What Does A Grade R Teacher Do? Duties

What Does A Grade R Teacher Do? On this page, we will explore all the core duties of a Grade R Teacher in a South African context. The real official schooling in South Africa starts at Grade R. That’s when the little learners exit their creches door into becoming formal scholars of the Foundation Phase.

The main duties of a Grade R Teachers are not significantly different from those of a creche Teacher. However, here are the main key differences to note:

• Grade R Teachers follow a structured curriculum set by the Department of Basic Education,
• Grade R Teachers focus more on school readiness programmes and early literacy and numeracy skills.
• Grade R Teachers are required to have a specific teaching qualification, which is the Bachelor of Education in Foundation Phase (most recommended) offered at South African universities, or Early Childhood Development Diploma, offered by TVET Colleges. While crèche teachers focus specifically on general childcare, emotional support, and basic developmental activities with less focus on formal assessment and academic preparation of a child.

What Does A Grade R Teacher Do? Grade R Duties

Lets take a closer look at the main duties of a Grade R Teacher in South African classrooms, following a CAPS curriculum:

1. Prepares Daily Lesson Plans for Grade R Learners: Grade R Teachers prepare the daily plans for the learners, which often include: numbers, letters, shapes, and colours in a fun and structured way.
2. Facilitates Learning Through Play-Based Activities: Grade R Teacher is the main facilitator in class, making sure that the kids learn through Play-based activities in order to build language, social, and motor skills.
3. Monitors and Assesses Learner Development: Grade R Teachers keep the detailed records of every learner in class, and ensures that all the learning barriers and progress are noted.
4. Implements Classroom Routines and Discipline: Grade R Teachers set the timetable for daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal routines for learners.
5. Communicates with Parents and Guardians: Grade R Teachers a required to be effective communicators. This is very useful when they communicate with the little kids as well as the parents about their kids progress and behaviour at the school. Grade R learners are still totally dependant to their parents and teachers, therefore, effective communication from the Teachers about the learning progress, help both parents and learners.
6. Creates a Safe and Stimulating Learning Environment: Grade R Teachers are required to be creative and constantly stimulate curiosity and creativity amongst learners. Hence, Grade R classrooms ought to be visually stimulating and decorated in a way that evokes learning spirit among the learners.

Now, let’s look at the job description of a Grade R Teacher based in South Africa, in the following section.

Grade R Teacher Job Description Example

As you will see from most Grade R teaching positions, Grade R Teachers are required to have the following accreditations:

• a post matric certificate (NQF level 5) in ECD as a minimum or an undergraduate degree (NQF level 6) in ECD or B. Education (Foundation Phase)
• A PGCE would be necessary if the degree is deemed suitable viz Psychology
• SACE certification and a police clearance are requirements
• 2-5 years Teaching Experience
• Computer and digital literacy
• First Aid

Once you have the above requirements for the job, you may start applying for any Grade R taching positions.

Below is an example of a Grade R teacher job description:

Main Photo Credits: Candi’s Playschool