snack time, the children need to bring their own healthy snack. We encourage them to develop healthy eating habits, and to drink water regularly throughout the day.