Term 3: The Newberry Environment (copy)
25 July 2026
Dear Newberry Community,
Welcome back to Term 3; we are excited to have you back!
Our focus this year is to continue enhancing our three basic pillars of education, environment and experience as we continue to grow and expand.
This term, our focus is on the second of these pillars: Environment. At Newberry, environment is about more than our physical surroundings. It includes how we intentionally prepare spaces that support each stage of development, how we steward our environment and how we create meaningful opportunities for connection.
1. Prepared environment
A key tenet of Montessori is creating a prepared environment - this refers to both the classroom and the outside environment.
During the holidays, our team worked on several projects to enhance the physical environment across different areas of our campus:
Pre-primary
A new grass area has been established between the Disa and Protea classes, and toilets have been added to the Pre-primary aftercare facility.
Elementary
Terraced areas have been created between the Lower Elementary classes, providing more flat spaces for the children’s outdoor environment and break time area.
Middle School
The area between the Middle School field and classrooms has been opened up, with flat, levelled spaces established to create an enhanced area for outdoor learning and community gatherings. As part of their practical construction work, a group of Middle School learners will also be building an outdoor chessboard.
High School
Work on the Science Laboratory is progressing well. The building is nearly ready for the installation of its internal equipment and facilities.
2. Environmental Stewardship
Earth stewardship is another core aspect of our Environment pillar. Newberry is committed to living out high standards of environmental responsibility, from making our own compost and using eco-friendly products to weeding by hand instead of relying on synthetic herbicides and pesticides.
Our aim is for our learners and families to think and live sustainably, becoming intentional stewards of the world around them.
To embed these principles more deeply, Newberry is developing and pioneering an Earth Stewardship Programme tailored to each plane of development and aligned with age-appropriate Montessori principles. We look forward to sharing more about this exciting initiative in due course.
3. The Spier environment
Our team has been hard at work putting final touches on the Spier campus as we prepare to open our first Toddler and Pre-primary classes.
Tours of the environment began this week, and our first Toddler and Pre-primary families will soon commence their observation visits. Subject to final approvals, we hope to open the campus in August.
You are welcome to share the link below with anyone who may be interested in the Spier campus. They can use it to register their interest, book a visit or receive updates about the campus’s development.
4. Virtual environment
We are also excited to announce the launch of our new Newberry website, created by DezignZA. A parent portal is currently being developed, and we will share further details shortly.
A media team has also joined us, and will be assisted by Middle Schoolers as part of their productions programme in creating and editing content; be sure to follow our social media platforms to see some of their work in action.
At a time when rapid advances in AI are reshaping our world, one of the most important abilities we can nurture in our learners is critical thinking. We want them to see technology as a tool for understanding and solving problems, while developing the judgement to use it in the right ways.
The prepared environment we seek to create at Newberry is ultimately one of connection: connection with real, tangible materials in our classrooms, authentic connection with one another, and a daily connection with nature in a beautiful, natural setting.
We believe that the ability to think critically and connect meaningfully will help our learners, and our wider community, to flourish as they navigate the opportunities and complexities of life.
Wishing you and your family a wonderful Term 3.
Kind regards,
 | Alistair Green Head of School |
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