Parkhurst Primary School pupils are benefiting from a free reading programme provided by an educational psychologist.
Harriet Leisegang (64) said it all began four years ago with her former employee, who has since died, who sought assistance for his son, who was in Grade 6 at the time but was functioning at Grade 2 level.
After successfully assessing the then-Parkhurst Primary School pupil, Leisegang decided to offer her services pro bono to the school. “It’s a way of giving back to the community. Throughout my life I’ve always had some form of community involvement,” she said.
“But as I was approaching this grey-haired stage, I thought I would like to do it more.”
The avid reader, who is a mother of three and a grandmother, said she assesses children who are having difficulties and works with them from a remedial point of view. She sees at least 30 children and once a child has benefited from the intervention, then others get their turn.
The reading programme for Grade 3 pupils takes place every Wednesday between midday and 2pm in the afternoon. It heavily relies on volunteers, which she personally trains, but has very few at the moment. Readers used in the programme are donated by kind community members and are supplemented by Leisegang’s stock because the primary school does not have the means to supply these.
The educational psychologist, who also has a vegetable garden and runs a feeding scheme at the school, said she was proud of the volunteers and the programme. She felt they were making a much-needed difference to the Grade 3 pupils’ reading skills.
“I want to see more community involvement. We all need to get stuck in and help. The government can’t do everything,” Leisegang said.
“Why should the children be disadvantaged? Our dropout rate is already alarming. If we are not going to help these children here and now, they are going to be those statistics.”
She said she would like at least another five volunteers for the Wednesday programme, as that would enable her to work individually with all the children and get the best out of them.
Details: To volunteer, call 011 447 2202.
