Dear Parents

“Play is not just a break from learning; it is one of the most important ways children learn.”

This week, we joined schools around the world in celebrating International Day of Play, recognising the important role that play has in children's learning, development and wellbeing.

At Christopher Robin Pre-Primary, however, play is not reserved for a single day of the year—it is at the heart of everything we do. We believe that young children learn best when they are engaged, curious and actively involved in their learning. Through play, our little ones explore, investigate, question, create, collaborate and make sense of the world around them.

Every day, our classrooms are filled with opportunities for children to learn through hands-on play. Whether they are building, imagining, solving problems, negotiating with friends, experimenting or moving their bodies, they are developing the skills and understanding that form the foundation for future learning.

International Day of Play gave us an opportunity to celebrate something that is part of our daily practice. The growth, confidence and love of learning that we see in our little ones each day reminds us of the value of giving children the time, space and freedom to play.

Take a glimpse below into some of the wonderful experiences our little ones enjoyed this week!

Grade R Ballet Sign Up 

Please complete this form should you wish to sign your child up for ballet. Ballet is a wonderful opportunity for children to develop coordination, confidence, creativity, and a love for movement in a fun and supportive environment.

Grade R Ballet Sign Up Form 

School Closed 15 and 16 June

Monday, June 15, is an official special school holiday in South Africa. The Department of Basic Education added this day off specifically to bridge the weekend with Youth Day on Tuesday, June 16, creating a four-day long weekend.

Bee Keeper Show (Grade 00 and R) Thursday, 18 June 

The Travelling Bee Show is an interactive educational experience where children will learn all about bees. The show will teach learners about the life of a bee, how honey is made, and why bees are so important for our environment. It is designed to be fun, engaging, and informative for all ages.

An amount of R50 will be billed to your account.

Cake Sales – A Monthly Treat!

Each grade has the opportunity to contribute to a cake sale, and the children eagerly look forward to their special treat. We ask that cupcakes, popcorn, crisps, muffins, etc., be sent to the class on the allocated cake sale date. Please ensure all items are nut-free and do not include sweets.

To keep appetites in check, we recommend that children spend no more than R2 at the cake sale. You may send R2 on the day in a sealed envelope/packet or prepay for the quarter (R6 per term, R24 for the year).

🍰 Upcoming Cake Sale Date 🍰

📅 19 June – Cake Sale: Grade 000, Crackerjacks and Grade R (Owl’s) Cake Sale

We appreciate your support in making our Cake Sale a success! If you would like to contribute by sending in baked/bought goods or snacks, please complete this form.

Cake Sale Contributions

We have space for 8 parents to help sell treats on the day. If you would like to volunteer, please complete the form below.

Cake Sale Parent Volunteer Sign Up

Thank you for your support! 

Report Feedback Meetings

As the quarter draws to a close, we would like to take the opportunity to thank all the parents for their support throughout.

We invite parents to a report feedback meeting with your child’s class teacher. Click on the class links below to choose a preferred date and time.  We encourage every parent to take the time to book and diarise a feedback meeting. This is a very important meeting in terms of your child’s progress and finding out more about their days at school. It is also a wonderful opportunity to have the teacher’s undivided attention and focus on your child. It is a vital aspect of the home-school partnership, and it greatly assists each child’s development and progress when we work as a team.

Crackerjacks 

Tiny Tots

Tots 1 

Tots 2

Grade 000

Tiggers House

Piglets House

Grade 00

Honey Bees House

Pooh Bears House

Roos House 

Grade R

Christopher Robin House

Edward Bears House

Kangas House

Rabbits House 

Owls House

Reports will be published on Monday, 15 June and will be available to all parents ahead of the report feedback meetings.
You can conveniently access your child's report through the Ed-admin Multi-Portal App, where it can be viewed and downloaded. For your ease, a step-by-step guide is attached to assist you with the process.

Ed-admin Multi Portal App

Parents are encouraged to download the Ed-admin Multi Portal App. This platform will be used to send important notifications and updates, and it will also provide access to children’s reports when they are released.

A Peak Into Our Week 

Crackerjacks

Our Stomp Back in Time...

The children have been completely captivated by our dinosaur theme this week. We have been learning all about these magnificent prehistoric creatures, from the giant, gentle herbivores to the mighty T. rex.

Our creative tables were a hive of activity as the little ones enjoyed watercolour painting. They did a fantastic job mixing colours to paint some incredibly bright and beautiful dinosaur scenes. The concentration on their faces was a joy to see.

Grade 000

This week, the Piglets and Tiggers stepped into the exciting world of dinosaurs! Our little learners have thoroughly enjoyed exploring this fascinating theme through a variety of fun and engaging activities.

During our movement and music ring, the children stomped like dinosaurs, making both big and small movements as they imagined themselves as giant and tiny prehistoric creatures. There were lots of giggles and enthusiastic roars as they moved their bodies in different ways.

Our art activity this week was especially exciting. The children created spectacular dinosaur artwork using paint-soaked pom-poms, which they hammered onto paper to create colourful splatter effects. To complete their dinosaurs, they used Duplo blocks dipped in green paint to print patterns that looked just like large dinosaur scales.

This activity provided a wonderful opportunity for the children to develop their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination as they carefully aimed and hammered each pom-pom to make different marks. They discovered how hitting softly or hard created different effects, and the joy on their faces as they watched their artwork come to life was absolutely priceless!

We are looking forward to another week of dinosaur adventures ahead.

Grade 00

The Gr 00 had a fun-filled week learning about air transport! The children enjoyed exploring different types of aircraft through discussions, art activities, and imaginative play. We also spent plenty of time outdoors and had lots of fun with our box construction activity. It was a wonderful week of learning, creativity, and fun!

Grade R

What a magical week of wonder it has been as our Grade R learners dived headfirst into the world of life cycles! Curiosity has been buzzing across our classrooms as we explored how plants, frogs, and chickens grow, change, and transform.

Our little scientists became absolute experts on amphibians, learning all about their "double life" on land and in water. To track the journey from egg to tadpole, froglet, and adult frog, the children put their creativity and fine motor skills to work. We spotted plant cycles in books, celebrated tiny green shoots bursting from our classroom bean plants, and painted magnificent frogs on lily pads.

The hands-on fun was endless! We used painted bubble wrap for textured frogspawn, added googly eyes to card tadpoles, and practised folding paper arms and legs for 3D frog crafts. Some of our final froggy stages remain a top-secret design surprise for next week, while other classes thoroughly enjoyed sketching each stage out in detail. We even created a giant collaborative river scene, using our new drawing skills to add frogs and lily pads, before working as a team to build bridges so we could "visit" our friends on the other side!

Did you know? Frogs don't drink water—they absorb it through their skin! They also use their eyeballs to help push food down their throats when they swallow. 🐸

We also flew over to the farmyard to watch a chick develop inside an egg and hatch into a fluffy chicken. The children coloured, cut, and painted to build brilliant chicken life cycle wheels and crafted the most adorable hatching chicks.

Did you know? A mother hen turns her eggs about 50 times a day so the chicks don't stick to the shell. Even cooler, a baby chick can peep to its mother from inside the egg, and she clucks back! 

Alongside our life cycle adventures, we kept our brains extra sharp with fun 6 Bricks activities and patterning challenges, using Duplo blocks to copy and recreate structures to boost our spatial awareness and problem-solving skills.

From tiny seeds and textured frogspawn to bridge building, Duplo challenges, and hatching chicks, it has been a week filled with discovery, creativity, and immense joy!

CODING AND ROBOTICS: WORLD CUP CREATIVITY

In Coding and Robotics this week, the learners were inspired by the excitement of the World Cup, which started on 11 June. We began our lesson with a lively discussion about soccer and explored the different elements connected to the game, such as the field, stadium, trophy, goals, players and flags.

The learners then used their imagination and creativity to bring their ideas to life. They designed and built soccer fields, goals, stadiums and even a flag. It was wonderful to see how each learner interpreted the theme in their own unique way.

This activity encouraged problem-solving, planning, creativity and collaboration. The learners were fully engaged and thoroughly enjoyed creating their own World Cup-inspired builds.

What a lovely celebration of imagination and creation!

Grade R Parklands Playground: 24 July 

We invite all our Grade R parents to join us for a special morning of imagination, exploration and discovery as we journey through space together.

Our Parklands Playground Experience will take place from 08:00 to 10:00 and promises to be a memorable morning filled with hands-on, playful learning. Parents will have the opportunity to collaborate with their child as they explore a variety of exciting space-themed activities designed to spark curiosity, creativity and problem-solving.

To allow each child and parent to fully enjoy and engage in the experience, we kindly ask that one adult attends per child. This will help create a focused and meaningful opportunity for each parent and child to share in the activities together.

We look forward to welcoming our Grade R families for a wonderful morning of connection, discovery and space-inspired fun.

2026 Information 

2026 Dates

Summer Quarter: 20 Jan - 26 March 

Autumn Quarter: 8 April - 24 June 

Winter Quarter: 22 July - 23 Sept 

Spring Quarter: 14 Oct - 4 Dec 

2027 Dates

Provisional 2027 Quarter Dates

Summer - 19 Jan - 18 March

Autumn - 7 April - 23 June

Winter - 21 July - 22 Sept

Spring - 6 Oct - 3 Dec

Autumn Quarter Important Dates

AUTUMN QUARTER:

15 June: Reports sent to parents 

15 June: School Holiday

16 June: Public Holiday: Youth Day 

17-23 June: Report Feedback Meetings Grade 0000 - R

18 June: Bee Keeper Show (Grade 00 - R)

19 June: Cake Sale: Grade 000, Crackerjacks and Grade R (Owls) Cake Sale 

21 June: Father’s Day

22 June: Cultural Assembly (Grade R ballerinas to attend)

24 June: Winter Olympics and R20 ‘entry’ 

24 June: Last day of the quarter  

29 June: Happy Birthday Litho Voxeka

Congratulations

Congratulations to Liyo on this outstanding achievement. Being awarded the Champion Trophy and Certificate at the A+ Student Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Western Cape Regional Championship is a wonderful accomplishment and a testament to his dedication, perseverance and enthusiasm for learning. We are incredibly proud of Liyo and celebrate this well-deserved success with him. Well done, Liyo!

Congratulations

We have some extra-special news from the Tiny Tots class this week. A big congratulations to Jamie, who has achieved his swimming certificate!

This is a wonderful accomplishment, and we are very proud of him. Learning to swim takes courage and practice, and Jamie has worked hard to reach this milestone. Well done, Jamie – what an exciting achievement! 🏊‍♂️⭐

The Chaos To Calm Workshop

Conclusion

As we close this week’s blog, we do so with grateful hearts and a gentle reminder of what truly matters. In the rhythm of school life, with its busy mornings, full classrooms, joyful moments and many responsibilities, it is easy to believe that there will always be more time.

This week has reminded us to pause, to be present, and to hold our loved ones a little closer. May we continue to make space for kindness, connection and the small moments that become lasting memories.

Life is beautiful.
Life is messy.
Life is exciting, heartbreaking, joyful, exhausting, surprising, and sometimes unbelievably unfair.

We spend so much of our lives believing there will always be more time.

More time for that visit.
More time for that coffee.
More time for that phone call.
More time to say, “I love you.”
More time to make the effort.

Sometimes, the hourglass runs out without warning.

The people we love do not stay forever.
Sometimes they live down the road, and we hardly see them because life is just too busy.
Sometimes they live far away, and we keep saying, “I’ll come visit soon.”
Sometimes we know goodbye may come, but we never truly feel ready for it.

So make the phone call.
Visit your friends.
Hug your loved ones a little longer.
Say goodbye with love.
Take the photo.
Have the conversation.
Make the memory.

Because one day, memories are what we hold onto.

And when the tears come, let them.
Tears are not a sign of weakness.
They are proof that someone mattered.
Proof that you loved.

And in the end, a life filled with love, even when it hurts, is still a life beautifully lived.
- Susan Lückhoff