A school with HEART

St Mary’s is a school with heart! A place that makes you feel like you really belong, and where each individual matters,” says Wendy Ross, Head of the Junior Primary.

As parents start their search for the right school for their daughter to begin her school journey in Grade R, there are so many things to consider it can be overwhelming.

At St Mary’s our Grade Rs (Little Saints) truly have the best of both worlds. We have a stand-alone facility, but also the benefit of Whole School facilities and specialised staff.

Our team of highly creative, experienced teachers deliver fabulous lessons, keep up to date with changing trends and adapt programmes appropriately. Never has this been truer than during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Our staff have risen to the challenge and taught online lessons to all our girls in Junior Primary using a mobile app. They have delivered a bespoke programme in the form of videos and activities posted daily. In a time when families have been required to remain isolated in their homes, we wanted to ensure that the personal touch was a priority so the girls could still feel connected to their teachers and our special school – while allowing a combination of flexibility and structure for teachers, pupils and parents.

AT ST MARY’S, THE FOUNDATION TO THRIVE STARTS WITH A CURIOUS MIND

Our Little Saints facility is without a doubt one of the best Grade Rs available, where girls can explore, learn through play and be guided by their curiosity. We hold dear the importance of instilling values that ultimately create women of character and provide a community that demonstrates, talks explicitly about and honours respect, kindness, generosity and integrity.

Our stand-alone facility has bright, spacious classrooms with separate Free Play areas, which allow all the little girls to “spill out” during Free Play – an important part of their day.

There is a large creative room, an inviting dolls corner and a cognitive room full of educational equipment. Little Saints has its own outdoor space with a fairy garden, renovated sandpit, bike track, climbing walls and our new addition – the mud kitchen where girls can engage in messy, creative play .

Our Grade R programme offers many different types of learning opportunities. We have a wonderful Readiness programme as well as time for informal learning and Free Play opportunities.

Intentional about integrating our Little Saints into the St Mary’s family, each class has a Grade 7 and Grade 12 “Big Sister” and it’s heartwarming to see the younger girls engaging and connecting with their “Big Sisters”.

From Little Saints all the Junior Primary girls use the Whole School facilities which include the chapel, a magnificently stocked library, school hall, amphitheatre and a wide range of sporting facilities. We have a fully equipped SMART Centre which houses our Remedial teachers and visiting Occupational and Speech and Language therapists – offering additional support when required.

Being part of a Whole School means all girls from Grade R have specialist lessons for Music, Drama, ICT, Library and Thinking Skills. In computer lessons they are taught basic coding skills using code-apillars, beebots and block coding in purple mash. These fun activities allow learning through experimentation and making mistakes.

Throughout your daughter’s school journey, St Mary’s values personal connections and communication between your daughter, yourselves and ourselves. We want every little girl to feel at home and be a part of the St Mary’s family.

As Maya Angelou said, “I’ve learned that people forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

FOR MORE INFO 031 764 9800 admissions@stmarysdsg.co.za www.stmarysdsg.co.za