Mid-year Newsletter

What are we celebrating?

Funimfundo Sports Coach

Every Friday morning we are visited by a sports coach (her name is Coach Shereen). Her time is generously provided to us by Grootbos Foundation. This addition to our weekly schedule is great for the children as it supports their physical development and increases their understanding of the outside world.

Increased Web Presence

We are now on the Xplorio website and we even have a blog entry. Go to xplorio.com and search for educational services in Stanford.

Parent Workshops

Our occupational therapist is now running regular parent workshops. See Creative Works on next page for more information.

Upgrading the School Playground

We have new swings, new ropes, and a renovated jungle gym. And everything has been jolled up and repainted. We also resoiled, repaired and replanted the veggie boxes.

Clean Audit!

And yes! We can even celebrate another clean audit.

The highlight of the year:

Our New Kitchen

We have a new kitchen! A great fresh look with new wooden worktops, cupboards, doors and equipment, not to mention the vibrant paintwork. Lucia (our cook) is chuffed and we are all hugely proud. Special thanks to Roland for putting in the hours to transform our cooking space.

How can you help?

TIME and ENERGY:

• We always welcome your support. If you think you would like to contribute in some way, please just call us and say 'hi'. And if you are short of ideas, then just donate some of the everyday items we use at the school. Every little thing helps.

We ALWAYS need:

• Books, children's paint, art materials, paper, stationery, crayons and toys. We never say NO to fresh vegetables and food, cleaning products, toilet paper and soap. Or compost and help with our veggie garden.

A SPECIAL request:

• We have been donated a NEW large plasma TV and DVD player. But we need (age appropriate DVDs) we can use to help our children learn even more.

Creative Works

Provides occupational therapy services for the school, including classroom interventions, creative sessions for the Grade R class and individual sessions.

Since January 2018, we have run a number of parent workshops covering themes such as:

• Using everyday material to stimulate children's' learning at home.
• Using scissors and cutting activities to develop skills at home.
• Playing dough activities to enhance fine motor skills.
• Using games to enhance perception and puzzle making from magazines.
• Our latest session talked about drawing and painting activities.

At the end of every session, we provide the parents with material to take home and practice with their children.

What's Coming

Madiba Day on Wednesday 18th July!
At 10.00am, we are taking the children to walk for 67 minutes in Crystal Kloof. A great day out for all. Come and walk with us. Contact us for more information.

SHARP Digital
Our children's future is digital. One of our committee members now runs regular digital literacy classes with the teachers to help them gain the skills they need to bring digital technology into the classroom. We are also collaborating with a new local organisation (SHARP Digital) to run digital literacy training for adults in the community. We will keep you posted.

Parent Workshops
Creative works will continue to help us build relationships between the school and the community by holding more regular workshops with the parents.

Why is this school amazing?

Funimfundo (which means seeking knowledge) is a community pre-school established in 2004. We are part of the Die Kop informal settlement just outside Stanford in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Funimfundo provides quality pre-school education for around 50 children from the age of three to Grade R. We teach the children in their home language, IsiXhosa, and all learning is aimed at supporting the physical and social development of the child. Our aim is to give them the best start for the rest of their journey into life.

The community plays an important role in the life of the school. Parents and community leaders are the main decision-makers and the school works with families and parents to link what happens at home and at school together. Our community is extremely proud of our school.

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