March News

March 2007
Emyezweni news
We are nearly at the end of our first term, Rachel has been very busy making
sure all our classes are full and that we have contacted children on the
waiting list to inform them of places. We now have many siblings and
children related to each other throughout the school which makes home �
school communication much easier and more interesting!
Walking around the school this week I have been really struck by how calm
and peaceful the children are, they are all busy and involved with
activities and learning but there is a real feeling of peace and fun. Staff
have been working very hard to plan and prepare lessons and learning
experiences and it is a joy to see the children learning and making such
good progress.

School Trip.
We are planning to take the Grade R class to the nature Reserve on 29th
March for a fun morning and picnic, the children are going to be allowed in
at no cost and due to the generosity of several friends our transport will
also cost us nothing. I will include pictures and a report after the event.

Volunteers.
We continue to enjoy working with our two English volunteers from CCK church
in Brighton. Becca and Heather have been in South Africa for two and a half
months now and they have been such help in Emyezweni, we are hoping to hang
onto them for a few more months, visas permitting.
We are also enjoying the help of a group of six students from a local
training programme; they are with us for three hours on Tuesday mornings and
are particularly involved with sport activities.

Training up date
Vathi and Norma are having a great time on their Level One Child Development
course, it is wonderful to have Xhosa translation and all fifteen students
are making good progress. Next term they will begin their first sessions of
practical work, each student will complete a set of child observations in an
Early Years learning context.

ECD plans.
Our Early Childhood Development support group is going well, we are sending
four more cr�che workers on the St John's First Aid Course next month due to
the involvement of Chantal and the Philippi Trust guys here in Somerset
West. Ntombekaya and I have been out and about visiting local cr�ches and
sharing out some donated resources. The biggest needs for our members appear
to be training and resources and we are hoping that as we develop as a group
these needs will be met more fully. As ever, funding is an issue so if
anyone out there wants to support us financially we would be very grateful.

Birthday and Achievement Assemblies.
Every Tuesday morning we have a whole school assembly to celebrate
children's birthdays and we are now extending this into a celebration of
achievement for the previous week. Each class will put forward one child to
receive a special Emyezweni certificate for achievement or excellent social
skills for the preceding week. We hope this will encourage celebration of
excellence and develop confidence in our children.

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