Curriculum

Saving Grace teaches five curriculum pathways, supported by two additional programmes. This part of the community is where families talk about what each one is actually like to live with — the daily rhythm, the workload, what a parent has to do, and what happens when a child is ahead in one subject and behind in another.

The five pathways, in one place

• CAPS — South Africa's national curriculum, Grade R to 12, in English or Afrikaans, with an NSC pathway in the FET Phase. The one most families start with, and the one that carries if a child ever moves back into a mainstream classroom.
• Cambridge — the international pathway, Cambridge Primary through to A Level. Chosen by families who may move between countries, or who want a qualification that is recognised in over 160 of them.
• Remedial CAPS — Grade R to 9. The same national curriculum, repaced for a child who has fallen behind, so gaps in reading, writing and maths close without leaving mainstream education. A bridge back, not a destination.
• Special Needs CAPS — Grade R to 12. The national curriculum with the barriers removed — extra time, a scribe, text-to-speech, untimed assessments in audio — working toward the same National Senior Certificate.
• Special Needs — Grade R to 10. A programme built from the ground up for children who learn differently, rather than the mainstream one adapted. Leads into a skills or artisan path rather than a matric.

The three support pathways are not interchangeable

This is where families most often choose wrong, so it is worth stating plainly:

• A gap in what was learned → Remedial CAPS.
• A barrier to demonstrating what is already known, with a matric still the goal → Special Needs CAPS.
• A child who needs a programme designed for how they learn rather than the mainstream one adjusted → Special Needs Curriculum.

The difference between the last two decides whether your child works toward a National Senior Certificate or a skills path, which makes it the most consequential choice in this section. Do not settle it from a web page — ours included. Talk to the team.

How to think about the choice

Most parents arrive asking "which curriculum is best?" It is the wrong question, and it is why the decision feels so heavy. The better question is narrower: what does this particular child need next year?

Four things settle it in practice — the grade your child is entering, whether the family is likely to move country, whether there is a real gap to close, and how much support your child needs to show what they know. A child two years behind in reading is not choosing between CAPS and Cambridge; they are choosing between mainstream pacing and a supported one. A family emigrating in three years is not weighing pace at all.

Ask here if you want to hear how it went for other families. When you are ready to compare the programmes side by side, or check fees and grade availability, the full curriculum comparison and how to choose between them are on the main Saving Grace site.

Curriculum can be changed. Families move between these pathways every year, and a switch is usually less costly than a year spent in the wrong one.