Background | Whizzkidz Academy

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Whizzkid Montessori began over 2 decades ago in the year 1997 in a little log cabin, with 10 kids. Over the years we have grown in leaps and bounds, and are now the foremost early childhood development institute in the Mackenzie Park area, and after many successful years we are now becoming one of the most sought-after pre-primary schools in the area. With the continued support of our parents we have embarked on opening Whizzkidz Academy Primary school as of January 2017 with our FIRST CLASS OF GRADE ONE, and over the next few years, growing the school to Grade 7.

Our curriculum, although Montessori based, is not restricted to the Montessori Method, wherein we combine certain aspects of the national curriculum method as well and other proven learning methods to give our learners a complete and well-rounded education.

Our main aim is to ensure that your child is school ready by the time he/she graduates from the school, in all aspects; from their physical and social requirements to their psychological and emotional needs, which are all brought together in a well prepared environment.

The dedicated staffs at Whizzkid Montessori create an atmosphere conclusive to learning and developing, by creating a happy yet disciplined, free yet guided, and fun yet structured environment, to bring the best in your child.

You as a parent remain the main educator of your child. Together with us as teachers, we can form a partnership wherein your child can develop. To achieve this, you as the parent must be involved with your child and be interested in his/her joys and sorrows. We as the school will support you and help you turn your child into a Whizzkid.

Our School Offers Two Programmes for the Day

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Half-Day The Montessori pre-primary teaching including all the extra-curricular activities on a half day structure i.e from 8 am to 12 am.

Full-Day This includes the Montessori Pre-primary education from 8 am to 12am , extending our services to full day until 5:00pm for all the working mum’s and dad’s. On full day all meals are provided as well, ie breakfast, lunch and snack time in the afternoon.

A structured program is followed through from the morning which allows our learners to be in a safe, well protected environment for the whole day, ensuring that they receive the very best of the Montessori teaching program in the morning with continued care and attention in the after-care program.

Holiday care assistance is offered to all full-day learners as we remain open during all the scheduled Government term holidays and only close during public holidays.

Meals

Half- Day learners are required to bring in their own lunch/snack for break time.

Full Day learners will be receiving freshly prepared daily meals as per our menu provided upon enrolment.

Staff

We pride ourselves in securing qualified & experienced teachers both in the Montessori fraternity as well as B.Ed qualified staff, whom are fully first aid trained as well. Our assistant teachers have also received the necessary training & skills to be able to assist the main teachers in each class.

Our staff compliment consists of +- 20 teachers for both the Pre-primary & primary section of our school including a security guard/care taker.

We ensure the consistency with our teachers in each class so as not to create any disruptions for our students learning program.

Extra Services Offered

• We have various reliable transport providers to assist parents.
• Potty/toilet training for learners from 2 ½ years old.
• Optional extra-curricular activities offered during the morning teaching time ie from 8:00am to 12:00pm allowing both half & full day learners to partake in these activities on the stipulated days.
• Holiday aftercare program for full day parents.
• Our programme for the year also includes entertaining our learners with inter-active educational puppet shows, excursions, magic shows, clown appearances and fun days.
• Annually we host a school sports for all learners and year end concert and graduation which are the highlights of the years programme.

We Specialize & Cater for the Following Age Groups

Month to 1 Years – Baby Section Class

Limited in-take of babies are accepted so as to receive personalised care and attention with strict monitoring at all times.

1-2 Years Old – Toddler Class

Limited to 10 learners in a class, with 2 qualified and trained teachers and assistants. Special care & assistance is given to the younger learners of this age group, accommodating their requirements for feeding, nappy change e.t.c. An appropriate learning programme is designed form this age group based on the Montessori teaching method so as to develop our toddlers according to their milestone development needs.

2-3 , 3-4 & 4-5 Year Old – Junior Section

We refer to this section as our 1^st stage of our progressive Montessori 3 year teaching phase of learning.

We have a specially designed Montessori environment aided with exceptional Montessori equipment to enhance each of our stages of learning.

As Montessori is an equipment based method of teaching and closely linked to the home environment, our areas attracts our learners, inviting an interest to master the equipment as “learning through play.”

This indirect method of learning enhances and encourages manipulation of the hand muscles, training the hand, eye and brain to work together, perfecting the pincer grip for early writing development and hence receiving a holistic teaching program.

As each year is a follow up to the next, the syllabus designed for various age group, allows the learners to be well prepared in all areas of learning, enabling the child to achieve successful pre-writing, reading and mathematical concepts.

Learners are monitored each day with their very own assessment check list according to their syllabus and age group.

Termly progress meetings are held informing all parents on the ongoing development of the child.

A portfolio history of each learner is passed on year to year to the next grade’s teacher so as to keep a good track on each learner’s history of development.

This continuous assessment allows intervention when necessary, upon the discretion of the teacher, accommodating early assistance for the child’s benefit in the form of speech therapy, Occupational therapy e.t.c

We refer parents if the need arises to the necessary experienced therapist part of our school to remedy any concerns before our learners graduate into mainstream school.

The Final Year of Pre-School Grade R/0

If a learner travels through the 3 to 4 year learning program, we guarantee that the year to year follow up of Montessori teaching, enables the child to enter into Grade R, with a well prepared foundation that was set in the junior section.

On completion of Grade R, our learners are able to graduate from pre-school with a much higher standard of learning achieving the following:

WRITING –  Form and consistency of alphabets, numbers, words and pre-writing skills achieved.

READING – Able to read 3 letter words or more and completion of Grade R reading books.

MATHEMATICS – Introduction of addition/subtraction and basic bonds.

A readiness school evaluation test is carried out at the end of Grade R, to determine the learner’s successful completion of our program, before entering into Grade 1.

Our holistic teaching offers a well-rounded programme guaranteeing that all our learners will receive an all rounded learning program from the time they step into our school until they graduate from Grade R.

WHIZZKIDZ ACADEMY PRIMARY SCHOOL

Whizzkidz Academy has been developed with the future of young students in mind. Our pre-schoolers & existing parents of the school are afforded the opportunity to continue with our teaching programme into Grade 1 and the higher grades.

Our aim at Whizzkidz Academy is to nurture and guide our learners towards developing a positive and independent attitude towards learning, by creating a personalised relaxed atmosphere fostering intellectual curiosity in each child.

For each respective grade we have secured the services of qualified experienced B/ed Teachers, catering for small structured classes of not more than 15 learners.

We have a curriculum service provider called IMPAQ assisting our school with a complete and advanced CAPS aligned programme. This includes all workbooks, portfolios, tests, examinations and reports from Grade 1 to 7.  

Our students are not only graded and assessed by our school, but as well by the IMPAQ service provider ensuring that they receive the best necessary care and attention academically.

Part of our curriculum also includes a compulsory physical education class, computer coding lessons as well as speech and drama classes.

Our Values

At Whizzkidz Academy, we value:

• Tolerance, equality of opportunity and empathy
• Individuality
• Respect for others and their values
• A partnership with parents and carers
• An understanding of rights and responsibilities within the school, community and beyond
• The opportunity to learn from others, whatever their creed, colour or culture

NEWSLETTER