Welcome to New Hope School

Pre-primary Phase

“Childhood is not a race to see how quickly a child can read, write and count. Childhood is a small window of time to learn and develop at the pace which is right for each individual child. “

Magda Gerber

In the Pre-Primary Phase we focus on each child’s individual needs to ensure that they develop optimally at their own pace. We believe that children learn and develop best through play. Therefore, we have well-adapted play areas for free play as well as structured play.
Pre-Primary School forms the building blocks and stepping stones that will impact a child’s academic performance for the rest of their school career.

“Before we ever put a pencil in a child’s hands, those hands should dig, climb, press, push, pull, squish, twist, and pinch in a wide array of environments and with a variety of materials. “

Amanda Morgan

Our Pre-Primary Phase accommodates English and Afrikaans learners, ages 3 – 8 years, with special educational needs.

 

Learners are placed in one of the following classes:

  1. Junior Group
  2. Gr. RRR
  3. Gr. RR
  4. Gr. R

Staff Members

Helping children develop is a team effort and not everyone is able to work with children with special needs. We, therefore, consider it of utmost importance that all the staff members working with our learners are trained, and take part in continued professional development. To best support our learner’s needs, our staff members are trained in the following, to name but a few:

  1.  AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication)
  2.  CAPS (Curriculum and Assessment Policy)
  3.  Positioning
  4.  Feeding
  5.  Toileting
  6.  Participation in National accepted organisations such as AECYC

Our Pre-Primary team consists of 17 staff members and includes:

  1.  Five specialized teachers
  2.  Trained class assistants
  3.  Class- and private facilitators

Early intervention is of the utmost importance to ensure our learners develop to their full potential. We work closely together with our multi-disciplinary team, which includes: speech therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. The school also has a psychology department as well as a social worker to support learners and families when needed.

 

Curriculum based activities

Our daily programs and educational themes provide ample opportunities for learning and having fun while learning.

We focus on language, mathematics and life orientation.

 

Outside play

Outside play is just an extension of the classroom, where we learn through play.

Our play areas are adapted for our learners in wheelchairs to participate in all activities.

 

Other activities

We are proud that all our children in the Pre-Primary phase, with their parents’ consent, get the opportunity to participate in:

  1. Therapeutic horse riding
  2. Pottery classes
  3. Dance Mouse classes

 

“of the best investments we can make in a child’s life is high-quality early education.”

Barack Obama

 

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