Get ready for the year with this back-to-school checklist
Have you marked these items off your back-to-school checklist? Taxila Secondary School teacher Regina Magolo shares what is important to keep in mind as you prepare for the schooling year.
POLOKWANE – “The best way to prepare for a new school year is to ensure that the school fees, proper school uniforms and stationery are ready.”
This is the advice given by Taxila Secondary School teacher Regina Magolo, who says it is important to make sure the children’s morals are ready as they often come back unruly and ill-disciplined. Their ill discipline tends to pose a challenge to the teachers to get the learners to concentrate or pay attention in class.
“At the beginning of the year, we often find that learners do not cover their books or do not have stationery. The most common excuse is that they say they wait for their parents to get paid. My advice to parents are therefore that they should buy the necessary stationery when they buy groceries for the new year.”
Magolo says people tend to overspend in December and adds teacher’s most common challenge to face in the new year, is parents who have not financially prepared for the year ahead. She explains that parents also forget to make provision for things like lunchboxes.
Read more: Preparing a healthy lunchbox for your child
“We sometimes find that learners are not back on time for school, as they are still on holiday or with relatives. The child thus misses out on the vital first days of school and when they eventually start the school year, they are already behind. other challenges we often have in the new year, are December hairstyles and learners still in the holiday mood.”
Magolo urges parents to ensure the neatness of their children. “You find that learners come back and their hair is not neat, their school bags are dirty and that they are not prepared for the year ahead. Another plea to parents is that they should pay school fees on time.
We have some teachers who are paid by the school governing bodies and if the parents don’t pay, then the school is unable to provide. If you struggle financially you need to approach the school and department to apply for a subsidy.”
Back-to-school checklist:
• School fees
• Stationery
• Uniforms
• Transport money
• Lunch money
