Masakhane Creche and Development Centre was founded in May 2004 to provide classrooms, teaching, aftercare, meals and accommodation.

Mrs Grace Ndlovu founded Masakhane Creche and Development Centre in May 2004, starting in a shack, later developing into a one-roomed facility, to where the centre is today, a fully fledged facility housing over 147 infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

We recognize that the first six years of a child’s life is a time of rapid growth in areas pertaining to language, grasping concepts and developing social, emotional and motor abilities.

The environment in which the child grows and develops is of paramount importance as it has a powerful bearing on how the child develops and what the child learns. Mrs Grace Ndlovu saw how many children lacked a stable, healthy and positive environment for their development and decided to make a difference in her community.

The centre occupies one hectare of land. There are five classrooms for the respective age groups. We also have a playroom, and two outdoor play areas. The courtyard play area is padded to ensure that the kids are safe from physical injury.

The kids that attend our centre are drawn from a large catchment area from the areas:  Thembalihle, Eastwood, Madiba, Cinderella and Tabovville.

The centre was established with the prime aim of improving primary school readiness of infants, reducing schools dropout rates, enhancing higher labour force productivity for parents as well as integrating the infants into society.

In South Africa Early Childhood Development (ECD) is recognised as a critical area for development. Structure and routine are important for young children as this reinforces feelings of safety, familiarity and teaches them to follow rules.

Masakhane Creche hails from humble beginnings, but today it has a proud enrollment of 147 infants. Categorised as follows.

• 20 (0-18 month)
• 29 (RRR Class; 2-3 years)
• 20 (RR Class; 3 years)
• 36 (RR Class; 4 years)
• 39 (R Class 5-6 years)

Children are under the care of five qualified teachers and the Principal. A gardener, cook, security officer and cleaner brings the headcount of employees to ten (10).

Funding

The centre is sustained by a subsidy from DSD as well as fees from paying parents.

We have set up a community garden within our premises. The garden has become a revenue stream for us as we sell our produce to the community around us.

Daily Activities

Structure and routine is important for young children to reinforce feelings of safety, familiarity and teaches children to follow rules.

This is what a typical day looks like:

MORNING

AFTERNOON