Life at Red Roots

Red Roots is a pre-primary which follows the national curriculum using the Reggio Emilia approach. This is an emergent curriculum which promotes continuous learning. Our teaching includes the children as active participants and also encourages our parents to be part of the children's learning too. 

Essential to our children’s development is creative arts, physical education and initial encouragement of a love of learning through discovery and play. Our ‘hidden’ curriculum also encourages social and emotional development, growing empathy, learning to care for others, and celebrating diversity.

Besides providing support for children who find learning hard, we also provide extra support for those children who find learning exceptionally easy. We therefore teach our children to think laterally, have a questioning attitude and an ongoing desire to learn more about the world. We use up-to-date teaching techniques gleaned from conferences and research around the world to best stimulate every child’s interest in learning.

Our beautiful school building and surrounds are augmented by sharing Pinelands North Primary School’s facilities. This means that the hall, library, aftercare buildings and playgrounds are available for use when needed.

Outings and family get-togethers add to the integrated learning experience for the children of Red Roots.

Our after-school care facility offers a caring homely environment for children to play and relax until 17:30 daily.

Our modern facilities include spacious bright rooms and a kitchenette. Our children especially love climbing on the jungle gym, which is surrounded by a safe area of maintained grass.The entire area is fenced off from the rest of the school, and access is carefully monitored through a signing in and out system.

A friendly team of experienced staff ensures that parents have peace of mind about their children’s well being in the afternoons.

The daily routine includes time to read and be read to, playing with specially chosen toys… in fact all normal routines you would provide if you were a ‘stay at home’ parent!

Our staff will also see that your children attend extramural activities if this applies.

Holiday Care

Another bonus for families is that your children can be cared for during school holidays in an ‘in-house’ holiday programme available for all children from 08:00 to 17:00 daily.

Our experienced aftercare staff plan exciting themed daily activities and offer a perfect blend of action, creativity and relaxation.

Red Roots relies on family involvement and relations with the wider community of Pinelands, Cape Town and South Africa. This means that we include our families in as many activities as we can.

In the first term every year, families are encouraged to spend School-in-Action Day at school with their children, not only to observe from the outside but to be active participants in the learning experience.

Red Roots' families are also encouraged to be part of all the functions at Pinelands North Primary School, for example, the Red-a-Fair is a fete for the whole family and is usually held every second year.

Grandparents are welcomed to a tea during November, and there are other opportunities to celebrate our parents during the year too.

Class meetings are also held at the beginning of each year, and these are essential for families, as teachers then inform parents of the way they work, their expectations of parents and the channels of communication.

Parent volunteers are always welcomed with open arms! You are encouraged to get involved with projects at Red Roots like working in the school garden, collecting recycling, catering for functions and to come and read during our weekly reading sessions from 08:00 to 08:30.

View some of the comments sent to us by parents after their children had been with us for a year. Click here

A simple but practical unisex uniform is required.

Pull-on shorts, golf shirts, fleece tops and takkies mean that children can run and play, but also look smart and ‘uniform’ enough when attending outings.

Please visit the uniform shop in Pinelands North Primary School hall, purchase the required items and then ensure that all items are clearly marked before school starts. These items can be purchased online, following this link. In the year before school starts the uniform shop will advertise a Saturday face to face shopping opportunity just for Grade R families.

Online Uniform Shop link

Nutrition in young children is extremely important. Red Roots, insists on healthy food being brought to school daily, as we don't provide school lunches.

Every child will need to bring a fruit as their snack, and this will be cut up and shared with their classmates in the mornings. If this fruit isn’t enough for your growing child, you could provide an additional healthy snack too.

On birthdays, you are encouraged to send a healthy treat for your child to share with their peers. Ideas of healthy treats to provide include popcorn, bran muffins, biltong or granola bars.

If your child has a food allergy, this needs to be communicated urgently to the teaching staff before your child starts the year with us.