Chesterhouse International School

A warm welcome to Chesterhouse International School – as a new, pioneering school in Durbanville, in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, we feel privileged to be a part of the most exciting educational facility in the area.

Chesterhouse International Schools

• Early Years
• Junior School
• College

Early Years

The Early Years educational philosophy which was developed internationally and which we believe and live at Chesterhouse ensures work with the key development areas of all children in the early age group – four years old to six years of age; it is in the year in which they are turning seven years old that we enrol children into Year 1:

• Every child is unique, and able to learn from birth to be resilient, capable, confident and self assured
• Through their relationships, children can learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with their parents and/ or a key person
• An enabling environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning
• Children learn and develop in different ways and at different rates and all areas of Learning and Development are equally important and inter connected

The Early Years phase at Chesterhouse comprises the Nursery and Reception classes. Our enrolment age is from four years old in Nursery to five years of age in our Reception classes. The number of children in our Nursery classes is 20, with a trained Nursery class teacher and a trained class assistant. The same number of children remains in the following year in the Reception classes with a trained Reception teacher.

Junior School

Children in our Junior School are exposed to the British International Curriculum incorporating the very best of the English and South African educational systems to develop a challenging and internationally recognised curriculum.

Chesterhouse provides education for boys and girls in English medium from the age of four years old in our Nursery class through to the end of the child’s time in our Junior School in Year 7. Following in the tradition of the English system we name our grades as Years – hence the terminology Year 1 to Year 7. Grades equate to Years for those that are familiar with the South African education system.

While our emphasis in Key Stage One which includes Years 1 and 2 is on Literacy, Numeracy and Science, children are exposed to a broad based curriculum. Music, Drama, Art, Computer Studies, History, Geography, Life Skills, Design and Technology, Physical Education and Religious Education are taught from Year 1, to which is added a wide range of extra mural activities and games.

In our Key Stage Two phase, classes range from Year 3 to Year 7. The curriculum continues in the same subjects and disciplines as per our 1st Key Stage. Afrikaans and French are the two second languages offered at the school and tuition in these begins in Year 3 and Year 5 respectively. The key emphasis remains on Literacy, Numeracy and Science.

From Year 5 onwards, children begin with quarterly Test Weeks preparing them for the examinations that are written in Year 7 and which continue in the Senior School.

We voluntarily participate in national Olympiads and our children always fare very well in these in subjects like Literacy, Mathematics and General Knowledge. A particular such competition, the Conquesta Olympiad is one that we are proud to participate in and excel as a Junior School.

Collage

At Chesterhouse we believe that academic support for those pupils that need assistance must be given at the school by our own teachers who know the pupils well and can identify with their particular barrier within a specific section of a specific subject. It is for this reason that we offer Core Curriculum clinics for English, Afrikaans, Mathematics and Science free of charge in the afternoons after school.

Clinics are taken by teachers that teach these subjects (often the Head of Department) and focus on the areas that pupils need assistance in. Pupils can elect to attend a clinic or the suggestion is made by the subject teacher in order to assist the pupil. Parents are informed if their child is requested to attend a clinic. This programme is on offer for all pupils in the College.

Chesterhouse International School Contact Details

Physical Address: Mosselbankriver Road, D’Urbanvale Estate Durbanville
Postal Address: P.O. Box 3915 Durbanville 7551
Postal Code: 7550
Telephone: +27(0)219756650
Mobile: +27(0)219756650
Fax: +27(0)219756649
Email: [email protected]