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
Birds
7 Sep – 11 Sep 2026
Week 31
Weavers, doves and hadedas are free science lessons overhead - observation, stillness and nest engineering.
Well-being
Bird-watching stillness: statues under the tree for two quiet minutes - count the birds you see and hear; calm attention practice.
Identity & Belonging
Birds at my home: who keeps chickens, who has a weaver tree, who gets woken by hadedas? Laugh and share the stories.
Communication
Bird-call copy-and-guess: dove 'coo-coo', hadeda 'haa-haa-haa' - then invent and teach the class's own secret bird call.
Exploring Mathematics
Clay nests with stone eggs: put exactly the right number of eggs in each numbered nest (1-10); sort feathers by size.
Creativity
Weave like a weaver: paper or grass weaving through slits in a cardboard loom; feather-and-glue bird collages.
Physical & the World
Flying formations: soar, glide, flap, dive, and land on one leg like a stork; 'birds in the nest' musical-hoops game.
⏰ Morning ring
- Birds around us: weavers, doves, hadedas, hornbills
- How the weaver weaves his nest - and why it hangs
- Eggs and hatching - how chicks break out
- We never throw stones at birds or take eggs from nests
📖 Story
'The Ugly Duckling' (Hans Christian Andersen, public domain) - the grey one grows into a swan. Gentle telling with a grey paper bird that flips over to reveal white.
🎵 Song
'Two Little Dicky Birds' (traditional finger rhyme) - first line: 'Two little dicky birds sitting on a wall'.
🏃 Outdoor
Team nest-building challenge: build a big nest from grass and twigs that holds a clutch of stone eggs without collapsing; bird-spotting walk.
💬 Words this week
bird nest egg wing fly feather sing hatch
inyoni (isiZulu - bird)
xinyenyana (Xitsonga - bird)
iqanda (isiZulu - egg)
tandza (Xitsonga - egg)
👁 Watch and record
Fine-motor weaving control; growth in stillness and attention span; matching numerals to quantities to 10.
🎓 Grade R stretch
Three-day bird count tally by type - which bird 'won'? Hunt for b-sound words and draw them.
📱 Message home to parents
Theme: Birds. Find one bird with your child this week - name its colours and copy its call. If there is a weaver nest nearby, show them how it hangs from the branch.
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.
