Dear Friends,

WELCOME TO THE MONTESSORI CLASSROOM

We started the year off with a full contingent of 90 learners. The teachers had their hands full as the new children took a little while to settle, but thanks to the Practical Life activities (one of five areas in a Montessori classroom) the transition from home to school is a fairly smooth ride.  Practical Life activities involve exactly that … activities that are found in day-to-day household activities such as pouring water, spooning flour, using a dropper to transfer coloured water from one glass to another, using tweezers to separate beans and lentils (okay, I agree, that may not really happen in a regular household, but it’s amazing for refining those fine motor skills and encouraging concentration).  Our Practical Life activities make use of glass containers instead of plastic.  The idea is that the child will be more attentive when working with glass as opposed to plastic.  It’s also more organic and appeals to the tactile sense.  Breakages do occur, but the teachers know not to panic, and the child is encouraged to retrieve the child-size hand broom and brush and clean up all spills.  Practical Life activities encourage independence, refine the fine motor skills and enhance concentration.  Wow!  They are very important!

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SCHOOL PHOTOS

Caroline Morris, a very talented photographer from Hugatree Photography took the school photos for Talhado.  Not only did she do a very professional job taking the photos, but she also took care of all the printing costs, so every child received an individual and a class photo.  How amazing that no child got left out because of financial constraints.  Thank you, Caroline!

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GRADUATION 2018

Although Eskom tried hard to thwart our plans for the graduation ceremony at the end of last year, we got the better of them as Greg West from Custom Construction kindly arranged a generator and saved the day!  The evening was truly heart-warming with the Talhado learners belting out Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika as well as a touching rendition of “We are the World”.  Each class gave a presentation of something they had learnt during the year.  The presentations included Continents of the World (a true Montessori activity), Provinces and national emblems of South Africa, and Dinosaurs. Stationery vouchers, courtesy of Carey Olsen, were awarded to the top learners in each class and the children moving up to grade 1 each received graduation certificates and a book prize.  Our guest speaker, Detective Benjamin Sisusa, addressed the audience on how perseverance and hard work got him to where he is, and he encouraged the children to always give of their best.  Music teacher, Sandra, put on a fantastic musical Christmas take on Cinderella.   Thanks to all the parents who helped with the cooking so that all attendants enjoyed some warm food at the end of the evening.   We wish all our graduates the very best as they move up into grade 1 at various schools.

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Danielle Brouwers, from Mrs Brown’s class, received a special mention for being awarded the ORT Scholarship.  This is a scholarship sponsored by a local St Francis resident who sees that the children of today are tomorrow’s leaders and wanted to give an opportunity to a well-deserved candidate.  Danielle is currently enrolled in St Francis College and, according to her mom, she is loving the work and all the sports including her swimming lessons and has made some wonderful new friends.  We wish Danielle the best of luck for a bright future.

END-OF-YEAR OUTING

All our learners were spoilt with a day out at Full Stop Café at the end of last year.  Woodlands Dairy sponsored flavored milks, while The Cape St Francis Resort gave out sweets, pizzas and let the children enjoy a fun day with jumping castle, games and much more.  Thanks to our group of volunteers, Jamie, Morgan, Makai, Josh and Indie for playing football and keeping the children well entertained.   It was indeed a very special day for the children!

 

 

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RAFFLE WINNER

Congratulations to Stuart Obrey for being the lucky winner of our Mandela golf day raffle.  He wins a weekend in the lovely 5^th Avenue Beach House in Summerstrand, Port Elizabeth.

STRETCH FOUNDATION

It’s impossible to learn on an empty stomach.  Thank you to the Stretch Foundation for their assistance in helping us with food costs.  We are grateful that we can continue to give the children nutritious cooked meals every day.  The children also have the option of porridge before school so little tummies are always full.

STATIONERY DONATIONS

The start of every year is always tough as we must outlay large amounts of money for stationery.  As you can imagine 90 little hands need as many pencils, pencil crayons, scissors, etc, as well as all the office stationery and paper that is needed.  Thank you to those who contributed to our stationery needs, especially the Julien D’Aussie Foundation who donated the bulk for us.  Also, thanks to the ladies at Stationery Butler for assisting with this project!

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FLASH FLOAT

The Flash Float was dreamed up by a group of girlfriends who decided that St Francis Bay needed a way to relax after the busy holiday season.  And so, the idea of having a colorful float on the canals seemed a perfectly reasonable idea.    Little did we know that the idea would be so popular to draw crowds in the region of two thousand.  Tickets were sold and the proceeds were divided between Disney Creche and Talhado Children’s Haven.  A total of R 82 000 was raised to share between the two charities.  Thanks to all those who supported this fun event.  We look forward to an even bigger Flash Float next year.  Many thanks to Clairwen Praetorius and Jane Arderne who helped organize this fantastic event.

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ECO-BRICK INITIATIVE

We launched the “Eco-brick initiative” at Talhado Montessori, in conjunction with the Kromme Enviro Trust and the Rotary club of St Francis today.  There was great excitement and enthusiasm shown by learners and staff . There are class achievement incentives of a party for the class who achieves their set target. The first five pupils to achieve a set target will be in line to win a bicycle. We look forward to a highly successful project. Thank you Tom Roux and Brian Codling of Rotary club of St Francis and Warren Manser of the Kromme Enviro Trust!

CHRISTMAS SPOILS

Christmas is a special time of year, but not all families are in the position to spoil their children with gifts.  We have a big “Thank You” for Colleen Mutch for bringing Christmas gifts to the children of Talhado.  Colleen managed to collect beautifully wrapped shoe boxes containing spoils for all the kids and dressed in Santa hat proceeded to spoil each child at Talhado Montessori.

UKUPHA LADIES GROUP and “SUPER”SPAR

This is a group of ladies who have shown commitment to the children of Talhado through various projects.  One of their ongoing projects is to hand out birthday presents at the end of each month, as well as cake for the whole class!     The Ukupha ladies have also been offering kiddies yoga on a Friday.

Thanks to Richard Moolman of our local Spar for assisting with Friday food.   As school ends a little earlier on a Friday, we don’t offer a cooked meal, but now the Ukupha group make delicious sandwiches and fruit, all kindly sponsored by the Spar.

Ukupha also organized Christmas presents for every child by involving the greater St Francis community.    Thank you to all those kind-hearted people who took the time to purchase a gift and decorate their Christmas bags.  These were handed out at the graduation ceremony.

#ANTHEM PROJECT – a News24 Initiative

The Anthem project is a News24 initiative that aims to bring South Africans together through the national anthem. In December 2017, Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika was named the best national anthem in the world by The Economist. In a straw poll at The Economist, our anthem was the favourite and hailed as “an act of musical healing” because of its ability to bring people together.

Talhado Montessori entered their rendition of the national anthem, you can view their video HERE.  Please check it out and give us your vote!  The following prizes are up for grabs:

• 1st place will receive R300,000 in cash for a charity of your choice & R300,000 in media exposure.
• 2nd place will receive R150,000 in cash for a charity of your choice & R150,000 in media exposure.
• 3rd place will receive R50,000 in cash for a charity of your choice & R50,000 in media exposure.

 

OPENING OF THE NEW LIBRARY IN SEA VISTA

We were invited to be part of the entertainment of the opening of the new Sea Vista Library. We welcomed the Minister of Energy, Mr. Jeff Radebe and guests with a song.

Molweni x2 (Good day)

Ngegama le Nkosi (In the Name of Jesus)

Molweni x2

Ngegama le Nkosi

Siyabonga x2 (we thank you)

Ngosiphathela iLibrie (for building us a Library)

And, finished by singing along with all the guests the National Anthem.

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PARENT/TEACHER EVENING

During the course of the first term Talhado invites parents to attend an evening where they get to listen to talks given by the teachers on what Montessori education is all about.  It’s also an opportunity for parents to view their children’s work in the classroom environment, meet other parents and ask questions.    I was very impressed by the large turnout of parents who attended the evening.

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THANK YOU ROTARY AND SHAKTI SHANTI FOR EMPOWERING  WOMEN:

Leigh-Ann Mofu is one of our assistant teachers.  As well as being a mom to a baby and a 6-year-old, Leigh-Ann is also studying to become a Montessori teacher.  Her study pack arrived from North American Montessori Centre last week and she is already fitting in the study hours around her busy schedule. We thank Rotary St. Francis (with funds provided to them by the Rotary Club of Marr Dyke Valley in Essex, UK, as well as Maria Taylor of Shakti Shanti who allowed her entire children’s range to be sold and funds donated towards Leigh-Ann’s studies.

Talhado also enjoyed a visit from Robin Jackson of Rotary Club of Woking in the UK last month.   It’s wonderful to get the support from these organizations and we invite them to visit anytime they are in town.

KNITTING PROJECT

Since the Knitting Project was launched by Alexa Beckly almost three years ago, we have been keeping our little ones warm with jerseys, beanies and scarves.  Thank you to all the ladies who knit for us on a regular basis.  My husband recently returned from a trip to London with a suitcase full of knitwear for Talhado.  Thank you, Lesley Mungall for this!  We will be handing out school jerseys to all our learners in the second term.

 

MANDELA DAY 2019

This upcoming Mandela Day on July 18^th marks our 3^rd Annual Extreme Golf Fundraiser, we plan on this year being the best one yet!

Please let us know if you can support us in anyway.

I do hope you enjoyed catching up on our news.  On behalf of the entire Talhado committee, I thank you for your support, without which we would not be able to continue offering the service that we do to all these wonderful children.    It certainly does take a village to raise a child.

Best wishes

Cathryn Hempel
Principal (in a volunteer capacity)
Talhado Montessori Preschool

Contact:  0764126090
www.talhadochildrenshaven.org

“Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future.”  Maria Montessori