Literacy is a big need in South Africa and Bryneven Primary School practises it often. In partnership with The South African Literacy Association learners from the school made it to the top six after competing in the National English Prepared Reading Competition earlier this year.
Charlene Kotze, who is the departmental head of languages at the school, said that a competition like this allows learners to hone their skills in writing, speaking and reading. “Our school started getting involved because we wanted to expose our learners to the opportunities that these competitions afford them.
“The English department set the criteria and held auditions for learners in grades 1 to 7. The top two learners in each grade were then selected by a panel of internal adjudicators.”
Even with the challenges Covid-19 brought, the resilience of the staff, parents and learners shone through. Learners were encouraged to choose texts from books they actually enjoy reading.
“Our English department convened online and came up with new strategies to ensure that our learners were still able to compete. We gave our parents set guidelines to prepare learners at home and record the video clips for submission to The South African Literacy Association.”
She added that parents really rose to the occasion by supporting and assisting the leaners due to the provincial round being held during stricter lockdown conditions.
“We were ecstatic when we received the results and extremely proud of how many of our learners had excelled at provincial and national level,” said Kotze.
With a bright future ahead for the school, the principal, Naeem Nakooda, said that he is proud of all the achievements.
“We are beaming with pride as this is indicative of how diamonds are formed under pressure. Our learners certainly stole the show in true, unrelenting Bryneven spirit.”
He also mentioned that the calibre and talent the learners demonstrated was unmatched. “We commend our staff of teachers and parents on an outstanding collaborative effort and congratulate all our participants on their excellent performance, as this truly reflects our school’s motto to always ‘Aim High’. “
