South Africa Pre School Structure

There are two major types of preschools in South Africa, the public pre-schools funded by the government and regulated provincially, and independent pre-schools run by communities or private bodies. Children can be enrolled in nursery schools, kindergarten schools, child care centres, crèche, and pre-school. Early childhood education can be obtained in pre-grade R (0-4 years), or sometimes grade R (5-6 years). Lessons here focus on areas including language, mathematics, life skills, technology, arts, and culture.

Pre-school education

• Ages                            : 0-4 years (pre-Grade R)
• Primary Languages     : English
• Terms                          : 4 terms
• Admission Term          : Beginning of the term- January
• School Types: crèche, nursery school, and kindergarten school, and more.

Why pre-school?

Pre-school education opens doors for children to explore a variety of areas. It is the beginning of a journey for lifelong learning. Pre-schooling offers the following advantages for children:

• learn how to care for themselves
• Opportunities to develop motor skills
• children explore and learn through action
• students develop a full cognitive, emotional, social, and physical potential
• children can play with a variety of educational objects
• They provide opportunities to explore the world
• Develop children’s motor, language, and thinking skills
• Helps children to develop independence
• children learn how to control their behavior around other students
• experimentation with pre-writing and pre-reading skills

Things to consider when enrolling children at a Pre-school

As a parent, when considering enrolling at a south African pre-school, you need to consider a few basics. The first and foremost step is to schedule a visit so you can personally see the pre-school and the facilities and get to engage with some of the teachers. This will enable the parent to find out if the school is a perfect fit for their child. Other recommendations include:

• Check the rules and regulations of the school
• Enquire about the curriculum to find out if the programs fit your child
• Check out the facilities, are they clean? Are they child-friendly? is there proper security?
• Check if the school has toys and other learning aids that will benefit your child.
• Observe as the teachers and children go through their lessons and see if they interact well with the children.

These are some of the things you can consider but the list is endless, depending on what exactly the parent is looking forward to.

Fees and extra costs.

Parents can expect to pay anything from R2000 to R10 000 in registration and fees. There are also several extra costs that they have to incur including mattress fees, hygiene, security, supplies, sports fees, tissues, uniforms, stationery, and in some cases, groceries.

Examples of International Pre-Schools in South Africa

Curious Minds- Curious Minds is an independent, high-quality educational facility that offers services to learners from Preschool to Grade R. it combines traditional south African teaching methods and Montessori teaching methods. The school calendar is divided into 4 terms, the first term starting in January to march, 2^nd term from April to June, the 3^rd term from July to October, and the 4^th term from mid-October to December.

• Address: 1016 Justice Mahomed (310 Charles Street) Brooklyn Pretoria
• Grades: Grades 000 to Grade R
• Opening Hours: 07h30 - 17h00

Extracurricular activities- There are plenty of extracurricular activities that students can choose from. These include Pottery Classes, Little Chefs Club, Dance Mouse, Ballet, Young Engineers, Maths, Kindergym, Swimming, English is Fun, Soccer, Chess, Tennis Minions, Hip Hop, and Drama.

The school equips learners to become strong, skillful, competent, healthy, well-balanced, and well-rounded. Students are also taught to be independent through classroom jobs including putting things away after using them, washing hands, and choosing materials and activities. Teachers go the extra mile to increase a child’s ability to communicate by developing active listening and expressive language skills.

The school also offers after aftercare facilities which start at 12.30 pm and parents are expected to have picked up their children by 5 pm. Parents can choose from A three-quarter day that ends at 3 pm or a full day at 5 pm.

Fees and other costs

The fee structure for 2021 is as follows: the fees below are inclusive of All meals including Breakfast, morning snack, lunch, and two-afternoon snacks. It also includes fees for Computers and Chess for Gr R, to mention but a few.

Other costs that may be incurred include a Non-refundable registration fee of R1500, R300 for Termly shows, Annual Stationery, Concert Fees, R300 Compulsory Staff bonus, R330 Compulsory Equipment levy, and an annual Compulsory grocery list to mention but a few.

Courtney Kids International Pre-School- this is an international pre-school for children between the ages of 3 and 5 that seeks to bridge the gap between home and formal school, in a stimulating environment. The Pre-School Programme creates a nurturing and stimulating environment and carefully balances academics and playing, allowing children to naturally develop in every aspect and promote lifelong learning.

Why chose Courtney Kids?

there are plenty of reasons why parents should choose to enroll their children at Courtney kids. The school has fully certified and trained teachers, offers a modernized, safe, and child-friendly campus, it offers smaller classes with intensive individual attention, it offers aftercare facilities in case you knock off late from work, children learn through play, it emphasizes on School Readiness Skills, and also n Pre-Reading and Writing Skills.

• Address: 100 Florence Ribeiro Avenue, Bailey's Muckleneuk, Pretoria, 0002
• Ages: 3-5 years
• Duration: 2 years
• Level: Tiny Tots, Grade 000 and Grade 00
• Language: English
• Other Languages: Afrikaans, French, and Spanish as Foreign Languages
• International students: 70%
• Admission Term: the beginning of 1^st term-January
• Terms: 4

Opening hours: 7.50am- 5pm (including aftercare)

An aftercare service is offered up to 5 pm each school day at no extra cost to parents. the tiny tots' program offered here is a three-day-per-week program and offers tuition 5 days a week as well. The tuition fees for various levels at the school are as follows: note that these fees exclude transport, excursions, extra-curricular activities.

• tiny tots 3-day program- R 3300 per month
• tiny tots 5-day program- R5200 per month and R62 400 per year
• pre-school grade 000 and 00- R5200 per month and R62 400 per year

Prospective students

All parents who wish to enroll their students in this school have to apply for admission with the required documentation. The parents or guardian will be required to submit and complete:

• Contract
• Medical Forms
• Subject Selection Form
• Foreign or second languages selection form

In addition, the copies of the following must be submitted:

• Parent’s or Guardian’s passport)
• Prospective student’s passport
• Residence permit
• Proof of residence.
• birth certificate

parkmore Nursery School- this is an independent Nursery school located in Sandton and catering for children from 2 o 5 years of age. The school provides a comprehensive education in a safe, secure and child-friendly, and caring environment. Each child here is treated as unique and offered personalized attention in line with their needs to enhance their emotional, physical, intellectual, and social development.

• location: Sandton, Johannesburg
• established: 1961
• students: 80+

membership: Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA), the Gauteng Educational Department, and the Department of Social Welfare.

The school, as a member of ISASA, offers a program that includes creativity, motor development, language, music, pre-reading, pre-mathematics, and life skills.

Extracurricular activities- there are a variety of activities offered at the school including ballet, soccercise, dance mouse, playball, pottery, and Karate.

Other events and activities that are held frequently include boogie ball, music, baker man, birthdays, educational shows, monthly fundraising, easter hunt, mini-adventure garden, and magic show, to mention but a few.

Prospective students and admission

the school only admits children between the ages of 2 and 5. Parents must fill and submit an application form. An application fee of R325 is payable with the application. Upon acceptance of the position, the parents will pay a deposit of R18 960 pf which R16 160 is to be credited into the child's account when they join the school, R2150 goes to the capital development Fund, and R650 is the enrolment fee and will not be refunded.

Tuition and fees

School fees can be paid in advance, termly, or annually and levied over 11 months. In case you intend to de-roll the students from the school, a full term notice is required. Some of the fees parents or guardian can look forward to paying are as follows, depending on whether they intend to pay the fees annually, monthly, or termly:

Monthly Option- R4 470 per month for 11 (eleven) months to be paid on the 1st day of each month

Termly Option- R15 690 per term to be paid on the 1st day of the school term

Annual Option- R45 280 per annum, payment by 31 January 2020