GENERAL POLICIES & PRACTICES

Communication With Parents

It is against School Policy for Staff to give parents their personal mobile phone numbers.
Disciplinary action is taken against staff who transgresses this policy.
Always correspond with a Staff member via Reception or school email. Address all email correspondence to info@pinelandsmontessori.co.za. Our Administrator tracks all email communication.
Staff are not encouraged to use their personal emails as this is often abused by parents.
The school number may be used to call or send a WhatsApp message. (Preschool: 066 2233 439 / Primary: 074 4655 840)
Parents may not message or call staff members on their personal numbers obtained from class groups.
A quick message to the teachers may be written in the message book in the foyer. This is checked daily by the Administrator and the message conveyed to the necessary parties.
Social media is updated regularly to keep parents, grandparents, and friends in touch with the children’s daily activities.

Parent Information Evening

This is held at the beginning of the new academic year. It is to educate the parent on the Montessori philosophy and various points discussed to keep parents informed on how the school operates.

Child Reviews

Toddler & Preschool: Mid-year teacher-parent reviews by invitation.
Primary: Quarterly teacher-parent reviews by invitation.

School Uniform

Compulsory to be worn by the 2-6 year old preschool learners on Fridays and all school outings. It may be worn any other week day too.
Compulsory to be worn by Primary learners Monday –Thursday and all school outings.
No super hero costumes and imaginative play costumes are allowed to be worn to school.
All children to wear comfortable and practical clothing and shoes.

School Times

Toddlers 7:30 – 12:00.
Preschool: Monday-Friday, 7:15 – 12h30.
Year 1-3 Primary Monday –Thursday, 8:00-13:00; Friday 12:15.
Year 4-7 Primary Monday – Thursday 8:00- 14h00, Friday 12:15.
School is dismissed at 10:30 on the last day of the Academic year.

Late Arrivals

School doors open for all at 7h15.
Pre-schoolers are encouraged to arrive at school no later than 8h30.
Grade R-7 starts their day at 8h00. Late arrivals to wait in Preschool foyer until a teacher is free to call them.
Academic instruction in the preschool starts from 7h15 or as soon as the child arrives.

Aftercare

Montessori instruction is followed during the aftercare till 17:30 for those attending.

Lost and Found

Lost clothing can be found in the ‘Lost and Found ‘basket in the foyer. Items with the students name clearly marked inside are placed in their locker.
It is recommended that you mark all clothing items with your child’s name, including footwear and underwear.

Hair Policy

Hair must be washed regularly, kept free of nits and lice, and must be neatly styled. If nits or lice are found, children will be sent home. Check your child’s hair regularly.

Sick Children

Children who are unwell need to be kept at home.
We do not have the facility to take care of a sick child. This will prevent teachers and other children from being affected and causing more absenteeism.
This includes a temperature, vomiting, a runny or painful stomach, pink eye,etc.
No medication will be administered at school.
The onus is on the parent to contact the school and inform of his/her child’s absence.

Payments

All cash payments need to be handed to the Administrator and be receipted immediately.
Extra mural payments need to be paid directly to the provider.
Annual payments made before 31 January receive an 8% discount, or 5% if paid before 31 March.
A 5% discount applies from the 2nd sibling onward.

Security

The school is monitored by Closed-Circuit Television in the best interest of protecting the business, learners, staff, and visitors.
The school is a gun-, drug-, and weapon-free environment. Staff have the right to conduct a bodily or bag search of any person entering the premises.

School Diary

All Year 1-3 students are issued with a School Diary. This is a useful tool to maintain communication with their parents.
The diary needs to be signed daily.

Discipline

Learners are encouraged to exercise independence and responsibility
Should any school rule be transgressed, the learner is reminded of the rule.
Should the transgression continue, the learner is removed from the situation and spoken to. A time away from the other learners might be needed to think about their behaviour or to calm down.
We encourage peer mediation.
Parents are informed of any transgression/s and sometimes it necessitates a meeting with parents and a plan of action to be carried out in home in order to rectify persistent unacceptable behaviour.

Prospective Parents

May view the school in action upon appointment only. This is a security measure, as we are not comfortable with numerous amounts of strangers passing through the school at any given time.
Pupils and parents must be held accountable for timeous arrival at school.

Family Rules

Please allow your child to walk into school and carry his/her own bag
Drop off – Enter at the foyer and sign your child in.
Encourage your child to place his/her bag in their locker, greet and allow them to walk to class by themselves.
Collection – collect your child in the foyer and sign them out.
Please ensure that the entrance/exit gate is closed securely behind you as you enter or leave the school.
Do not be shy to close the gate behind you if you do not recognize the approaching adult as a parent of the school.
Park considerately.
Use the one way in /out drive through

Please take the following into account in order to minimise the possibility of theft:
Keep valuables at home. If you must send valuables to school, hand them in to the Administrator/office for safekeeping. Their safety cannot be guaranteed at school.