Realebogo Primary School celebrates 20 years

Realebogo Primary School (RPS) celebrated two decades of turning learners into leaders when they marked their 20th anniversary at the school premises in Palm Ridge, Katlehong, on December 2.

Representatives of the Gauteng Department of Education (DoE), current and former teachers and learners, parents and community members attended.

The school was established in February 2003, and as they celebrated the milestone, many guests spoke about its academic glory and the challenges they encountered while building the school to what people see it today.

The former deputy principal, Lizzy du Toit, was deployed to RPS in April after the school launched in 2003 and later resigned.

She said that when she joined, the school did not have a school management team, some furniture, a garden and enough cleaners.

“When we started, it was difficult. We did not have year plans because the school was new. We started planning by ourselves and drafting the school policies and everything required to administrate the school.

“We assisted the principal until we had to elect the SGB. I was one of the first team components in the SGB of the school,” said Du Toit.

She said they came up with the name of the school, uniform colours, the logo and the slogan (Learners today, leaders tomorrow).

She further noted that as teachers, they ensured that the school initiated a garden programme.

“As a former teacher in this school, I am proud that we worked together, and that is why we were successful,” said
Once the SGB started to conduct interviews for educators and general work posts, promotions for deputy principals and heads of departments (HoD) opened.

“I was fortunate enough to become an HoD in the school and was promoted to deputy principal. We designed the school and admin office because it was plain, so we had to find ideas for the look.

“Not only did we plan what we had to implement, but we had a vision as the SGB and teachers. We knew the type of long-term improvements we wanted in the school and ensured our vision and dreams were met.”

Du Toit said she resigned this year for personal reasons and later returned to work. However, she was deployed to a different school.

“It would have been an honour to return to this school. I even said I still miss home because, as staff members, we respected each other’s positions.

“We knew the space and the role of the general workers and the cleaners, and we knew we would not be where we were without them,” she explained.

She said most households were shacks when the school was founded, but when the children were inside the premises, you could not tell they came from shacks.

“The teachers’ treatment of the learners made them valued, and everyone in the yard knew their space held weight. We supported the principal as the senior managers. Eventually, we had a full school management team (SMT) complement inclusive of five HoDs and two deputy principals.”

She further noted that due to the principal’s experience, he did not need them much to make decisions, but he invested in developing them to run the school in case he became sick.

“I have grown as a teacher from this school. I came here as a post-level (PL) one. I became a PL two and later three. Along those stages, I learnt how to become a real manager and leader and how to treat people working under me.”

A former learner, currently a Grade Two teacher at RPS, Lebogang Manoto, said RPS is the best school in Palm Ridge.

She said the teachers care so much that learners become motivated to do their best inside and outside the classroom.

“When I was a learner, for example, our principal did not teach, but when I was in Grade Seven, he knew my name.

“I did not know that one of the special things about this school is that it caters for all learners. It can be through extracurricular activities, sports, music, poetry and drama, among others. However, the core is to achieve academic excellence,” said Manoto.

She shared that the memorable moment she will never forget was when the former vice principal helped her secure a placement at Palm Ridge Combined, also known as Palm Ridge Secondary and Primary (PSP).

She said that at the time, Realeboga offered Sesotho as a home language, but PSP accepted learners with English as their home language.

“I was one of the best-performing learners. My mother struggled to get space for me, but Mr Nkosi ensured I got placed. It showed me that teachers do not only care about our academics; they want to see us doing good even after leaving the school.”

Manoto said she is happy about the 20 years, and this was not the end but the beginning of building future leaders.

The DoE’s circuit manager in the Ekurhuleni South Region, Musa Molapi, encouraged residents to take care and protect the school during the festive session.

He discouraged people from destroying the school, pointing out that most suburban schools celebrate 100 years of existence because they protect the community’s assets.

Molapi congratulated the SMT not only for their 20-year milestone but for the results produced by the school.

Challenges

According to Du Toit, as a non-fee paying school, the funds the DoE provided them were insufficient to meet the school’s needs, but they struggled through it.

Given the learners’ environments and backgrounds, she said another challenge was school uniforms.

“It was a challenge for us to have a full school uniform that made us proud when we looked at learners at our morning assembly. But because we never lost hope and kept encouraging parental involvement. We eventually overcame the challenge.

“We hosted fundraisers and involved stakeholders including social workers, and were able to get learners uniforms and other needs.”