January News

Getting it right from the start!

The year 2014 started with an adventure to Cape Town. Graceland was invited by Travelstart, a loyal supporter of the Thembalitsha, to attend a family fun day at Zip Zap Circus in honour of Stephan Ekbergh’s (CEO of Travelstart) birthday. Thanks to Travelstart, Graceland didn’t have to worry about transport or lunch; we were even able to bring 20 parents along. 

It was the first circus the we have ever experienced!

The Gracelanders had so much FUN! There were jumping castles, face painting, balloon animals, food, cupcakes and of course the CIRCUS. It was wonderful to see my little ones faces as they ran around enjoying the stations that had been set up just for them. And when the circus started, I thought they may get wrestles or not be interested but they proved me wrong. I just stared at my 2 – 5 years olds as they we taking in every moment of each performance and at some points laughing from the top of their lungs. Thank you Travelstart for thinking of the Gracelanders, this is an experience we will treasure. And to Stephan, happy birthday! We wish you a year filled with love, life and prosperity!

Princess Elizabeth, Asquith Bibesco once said, ‘Blessed are those who can give without remembering, and take without forgetting.’

November News

The best gift a teacher can receive for Christmas!

In 1999, two little girls, Abigail Adams and Bernadine Van Wyk, started school at Graceland together in the 3 – 4 year old class. They were at Graceland for 2 years together before separating and continuing their schooling at different primary and high schools. Thirteen years later they reconnected at Bergzicht Training where they are both currently completing a course in Early Childhood Development.   

Abigail Adams (19)

“I dropped out of school when I was in Grade 10 but I didn’t give up. It is a privilege for me to be able to do my practical at Graceland because I had the best preschool teacher (Elizabeth) ever! And now I can say I am preschool teacher too.”

 
 
 
Bernadine Van Wyk (19)
 

“I finished high school last year, 2012. I am currently studying Early Childhood Development and am loving it. I never thought I’d find myself at Graceland again but here I am. It’s a great honour to be able to do my practical with teacher Elizabeth. She has inspired me to be the person I am today. Graceland may have changed a lot but the love for each child still remains.”

Both of them can’t stop speaking of how being at Graceland created a love for learning and how it was and is the best preschool with the best teachers ever! They also say that Graceland was the only option for a preschool if you want to learn from the best.

As this year comes to a close we thank each and everyone who have given in time, in kind and in funds to Graceland. Meeting the 2 beautiful young ladies have not only been a gift to us as teachers at Graceland but also to you who have supported and believed in Graceland. This is what we hope for every child at Graceland. Their circumstances may not have changed but who they are and the decisions they make has.
 

Let us continue to work together in the hope that we will be able to celebrate more children like Abigail and Bernadine. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

October News!

Market  Day 2013!

Meet Rosaline Fortuin (33), a teacher at Graceland Pre-primary. She started working for our preschool in 2006 as a volunteer, helping out by preparing lunch for our little ones. When another teacher was needed at Graceland we didn’t have to look very far. Her good attitude, hard work, faithfulness to Graceland and her love for children made her a good candidate. Rosaline has since completed a Level 4 course in Early Childhood Development (ECD) to qualify her as a preschool practitioner. She loves her work now more than ever. She enjoyed Market Day and wrote the following:

Our Market Day on the 3^rd of October 2013 was held at Graceland. What a successful and fun-filled day it was. The event started at 3 o’clock but we had parents queuing to buy coupons from Samantha (our administrator) long before. Excitement was in the air as the bustling began.

 

This year we sold second- hand clothes, jewellery and vegetables, played dominoes, sang karaoke, took scooter rides, played a fishing game and a bowling game and entertained the children on a jumping castle. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the karaoke. Elizabeth and two volunteers (Fatimah and Nicole) sold chips, sweets, cool drinks, delicious curry and cupcakes. Our principal Simone was able to go around and make sure everything was going well, which it was because everything was well organised.

Elizabeth made her special homemade ginger beer and it was sold out within minutes. My job on the day was selling jewellery and I was assisted by volunteers made up of parents and friends.  The lamb stew and chicken curry, made by Mrs. Ruest (farm owner) and Mrs. Swart (Devon Valley Farm Owners Administration) was fantastic.

If there had to be a highlight for the day, the children would probably choose the scooter ride. They enjoyed every moment of it and were willing to stand in a long queue to wait their turn. It was very a busy day and everyone who volunteered was amazing.  

Graceland raised R6280, 100% profit!  With this said, we would like to thank every farm owner who donated to us, especially Mrs Ruest and Gillian Swart. We would also like to thank Scoot Café for generously giving of their time and the use of a scooter at no cost and Nedbank for donating cupcakes and hosting the fishing game. Finally, thank you to the parents, staff and all the volunteers who supported and assisted us on the day.  

 

Each and every one who gave in kind or of their time or came to enjoy a day with their children or friends made the event a success. Our Market Day created an opportunity for unity within the Devon Valley community. We found ourselves all working towards one goal. A goal that is focused on ensuring that Graceland Pre-primary School continues to bring hope to the vulnerable child of the Devon Valley through education.

 

The World Race comes to Graceland

Graceland's exposure is growing exponentially. This week we hosted 7 girls from The World Race as potential ambassadors and partners with the Thembalitsha Foundation. Excited to see what this connection will bring.

September News

A full child is a happy child

“School feeding not only fills stomachs, but has a proven track record of boosting enrolment, attendance and academic performance. For just pennies (coins) a day per child, this program changes lives – and ultimately can impact the futures of poor countries around the world in a profound way.”

Drew Barrymore

One of our little ones (let’s call him Emile) seems to forget his bag at home most of the month. When it is snack time and everyone run towards their bags. Emile would run towards his teacher and say, ’I forgot my bag at home.’ The teacher would then say to him, ‘No worries, I’ll sort you out right away’ and proceed to the kitchen to get him a snack. Other times of the month Emile would bring his bag to school but at snack time he would hide behind his friends with his bag but still no snack. His teacher later discovered that Emile preferred to say he forgot his bag at home instead of having to say he has no snack. The teacher now speaks to him before snack time to avoid his embarrassment.

We understand that a fed child is a happy child and a happy child is excited and physically able to learn. This month the Gracelanders would thank Distell for their continuous generosity they have shown Graceland Pre-primary. Distell diligently provides our little ones with a delicious and nutritious meal once weekly.  Through this partnership we are able to make sure our children are fed something nutritious every day.

Check out the link for the beautiful pictures:
http://imagesolutionsphotography.co.za/graceland-school-community-outreach-photographer/

August News

Mandela Day celebration!

On the 18^th of July, Graceland Pre-school had three different sets of visitors, with the same goal in-mind. The goal was to make sure that all the little Gracelanders were spoilt in honour of Grandpa Nelson Mandela’s birthday. 

Diane, Isabel, Grant with Gracelanders.

Our first group of visitors, were 3 colleagues from Nedbank who have committed to giving milk and oats to Graceland monthly. They came with 60 cupcakes for the children and staff to decorate. The children loved it! Once each one of us had decorated our cupcakes with different coloured icing and toppings, we sang happy birthday to Madiba and gobbled up every last drop.



Local Stellenboschers with Gracelanders.

Our second group of visitors, were Rayner Van Wyk (from Stellenbosch360), Abigail (from Abuzz Marketing), Tiaan Langenegger (a local celebrity chef), Hilmari (Tiaan’s friend), Mathilda Venter (from Chef & Broomstix), Janine (from ColdGold Ice Cream) and Lea, Justine and Tobie (from Brenaissance). These are all local Stellenboschers wanting to up-lift the community. They treated our children and staff with hotdogs, juice, sweets, chips and most importantly, they spent some time with us. 

Our third and final group of visitors, were from IMPERIAL Managed Logistics. They donate second-hand clothes, toys, none-perishable food products, sweets for the children (that were kept for the next dayJ) and they also spend some time with our little Gracelanders. We were able to send every child home that day with a none-perishable food item of their choice.

It was a day filled with fun and indulgence. Our little ones probably wish it is Grandpa Madiba’s birthday EVERY DAY, after the day we had at Graceland.

We are so privileged to have the support and adoration of the local Stellenbosch community. Thank you to each person who gave in kind and took the time to come to Graceland and spend the day with us. Our hope is that one day our children would be the ones coming back to Graceland to do what you have done, to give and spend time with the most vulnerable human beings of all, our little Gracelanders.

 

 

July News

The children waiting for the show to start!

This month Graceland was blessed an opportunity to go see Disney On Ice at Cape Town International Convention Centre and it was all sponsored by Travelstart South Africa.

This was an amazing outing. The staff, the children and some of the children’s parents who chaperoned couldn't talk about it enough. For most of the parents and children who went, it was the first time they were in Cape Town. One of our teacher's responsed: "It was fantastic because it was so real and professional.  All the characters remind us of our childhood days and for the children it was something new. They knew some Disney characters but some was really new to them. The lights, the ice, everything amazed us all."

The parents were overwhelmed with appreciatiton of what Travel Start did for their children. It was something that they feel they could never afford to send their children to. Being able to experience something like this with our children is a privilege. The children were so amazed by everything they saw. They wanted to touch and go and see everything. It was like watching a little bug follow the light!

We are so grateful to Travelstart for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Our children will forever remember their adventures to Cape Town and if the forget, I'm sure the parents will remind them.

We hope that this outing will be one of many more like them that will show our children that anything is possible and you can go anywhere you want to. Our desire for them is that they dream big and this outing has shown them that there is a bigger world out there. Thank you Travelstart for partnering with us in helping our children dream BIG!