Dear Parent/ Guardian

Greetings to you all

Mother Touch Junior School (MTJS) would like to welcome you all, to the first term of 2023. We thank you for entrusting the young ones with us. We will ever work diligently to ensure we nature the boys’ and girls’ talents to produce Great Global God Fearing Leaders.

The school has done all opening preparations to ensure that all necessary measures are in place to guarantee a safe environment for our learners and staff.

MTJS Curriculum

We offer a rich and wide curriculum taking up ZIMSEC and Cambridge syllabi that are run concurrently. ZIMSEC competency-based curriculum has 6 examinable subjects namely Mathematics, English Language, Shona, Social Sciences, Agriculture Science and Tech, and VPA & PE. The school has practical subject teachers to enhance specialization for effective learning to get excellent results. We have put programs in place to ensure effective syllabus coverage.

Our library is fully functional and individual learners will be issued with books in class but only after the parent has completed the Library commitment form on meet the teacher day. Please note that if a child spoils a book or loses it, will be fined a fee of USD 20.

TERM 1 NOTICE

Timetables
Junior School – Lessons start at 07:15hrs ending at 15:00hrs from Monday to Thursday to cater for remedial lessons and the reading program. On Friday, school ends at 13:00hrs. Monday and Friday are assembly days and all junior learners should put on the correct complete and clean Mother Touch uniform with a blazer. Wednesday is tracksuit day and learners put on MTGS clean tracksuits and white takkies for sports. Our club day is Thursday, learners come with their club attire, and all uniforms are supplied at school from the thrift shop.

Meet the Teacher

This is an opportunity for a face-to-face meeting with the learners’ class teachers on Wednesday 25 January 2023 from 13:00hrs to 14:00hrs. On this platform, the teachers will explain their operations and the requirements they may need from you to have a smooth run of the learning process.

To avoid big crowds please take note of these dates for your child’s grade/ level. Kindly note that there will be no time for individual consultation, so you are encouraged to be punctual.

Date                Level/Center                         Time.

18/01               ECD Marimba                       1-2pm

19/01               ECD Tynwald                        1-2pm

19/01               Grade 1-3 Tynwald               1-2pm

20/01               Grade 4-7 Tynwald               1-2pm

CAMBRIDGE TEXTBOOKS

2023 and onwards candidates are now taking a new syllabus and this calls for a new set of textbooks and workbooks. The school has ordered the new books and these should be taken as personal books. The 3 sets per grade level cost USD 132. Grade (1-7) Payment for the books should be done at the bursar’s office and books collected from the stores’ office.

EDUCATIONAL TOURS

United Kingdom (UK) tour

We are excited that our United Kingdom (UK) tour is on this year after a long break due to the COVID Pandemic and it improved before. MTGS learners will have yet another chance to travel to Wales for the annual music festival and will have the opportunity to tour Wales and London. They will compete with seasoned performers around the world. Registration is already in progress. Tour tentative dates are 4 July to 14 July 2023. The trip cost is estimated at USD$ 2 980 for 10 days.
This amount covers the following:
·Air fare
·Accommodation
·Visa application
·Insurance
·Food
·Transfers, road and rail transport
·Activities
·Tour kit

The payment plan for those learners who intend to go and are not able to raise the whole amount at once for the trip is as follows:

Due date                     Amount USD
January 30/01                   500
February 24/02                 500
March 31/03                     500
April 28/04                       600
May 31/05                        600
June 16/06                        280
Total                               2 980
LOCAL EDUCATIONAL TOURS

GRADE/LEVEL    DATE    DESTINATION FEE   Deposit paid by Full Payment due date

ECD A            22 February           Longchen        20USD             –                           17/02/23

ECD B            1March 2023         Longchen       20USD             –                            17/02/23

GRADE 1       8March 2023         Margolis          60 USD            –                            3/03/23

GRADE 2     15 March 2023        Haka               50 USD            –                            3/03/23

GRADE 3     19-21 May 2023     G Zimbabwe   250USD           –                            15/05/23

GRADE 4     16-18 June 2023   Vic Falls (by air) 620 USD  400USD 31/03/23      2/06/23

GRADE 5     22-24September     Nyanga              270USD    170 31/03/23            15/09/23

GRADE 6     23-25 June 2023    Kariba                270USD    170 by 31/03/23        16/06/23

GRADE 7     LEAVERS TRIP       TBA                  TBA                  TBA                   
Clubs
We have an exciting list of clubs which includes Young farmers, Artificial Intelligence, Culinary Arts, Entrepreneurial skills, Hospitality, Girl guides, News, Young scientists, Hospitality, the Christian movement ( traditionally known as scripture union), and many more. Learners are encouraged to participate in at least one club.

Sports

2023 is MTGS’ year of perfection. One area we have geared ourselves to re-brand is sports. The school humbly invites you to support this cause by supporting learners in providing the correct and smart attire and equipment that may be required. This term we have lined up sports events that will require you to come and support your teams. We have 3 houses namely Turtle Dove (Gold), Eagle (Navy Blue), and Falcon (sky blue). We encourage you to come in the house colors on Inter house competitions for identity and solidarity. Parents are encouraged to ensure all learners are in the correct smart MTGS sports attire. Athletics inter-house competitions are set for 10 February 2023. Sporting activities start on 16/01/23. The same applies to the infants’ sports and family fun days. Tynwald ECD (Red) and ECD Marimba (Green).

The subject specialization program (grades 4&5, 6&7)

The school has introduced a comprehensive remedial program to ensure all learners are pushed to higher grades. After the assessment tests currently, underway learners will be grouped according to needs, which will allow individual attention. The school has adopted the subject specialization program with effect from this term. All the groundwork is done and we are certain this will be a very effective way of teaching for excellent results. We encourage you to support the learners as you may find there will be a lot of work given through assigned subject teachers. Parents are urged to avoid unnecessary absenteeism so that learners will not miss out and lag. The school believes the program will add a lot of value to the performance of our learners to attain targeted results. Class teachers will be available for all your communication.

Uniforms
All learners should put on the correct, complete, and clean uniform with neat hairdos as they come to school. We remind parents that our School Uniforms are available at the school. New learners should purchase the school starter pack, which includes all uniforms such as formal school attire, sports attire, bags, and other items. Branded satchel is compulsory. We made this decision based on the need to improve quality and excellent school tone. Be advised that plastic bags are not accepted as book bags or kit bags. School hats are compulsory. School hat is for the wellbeing of the child as direct sunlight can lead to serious health challenges. It is the School Policy for all learners to put on hats outside the classroom. All learners (ECD A – Grade 2 and Grade 3-7) should put on Mother Touch clean work suits on practical days according to grade.
ECD Dress Code – will be provided at the Meet the Teacher event. For health and safety reasons our learners are to put on masks in the classrooms and they are provided at school.

Transport
School transport is available on a first come first serve basis. Parents are therefore encouraged to book transport as soon as possible to avoid inconveniences and to allow the school to plan on routes early for smooth operations. On that note, we would like to remind our old and notify our new parents that we do not do door-to-door pickups. On booking, parents are encouraged to check for the nearest possible bus stop and the timetable.

Boarding

Boarding places are limited. Places are offered on a first come first serve basis. Parents who wish children to retain boarding vacancies for the following term are expected to notify the school a week before schools close and pay a non-refundable deposit fee of USD 200 to secure the places and the balance to be paid a week before schools open.

Hot lunch

The school serves hot lunch for non-boarders at a fee of 100 USD per term and is offered on a first come first serve basis.

Civvies
This is an exciting moment for the learners as they enjoy freedom from the strict school uniform trend. We always applaud you parents for the creativity and the efforts you make these days. Looking forward to attires that are more exceptional. Each learner brings in USD$3 for the civvies. This includes activities and ice cream.
Date                Dress code

3/02/23            Funny foot ware.

3/03/23            Royalty dressing.

27/03/23          Funny dressing.

Exeat Weekend

Our midterm break is from 17 -20 February. School will resume on Tuesday 21 February.

ZIMSEC Registration

Parents are encouraged to prepare for ZIMSEC registration for the 2023 October-November Examinations, dates will be advised. Registration fee communication will be availed to the respective levels once we receive the requirements.

Fees and Levies

As a school, we strive to continue working diligently to bring out academic and non-academic excellent results for our learners. For this to happen we need parents’ support. We would like to thank the parents who diligently paid their fees on time, which enables the school to plan on time ensuring the provision of necessary resources for smooth operations in the term.
Our banking Account details are as follows: Mother Touch Group of Schools, Bank: CBZ, Acc Number 11123814680015: Cash/ swipe payments are accepted at the school front office. You are also encouraged to save time by depositing fees in the Nostro account. Mother Touch Group of Schools, Bank: CBZ, Acc Number: 11123814680035, Selous Branch. For more inquiries kindly call 0773 596 161 / 0732 596 161 / 0719 596 161 or visit our website: www.mothertouch.ac.zw. Our e-mail address: is juniorschoolbursar@mothertouch.ac.zw

In conclusion, we would like to thank all Parents and Guardians for choosing MTJS for the education of God-fearing global leaders and for the continued support of the school.

Term 1 ends on 31 March 2023.
Let us keep working together for the common good of our children.
Best wishes in 2023.
Regards

R. Hwata ( Mrs.)

School Head