Soul Action South Africa

Soul Action South Africa Facilitators of quality Reggio-inspired education, with innovative fees, that celebrates diversity. 1. VALUES – QUALITY, DIVERSE, ACCESSIBLE AND AFFORDABLE

3.1.

THE VISION – AN INTEGRATED AND EQUAL SOCIETY:

An equal and integrated South African society, which begins with citizens – children, their parent-carers, and the wider communities that they represent – learning how to live together, through the provision of education that is high quality, diverse and accessible (proximal & affordable).

2. ETHOS – INSPIRED BY A COMMUNITY-IN-UNITY:

As a leadershi

p, we worship a dynamically self-giving, social and unified God; who values, receives, honours, collaborates, and makes room for the other (McLaren 2012:130). As God’s image bearers, we reflect God’s essence by celebrating, encouraging and making space for agents of change (Tennent 2010:479), who agitate, imagine, innovate, create and co-construct justice and peace in the teeth of society’s structures (Bosch 1991:179).

3. Quality Education:
Research shows that quality education benefits from a child-centred, inquiry-based and Reggio Inspired approach to learning where children can develop 21st Century skills in the foundational literacies of mathematics, science, and languages of expression that include reading, speaking, writing, and ‘…drawing, painting, building clay and wire sculpture, shadow play, collage, dramatic play, music, and emerging writing, to name a few’ (Edwards et al, 2012:7). Children develop competencies as they respond to complex challenges creatively, critically and collaboratively, all within a context where the character qualities of curiosity, initiative, adaptability and leadership are valued (World Economic Forum, New Vision for Education, 2015). We are committed to being a school where the capabilities, creativity, curiosity and intelligence of every child is recognized and encouraged, as they actively participate in their education and development; voicing, shaping, forming and creating their future (Cagliari 2012:195). Quality education involves making space to unlock the potential that all children possess to be the co-creators of a future South Africa that is equal and integrated.

3.2. Diverse Education:
Facilitating diversity within the classroom is central to a school’s ability to offer quality education. Studies show that, ‘Diverse groups do best at complex problems and innovation when the facts aren’t clear: each individual’s perspective allows him or her to tackle challenges differently, and, when stuck, rely on others’ differing points of views to progress’ (The World Economic Forum, Why diversity is more important than Talent, 2018). We are therefore committed to establishing an approach to education that is intentionally inter-cultural, with a school where children, educators and parent-carers develop deeper understanding, appreciation and respect for all cultures through the mutual exchange of ideas about the past, present and future (Spring Institute, 2016). ‘We will find the future in places where new forms of human coexistence, participation, and co-participation are tried out....It is necessary for us to learn this unity in diversity, and this diversity in unity’(Rinaldi, 2001. Making Learning Visible: children as individuals and groups). As we seek, celebrate and embrace diversity, no one is left unchanged, because we all learn from one another (Spring Institute, 2016).

3.3. Accessible and Affordable Education:
As one of the top 10 countries in the world – in terms of cultural and ethnic diversity – at the tip of the most linguistically rich continent on the planet – with in excess of 2,000 languages – South Africa has one of the most sought after resources required to facilitate what ought to be one of the world’s best education systems: Diversity. To facilitate a diverse, quality education, that is accessible across South Africa’s socio-economic divides – which currently dictate that, ‘…if you’ve got money, you have a better education’ (Gallie 2015) – requires proximity to diverse communities and an innovative fee structure. Calculating school fees on an income-based sliding scale increases access to quality and diverse education, which nurtures the foundational literacies in a character-building context that develops the competencies that every child requires to thrive in the 21st Century.

4. HABITS – HOW WE PUT IT ALL INTO PRACTICE

4.1. The image of the child:
Every child is a unique individual who is capable, intelligent, creative and curious. To fulfil their potential children need to be active participants in their learning and development. In our school, educators will work alongside / with students to determine what should be learnt and how best to learn it. A child-centred inquiry-based approach ensures greater involvement and sustains interest; learners discover for themselves in authentic situations, constructing knowledge with others. Our approach will enable children to develop knowledge, understanding and skills which are necessary to fulfil their aspirations and relevant for today’s society; competencies such as critical thinking / problem-solving, creativity, communication and collaboration.

4.2. Staff posture:
In order to believe, encourage, and support children – as they fulfil their potential – educators, like students, need to see themselves as capable, creative, curious, intelligent and active participants as they teach, learn and develop. Educators model what it means to be life-long learners as they dialogue, listen, observe, provoke learning, research, respect thinking, welcome questions, and work with each students’ unique cultural experiences, ideas and views. To ensure an intercultural context of exploration, teaching and learning, staff plan, teach, review, reflect and re-plan collaboratively.

4.3. The Environment:
The school environment provokes learning and discovery by making space for children to experiment, explore, and express their creativity. Our learning environment is adaptable, changing, emerging, full of possibilities, interconnected, limitless, open, always varied, with different levels, perspectives and points of view; reflecting our beliefs about life and education. Children will be encouraged to use various learning spaces, and move freely between disciplines, both inside and outside. The built-environment will be conducive to the cognitive, physical, spiritual and socio-emotional development of 21st Century character qualities such as curiosity, initiative, persistence, adaptability, leadership and social / cultural awareness.

4.4. Relationships with parent-carers:
Establishing, sustaining and developing quality, diverse and accessible education is the shared responsibility of the school’s leadership and staff team, the child, and their parent-carers / the wider community. Research shows that where parent-carers are co-learning, committed and contributors to their child's education, children are more motivated (Okeke, 2014). As leaders and staff of a quality, diverse and accessible school, we’re intentional about developing genuine, meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships with parent-carers, and the communities they represent, by prioritising practices, rhythms, and ‘ways of being’ that accommodate, celebrate and promote relationships that are welcoming, inclusive and life-enriching for all.

This article explains clearly the benefits of music and coding as we support children to flourish.
22/06/2025

This article explains clearly the benefits of music and coding as we support children to flourish.

Want smarter kids? Teach them music, not coding, says MIT—discover the surprising benefits! 🎶

In reflecting on the term we considered what we were thankful for.Collectively we created a mind map.  Individually we e...
20/06/2025

In reflecting on the term we considered what we were thankful for.
Collectively we created a mind map. Individually we each recorded on pieces of card what we were thankful for, shared with the rest of the group and hung them on a branch to create a thankful tree.

Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance

In considering how to look after their bodies, Foundation Phase kept a diary of the exercise they did over a week.The ch...
12/06/2025

In considering how to look after their bodies, Foundation Phase kept a diary of the exercise they did over a week.

The children worked together to organise the data into a pictogram. They created their own symbols, decided on the scale and drew the grid.

Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance

Over a six-week period the children in Foundation Phase (our 6- to 9-year-olds) explored the concept of hope.  They comm...
07/06/2025

Over a six-week period the children in Foundation Phase (our 6- to 9-year-olds) explored the concept of hope. They communicated their ideas, hypotheses and developing understanding in relation to hope, culminating in an event ‘Africanarra’ where the children shared some of their learning journey with their parent-carers and the school community.

At the start of the project, we asked the children ‘What is hope?’ and ‘What do you think of when you hear the word hope?’ Verbally and pictorially the children expressed their initial thoughts. The documentation revealed the children’s thinking moved from hope being linked to material possessions, to achievements, to references to societal change. Children were relating hope to God. They were questioning the effect of hope. Their questions included:

* What is hope?
* What can the word hope mean other than wish?
* Why is hope a special word?
* Why is the word hope used in the Bible?
* Why do people use hope so much?
* What does hope stand for?
* How does the word hope help you for what you want or wish for?
* If I hope for something, will it come?
* Does hope bring something to life?
* Why do we need hope?

As a staff team we discussed potential interpretations and considered ways to relaunch learning. To encourage the children to go deeper and express themselves through a different language, they were invited to create and name a colour to represent hope. The names included:

* Nature Flow
* Orange Snow
* Hope Keeper
* Purple Beauty
* A future Life
* Green Lights
* Rainbow
* Unicorn Dust

We specifically pushed in to considering why they thought people hope. The children started to acknowledge people hope because they want something to change; people have a reason to hope. They wondered if there was a difference between a hope and a wish. They questioned the relationship between hope and prayer; can we pray for something we hope for?

To relaunch learning we explored the difference between a wish and a hope. One child summarised the thinking by saying; ‘The difference between our wishes and hopes is that wishing it might not happen, hoping it might happen’. The children related wishing to something magical, and hope to possibility.

The children were encouraged to record pictorially and in words in what ways Jesus is hope. In reflecting on the images and words the children wrote potential lines for a song and these were collated to form the song, ‘Hope for every day’.

As a class we heard the story of ‘Choices that change lives’. The children loved listening to the author tell her story. This provoked them to consider how they can be part of the solution. They began to identify the changes they hope to see in their contexts, communities and the world, and the actions they can take. Each child was able to record their hope and action on film.

In reflecting on the project, the children identified they:
*Enjoyed: creating colours, hearing the story ‘Choices that change lives’, writing their shared story ‘Holding on to Hope’, praying together and sharing with their parents
* wanted to Remember: how they sat in the circle of democracy and shared their hopes, writing their own stories of hope, their actions, the song ‘Hope for every day’ and the afternoon with their parents
* Learned: a wish and a hope are different – a hope is likely to come true when we take action, and that the smallest things (pen, paper) in the right hands can make a difference.

The project did provoke further questions (which we might return to later in the year):
* If we didn’t have hope what would life be like?
* If we didn’t have hope what would our world be like?
* Is hope a message?
* Why does hope make most people happy?
* Where did the idea of hope come from?
* How is the world going to be good without hope?

The project also highlighted areas to explore further in the following weeks: how to look after each other and our world.

Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance

Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance
02/06/2025

Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance

25/05/2025

Africanarra 2025 is the Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance’s (AREA) annual story telling initiative in which Reggio Emilia inspired schools in Africa can participate by co-creating their own story telling events over the weekend of 23 – 25 May 2025 for “Through the Eyes of a child: Everything is Possible”

Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance

Send a message to learn more

Africanarra 2025 is the Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance’s (AREA) annual story telling initiative in which Reggio Emilia in...
24/05/2025

Africanarra 2025 is the Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance’s (AREA) annual story telling initiative in which Reggio Emilia inspired schools in Africa can participate by co-creating their own story telling events over the weekend of 23 – 25 May 2025 for “Through the Eyes of a child: Everything is Possible”

Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance

As we have considered how to look after our bodies the children have had many wonderings in relation to food:Why do wate...
17/05/2025

As we have considered how to look after our bodies the children have had many wonderings in relation to food:

Why do watermelons have seeds? (RD)
Why do strawberries have black seeds on the outside? (EB)
Why do apples grow on trees? (RD)
I wonder why seeds are in watermelon. (KN)
Why are fruits mostly not brown? (RN)
What’s inside our food? (EP & IN)
What is in food that makes it healthy? (SS)
Does fruit have sugar in it? (AS)
What types of vitamins do we need? (AS)
Why do we need vitamins? (NN-F & NN-M)
What types of fats are there? (AS)
Why do we need fats? (SM & NN-M)
Why do we need protein? (SM, AS & IN)
What foods have protein? (SS)
Why do we need calcium in our food? (NN-M)
Why does calcium make our teeth healthy? (IN)
Why is calcium healthy? (RN)

In response, we have read a book about plants and learnt about the different parts we can eat.

We have looked at, and compared a number of fruit and vegetables, considering how we could group them. The children recognised the variety of colours and so we thought how they might contain different vitamins.

We made date balls to give to our moms for Mother’s Day.

We have measured the mass of fruits and vegetables, and recognised how sometimes a small object can have the same mass as a big object.

We have watched a video on food groups and discovered why we need particular kinds of food.

Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance

Africanarra 2025 is the Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance’s (AREA) annual story telling initiative in which Reggio Emilia in...
13/05/2025

Africanarra 2025 is the Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance’s (AREA) annual story telling initiative in which Reggio Emilia inspired schools in Africa can participate by co-creating their own story telling events over the weekend of 23 – 25 May 2025 for “Through the Eyes of a child: Everything is Possible”

Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance

13/05/2025
At the moment Foundation Phase are learning about food.  The children had such fun making date balls and creating unique...
11/05/2025

At the moment Foundation Phase are learning about food. The children had such fun making date balls and creating unique gift tags for their moms.

Happy Mother’s Day to all our moms. Thank you for everything you do to make sure we are safe, loved and nurtured. We love you.

Africa Reggio Emilia Alliance

I wonder what we might be thinking about tomorrow?
06/05/2025

I wonder what we might be thinking about tomorrow?

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Ballitoville
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Quality, Diversity and Accessible

The Vision:

An equal and integrated South African society, which begins with citizens – children, their parents-carers, and their wider communities – learning how to live together, through the provision of education that is high quality, diverse and accessible (proximal & affordable).

Quality Education:

Research shows that quality education requires a child-centred inquiry-based approach to learning where children can develop 21st Century skills in the foundational literacies like science, technology, math, and languages – not just ‘spoken’ languages, but through a variety of medium, such as ‘…drawing, painting, building clay and wire sculpture, shadow play, collage, dramatic play, music, and emerging writing, to name a few’ (Edwards et al, 2012:7).