For parents and guardians of the Silverwood Primary School students doing the Class 6, Term 4 project. You don’t need to do anything. This page explains what your child is working on, so you know what to expect.
What changed on 26 October
We have made the project simpler. The children will no longer write letters to organisations, interview anyone outside the school, or present to a panel. They now make two things together: a map of the valley, made as one combined poster in class, and a short plan for the work and income that could come from holding more water in the valley. Each child keeps their theme. If your child started a letter in Week 2, it stays in their Field Book and won’t be sent.
What the project is
For six weeks, from 12 October to 20 November 2026, your child and their classmates are studying a real question: if our valley held more of the rain that falls on it, what work would that create, who would pay for it, and what must be true before anyone could start? It applies what they learned in Term 3 about the TIME model and Commitment Pooling.
A large bond (a kind of loan that investors buy) called the Cape Water Performance-Based Bond pays for clearing invasive trees from the mountains around Cape Town’s dams. The trees drink a great deal of water, and clearing them puts water back into the streams. Our valley sits below Theewaterskloof Dam, so nobody yet knows whether work done here could count toward that bond. The children look for a way in, and say honestly what stands in the way.
What the class makes
- The Valley Map. One combined poster of the valley, made in class. Each child adds a layer: the rivers and the dam, healthy and damaged land, the old water places, where the work would happen, where the water would be measured, the road the money would travel, and the organisations working in the valley.
- A leaky dam for every child. In Week 3 each child uses Google Earth to find a gully where they would build a leaky dam: a low wall of stones, logs or packed branches that slows rainwater so it soaks into the soil. They plan what they would build around it and what activities they would offer there, and pick one other way the valley could earn, such as growing vegetables for Greyton’s restaurants. This needs a computer or tablet and about 45 minutes with a grown-up. The class map is here: https://earth.google.com/earth/d/1PejJJkRHA_WrwYwdKrSeea92u3q3vp9y?usp=sharing. The children look on screen only and won’t visit or build at their sites.
- The Valley Water Plan. A short plan, one part from each child, each written on a simple plan card: what we would do, where, who could do it, what it gives the valley, and what must be true first. The last part lists everything the class still doesn’t know.
At the end of the project the children show the poster and tell the plan to their families and the school. Each child tells their own part in about two minutes. The school will confirm the date, time and place.
How the children work: Do, Tell, Think
- Do. Every week begins with something the children make or try with their hands: pouring water on soil, building in sand, measuring rain, growing a seedling, playing games with beans and wool.
- Tell. Each child tells what they did to a grown-up at home, in their own words.
- Think. Only then do the children sort what they found and make up their minds.
Each child keeps a Field Book, in the style of their main lesson books. Every week they add one large drawing or painting and three facts, each tied with a coloured thread: blue (checked twice), yellow (the organisation’s own word) or red (not yet checked).
Kinship Fridays
The guided sessions take place on Fridays, when the children are outdoors all day at Kinship. Please send your child dressed for the weather.
The weeks ahead at home
About two hours a week. Your child’s own page lists each week’s tasks.
Every child needs a computer or tablet for the leaky dam task in Week 3.
| Child | Map layer and part of the plan | Things you may be asked to find this term |
|---|---|---|
| Mikiya | Healthy and damaged land; Holding more water | Two trays, soil, leaf litter, a jug, cups |
| Annabella | The dam and the rivers; Our valley’s water | A water bill, or a few minutes to explain who you pay for water |
| Evan | The money road; Where the money comes from | Dried beans, two bowls |
| Ayden | Measuring places; How we would know | A clear plastic bottle, a ruler, a marker, a stone, and help with cutting the bottle |
| Zara | The old water places; What the valley did before | A visit to or a photo of an old water place, such as the leiwater |
| Gracey | Where the work happens; Who does the work | Her seedling from Week 1, and a few minutes to tell her what you had to learn for your own work |
| Sam | Organisation flags; Who promises what | Cards, coloured markers, and family members willing to play a party |
| Week | Friday | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 October | The Raindrop’s Road |
| 2 | 23 October | Who Lives Along the River |
| 3 | 30 October | Lay Out the Valley |
| 4 | 6 November | Hold the Water |
| 5 | 13 November | Make the Plan |
| 6 | To be confirmed | Show the Valley |
Safeguards
- The children don’t contact any organisation. They talk with their families and the adults at school.
- The plan may say an organisation could do some work. It never says an organisation has agreed or been asked.
- The map shows places and water. It does not show who owns land.
- Silverwood’s own child-protection and outdoor rules apply wherever they say more.
A request
The idea the children are studying is still being worked out in real life. The Ward 2 Development Forum has prepared a concept note but has not yet discussed it, and the organisations involved have not been asked. Please treat what your child tells you as a school exercise and keep it within the family until the Forum has discussed it.
What you can do
Nothing is required. If you would like to help:
- Ask your child to show you their Field Book and explain one fact and its thread.
- Listen when your child tells you their week’s work. The telling is part of the learning.
- Help with the hands-on task when asked, and let your child lead.
- If you’re comfortable using AI, point your favourite assistant to a machine-readable version of the project: https://df.valleyofgrace.co.za/cultural/education/project/llms.txt. The children may also use AI to check a fact or explain a hard word. The painting, the plan card and the telling are theirs.
- Come to the showing once the school confirms the date.
Questions
Contact Michael Haupt:
- via WhatsApp on 061 097 2345, or
- by email at hello@michaelhaupt.com.