![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2018/07/BCSquares2_81092.jpg)
Bateleur College youngsters worked hard on Mandela Day to produce 450 squares to knit join into blankets to donate to a worthy cause.
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“We are extremely proud of our learners who knitted squares for Mandela Day. These squares will be translated into 32 blankets that will be donated,” said school administrator Chandre Roux.
The school started the initiative at the beginning of last term, asking parents to supply the children with knitting needles and a ball of wool.
Roux continued, “We then spent many hours teaching our children knitting. It was a fascinating process, and the educators argued that we would not be able to teach the Foundation Phase learners as they were too young – they were wrong.”
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Parents and older children joined in assisting the little ones to develop a love of knitting over the months leading up to Mandela Day.
Knitting grew so popular at the school that it was allowed in class when work was finished, during break, in the creative hour and aftercare.
![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2018/07/GradeR_59356-520x390.jpg)
Roux said, “We had a ceremony at the end of term where the squares where collected and we were able to admire the variety and quantity.
Our support staff then spent the entire holidays sewing the squares together, edging them and lining the blankets with fleece.
“We then held another ceremony today where we allowed the learners to look for their squares and to touch and admire their handiwork.”
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