The motivation behind Smarties
In 1994 my husband and I moved to Hartbeespoort. We started our family in 1995 and soon became aware of the fact that there were no English preschools in Hartbeespoort. Our children had no choice but to attend an Afrikaans preschool. By Natliegh Strydom.
Through the years more and more English families moved to Hartbeespoort and I recognized the need to offer English day-care. Smarties was born as an English Playgroup in April of 2005. I sublet the Sunday-school room of the Gateway Christian Church, at Makalani. It was an uncertain time in my life, and I had many moments of self-doubt. I questioned my own experience and ability to take my idea to greater heights. My husband reassured me that my passion was powerful enough to launch such a necessary service to our community and fortunately, I took his advice to heart! I had no idea the school would grow as it did, or in the direction it did.
Just as things were really taking off a proverbial spanner was thrown into the works. I was given notice to vacate the church premises. I was absolutely crushed and seriously considered closing the Playgroup.
Thankfully, the Makalani owners offered me a little corner of their property and said they would put up a container classroom for me to operate from. This was such a motivation and I realised that there were people who believed in my vision. I could not let this hiccup get me down or stop me from providing a service that was clearly needed.
It was only in hindsight that I came to realise that had I not been asked to move out of the church, Smarties growth would have been stunted. I would never have been able to accommodate the number of children now requiring English early education and aftercare.
As Smarties grew, I had to change and adapt certain things to suit the growing need. I opened as a morning only playgroup with 3 children and currently have 110 children in what is now a registered full day Early Learning Centre and Aftercare. We had one classroom at the time, but now have four classes that accommodates children aged 2 to 6 years in the Early learning Centre. We follow a theme-based curriculum, and our learning activities are mostly play based. We aim to develop children holistically. We believe holistic development is the social, emotional, physical, mental, and intellectual growth of a child. Taking a holistic approach means focusing on all aspects of a child’s growth, not just their academic advancements. Most importantly, it’s about establishing the child’s overall wellbeing. The Aftercare offers after school care and holiday care. Lunch is provided and children are assisted with their homework.
Since opening Smarties, I have learnt and continue to learn so much. I am certain that both the school and I will continue to evolve as times and needs change. I am positive about the future and look forward to taking our little star to supernova status…
Contact us for more info Tel: 076 701 7072