Your family, is our family at Curro Mount Richmore

With beautiful jungle gyms, obstacle courses, sandpits and classrooms filled with wonder and fun, the children at Curro Castle Mount Richmore are given the best possible start to their schooling career.

Opening their doors in 2017, the Castle is run by Jacqueline Clark and recently consolidated with Curro Castle eco kidz’ Carol Webster.

The two women are affectionately known as the “Queens of the Castle”.

Educational play and independent thinking are the building blocks upon which the school is built.

The curriculum is designed to equip and prepare children with the skills needed to excel in both South African and international schools, a factor that past parents who have since emigrated have found eased their transition into new schools abroad.

“With the philosophy of developing inquiring and creative minds, we believe our children are being well prepared for the future,” said Mrs Webster.

Jackie and Carol have created a close-knit family environment where parents can rest assured knowing their children are loved and cared for by dedicated teaching staff.

“Your family is our family,” said Mrs Clark, who says not only do the small class sizes benefit the children and make teaching easier, it also makes physical distancing easy to achieve.

The school is a well-oiled machine driven by world-class staff, including the likes of Group 1 teacher (from 3 months), Chantal Engelbrecht and Group 5 teacher (up to five years), Chantelle Smith.

Noting that she has the most important job in the world, teacher Chantal’s responsibilities include caring for and nurturing parents’ most precious possessions.

Teacher Chantal’s constant in-touch attitude with parents ensures that parents stay up-to-date on their child’s progress.

Teacher Chantelle said a lot of team planning went into the Curro Castle curriculum, which includes ELDAs.

ELDAs forms part of the national curriculum framework and stands for Early Learning Development Areas: well-being, identity and belonging, communicating, exploring Mathematics, creativity and knowledge and understanding of the world.

“I believe that each child needs to feel loved and safe in an environment in order to then have the ability to learn and grow,” said teacher Chantelle, who found her passion for teaching after leaving the corporate world.

“Teaching adults was not for me. I relate better to little people,” jokes teacher Chantelle (Group 5).

“We implore our parents to be a part of the school and for our teachers to be part of their children’s families,” said Mrs Clark.

Feedback from parents:

Suret van Dyk said that her children Jack and Harper both absolutely love their new school.

“The transition was smooth seeing that they are still with their same teachers which provided that consistency needed. This is so important in light of all the changes due to Covid-19. The teachers are loving and caring, yet still provide structure, discipline and the guidance needed,” said Suret.

“I have been impressed with the feedback and communication through WhatsApp due to us not being able to enter the school, based on Covid-19 regulations.”

Mother of only boys, Minette van der Merwe said her children have been part of the Curro family since early on, and that they thrive at Curro.

“The teachers really embrace their motto of ‘your family is our family’. The teachers are great with the kids. My eldest is fairly shy but at Curro he has grown to be a confident, happy little boy. The same goes for my youngest. He is growing up so fast and I am sure The Castle has a big part in that!”

“The staff really went out of their way to keep us updated during this pandemic and I feel so safe sending my boys there, especially during this trying time for all of us. They were there for us throughout the lockdown, providing us with support messages and trying to help where they can.”

The Curro Castle provides a nutritious breakfast, lunch and snack, reducing the daily hassle on parents, with after-care available until 5.30pm.

This state-of-the-art Castle is a home for children aged 3 months to 5 years and is part of a larger school campus that provides quality education in a family environment through to matric.

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