Dear Parents

Mandela Day may have fallen during our school holidays this year, but that didn’t stop us from finding our own special way to celebrate his legacy. This week, our school family came together in the spirit of generosity by collecting tinned food for the Grace Foundation. As a creative tribute, the donated tins were arranged in the shape of a Madiba shirt, a small but powerful nod to a man who wore his compassion as boldly as his colours.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed. Your kindness and enthusiasm truly made a difference.

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” – Nelson Mandela

Thank you to every parent and child who contributed, whether it was a single tin or a whole bag full. Every donation made a difference, and we are so proud of what we achieved together.

A total of 1,251 tins were collected across the school!
Here’s how each class contributed:

• Roo's House – 41 tins

• Kanga's House – 94 tins

• Pooh Bear's House – 110 tins

• Tigger's House – 59 tins

• Honey Bee's House – 195 tins

• Crackerjacks (combined) – 132 tins

• Rabbit's House – 59 tins

• Owl's House – 150 tins

• Piglet's House – 411 tins

A huge congratulations to Piglet’s House, who brought in a whopping 411 tins! They’ll be enjoying a special ice lolly treat next week to celebrate their wonderful effort.

Calling All Empty Boxes!

If you have any empty boxes lying around at home — or if you’re expecting a Takealot or OneDayOnly delivery soon — we’d love to put those boxes to good use!

Please send any clean, empty boxes to the office. We’re getting ready for some exciting box construction fun, and every size helps!

Thank you for your support and creativity!

General Information 

As we welcome many new families to our school, the information below serves as a helpful reminder for all.

Breakfast - At Home

Breakfast is crucial for young children as it provides the essential nutrients and energy needed to start their day. After a night of fasting, a nutritious breakfast helps replenish glucose levels, boosting concentration, memory, and overall cognitive function. It also supports physical growth and development, promotes a healthy metabolism, and helps establish good eating habits. By ensuring children have a balanced breakfast, we set the foundation for a productive day and a healthier future.

Snack and Lunchtime - Provided at School 

A healthy and well-balanced diet is provided each day, which includes a mid-morning snack, lunch, and afternoon snack. Please ensure that your little one has a wholesome breakfast before coming to school each morning, thus optimising their learning. Providing an additional snack is at the discretion of the parent. Please ensure containers are clearly marked and that the snack is nutritious and nut-free. 

Nut Allergies

We appeal to parents not to include items containing nuts or related products for cake sales or snacks, as any ingestion or contact with such products will trigger a severe allergic reaction if learners with allergies come into any form of contact with them.

Wet Wipes and Tissues

Please send a box of tissues and a packet of wet wipes to school with your child, at the beginning of each quarter.

Sunblock and Hats

Please apply sunblock on all exposed parts of your child’s body before they come to school in the morning. We will endeavour to re-apply sunblock throughout the morning using the bottles of sunblock provided by parents that will remain in the classroom. A clearly marked hat MUST REMAIN in their school bag, for daily use. The sun is extremely dangerous for young skin, so PLEASE help us to protect your children.

Immunisation Information

Please ensure that your child’s immunisations are up to date and provide a copy of your little one’s health card with their updated immunisations if you have not already done so.

Shoes

At this stage of your child’s development, they must wear shoes that fit correctly and allow for safe and free movement. Please ensure that your child wears shoes that allow for this development without compromising their safety (e.g. slip-slop beach shoes are dangerous, especially when running or climbing in the garden).

Lost Property

This a reminder to all parents to please make sure all your child’s clothing, lunch bags/boxes and water bottles are clearly labelled with their name and surname.

Safety and Gate Times

For the safety and comfort of all children, parents, and staff, we kindly ask that your dogs are not brought onto the school premises.

In our ongoing commitment to prioritising the safety and well-being of our little ones, the school gate access times are as follows:

• Morning drop-off: Gates open from 7:30 to 8:30.

• Half-day collection: Gates open from 12:45 to 14:00, as aftercare begins promptly at 14:00.

• Aftercare collection: Gates open from 16:00 to 17:00.
  Late Collection Reminder: Late collection can leave children feeling unsettled and also impacts our staff and their families. Please ensure that your child is picked up on time. A penalty fee will apply for late collection.

To help make the half-day collection time (12:45–14:00) more convenient, Grade 000 and 00 children will be waiting in the foyer for quick and easy collection. 

However, we have noticed that many parents collect their children after 14:00. Please be aware that from this time onwards, all children will transition into aftercare, and accounts will be billed the ad hoc aftercare fee for any additional care provided.

AFTERCARE LOCKERS

Each child attending aftercare from Grade 000 to Grade R has a designated, labelled locker space for their bags in the passageway closest to reception. This ensures the safekeeping of their belongings and makes it easier for parents during afternoon collection.

Car Stickers 

To prevent unauthorised members of the public from gaining access to the College during events and at peak drop-off and collection times, we continue to have tight security controls i.e. access control and car identification stickers.

Parents are required to have car identification stickers (1 sticker per family) and if one is required, please collect it from reception.

This sticker is for the primary parent who drops and collects.  1 sticker will be allocated to each family and in exceptional cases 2.  But no more than 2 will be permitted per family.  By displaying the sticker on your car you will gain easy access to the College premises.  Vehicles that do not have a sticker will have to be scanned.

‘At the Gate’ is an access solution the College will be implementing at the same time and involves the car licence disc as well as your driver's licence to be scanned.  This information is stored on a secure database off-site for future reference should the need arise.  Pedestrians will also be required to produce identification.

Parent and Learner Directory

Please read through the Parent and Learner Directory, which includes important information about Parklands College and the Pre-Primary learners. 

Pre-Primary Parent and Learner Directory 

Parent Information 

Health

2025 Dates 

Please note that there has been a slight change to the 2025 dates indicated in blue below:

Provisional dates for 2025

Summer Quarter: 20 January – 28 March
Autumn Quarter: 08 April- 25 June
*Mid-term break: 29 April – 2 May
Winter Quarter: 22 July – 23 Sept
Spring Quarter: 14 October – 05 December

Winter Quarter Information

Important Dates - Winter Quarter

28 July: Extra murals commence 

2 August: Happy Birthday Jo 

8 August: Happy Birthday Asange 

8 August:              Grade R Cake Sale

9 August: Public Holiday: National Women’s Day

12 August Music Tree: Grade 0000- Transport

13 August Music Tree: Grade 000 - Transport

Happy Birthday Shannon 

14 August Music Tree: Grade 00 - Ocean & Beach

15 August: Happy Birthday Mavis 

16 August: Happy Birthday Busi 

1 September: SPCA Dress-up Day @R20 donation in celebration of Spring Day

5 September: Grade 00 Cake Sale

9 September: Happy Birthday Kim 

12 September: Reports sent to parents 

13 September: Open Day

13 September: Happy Birthday Ntombi 

15 September: Happy birthday Zodwa 

15 - 22 September: Report Feedback Meetings Grade 0000 - R 

16 September: Special Person’s Day Grade 000 11:00-12:00 (Tea and Coffee for Adults in Foyer) 

17 September: Special Person’s Day Grade 00 11:00-12:00 (Tea and Coffee for Adults in Foyer)

18 September: Special Person’s Day Grade R 11:00-12:00 (Tea and Coffee for Adults in Foyer) 

19 September: Grade 000 and Crackerjacks Cake Sale 

      Special Person’s Day Crackerjacks 10:30 - 11:30 (Tea and Coffee for Adults in Foyer) 

22 September:  Happy Birthday Lungi 

23 September: Gilly Southwood: SA Heritage Day Storytelling and dress-up

23 September Last day of the quarter 

24 September:  Public Holiday: Heritage Day  

Winter Quarter Extra Mural Sign-Up Form 

Extra murals have now been finalised, the form has been locked for submissions and extra murals will start on Monday, 28 July. 

Extra Mural information

Cake Sales – A Monthly Treat!

Each grade has the opportunity to contribute to their grade cake sale, and there is much excitement as the children eagerly look forward to their little monthly treat. 

We request that items such as cupcakes, popcorn, crisps, muffins, etc. be sent to the class on their allocated cake sale date. We also recommend that your child spend no more than R2 at the cake sale to save some appetite for lunch! You are welcome to send the term’s money in advance (i.e. 3 x R2 coins, with a total of R24 for the year per child) or send in the R2 on cake sale days in a sealed envelope/packet. Please ensure that items donated for cake sales do not contain nuts and that no sweets are sent in. We love healthy goodies, especially popcorn! 

Winter Quarter

8 August: Grade R                                                                                             

5 September: Grade 00                                                                                

19 September: Grade 000 and Crackerjacks 

Parents who want to assist with their child's class/grade cake sale are welcome to notify their child’s teacher. Please arrive no earlier than 09h45 to help set up the items.

Music Tree 

We’re excited to welcome Music Tree back this August! This interactive puppet show combines songs, rhymes, stories, musical instruments, and imaginative play to create a fun and educational experience for our little ones.

Each grade group will enjoy a themed session:

• 12 August – Grade 0000: Transport

• 13 August – Grade 000: Transport

• 14 August – Grade 00: Ocean & Beach

The Music Tree show is always a highlight—packed with excitement, movement, and lots of opportunities for children to sing, engage, and explore sound through storytelling.

A fee of R65 will be billed to your account.

Winter Quarter Theme Discussions 

We are passionate about a creative, rich, authentic, and layered approach to learning for our little ones. Theme-related learning allows for the child to learn about their world and the world around them. Below is an overview of our Summer Quarter weekly theme discussions and learning focus, as well as an overview of the 2025 themes.

2025 Themes 

Please view below for details on our winter quarter theme discussions in each grade:

OUTREACH 

Conclusion

It’s been a real joy to welcome the children back and to see classrooms, playgrounds, and creative venues filled with curiosity, focus and excitement once more. A heartfelt thank you to our support and ground staff for their quiet dedication and all the behind-the-scenes work over the holidays; it never goes unnoticed.

Wishing all our families a restful and happy weekend!