Teaching Resources
The Year Programme
43 themed weeks across the four school terms. Today falls in Week 25 — Small Creatures - Insects and Bugs. Every week gives you the ring time, the words, one activity per learning area, a story, a song, an outdoor game, what to watch for, and a message to send parents.
SELECTED WEEK
Wild Animals of the Kruger
20 Jul – 24 Jul 2026
Week 24
The world-famous park is on our doorstep - local pride, animal classification and rich describing language.
Well-being
Wild-animal respect rules: we watch, we never chase, touch or feed - the same for monkeys and snakes around our homes.
Identity & Belonging
Who has seen a wild animal? Children tell their sightings; we live beside a famous park and that is something to be proud of.
Communication
Animal riddles: 'I am big and grey, my nose is long...' - children guess, then invent their own riddles for the class.
Exploring Mathematics
Sort Big Five picture cards into groups and count each; order elephant-buffalo-leopard-impala cards from biggest to smallest (seriation).
Creativity
Handprint elephants (hand sideways, thumb as trunk); grass-and-mud buffalo pictures glued on cardboard.
Physical & the World
Safari movement trail: stomp like an elephant, prowl like a leopard, leap like an impala, freeze like a buck that heard a twig.
⏰ Morning ring
- Welcome back! The Kruger Park is near us - what lives there?
- Meet the Big Five: lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo, rhino
- Wild animals and farm animals - how are they different?
- Rangers protect the animals - poaching steals from all of us
📖 Story
'The Elephant and the Tortoise' (African folk tale) - little Tortoise tricks boastful Elephant into a tug-of-war he cannot win. Small and clever beats big and boastful. Children hold the 'rope'.
🎵 Song
Original drum chant - first line: 'Big grey elephant walking slow' - children stamp the elephant rhythm as they chant.
🏃 Outdoor
'Ranger says' (Simon-says variant) followed by impala-and-lion tag inside a rope 'park' boundary.
💬 Words this week
lion elephant leopard buffalo rhino wild bush big
ibhubesi (isiZulu - lion)
nghala (Xitsonga - lion)
indlovu (isiZulu - elephant)
ndlopfu (Xitsonga - elephant)
ingwe (isiZulu - leopard)
yingwe (Xitsonga - leopard)
👁 Watch and record
Descriptive vocabulary (size, colour, skin, sound); ordering of 3-5 items by size without help.
🎓 Grade R stretch
Animal fact page: draw one animal, copy its name, sound out one fact; count animal legs in fours (4, 8, 12).
📱 Message home to parents
Theme: Wild Animals. Ask your child to name the Big Five. If you have ever been into Kruger or seen wild animals on the road, tell them that story tonight.
The whole year
14 January - 27 March 2026 (11 weeks, 53 school days; unified national calendar - no separate inland/coastal clusters in 2026)
Myself and My World: settling in, separation security, my body, senses, family and home. Colours red/blue/yellow/green, shapes circle/square/triangle, numbers 1-5.
8 April - 26 June 2026 (12 weeks, 54 school days; public holidays: Freedom Day Mon 27 Apr, Workers' Day Fri 1 May, special holiday Mon 15 Jun, Youth Day Tue 16 Jun)
My Community and the Working World: the people, places, helpers and transport around us, farm life, and winter. Numbers to 10, shape consolidation, positional language.
21 July - 23 September 2026 (10 weeks, 46 school days; National Women's Day observed Mon 10 Aug; Heritage Day 24 Sep falls in the holiday)
The Natural World and Our Heritage: wild animals, small creatures, water, plants, spring, birds, and Heritage Month. Numbers to 10 and beyond, patterns, measurement.
6 October - 9 December 2026 (10 weeks, 47 school days; learners close 9 Dec, educators 11 Dec)
The Wider World, Big Dreams and Celebration: life cycles, storms, sky, sea, money, aspirations, summer safety and the year-end concert. School readiness consolidation for Grade R.
