Recognition that is easy to give
A certificate takes a minute to make here, so it can mark small wins as well as the end of the year: a first chapter book, a week of kindness, a tricky times table.CAPS links
- Grade RAssessment is informal and based on observation, with no tests, so recognition rests on what the teacher sees each day.
- Grades 1–3Paired and independent reading of picture books, simple fiction and non-fiction is part of the reading programme, a fair basis for a reading award.
CAPS does not cover awards, but certificates fit the way it asks Foundation Phase teachers to notice progress. In Grade R, where the policy rules out test situations, a certificate is a friendly way to tell a family what their child has learned without giving a mark.
Make an award specific to something your class has worked on: bonds to 10 known by heart, a first reader finished in group guided reading, or neat joined writing in Grade 3. The end of each term is a natural moment to hand them out.
Summarised in our own words from the DBE’s CAPS for English Home Language and for Mathematics, Foundation Phase (2011).
