Pupils from Unified Public School have proved that readers are indeed winners.
The school was one of four schools across Johannesburg to participate in the final round of the Story Skirmish competition, which was held on 25 October. This was the third time Unified won this title. According to the teachers, the school is a good example of what can be achieved when teachers, parents, pupils and the community join hands and focus on learning.
The Story Skirmish competition is an annual reading competition for Grade 4 and 5 pupils with English as a second language. The initiative is hosted by the City of Johannesburg’s Library and Information Services Directorate and aims to increase literacy, skills and lifelong learning among all Johannesburg’s residents. Since the first competition was held in 2001 the reading development plan has grown exponentially. This year’s competition attracted 7 000 pupils from 214 schools across Johannesburg.
The Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Community Development, councillor Nohlanhla Sifumba did not deliver her speech, but had one of the pupils participating in the reading competition read it to the attendees. Ten-year-old Atlehang Mashagoane from Unified Public School read the following, “The aim of this reading competition is to broaden pupils’ reading experience and to improve their reading skills. The competition also serves as a vehicle to encourage pupils to become lifelong readers.”
According to the librarians from the school, Betty Madiba and Masego Olifant, the pupils were shocked when they were announced as this year’s winners. “They did not say anything, but when their names were read as the winners they just started crying,” said Betty.
“We are so proud of these pupils. They worked very hard and some had sleepless nights, but it paid off,” said Masego.
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