Term 3 at Newberry | Message from Alistair
28 September 2026
Dear Newberry community,
Thank you for the continued support and partnership you have shown over this past term.
Our broader 2026 theme has been focusing on our core as we grow, and I am excited to share a few highlights with you on how we have done so across key areas.
Practically, this has meant continually improving the quality of our educational offering, investing in the environments and experiences that support it, and ensuring that as we grow, we strengthen what makes us distinctively Newberry.
EDUCATION
Authentic Montessori education lies at the heart of our offering at Newberry House. We are therefore very excited to be one of 12 pilot schools across the world for the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Global Schools Accreditation programme (GSA). We look forward to an enriching experience as our team works with other Montessori schools and mentors from across the world.
As part of continually improving our practice and our commitment to authentic Montessori standards, we are also committed to AMI training for our team on top of their existing training and experience.
This term, Melanie Moodie, our HOD for Toddlers and Pre-primary, started the first module of the AMI 6-12 Diploma course. Four members of our Elementary team, including our two interns, are also currently doing the second module of the AMI 6-12 Diploma.
Preliminary exams also took place this past term for our High School students. We wish our IGCSE and AS level students all the best as they enjoyed an earlier holiday before returning this week for their final Cambridge exams.
Another highlight was learner-led conferences, where our learners gave their parents demonstrations of the materials in Elementary and talked them through their reports in Middle School.
Together, these initiatives reflect a deliberate investment in the quality of our Montessori practice, the depth of our team, our commitment to Cambridge standards and giving our learners the opportunity to own their learning.
ENVIRONMENT
We have focused on our prepared environment, our virtual environment and environmental stewardship this past term.
Environmental stewardship is not an add-on at Newberry, but an integral part of our culture and offering across all age groups. Everyday examples were shared at the Pre-primary parent evening; Elementary has taken ownership by making planter boxes for their environments, and Middle School has been constructing a natural amphitheatre in the forest behind the school. A big thank you as well to everyone involved with the recent beach cleanup.
Our physical environment is also constantly being enhanced. Our new Science lab is nearing completion and various parts of the grounds have been upgraded over the past term. A major project that will commence in the next term is the preparation of two new buildings that will add capacity to our growing Middle School.
The virtual environment at Newberry has also been improved. If you have not recently visited our website, take a look at www.newberry.co.za, which also includes an interactive calendar feature and a parent back-end that will be coming soon.
The investment in our physical, ecological and virtual environments will both enhance our current offering and prepare us for future growth.
EXPERIENCE
At Newberry, we not only learn through academics, but also through rich experiences that will stay with our learners and form a major part of their development.
Our Grade 11s have been fantastic ambassadors for Newberry during their recent work experience, organised completely by themselves with a variety of local professionals. Experiences included engineering, sports science, biochemistry, cattery, property, medicine, physiotherapy, interior design and piloting.
The Lourensford cellar has been hosting the Newberry Art Exhibition through August and September, exhibiting top-quality art pieces from our Middle and High School students under the guidance of Karna de Villiers.
We also celebrated two milestones as learners enter a new season of life. Our matrics celebrated their official last day of school before exams by visiting each plane as they reflected on their journey through Newberry, and our Grade 9s celebrated their last two days of Middle School by hiking up to Johnson’s Hut, from where they hiked up the beautiful Sneeukopkloof. This experience showed them that they are able to climb literal and metaphorical mountains as a team, and that they are ready to enter their next stage.
This season, we also saw tremendous growth in our soccer and netball teams, and hosted a successful mountain bike relay event from the school. All our learners in Elementary and Middle School also experienced cricket in our new facility with the FP Elite coaches, and we are very excited to see how cricket grows as a sport at Newberry.
A dedicated media team, which has also been mentoring our Middle Schoolers, has been documenting many of these highlights through video and interviews on our social media platforms. If you are not already following us, these are a great way to stay connected with what is happening across Newberry.
NEWBERRY AT SPIER
Our theme of focusing on our core as we grow is especially relevant in our next chapter, as our second campus at Spier begins to take shape.
After much preparation, we are excited that Newberry at Spier will be opening on the 12th of October for Toddlers and Pre-primary.
Tours run on Wednesdays at 13:00 and if you are curious to see the new campus, or know of someone who may be interested, you are welcome to book a slot through our new website.
As the second campus opens, we are committed to further strengthening our core offering so that communities served by both campuses benefit from authentic Montessori and Cambridge education in a beautifully prepared environment, through real-life learning experiences.
As we enter the final term, our focus remains on finishing the year strongly at Lourensford while establishing Spier well and continuing to strengthen the foundations for 2027.
I would like to thank our team for a fantastic Term 3: our educators, for the passion with which they prepare the next generation each day; our admin team, for the support they provide behind the scenes; our facilities team, who provide a pristine prepared environment for us to enjoy and our aftercare team for the service they provide throughout the term and holidays.
To our parents: thank you for your support over this past term. It is an honour to be on this journey with you and your family.
Kind regards,
 | Alistair Green Head of School |
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