Schooling in SA - The basics

Here is what the South African Government website says about education.

"Schooling is compulsory between the ages of seven and 15. All learners are guaranteed access to quality learning. There are two types of schools: independent (private) and public. At public schools, parents vote on the level of school fees. Poor parents are given exemption or reductions."

Here in South Africa the children start their formal education in grade 1.  The year that they turn 7.  Grade R (equivalent to our Senior Kindergarten) is offered at many schools but is not compulsory. Primary school is grades 1 - 7 and is divided into 2 1/3 phases.  Foundation phase is grade 1 (or R in some schools) to grade 3.  Intermediate phase is grade 4 - 6.  Senior phase is grades 7 - 9, though grade 7 is in a primary school setting and grades 8 & 9 in a high school setting.  High school is grades 8 - 12.  The final year of high school (grade 12) is called the matriculation year, often shortened to matric.  Grades 10, 11, and matric are not compulsory in the South African education system.  Those who continue on to grade 10-12 are in the FET (further education and training) phase.

The visible difference in the South African system is that almost all school students, private or government (public) wear uniforms to school.  In fact the government has a uniform policy that provides rationale and guidelines for uniforms.  The uniforms vary in colour and style depending on the schools colours.  Primary uniforms are often more relaxed versions of the high school uniforms.  Boys in high school seem to wear dress shirts and ties, girls skirts and dress shirts and often ties as well.  They all wear a blazer.  The pre-primary that dd attends does not have a uniform, but some pre-primaries do.  Ds #2 has a white golf shirt with the collar and sleeves trimmed in the schools navy blue.  The pants for winter are navy blue polyester track type pants with a cotton lining.  In the summer they wear navy shorts.  The jacket is the same cotton lined polyester as the pants.  Ds #1 has ended up at the plan B school and his uniform is a white short sleeved dress shirt, grey sweater vest and either grey dress shorts or pants, depending on the season.  His phys ed. uniform is the same as ds#2 regular uniform except in his school colour of green.

When we first visited the schools in February we were shocked to see the children stand at their desks and in chorus say "good day Mrs.  (or Mr.) principal and visitors (us)" when we entered the classrooms.  It happened at all of the schools that we visited.  Our kids were going to have a pretty serious learning curve when it came to behavioural expectations in school.

All of the schools that we have been to use a merit system of some kind.  If ds#2 gets enough merit stickers in one week he can wear "civvies" (street clothes).  Civvies cannot be worn on Monday as it is assembly (and inspection) day.  If a child earns their final merit stickers on Friday, they must wait until Tuesday to wear their civvies.   Stickers are given for "being good" according to ds#2.  Being good is like helping the teacher, not tattle taling, getting perfect on your tests.  Red stickers are for "doing bad things" like hurting someone, being silly in class or not doing your work on time.  Red stickers mean a 5 min. detention at the beginning of break time.  Some children never get to wear civvies, and some get them every week.  Ds#2 is about in the middle of the pack.

When it comes to Monday inspection here's what they are looking for.  This is straight from the parent/student handbook for the school ds#1 attends.  Bolds, underlines and all.

4.7  Uniform and dress code

All parents have received a uniform list indicating exactly what the learner needs to wear.  The uniform is to be respected and worn with pride at all times.  It is essential that all items of clothing are clearly marked with the current owner's name.  Spot inspection will take place from time to time and those not wearing the correct uniform will be reprimanded accordingly.

Uniforms must be ordered through our designated supplier.  While we are happy to pass items onto the children, the school is not responsible for collecting money or accepting deliveries. 

All students are expected to:

• maintain a high level of personal cleanliness - clean hair, body, nails.
• keep all uniform items clean and in good condition.  Only black school shoes may be worn. Only a black belt may be worn with long grey trousers.
• Ensure that all uniform items are embroidered with the school badge as per the uniform lists.  All embroidery done by our uniform supplier.
• Correct uniform to be worn at all times.  This also applies when off the school property.  Shirts to be tucked in and long socks pulled up.  Shoes to be kept neat and polished.
• Full Physical Education uniform to be worn to and from school on PE days.  Predominantly white takkies only.

GIRLS

• No make up, coloured nail polish or jewellery may be worn except for wrist watches.  Only simple gold/silver studs or sleepers may be worn in pierced ear lobes (1 in each ear - matching).  No other visible body piercings or tattoos will be tolerated - this includes tongue studs.
• Hair to be kept neat and off the face at all times.  Hair touching the collar must be tied up.  Only black or white hair accessories may be worn.  No dyed hair is acceptable.  No hair gel.
• Skirt length to be just above the knee ie. no more than 4 horizontal fingers from the floor when kneeling.
• Finger nails must be kept short.  False/gel nails are unacceptable.

BOYS

• Hair must be kept short ie. off the collar and ears
• No visible body piercings or tattoos will be tolerated - this included tongue studs
• No jewellery may be worn except for wrist watches
• No hair gel.
• No highlights or dyed hair is acceptable
• No bald hairstyles/cleanly shaven heads
• No shaving of eyebrows.

Ds #2's school also adds that hair on the face must be above the eyebrows.   My boys were not happy about these hair rules.  Ds#1 loved to have his hair long, it was "cooler" that way. 

The uniforms haven't been a big adjustment for the kids, actually it is much easier for the boys in the mornings as they don't have to fuss about what they feel like wearing.  Dd still gets to choose her own clothes in the morning and I can't wait until she is in a uniform.  She has a very unique sense of style and mornings will be much more efficient when she doesn't choose her clothes based on her mood :) For me though, uniforms mean twice the laundry.  They wear the uniforms to school and then come home and change into regular clothes.  Add Cubbing uniforms to that and the fact that the washing machine is 1/2 the size and it feels like I spend my life doing laundry.  Also, I'm sure that the people who decided that white shirts would make the children be more careful about getting dirty, never met any children I know.  Dirt is one thing, but paint and marker on a white shirt is horrible.

When you factor in that all of the laundry products here are different than in Canada, I am having the time of my life, NOT, experimenting with the best combinations of stain removers, pre-treatments, and washing powders.  I have yet to come up with the perfect combination, but I am determined to find it before dd gets into her white uniform in January.

This post has scratched the surface of the difference between school in PE and school in Ontario.  I'll delve into some more of the differences in daily structure, educational practices, curriculum and expectations in a later posts.

The Braai

I've done a couple of posts about things I miss from home.  Here's one bit of South African culture I'll be bringing back to Canada with me. 

Back in Canada we had a gas BBQ out on our patio.  It was illegal to have an open fire where we lived so I had to do all my "camp" cooking when we were camping.  I loved my dutch ovens and roasting marshmallows and all that fun at camp.  I often wanted to do those things at home, and couldn't.

When we found our Port Elizabeth home I was thrilled that it had an indoor braai.  Not all homes have an indoor braai.  We've seen them as an outbuilding near the pool.  We've seen them built into the wall of an outside patio too.  Regardless of where they are located every home seems to have a braai.  For entertaining, the braai is the centre of attention in Port Elizabeth.

This is our braai room.

I am standing on the patio by the pool to take this photo.  If you look at the flooring, the tiles are the same both inside the room and outside on the patio/pool deck.  The rest of the house is different. The right of the room has a door and pass through window to the kitchen and the glass "door" on the left is actually a 3 panel folding "window wall" so the room can be completely enclosed when it's cold. In the far wall at the left is the Braai.  The contractor is still working to clear up the water issues that are hiding behind the curtain, so it's a work in progress.  One day when the house is fixed and painted and I've had a chance to hang the family photos, I'll post photos of the whole place.

In the meantime here's what the braai looks like close up.

The left side is a propane grill just like at home.  The right side is our wood braai, this is the part I'm bringing home.  There is a chimney, just like a fireplace chimney, to vent the smoke. Inside the braai is the South African version of the dutch oven. They call it a Potjeikos. It's pronounced Poy (like toy)-Key. It's used just like my dutch oven, the only difference is the rounded bottom.  Here in SA they have Potjeikos competitions like we have ribfests.  I've made stew and a sweet and sour pork so far, but I know I'll be using it a lot more. I've also used my dutch oven for some fruit crisps and chicken dishes that we like. 

Here's what it looks like when it's lit with the grills instead of the potjeikos.  The coals drop out of the bottom of the fire cage and there is a special long handled braai tool with a flat paddle on the end to reach under the cage and push the coals under the grill.

Here's what it looks like with burgers on the grill.  The fire is done and the coal are mostly under the grill.  Yummmmmmy!

I like to build the fires from scratch, just me and a match (okay a butane lighter), but they do have fancier fire lighters. The neighbours use a copper pipe with holes in it attached to the propane tank. It's basically a blow torch that sits in the bottom of the fire cage and lights large logs (or wet logs) without needing kindling. We did buy one, but haven't used it yet as the threads don't fit our propane tank and we haven't managed to get an adaptor yet. For now I use my little hatchet to make my own kindling and the lint from the dryer is my fire starter. They sell bags of wood at the side of the road at every other corner it seems,  kind of like Tim Horton's locations in Canada.  With all the rain we've been having though the wood is often quite wet, so unless you're willing to cut everything smaller and keep some dry wood on hand (like I am at the moment) the blow torch is the easiest way to go.

After I'm finished cooking I usually bank the coals so there is enough heat left after supper for marshmallows, or I put the little dutch oven on them with dessert inside so it's ready for after dinner. 

The little drawer on the bottom left is an ash drawer. There is a removable panel just over the drawer and when the ashes are cool you just brush them into the drawer to clean out your braai for the next meal. Easy peasy.

I absolutely love that I can cook over a fire in any weather. My menu plans never have to change if it decides to rain (which is seems to be doing a lot of lately) or if the windy city lives up to its name. The best part though, if I choose, I can smell the glorious smell of a woodburning fire every night.

Braai's are a big part of the South African culture.  We have been to the neighbours several times and the party always centers around the braai.  If it is at all possible I will be shipping a braai back to Canada when we return and find some way to make it work, inside or out.  I can't wait to invite our family and friends for a beer and a braai.  Good times.

School - Part One - Where we began

As part of the expatriation agreement dh's company pays for dependent school aged children to attend the local International School.

Our problem was that Port Elizabeth didn't have an International School campus.  So the company agreed to pay for the equivalent of an International School, which meant an independent school.  What I would call a private school, but we needed to find an appropriate school ourselves.

Before dh would even agree to the transfer we needed to make sure that there was a school in PE that could support ds #1 who has severe dyslexia combined with a "very superior intellect" according to the psyco-educational assessment.  It's a killer combination two fold.  Firstly, ds #1 has a lot to say, but his dyslexia prevents him from being able to write what he's thinking.  Secondly, he wants to know everything, but the dyslexia prevents him from being able to read the things that are interesting to him.  He is essentially frustrated all the time.

When we visited in February the company generously agreed to let us bring ds#1, given his special learning needs, so that he could be interviewed by the school's that we were interested in.  We researched on the Internet looking specifically for schools that listed special needs/remedial teaching as being available at the school. 

We had to take into consideration that children in South Africa start school the year they turn 6. They begin in grade 1.  Because children do not need to attend school prior to age 6, the curriculum in grade 1 focuses on phonics and basic number knowledge. This meant that dd would go from 2 years in a kindergarten educational based program, back to a pre-school play based program. So, we had to decide if we wanted to put dd back to pre-school or push her forward to Grade 1. Ds #2 is a December baby. Back when it was time to start school, dh and I, with the agreement of the local school, decided to hold him back a year as he just wasn't ready to start school. In Canada he was in Grade 1, but he should have been in Grade 2. If the curriculum was behind in South Africa, would he be able to manage with his age peers in Grade 2?   We reasoned that ds #1 with his severe dyslexia might have more confidence if the material in Grade 4 was a repeat of what he had already learned in Canada. His self esteem had suffered greatly related to his learning disability. One of the other points that factored into our decision where to place the kids was that the school year in South Africa begins in January. So the children would be leaving Canada 2/3 of the way through the school year, but arriving in South Africa 1/4 of the way through the South African school year.

With all those things in mind we visited the schools.

School #1 - A country private school.  Gorgeous forested setting, near a river, very private, lots of room to explore.  The children would be bussed from PE.  The bus picks the kids up at 06:00 (Which would mean leaving home at 05:45). The children attend academic classes and then have study hall to complete their homework.  Afterward they participate in sporting activities.  They have swimming, field hockey, rugby, mountain biking, rock climbing, paddling and all pupils attend a weekend camp each term.  The bus returns them to the bus stop at 17:45.  There was room in grade 4 for ds #1, but wait lists for the other 2.  Ds #1 was assessed by the special needs teacher while dh and I met with the headmaster.  Ds thought he did well.  The headmaster called a couple of hours later and said no they could not accept Ds#1, no explanation given.  Certain aspects, like the outdoors program would have been ideal for our children, but to have the kids, especially dd at age 5 away from me for 12 hours a day was not really what we were looking for.  We also weren't impressed that we were brushed off without explanation.

School #2 - An oooooooooold city school.  Lots of history.  Lots of famous people have been there.  Excellent reputation.  No buses, we would need to drive the kids.  Dh and I met with the headmaster while ds#1 was assessed by the gifted resources teacher.  The teacher was incredible.  He was so honest with us.  He said that while DS#1 was an incredibly intelligent child verbally, his written output and reading were not sufficient for him to keep up with the grade 4 class.  He advised us that the schools teachers were not trained to work with outside the box children and that the behaviours related to his boredom and/or frustration would be seen as disruptive and he would spend more time in the headmasters office than the classroom.  No room in grade 1 or 2 for ds#2, but they had space for dd.  We really appreciated the honesty of the staff and if they had had room for ds#2 we would have seriously considered it for the younger 2, but I didn't want 3 kids in 3 different schools so that was another one off the list.

School #3 - A 5 years new school for special needs children, including those with ADD/ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Autism Spectrum.  The school has grown from 16 students to almost 150 students in those 5 years and they have changed location 3 times to accommodate.  The current location is an old monastery that had closed decades ago.  As the school grows and fund raises they are refurbishing the buildings.  We met with the special needs teacher who advised that, as an independent school they could provide extra time for tests, scribes, exempt or replace second language lessons, etc.  They have a psychologist, speech pathologist, occupational therapist and remedial teacher on site.  The school required a one week observation period to determine if the child would be accepted.  We spoke with the headmaster who said they could certainly accommodate the dyslexia, but there was some hesitation as to manging the giftedness and being able to challenge him.  I wasn't thrilled with the location of the school, or that the headmaster had reservations about being able to challenge him, but it was our first maybe.  Neither DS #2 or DD would be appropriate for this school which meant 2 different schools for the kids, not an ideal situation from my point of view, but it was looking like the only solution for DS #1.

School #4 - This was the school that I liked from the beginning for ds #2 and dd.  It seemed the most like home, only smaller.  Back when it was started, it was a Jewish school.  When they were no longer able to maintain the school with just Jewish pupils, they opened it to all faiths.  They still follow the Hebrew calendar and have all of the Jewish religious holidays off.  The school is divided into a Pre-Primary (dd), a Primary (ds #1 and #2) and a High School, each with their own principal and a campus head oversees them all.  We went to the Pre-Primary first to speak about dd.  We loved the school and the principal and put dd on the wait list.  The principal asked why we had brought only one of our children.  We explained the situation with DS#1 and she lit up like a halogen lamp.  Along with being the Pre-school principal and grade R (last year of pre-school) teacher, she was also contracted to the Primary school as a special needs consultant.  She is all about inclusion and she thought the Primary would be perfect for DS#1 and asked why we weren't considering it.  We told her it was because we had been looking at schools with remedial or special needs teachers on staff and that there was no mention of special needs at the Primary.  She encouraged us to speak with the Primary principal.  So our next stop was the Primary.  They didn't have room in grade 1 for ds#2 but they did have room in grade 2 and grade 4 for ds #1.  They invited ds #1 to come back to the school the next day to try it out.  Cool, 3 kids, 1 school.  I was really liking the possibility.  Ds #1 had a fantastic morning at the school, he was shy for about 2 min. and then made a few friends and participated in the class. 

We had found our school on the last day of our look and see visit. We were thrilled with the school and felt that it would be better for dd to be with her age peers in the pre-school, that ds#2 could manage grade 2 and decided that even if it didn't work for DS #1 we had a plan B with the special needs school.  There was a government (public) special needs school that is very highly respected that could be plan C.  If all else failed we could fall back to home schooling.  This adventure would be full of life lessons that could never be experienced back in Canada, so the decision was made.  We were moving.

Stay tuned for Schools - Part Two - The differences