This year the children going to Grade 1 left us in style. Through the amazing handiwork of Ms Tjinjeka, one of our parents who did this free of charge, our graduates looked stunning in their green and yellow gowns and mortar boards. All of them left our centre with a portrait they can treasure.
During the second term of the school year primary schools in Windhoek enrol children for Grade 1. At Wake up! this year a formal Learning Readiness Assessment was done of 22 of our learners who will leave us for primary school, to see how ready they are. It is clear that the longer children have stayed with us in pre-primary, the better they are prepared for the next phase. Although we do take in children who only have one year left before going into Grade 1, to prepare them for an English medium school in one year is often not realistic.
On the 2nd of September we started the last school term of the year. The winter is over and all around spring is in the air: trees are in blossom and getting new leaves and our school garden is blooming. The first theme of this term will be about Plants & Trees.
During the school holiday with the help of Murray & Roberts we received some truck loads of sand to fill up the playground area that otherwise will be under water during the rainy season. Next step will be to dig a serious canal over the whole length of the erf to accommodate the storm water. This canal will be a feature on the playground, sponsored by Primary School The Starter in Groningen, The Netherlands.
After school closed for the holiday, the teachers went on a shopping spree to the Educare shop in Windhoek and bought new learning materials for both the toddlers and the pre-schoolers. During the coming term the children can enjoy some new materials to work with. Also some Montessori materials have been ordered from South-Africa. Unfortunately these are not yet available in Namibia.
