1. education
2. school

INFORMATION BOOKLET
Creative Academy
Tel: 083 727 3776
Email Address: [email protected]
Website: www.creativeacademy.co.za
We, the staff of Creative Academy, would like to
welcome your child to our school and are looking
forward to an exciting and happy year ahead.
Your child is the most important part of our school and
we want to emphasize the partnership between the
parent and teacher in the education of your child. We
have an open door policy and teachers and the Principal
are available to discuss any problems, concerns or
suggestions that you may have.
A helpful hint to new parents is that it is better not to
prolong your farewell to your child in the morning. It
makes it easier for the staff to distract your child and
involve him/her in the daily programme if you leave
promptly. Always say goodbye and tell your child that
you will be back to fetch him/her later. If you are
worried, please feel free to phone us as many times as
your need to find out if you child has settled or stay for a
cup of tea in reception and one of our staff members will
check on your child to give you peace of mind before you
leave.
School will open for 2015 on 2 February.
OFFICE HOURS
Reception is open daily from 07h00 – 17h00.
Staff will readily assist parents and children and answer
queries regarding the school. We would appreciate
communication (telephone calls and visits) with the
teachers to be done during tea breaks 10:00 – 10:30 as
we cannot guarantee availability of staff in the
afternoons.
School Hours
06h30 – 17h45 Full day
Breakfast is between 08h00 – 08h30: We recommend
that your child must be at school by 08h15 during the
school term. Our first ring starts at 08h45 and it is
disruptive for the children in the class if your child arrives
late. An adult must accompany each child to his/her
classroom as we cannot assume responsibility for a child
dropped off in the car park. Teachers have requested
that parents do not interrupt classes until 12h30. Kindly
wait until the class has completed their story time before
entering the room to collect your child.
Home Time: If your child is going home with anyone else
other than his/her usual lift scheme, parents must
inform the teacher and reception. If there is no
notification of the alternate transport arrangement, your
child will not be allowed to leave our premises until we
have contacted either one of the parents. We cannot be
held responsible for children who are dropped off before
06h30 or left after 17h45.
SECURITY LIST
Please sign your child in in the mornings and out before
leaving the school in the afternoons. If you collect your
child after 14h00 (half day) or 17h45 (full day), you will
be eligible for a fine which is payable immediately in
CASH to the teacher on duty. The fee is currently R80 per
15 minutes or part thereof.
ILL CHILDREN
If your child is ill, please contact us. Do not send your
child to school if he/she has a temperature or had a
temperature through the night, conjunctivitis, diarrhea,
vomiting, severe cough, an infected runny nose, lice, ring
worm or any contagious illness. Children who are on
antibiotics are to be kept off school for 48 hours from
the first dose. Should we call you to collect your child
due to illness, please do so promptly. Note that your
child will be removed from the class and kept in the sick
room until your arrival.
MEDICINES
Should your child be on any medication or multi vitamins
(highly recommended), this must be handed in at the
office and the medicine register filled in. PLEASE NEVER
LEAVE MEDICATION IN YOUR CHILD’S BAG. Note that it
is the responsibility of the parent/ care giver to collect
the medication when fetching your child.
06h30 – 14:00 Half day
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Creative Academy
YEAR CALENDAR
2015
T
E
R
M
1
SCHOOL PERIOD
14 January 2015 –
20 March 2015
Holiday ProgrammeTerm 1
23 March 2015 –
10 April 2015
2
13 April 2015 –
26 June 2015
SCHOOL & PUBLIC
HOLIDAYS – SCHOOL IS
CLOSED
Thursday 01 January –
New Year’s Day
Friday 27 March Term 1 ends
Friday 03 April - Good Friday
Monday 05 April Family Day
Monday 27 April –
Freedom Day
Friday 01 May –
Worker’s Day
Monday 15 June –SCHOOL
HOLIDAY
Tuesday 16 June - Youth Day
Holiday ProgrammeTerm 2
29 June 2015 –
17 July 2015
3
4
20 July 2015 –
02 October 2015
Holiday ProgrammeTerm 3
05 October 2015 –
09 October 2015
12 October 2015 –
04 December 2015
Holiday ProgrammeTerm 4
07 December 2015 –
11 December 2015
Sunday 09 August –
National Women’s Day
Monday 10 August –
SCHOOL CLOSED
Thurs - 24 Sep-Heritage Day
05 October –
National Teachers’ Day
PAYMENT OF SCHOOL FEES
Please note: Only the following methods of payment are
acceptable:Annual: Amount to be paid by the 15th of January (10%
discount for the year).
Termly: Amount to be paid at commencement of each
term (5% discount for the term if fees are paid in the first
week of the term).
Monthly: Payable strictly in advance by the 5th day of
each month.
Fees are payable over 12 months of the year (January to
December inclusive).
Banking Details:
Creative Academy
Standard Bank – The Glen
Branch Code: 00 60 05
Account No: 200 044 125
Irrespective of the reason for a period of absence from
the school, i.e. sickness, holidays, etc. Fees will be
payable in full and no exception will be made.
NOTICE PERIOD & LEVIES
One calendar month’s written notice is required before a
child will be withdrawn from the school from January –
October. NO notice may be given from October December. Fees will still be payable if a child is removed
from the school during this period.
Any child with an outstanding account of one and a half
months or more will be suspended from attending
school until the account is settled in full. NO exceptions
will be made.
Ad -Hoc Fees: Due at the beginning of each term
(January, April, July, October) for ages 2 years – Gr R.
Entertainment and outings: R120.00 per term
Stationery: R200.00 per term
TOILETRIES
At the beginning of each term i.e. January, April, July and
October we require the following list of toiletries PER
CHILD:
SCHOOL CLOSES at 12:00 on
11 December 2015

2x Packets of wet wipes

3 x Boxes of tissues

3x Kitchen rolls
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THEMES
Each class works according to a weekly theme. Parents
are able to follow these themes by referring to the class
notice board. Please extend our lessons by helping your
child find items of interest, relating to the theme, for the
interest table displayed in the classroom.
CLASSROOM LOCKERS
Lockers are provided to store schoolbags. Please
encourage your child to collect and carry his/her own
bag which will teach them to become responsible for
their belongings.
TOYS AND SWEETS
Please help us by not allowing your child to bring toys,
jewellery or sweets to school. Toys get lost or broken
and sweets cause disputes between the children.
Your child may bring their own toys and books to school
if specifically requested in writing by the class teacher.
Any toys that are sent in will be confiscated and returned
at the end of the term.
BIRTHDAYS
We celebrate this important milestone in each child’s life
with a special ring to which parents are invited. Please
book a date with your child’s teacher in order to prevent
double-dating. We ask parents to provide a birthday cake
(one that can be easily divided amongst 25 children)or
cupcakes and candles for the occasion . Please note that
if party packs are sent in together with the cake, the
party packs will go home at the end of the day and only
the cake will be eaten. We are a “nut free” school so
please do not use nuts when baking or ordering cakes.
CLOTHING
Please dress your children in play clothes. The children
are encouraged to participate in all activities and should
not have to concern themselves with keeping clean.
Please ensure that your child brings a bag each day with
the following:2 changes of clothes
2 pairs of underpants/panties
Our weather is very unpredictable, so please pack a
jersey or tracksuit top. Please label all items of clothing.
Clothing that is labeled can be returned to the owner.
Any unlabeled clothing will go into the lost property box
at the office and given to charity at the end of each term
if not claimed. Should your child go home with an item
of clothing that does not belong to him/her, PLEASE be
so kind as to return it the very next day.
Sun Hats: NB: It is compulsory for your child to wear a
hat while playing outdoors. We provide sun block and
will put it on your child daily. Should your child suffer
from skin allergies, please provide your own sun block.
MEALS
All snacks and meals are provided by us. Our food is
prepared by a full-time cook. Our menu is planned to
ensure that the children receive a nutritionally balanced
diet. Meals are monitored by class teachers.
Meals consist of: Breakfast (08h00 – 08h30) :Cooked porridge
 Mid -morning snack (10h00): Seasonal fruit
 Cooked lunch (11h30 juniors, 12h00 seniors):
Protein, vegetables and carbohydrate
 Mid-afternoon snack (15h15): Sandwiches/ muffins
OUTINGS
Many specialized educational outings are arranged
during the course of the year to various destinations.
Parents will be notified well in advance and we request
that you complete a consent form for each occasion,
thereby giving your permission for your child to be
included in these outings. We transport our children to
the venue in a bus accompanied by their class teacher
and assistant as well as the school Principal or Deputy.
We ask that children wear their school T-shirt and bring
along a “disposable” snack box and juice in a clearly
labeled packet. Our trips are generally finished by 11h30
and the children are back at school by 12h00 for lunch.
An SMS will be sent to parents on arrival at the venue as
well as when the bus has returned safely at school.
EXTRA-MURAL ACTIVITIES
Our pupils are offered a choice of extra-mural activities.
Children should not be pressured to participate in
activities until they, as individuals, feel able to cope with
the demands of particular activities. Payments are made
directly to the providers and activities take place during
the outside play time to avoid the children missing out
on their school work. At the beginning of each year, the
children will all get to participate in a demo lesson of
each extra mural and pamphlets with the details of the
activity will be sent home. Registrations for extramural
activities can be done at any time during the year.
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NEWSLETTERS
These will be handed out to parents every month.
Communication between home and school is essential so
please ensure you read the letter and respond promptly,
should a response be required. All entries on the
newsletter will also be added and available on our
communicator.
www.school-communicator.com/downloads
Please ensure that you download this programme as
there is ALWAYS important information that is uploaded
daily. Parents will miss out on a lot of information should
they not have it downloaded.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS, MOBILE PHONE NUMBERS &
EMAIL ADDRESSES
Kindly notify our office of any change of address or
telephone numbers, residential, business and mobile.
We do, on occasion, need to contact parents at short
notice and would appreciate up-to-date contact
numbers.
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
BAKING
Each class bakes every Wednesday. One week it will be
sweet baking and one week it will be healthy baking.
The sweet baking will be sent home at the end of the day
and the healthy baking the children will eat for their midmorning snack (to avoid the food from spoiling). Please
take care to take your own child’s baking home.
BAKERMAN
Bakerman is held each Friday and is one of our fundraising activities. Each child will be given a turn to be the
Bakerman and parents will be asked to provide eats for
the class that their child will then “sell” to the class. You
may decide what you would like to make e.g. fairy cakes,
popcorn, fudge, etc. (it is fun if your child helps you
prepare the eats). At snack time a little shop will be set
up in the classroom to “sell” the bakerman’s goods to all
the children.
The children each bring R5.00 (seniors) R3.00 (juniors)
which they give to the teacher in the morning, for safe
keeping. The money is handed back so the child can buy
his goodies at the shop. The money raised from
Bakerman is used to buy educational equipment and
games for our classes. NB: Remember – we are a “nut
free” school.
Each child receives a Bakerman certificate with a photo
of them dressed in their chef outfit. 
WASTE MATERIALS
Please think of us before you throw anything away. We
will gladly receive the following items:Dried egg shells
Margarine tubs
Yoghurt cups
Material scraps
Cotton Reels
Wool scraps
Buttons
Corks
Used computer paper
Ice cream sticks
Magazines
Polystyrene trays
Newspaper
Purity bottles
Match boxes
Wood chips/sawdust
Shoe boxes
Wood shavings/off cuts
Cigarette boxes
X-ray plates
Inside of toilet rolls
Egg boxes
Inside of roller towels
Corrugated cardboard
Used gift wrap
Strawberry punnets
Apple trays/boxes
Shredded paper
Mesh vegetable bags
Paper plates
Birthday cards
Polystyrene packingchips
Please take all anti-waste to your child’s class teacher
and remember that your “rubbish” could be our future
creation.
PARENT/ TEACHER MEETINGS
We hold various parent/teacher meetings during the
year, which you will be notified of in the newsletter and
on the school communicator. You will receive your
child’s written progress report at the end of the first
term, at the end of March, a mid -year report at the end
of July and the final report at the end of December. If
we feel that there are certain aspects of your child’s
development that may require special attention, the
teacher will arrange a meeting with you, and if
necessary, refer your child for further assessment to our
on-site therapists. Should you like to meet with the
teacher at any stage during the year, you may arrange
this directly with her. We have a parent orientation
evening in the last week of February to clear up any
confusion any parents might have and then we have
parent/teacher interviews in March and then a parent
evening in July.
FANTASY PLAY
We would love to build up a good selection of dressing–
up clothes for our fantasy corners. Old hats, high heeled
shoes, bags, shawls, costume jewellery, etc will be gladly
received.
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VISION AND HEARING TESTS
These tests will be conducted during the first or second
term, at a date to be advised. The result will be conveyed
to you and should a problem be found, you are
encouraged to follow the specialists’ recommendations.
SCHOOL READINESS TESTING
Every year our Gr 00 and Gr R classes under-go a midyear comprehensive school readiness test. This test helps
the teachers to determine where the children are in their
learning journey and gives them time to work on any
weak areas. The results of these tests are discussed with
the parents and recorded in the child’s mid-year
progress report.
IN CONCLUSION
We are delighted that your child will attend our school.
We would like to assure you that we shall endeavor to
provide your child with the best possible education in a
happy, caring and loving environment.
“Partnership in Education”
I dreamed I stood in a studio and
watched two sculptors there;
the clay they used was a young child’s mind,
and they fashioned it with care.
One was a teacher, the tools he used were books
and music and art;
one a parent with a guiding hand
and a gentle, loving heart.
Day after day the teacher toiled,
with a touch that was deft and sure;
while the parent laboured by his side,
and smoothed and polished it o’er.
And when at last their task was done,
they were proud of what they had wrought,
for the things they had moulded into the
child could neither be sold nor bought.
And each agreed he would have failed,
if he had worked alone, for behind
the parent stood the school,
and behind the teacher the home.
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