Who said Covid means less learning at school?

 Pinelands North Primary School spent the last two weeks of last year celebrating their children’s achievements at individual grade award ceremonies. To better social distance every grade chose a theme, a venue and the ‘uniform’ for the day. One family member of each child was asked to join them for an hour during the day, to celebrate 2021. This meant that some grades wore fancy hats and met their parents around the swimming pool and others chose a slightly more formal occasion in full uniform and in the hall.

Besides these celebrations, the Red School children have exceeded expectations in so many other ways this year. Three Foundation Phase pupils; Benjamin Whyatt, Benjamin Draper and Jaime Barendse came first in Grade 1, second in grade 3 and third in grade 3 in South Africa in the Living Maths Competition! This mathematics ‘talent’ contest is written by hundreds of thousands of children all around South Africa annually.

Children at the Red School also learn ‘alternative’ skills: Grade 4 and 5 pupils learnt how to knit and then knitted at least one square which was added to create knee blankets for the elderly. In Woodwork, pupils created cup holders, blackboards, picture frames  and bird feeders by using their skills of sanding, cutting, polishing and varnishing. In grade 7 Technology the pupils created indoor thinking and logic games to entertain younger pupils on rainy days.

Last year, every child created art in a variety of creative spaces; from the classroom to the art room, the school hall and outside. Each child created an art portfolio filled with all the incredible art they made. We had parent volunteers assist us in the Foundation Phase, as well as teachers across the grades, adding their own creative flair to the subject. 

Despite restrictions, our Music Department participated in the Cape Town Eisteddfod and received very good results and continued making music together in a small ensemble. Some students did their Trinity exams and were rewarded with results such as high merits and diplomas. Each student even got to perform in a virtual concert, celebrating the musician in themselves!

Some Creative and Talented pupils followed a Rock Solid theme and created gardens using rocks, and others made a picture book to share with younger pupils. Grade 6 pupils spent their Life Skills lessons learning skills for life: how to change a tyre, how to identify plants and create a garden, and how to tie a tie! In Grade 2 pupils learnt baking skills, while learning about measurement: they learnt to double a recipe and make recipe cards to take home to also spoil their families. For some this year has been the year of learning how to care for animals:  grade 2, 3 and 4 pupils were trained in how to care for guinea pigs, chickens, ducks and rabbits and then daily cared for them, fed them and loved them.

The sports programme grew and diversified during Covid too. All our pupils attended compulsory sport programmes as part of the school day. This programme included a variety of activities that helped improve the mental and physical development of each child. Children could also volunteer to participate in sports’ clinics after school and on Saturdays. If anything, our pupils learnt more last year than they had previously because they had more options, more opportunities and most of all had more fun at sport. This year our pupils will again have a chance to test their sporting skills, as we work towards building a fun but competitive spirit  as we get ready to compete against other schools. 

Pupils in Red Roots demonstrated their love of inquiry and learning through play throughout the year. On 'Fun Fridays' they learnt three languages: Sign Language, isiXhosa and Afrikaans; using songs, actions and rhymes, as well as learning how to bake and make delicious treats from around the world. They learnt how to grow their own plants from vegetable offcuts and planted them in the veggie garden. A highlight again was the interaction with the animals: even those who were very nervous learnt how to interact, care for and play with Tobin, the dog, and our two tortoises, Ncothoza and Rimples. 

Covid has created opportunities to learn differently and has added a richness to our learning. Besides all these obvious learnings, most children have learnt how to be resilient, to be positive in the face of negativity and how to maintain ‘grit’. If we as adults had learnt these skills at school, wouldn’t we have had a richer and fuller life now?