If you don't mind asking, we are looking at a Curro soon (building blocks). Did you visit curro and talk with teachers etc to get a feel or did you directly apply on site (after perhaps word of mouth publicity etc) ?
Originally it was actually piss poor planning on our part 5 odd years ago when my daughter was born and we had secured no nursery by the time my wife went on maternity leave.
Rosen Castle which was an independent nursery at that stage had just been bought by Curro and was the only one to have a space for us and so we joined the system out of desperation as the closest option to my wife’s workplace.
I believe they then modelled all their other Castle schools on that one and started building more and so when we moved closer to the one in Brackenfell we decided to visit and see how it differed and then ultimately decided to make the switch as it’s within reasonable walking distance and so I could drop kids at school.
So I would highly recommend attending an open day to see what it’s about or scheduling a personal visit and a private meeting if you prefer.
We’ve been very happy with the system overall. It wasn’t all that expensive in reality when we only had one kid, but the moment they became two you have a bit of an anxiety attack on the first of every month and then get over it realising your kids are safe and well cared for compared to any mom and pop show around the corner which isn’t really all that much cheaper.
With the switch to Grade R and the primary school next year we looked at the costs again and when I look beyond money and consider the time and security and just lack of education that would go hand it hand with using a normal public school instead it doesn’t all add up and I’d rather bite the bullet and stick with Curro.
They are already doing robotics and will escalate that next year and down the line it rolls into programming and engineering concepts using Minecraft and Lego which is ultimately in my option where the jobs of the future will be.
By Grade 4 they start working on laptops for a large part of the curriculum but I believe year after year they move this forward so it might happen even earlier for my kids.
The only gripe I have is that as a non-religious household the Jesus push can be a bit in your face. It has varied from one year to another and teacher to teacher but it’s always there. I hope it peters out over time as there are actually loads of non-Christian and non-religious parents and children in the schools.
