1. family and parenting
2. children

Pre-Primary
Newsletter
April 2015
A NOTE FROM THE DESK OF PRINCIPAL,
SULOCHNEE NAIR
Dear Parents
Welcome back to the second term. The children loved being back and have
settled in very quickly. We have a jam-packed term ahead of us with lots of
exciting events and activities.
“At the end of the day, the most overwhelming
key to a child’s success is the positive involvement
of parents.” Jane D. Hull
Research shows that parental involvement in their child’s schooling results in
greater success. Parents need to be actively involved in their children’s
learning.
In this Newsletter I will be focussing on how you can help your child learn
Mathematics. Maths is more than just a numbers game. Maths has many
dimensions.
Number sense (e.g. the numeral “4” represents four objects, which is
greater than 3 and less than 5)
Geometry (e.g. patterns and shapes, each with unique features)
Measurement (e.g. size, distance and amount)
The language of Mathematics (e.g, more than, less than, equal to)
Spatial relations (e.g. in front of or behind; near or far)
If you watch your child at home you will be surprised at the number of ways
that Maths is expressed, in words and in actions.
Your attitude towards Maths is of utmost importance. Don’t say things like
Maths is difficult… I did badly in Maths at school. Some parents lack
confidence in Maths, and some even suffer from Maths anxiety. Children
often have an uncanny ability to sense an adult’s comfort with — or aversion
to — certain things, and Maths is no exception.
Remember that Maths is all around us. Children are constantly exposed to
mathematical concepts as they discover the world they live in and start
exploring. Maths is about problem solving, communication and reasoning.
Start encouraging this during your interaction with your child. You need to
ask questions, investigate and explore. Talk to your child about similarities
and differences. Encourage them to explain their answers.
Make Mathematics real. Be sure to reinforce and practise Maths learning at
home.
Learning Maths by living maths. Provide lots of hands-on activities. Young
children learn by doing.
Talk to your child’s teacher. Many parents aren’t sure how to teach their
pre-schoolers Maths. Your child’s teacher can tell you about how concepts
can be reinforced in everyday games and activities at home.
There is every reason to believe that today’s pre-schoolers can grow up to
understand, experience and appreciate Maths in a broader and more
practical context than the generation before them. We’re counting on it!
It is time for parents to teach
young people early on that in
diversity there is beauty
and there is strength.
Maya Angelou
Important Message
Layered Dressing
As the cold weather approaches and it
starts to get chilly in the mornings, you
need to dress your child in layered clothing
so that it is easier to undress if it does
become hot. Please do so as the children
do get hot and often are unable to dress
down.
Please ensure that every item of your
child’s clothing is labelled.
An appeal to parents
The mornings can be quite chilly, however by eleven o’clock when the
children are running around on the playground, the temperature has risen
dramatically and they need to discard thick, long sleeved items. The children
become very warm and begin to perspire when playing on the playground.
Could you please reassure them that it is quite okay to remove jackets,
scarves, hats and jerseys if their teachers say so? They are so obedient that
they will be dripping with perspiration and will tell the teachers that, “My
mommy said I’m not allowed to take it off.”
Grade 000
Welcome back everyone! We are sure that you all enjoyed the holiday.
It is heart-warming to observe that the children have settled down so well
and are growing in confidence.
The Starfish and Panda classes begin the term by learning all about Autumn.
The leaves of many trees are carpeting the ground with all the colours of
Autumn.
We are eagerly looking forward to what promises to be another exciting and
busy term.
Grade 000 Leader: Amalia Pentz
Grade 00
Welcome back to the second term. This term promises to be an exciting, busy
and fun-filled one.
Our themes for this term are Families, Autumn, Pets, Farming and Winter.
We have Sports Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, a Dog Show and the very
first school outing for your rapidly maturing little one.
Please diarise all the dates as your attendance means a lot to your children.
Grade 00 Grade Leader: Tracey Taljaard.
GRADE O
Welcome back to the second term. This term is sure to be an exciting one.
We start off our term with Sports Day on the 17th of April. Please don’t miss
the opportunity to come and cheer your child.
We ended the first term learning about the sound “f”. Each time a sound is
introduced in Grade O, the letter and its formation are reinforced through
different art activities. For the sound “f” the children learnt about
fingerprints and they made their own fingerprints on the “f” using their
water colour paints. They then cut these out and made a frame with
feathers. The children also made 3D fish and made drawings of their families.
The children produced beautiful work and thoroughly enjoyed the activities.
We also learnt about different types of homes in South Africa and around the
world. The children learnt about how houses are built and what materials
were used in the building process. We took a virtual tour around
Buckingham Palace, looked at different houses on the globe and we
considered why people in different parts of the world choose to live in the
houses they do.
The Grade 0 outing to The Pioneers’ farm at the end of the first term had to
be postponed to 23 April 2015 due to rain. The “bus tickets” for this outing
will be sent out during the week of the 23rd. Please return them as soon as
possible before this date.
Looking forward to the term ahead!
Grade 00 Grade Leader: Jeanne Mare de la Mare
“The miracle of children is that we just don’t know how
they will change and who they will become.”
Eileen Kennedy Moere
New children
We welcome to the Crawford Family the following children: Lihle Mabaso
and Rorisang Setsiba in Grade 000, and Nina Pei in Grade 00.
May your stay with us be a happy one!
We need…….
There is a request from the pre-primary teachers that each child brings a
clean, EMPTY tin (the 410g variety) to school during the next few weeks. So,
you all need to make a big pot of bean soup for your family for Autumn and
save the tin for us!
Look who’s having a birthday this month !
Congratulations
Clenence Desjonqueres Gr 000,
Rorisang Setsiba Gr 000;
Nasir Makamba Gr 000, Neo
Masemola Gr 000, Boipelo
to
Mosai Gr 000, Mufunwa
Salani Gr 00, Mazibongwe
Mchunu Gr 00, Zhizhi
Zhang Gr 00, Bright
Matchaya Gr 00, Zidaan
Omar Ismail Gr 00,
Sibusisiwe Tsoti Gr 0, Thabo
Makhakhe Gr 0, Khanyi Jiya
Gr 0, Teacher Tracey
Taljaard and Teacher
Kalayvani Pillay.
We hope you have a great day!
Aftercare News
We will be having a holiday club during the July holidays from 29 June to 03
July. This is open to all children and not only children who attend Aftercare
during the term. Enrolment forms are available from Annemarie Podmore.
Children attending Aftercare during the term will attend the Holiday Club
at no additional cost.
NEW ENROLMENTS 2016
We have opened for enrolments for 2016 and have limited space in the
various grades, so please apply timeously. Application forms are available
from Phindi at Reception.
Photo Day
20 and 21 May. Please ensure that your child is at school.
UPCOMING HOLIDAYS
27 April: Freedom Day
1 May: Worker’s Day
15 May: National Training Day- School Closed
25 May: Jewish Holidays- School closed
15 June: School Holiday
16 June: Youth Day.
EVENTS FOR THE TERM NOT TO BE
MISSED!
17 April: Grade 0 Sports Day
24 April: Grade 00 Sports Day
8 May: Mother’s Day Celebration
12 June: Father’s Day Celebration
23 April Mother’s Coffee Morning. Please support this worthy
cause.
Dear Moms
I would like to bring to your attention an issue which should be close to our
hearts.
4,5 million girls and women in our country do not have access to
sanitary pads. They use socks, towels, toilet paper, newspaper,
grass, twigs and leaves.
Because of this problem girls are missing school and losing out on their
education, thereby perpetuating the vicious cycle of poverty.
As part of our Nelson Mandela Day initiative the Pre-Primary School has
partnered with Dignity Dreams, an organization that provides re-useable
sanitary pads for girls.
Please join us in the Main School Hall where you will be addressed by a
spokesperson from Dignity Dreams.
Date: 23 April
Time: 8 am – 9 am
Venue: Main School Hall
Parking will be available on the Main School Field
RSVP: By 21 April 2015 to Phindi @ pnako@crawfordschools
co.za
I look forward to your support for this worthy cause.
The best way to teach a child is to lead an exemplary life.
Lailah Akita
Sulochnee Nair
Principal Pre-Primary