Early

Childhood

Development

WELCOME AND OVERVIEW

  NATIONAL CERTIFICATE / WALDORF PROGRAMME (LEVEL 4)

  HIGHER CERTIFICATE / WALDORF PROGRAMME (LEVEL 5)

  ADMISSIONS PROCEDURE

  FEES

  STAFF

Early childhood – the first six or seven years of a child’s life – is marked by a sense of wonder and natural curiosity. In these crucial years a child learns many vital life skills, develops human relationships and attitudes to learning that inform the rest of their life. 

Realising the tremendous importance of early childhood development, the Centre for Creative Education (CCE) embarked on training carers and teachers working at Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres (educares/kindergartens/preschools) in township communities. We train more than 100 women each year. The training we offer equips ECD carers and teachers to nurture and guide children with loving confidence through these vital formative years.

In our training programme you will learn:

• How children’s senses are awakened to the world around them, and how to meet their developmental needs at each stage, equipping them for life and learning.
• How to establish a loving and creative atmosphere in which to nourish the children’s natural reverence for the goodness of life.
• How to guide children to become individual, thinking, independent human beings in society.   

Our training focuses on child development, as well how teachers can establish their own programmes for creative and holistic teaching. We explore the wonders of childhood through art, movement, music, story-making and -telling, handwork and crafts. This empowers teachers to share their enthusiasm with the children in their care.

The participants in our ECD training are typically already working in an ECD centre. When they come to CCE they bring a wealth of experience to bear on some of the more abstract concepts of the programme. Understanding ourselves as human beings is taught alongside learning to tell stories, good nutrition and creating a safe and wholesome physical space. 

NATIONAL CERTIFICATE
WALDORF PROGRAMME
(LEVEL 4)

Every module of this course (as well as the Level 5 Higher Certificate) includes songs, verses and games with appropriate gestures. Artistic work consisting of painting, drawing, clay modelling, and eurythmy (movement) is included in each module of both programmes, as well as handwork and craft projects such as making toys and books. 

Students learn how to present these wonderfully exciting experiences to the children in their care as enjoyable, developmentally valuable activities. The modules are as follows:

• Foundation Knowledge for the Education of Preschool Children (the “three golden rules” of Waldorf child education, a study of the human being as the starting point for holistic education, creating a nurturing environment for the child).

• Play as a Primary Learning Activity (nature as basis for play equipment, child play and child development, puppetry to enhance play and language, promoting and managing safe, healthy play).

• Creating a Healthy, Healing, Harmonious Learning Environment (what makes a good day for the children? Daily rhythms and routines, health and nutrition, assisting with basic administration and management).

• Planning the Year – Seasons and Festivals (curriculum planning based on the seasons, seasonal activities using stories, nature tables and decoration, designing and celebrating festivals for each season).

• The Importance and Purpose of a Well-planned Morning Ring for Each Day (plan and compile creative, imaginative ring times, weaving movement, song and rich language, seasonal themes, with developmentally appropriate content, present the morning ring as a lively and joy-filled learning experience). 

• The Art of Storytelling and the Development of Early Literacy Skills (from memories of the stories of childhood to types of stories to tell children appropriate to their age, telling stories, and making stories, dramatisation and puppets, the importance of books for children, choosing suitable books, using books in the classroom).
  

HIGHER CERTIFICATE
WALDORF PROGRAMME
(LEVEL 5)

The Level 5 programme follows on from the Level 4 studies and enables the ECD student to draw on a deepened knowledge of content to plan a healthy, healing and stimulating programme for children. Meanwhile the artistic work continues. The modules are as follows:

• Learning Readiness (an understanding of the foundation developmental needs towards life-long learning and development, observation, and assessment of readiness for formal primary learning).

• Language (a study of the importance of language in developing thinking skills, use of language to awaken free and creative intellectual processes for life).

• Numeracy (plan, implement and evaluate a developmentally appropriate numeracy learning programme to Grade R level).

• Literacy (an understanding of the historical development of writing and the intellectual development of children enables planning, implementation and evaluation of a literacy learning programme to Grade R level).

• Programme Planning (planning (long-term, short-term and daily basis, taking differing community, cultural and other needs into consideration).

• Child Development (development as revealed in children’s drawings, play, language use).

• Essential Bases for Life-long Learning (the 12 senses in the programme, function and importance).

• Safety, Health, Nutrition & Children with Special Needs (compiling and implementing safety, nutrition and health policies taking into account culture, community and socio-economic influences).

• Administration and Management (establish, maintain administration and management procedures)

• The Development of Human Values (guiding development of reverence, love, respect and wonder as a basis for moral action in later life, embracing human rights, freedom of thought, responsibility in democracy and respect for the environment).
  

ACCREDITATION

Centre for Creative Education is an accredited provider of Higher Education, registered with the Department of Higher Education and training (2000/HE08/003). This includes the Higher Certificate in Early Childhood Development (Level 5).

The Certificate in Early Childhood Development (Level 4) is offered with accreditation by the ETDP-SETA, which is also the certifying body.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1. National Certificate in Early Childhood Development (Level 4) / Waldorf Educare Programme (Level 4):

• Two years part-time training.
• Entry: Grade 9 or equivalent.

2. Higher Certificate in Early Childhood Development (Level 5) / Waldorf Advanced ECD Programme (Level 5):

• Two years part-time training.
• Entry: Matric / completed Level 4.
  

To receive a course brochure and to book an appointment, contact us through the details on our CONTACT page. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, worldwide.

Application Process

Download an application form below, request one on email or collect a form from our campus.

Only completed application forms along with the following documents will be considered:

• ID document or birth certificate (certified) / passport (certified for foreign students)
  
• Most recent academic results including certificates/qualifications (certified)
• Application fee

Once we have received your application, you will receive an email acknowledging receipt thereof.

After reviewing your application, you will receive an email informing you of one of the following:

• You have been asked to come in for an interview.
• You unfortunately have not been accepted. You have either not met the minimum entrance requirements for the course, or that the course is full.

Interviews

If you have been invited to an interview, you will be contacted to arrange a time. As part of the interview process, you might be required to write a literacy and numeracy test.

After the interview

Once you have completed your interview, you will receive an email informing you of one of the following:

• You have been accepted to register. You should pay the acceptance fee to secure your place.
• You have been accepted to register, pending the submission of your final results. You should pay the acceptance fee to secure your place.
• You are on a waiting list.
• You have unfortunately not been accepted. You have either not met the minimum entrance requirements or the course is full.

Registration Process

Applicants under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

The following documents must be submitted on registration:

• Acceptance Letter
• Registration Form
• Contract, which includes the Finance Agreement
• Student Code of Conduct Form
• POP that the registration fee has been paid

Bursary

Please note that you can only apply for a bursary after you have been accepted into the course.

Should you be applying for a bursary the following additional documents are required:

• Application for Financial Support Form

For more information, please contact us by email, or phone us on 021 797 6802

FEES

MARIA MSEBENZI

Maria is the Head of the Early Childhood Development (ECD) department, with 15 years’ experience as a teacher trainer. Prior to joining the CCE she was a Waldorf kindergarten teacher in Khayelitsha for five years. Maria is a qualified assessor and moderator who has a primary teaching diploma and has completed the foundation year towards a BEd degree. “Teaching is a vocation for me,” she says. “I strive to motive and equip the students with the tools to be able to transform lives of the children in their care for the better.” What she likes best about the CCE programmes is their endeavour to incorporate the essence of humanity into teaching.

CAROLINE JOSEPH

Caroline says she is a designer at heart, and her 30 years’ work experience in the advertising industry is conclusive proof of this. She adds that she is an extremely organized person who thrives on spaces with a sense of beauty and harmony – both fitting attributes to bring into the world of Waldorf. She has worked as a Waldorf kindergarten teacher and in an administrative role at the Gaia and Imhoff schools. Now at the CCE she lectures in Early Childhood Development, is also a trained Bridging Polarities Through Art facilitator, as well as being a life skills coach and Kundalini yoga teacher. Of her six-year stint as a restaurant manager on the Greek island of Ios, she reflects that this time was educational as she gained so much in terms of understanding many different kinds of people. “I discerned what makes them tick, their likes and dislikes, and how to communicate with them all,” she recalls.

NOKHANYILE MAQUNGO

Nokhanyile began working at the CCE in 2007, having attained her ECD Levels 4 and 5 Certificates. Her main aim, she says, is to pass on her own passion for and knowledge of child development to each new generation of teachers, not only academically but also through her love of crafts. “I became a teacher to learn more about child development and understand the child as a whole,” she admits. “I like working in the educares and communities by changing the environment in which the children live.” She strives to be a good citizen by creating a healthy environment for early childhood with my colleagues and communities.

NOMATHEMBA TINDLINI

Nomathemba is the Birth to Three Year course coordinator, handwork facilitator and teacher-trainer mentor. She has an ECD Level 5 Certificate, as well as a Level 5 Assessor Certificate. Her journey to the CCE began when she worked as a nanny for Waldorf parents, which then led her to work as a kindergarten assistant at Michael Oak for five years. She says she loves working at the CCE because there she can reach out to communities while mentoring teachers, as well as through running workshops with parents. Her dream is,  she says (as do many of her colleagues), to see the CCE funded by the state this allowing many more teachers to train for, and that many more children to benefit from, a Waldorf education.

ANN SHARFMAN

Ann Sharfman has lived and worked in Cape Town most of her life. She studied through University of South Africa (UNISA), focusing on history, psychology and pre-primary education. She has worked as a secretary, Waldorf kindergarten teacher, Summer Camp facilitator (Canada), Theatre Costume Designer (won awards), and Early Childhood Development Teacher Trainer at the Centre for Creative Education (Cape Town), in East Africa and China. Currently Ann works part-time for the East African Steiner Waldorf Teacher Training (Kindergarten) and for the Centre for Creative Education, Early Childhood Development Mentor/Advisor and Internal Moderator. Ann loves to travel and is fascinated by historical costume and social history – customs and mores, rich colours, fabrics and textures. She reads avidly, enjoys language, wears size 4 ½ shoes, creates puppets and their stories, and dream theatre.

VANESSA SAMUELS

Vanessa, the Early Childhood Development (ECD) department Academic Administrator, has a background in banking with a strong passion for both adult and early childhood education. Vanessa has completed her Waldorf Early Childhood development certificate, Level 4, and spent some time living in Reichelsheim im Odenwald, Germany as a volunteer working at a local kindergarten. She has been part of the team at CCE since June 2017. With a deep passion for her work, an eagerness to learn and a wide range of skills to draw from, Vanessa continually pushes herself to continually upgrade her skill set and has also stepped up to facilitate the Mathematics Literacy Class for the Level 4 ECD Certificate. In her free time Vanessa loves to explore small hidden restaurants and gems with her family locally and abroad and enjoys getaways to her family’s small holding in the Overberg.

ZOLEKA KHUTSHWA

Zoleka started her journey as a volunteer in 1994 in a government preschool in the township. She was fascinated by the development of the child and decided to study further by doing the Educare course at the Centre for Creative Education (CCE) while continuing her work at the preschool. In 1998 Zoleka was appointed at CCE as a fieldworker and further developed her career by receiving training in becoming an ECD trainer too. She has interspersed her work as a trainer with working as a Kindergarten teacher at Dassenberg Waldorf School in Atlantis, where she worked in 2002-2003. It was after this that she realised that she was passionate about training students too much to stop, so she came back to Cape Town, continued teaching and opened an Educare behind her house.