Midrand Primary School bags fourth position at the Story Skirmish Finals

Midrand Primary School has recently achieved a commendable fourth position at The 2023 Story Skirmish Finals and Awards, a book-based inter-school knock-out quiz designed for learners in Grades 4 and 5 who speak English as a second language.

This event aims to encourage learners to read for fun, expose them to books, develop a reading culture, and improve reading and comprehension skills.

The ceremony, which took place at Noordgesig Library on November 1 and 2, was a resounding success, with Mikateka Primary School winning first place and having the honour of engraving the school name on the floating trophy.

Great work also goes to the other schools, with G R Harris Primary School securing the second place, and Rosettenville Primary School coming in at third.

Joburg MMC for Community Development Lubabalo Magwentshu congratulates all schools that took part in the Story Skirmish finals and prize-giving ceremony and supports lifelong learning through the reading development programme.

This year, 87 schools participated in the Story Skirmish, reaching 696 learners. Making it to the finals out of the many schools that participated is an achievement to be proud of, while the Battle of the Books had 720 learners from 90 schools participating.

According to the 2021 progress in the International Reading Literacy Study research, it was revealed that 81% of South African learners cannot read in any of the official languages.

The director of library and information services, Nobuntu Mpendulo, said that the City’s Library and Information Services acknowledge the challenges of historical imbalances and lack of suitable reading materials in schools.

“Hence the introduction of reading development programmes with several schools in Joburg,” Mpendulo explained.

“It is found that children who are solid readers perform better in school, have a healthy self-image, and become lifelong learners.

“Development programmes and activities such as the Battle of the Books and Story Skirmish are delivered by the City of Joburg Public Libraries to increase literacy levels of learners, build confidence, create competitiveness, and live in a smart economy and a city characterised by social inclusivity with enhanced quality of life.”

The success of the Story Skirmish and Battle of the Books events would not have been possible without the cooperation of schools that worked with libraries, the library staff that helped with the programmes, and The Friends of the Johannesburg Public Library for sponsoring the vouchers for the children taking part in the finals.