Pre-Primary Weekly Memo
13 November 2026

Dear Parents,

It’s been a busy and cheerful week in Pre-Primary! Swimming in the pool was a highlight, and the children enjoyed splashing about and growing more confident in the water.

Concert practice is in full swing, and there’s been plenty of music and dancing throughout Pre-Primary. Our little ballerinas have been busy practising their steps, while each class is learning its own dance moves and listening for the cues in the music. It’s lovely to see the children grow more confident with each rehearsal. The excitement is building, and we can’t wait for you to see them on stage!

Lakshmi recently took part in a chess competition at Table View Chess Club, where she achieved a wonderful result by winning the competition.  Congratulations to Lakshmi on this fantastic achievement! We are so proud of you! 

Congratulations to Harvey on earning his fourth stripe at Gracie Jiu Jitsu! We are so proud of you, Harvey!

A big congratulations to Quinn on achieving his grey belt in Jiu Jitsu. What a fantastic milestone. 

Graduation Photographs 

For our Grade R families, individual graduation photographs were handed out in a special keepsake folder with the graduation certificate last week. A graduation group photograph and additional individual photographs are also available for ordering at R60 each.

Please email Liezl Stander at lstander@parklands.co.za to place your order by Monday, 16 November. 

The graduation photos will also be billed to your account. 

Class Lists For 2027 (Grade 0000 - R 2026) 

As we look ahead to a brand-new year, our class placement process is already underway. Our primary goal is to create a balanced environment where each little one can thrive. To do this, we carefully consider every child’s class placement with thought and intention.

Our team of teachers and management thoughtfully review each child’s emotional, social, and academic needs, as well as the social dynamics within the group, to ensure that every learner is placed in the best possible setting for the year ahead. This is a mammoth task, involving many hours of collaboration and careful discussion.

While we understand that some parents may have preferences, we ask that you trust in our teachers’ expertise and our commitment to placing each child where they will feel supported, confident, and happy. Every decision is made with great care to ensure the best fit for your child’s continued growth and development.

📋 Class lists will be displayed in the Pre-Primary reception on Monday, 30 November 2026. 

THE BRAVE LITTLE LION – CONCERT TICKETS (GRADE 000, 00 AND R)

There is much excitement at school as our little performers prepare for The Brave Little Lion, our end-of-year concert!

Both performances will take place in the Junior Preparatory Amphitheatre:

Wednesday, 25 November | 15h30

Thursday, 26 November | 15h30

Tickets cost R60 each and will be debited to your school account. Due to limited seating, each family may book a maximum of three tickets across both performances combined, not three per day.

Please complete the booking form below to reserve your tickets. Seating is unreserved. Once booked, physical tickets may be collected from the Pre-Primary reception and must be presented at the entrance on the day of the performance.

The Brave Little Lion Concert Tickets Order Form 

THE BRAVE LITTLE LION – CONCERT DAY ARRANGEMENTS

All Grade 000 to Grade R children will participate in both performances and will remain at school for the full day on Wednesday, 25 and Thursday, 26 November.

To help our little ones prepare for their busy afternoons, we will have a quiet rest period during the day. Please send a sleeping bag and pillow, along with a favourite soft toy or special blanket if your child would like one. A light snack will be provided to keep little tummies happy until it is time to go home.

Class teachers will dress the children in their concert costumes and help them change back into their own clothes afterwards. Each performance will last approximately 45 minutes, and all children should be ready to go home before 17h00.

Access to the amphitheatre will be via the passage between the Grade R classes only, once preparations have been completed. There will be no access from the front of Christopher Robin Pre-Primary or through Parklands College's main reception.

Crackerjacks will continue with their normal school day and usual collection arrangements.

In the event of inclement weather, Monday, 30 November, has been reserved as a provisional alternative concert date. Parents will be informed should any changes be necessary.

 Our little Crackerjacks absolutely loved chatting about our beautiful country, South Africa! We revisited what it means to be proudly South African and spoke about how lucky we are to call Cape Town our home. 

We also enjoyed the magic of books and fantasy. One of our Tots surprisingly dressed as their favourite storybook character! and brought along their favourite books to share. 

There was plenty of outdoor fun, too! The children enjoyed water play and spending time outside in our home corner. Water play is not only great fun but also encourages sensory exploration, develops fine motor skills and allows little ones to learn through discovery. 💦🌿

What a fun-filled week of learning, laughter, creativity and special little moments! 

What an exciting week of exploring our wonderful world!

Our Tiggers and Piglets have been discovering just how big and wonderfully diverse our world is. Building on what we learnt during our Space theme, when we discovered our planet, Earth, we explored how it is made up of both land and sea, and learnt about the seven continents. The children particularly enjoyed learning a new song to help them remember the names of all seven!

Our travels around the world continued as we practised greetings in different languages and looked at the colourful flags of countries near and far. It was lovely to see the children's interest as they discovered the many different ways people greet one another around the world.

Africa was the inspiration for our art activity, with the children creating beautiful rainbow collages of the African continent. By placing different colours of paper behind a continent cut-out, each child created their own colourful artwork. They really are something special!

There was also a little excitement closer to home! The Tiggers and Piglets enjoyed a walk and some playtime on the BIG field, where they will get to play when they move up to Grade 00 next year. It was lovely to see them exploring their future playground and beginning to get a feel for this next little step in their school journey.

A week filled with curiosity, new discoveries and plenty of colourful learning!

Our Gr00s have been enjoying an exciting journey around the world! We have been learning about different countries, discovering what makes each one special and exploring the many interesting things they have to offer. From delicious traditional foods and famous landmarks to different languages and cultures, the children have loved discovering how people live in different parts of the world.

We have explored some of the world's most famous buildings and landmarks, learnt about the foods each country is known for, and even discovered the different languages people speak. We have also been chatting about the different ways we can travel around the world, from aeroplanes and trains to boats!

It has been wonderful seeing the children's curiosity grow as they ask questions, share their ideas and discover just how big and exciting our world is. There is so much to explore, and our little travellers have been loving every minute of it! 

It has been an exciting week in Grade R as we explored our Wild Animals theme! A highlight was returning to the pool for our first swimming lessons of the quarter, with plenty of splashing, giggles and brave little swimmers.

In the classrooms, our creative learners brought the wild to life through colourful animal artwork, African sunset paintings and collaborative giraffe and tiger creations. We also enjoyed hands-on Maths and Literacy activities, matching numbers, practising writing and even using a giant giraffe as a height chart!

What a wonderful week of creativity, teamwork, learning and confidence-building both in and out of the pool!

Our busy little Kanga’s had the absolute best time during today’s Six Bricks teamwork challenge! Working together in small teams, each group chose a brave "communicator" to hop outside the classroom, peek at a secret build, and hurry back to describe it using only their words—without touching a single block! It was such a joy watching our Kanga’s giggle, listen closely, and work together to crack the code and recreate the build. The room was buzzing with excitement, proud smiles, and wonderful teamwork from start to finish!

We also worked together on a very special whole-class project – our giant giraffe! We coloured it, printed its spots using toilet rolls and carefully pasted hair all along its loooong neck. Everyone had a part to play!

We then added some maths fun by measuring each Kanga and creating our very own class height graph. It was wonderful to see everyone working together, comparing heights and discovering who was the tallest!

Our office is never short of a little entertainment, and this week certainly gave us two reasons to smile!

One morning, a little girl walked into the office, stopped in her tracks and announced, quite matter-of-factly: “Principal Riëtte, I saw you in my mommy's phone last night!” We couldn't help but wonder what she had spotted!

And then there was Liezl's little encounter. A boy arrived at the office with a message from his teacher and, looking rather puzzled, asked Liezl where Liezl was. When she explained that she was, in fact, Liezl, he wasn't quite convinced. “But Liezl has pom-poms in her hair! Where is she?” It seems Liezl's new hairstyle has caused a little confusion!

16 November: Happy Birthday Tali Maltz

21 November: Happy Birthday Brenda Dingile 

25 November: Grade 000 - R Concert 15:30 - 16:30 JP Amphitheatre

26 November: Grade 000 - R Concert 15:30 - 16:30 JP Amphitheatre

26 November: Jurassic Adventures Grade R

27 November: Jurassic Adventures Grade 00

25 November: Grade 000 - R Concert 15:30 - 16:30 JP Amphitheatre

30 November: Provisional (inclement weather) Grade R Concert - 15:00 - 16:00 JP Amphitheatre

30 November: Class lists released 

2 December: Bop Boppers - All grades (End of the year show)

3 December: Disney Dress-up and Class Parties

   Reports sent to parents 

4 December: Last day of the quarter - School closes at 11:00 

2027 Grade R Information (Current Honey Bees, Pooh Bears and Roos House) 

The Grade R stationery kit for 2027 as detailed below is payable via Credit Card, Direct Deposit or EFT to Waltons, before Friday, 11 December 2026.  The kit will be used daily to promote handwriting, literacy and numeracy in an informal and fun manner within the classroom. The paid stationery will be delivered to the school and issued to your child’s class teacher before the Summer Quarter 2027. 

Grade R Waltons letter 

Dear Parents

The Junior Preparatory Faculty cannot wait to welcome your little one to Grade 1 in 2027. I look forward to getting to know them and will visit their class near the end of the year to read a story and introduce myself.

Although the children will have a little "pop in" during the school day to meet their teacher on Monday 30 November 2026, there will also be a special Orientation for them to spend some time with their teachers on Friday, 15 January 2027 from 8:00 - 9:00. During this time we invite parents to join us for a Parent Meeting which will outline important information about the daily activities and requirements in Grade One.

The Grade One school day begins promptly at 08:00 (school opens at 07:30 for drop-off) and ends at 14:00. However, to support our Grade Ones in adjusting to the change in routine, their school day will end at 12:00 from Tuesday 19 January to Friday 22 January 2027. If your child is enrolled in aftercare, they will stay with their teachers until aftercare starts at 14:00. From the following week, school ends every day at 14:00, and you may collect your children from their classrooms or aftercare.

Sport will start from Monday 25 January and takes place on a Tuesday and Thursday from 13:00 to 14:00, during the school day. On these days, as well as PE days, the learners may come to school dressed in their PE Kit. Please note that the learners all swim in their classes during PE. If your child is unable to swim, please enrol them in a reputable swim school. Class timetables will be shared by the class teacher next year and the sporting and extramural programme on offer will be sent to parents in our Weekly Memo.

Our Grade 1 - 3 learners have a choice between Afrikaans FAL and isiXhosa FAL. Both isiXhosa and Afrikaans assessment outcomes are similar, please make your language choice based on the support available at home. Please click on the link to complete the form First Additional Language Choice 2027. If a selection has not been made, it will be assumed that the learner will attend Afrikaans as their First Additional Language.

Books DO NOT need to be covered as the children will make the covers in class and the teachers will cover the books with the slip-on plastic covers. In addition to this please ensure your child has a combination lock, an old T-shirt to use for art and a set of headphones compatible with their iPad.

Please refer to the Welcome Letter, Frequently Asked Questions, Stationery list and letter as well as the Uniform (sport clothes are worn at least twice a week) and iPad Requirements. Please refer to the uniform list when purchasing to ensure you do not purchase items that are not needed.

We look forward to meeting you and your child at the Orientation/Parent Meeting on Friday 15 January 2027 and welcoming our Grade One learners to the Junior Preparatory for the first day of school on Tuesday 19 January 2027. 

Parents are welcome to bring their child's labelled Grade 1 stationery box to the Orientation Morning on 15 January 2027. This will give the Grade 1 teachers an opportunity to unpack and organise the stationery ahead of the start of the school year the following week.

Kindly find the following important information below: 

WELCOME 

Grade 1 Welcome Letter

UNIFORM AND SPORTS ATTIRE 

Grade 1 Uniform and Sports Attire 

DEVICE REQUIREMENTS 

Grade 1 - 6 Device Requirements 

Device Discount 

WALTONS 

Grade 1 Waltons Stationery Requirements 

Waltons Letter 

Waltons Discount 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 

Grade 1 Frequently Asked Questions 

Our Grade Rs enjoyed a delightful story-reading session today with Mrs Chantel Lamb, our Junior Preparatory Principal. With the children preparing to move on to the Prep School next year, it was a lovely opportunity for them to spend some time getting to know her.

Mrs Lamb read them The Ink Puddle at Zebra School, a story written by one of our very own Grade 3 learners, Parah. The children were so enthusiastic about meeting her and listening to the story, and were even more excited when Mrs Lamb surprised each of them with a little edible treat and a very special pencil to take home!

Thank you, Mrs Lamb, for making the visit so enjoyable!

As our enrolment list continues to grow, we encourage parents who are considering enrolling their little ones (from 12 months of age) to do so sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.

For enrolment enquiries or further information, please contact Luschka Millar, our Admissions Registrar, on 021 521 2700 or at lmillar@parklands.co.za.

A very big thank you to all our wonderful parents who have contributed to our cake sales throughout the year. Whether you baked, bought, donated or helped in any way, your support has been so appreciated.

With our final cake sale for 2026 now behind us, we would like to thank everyone once again for their support throughout the year. It really is appreciated!