Local school promotes reading among learners

Bapedi Secondary School continues to instill the culture of reading in their learners through their Spelling Bee competition, which they recently held at the school.

The day also commemorated National Book Week, which is observed from September 5 to 11.

This year’s theme, ‘The Books of Our Lives’, embarks on a creative journey that reminds South Africans of many ways that books can become their everyday true companion.

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Bapedi Primary School teacher and library coordinator, Sekgabolana Manaka, said this year they engaged with learners from grades two to seven to encourage them on the value different books carry in their lives.

“Besides education being the greatest weapon that one can use to change the world, reading with comprehension is very important for us as a school because this is how we ensure our learners understand what they are reading about and it also helps with developing their vocabulary and writing skills,” Manaka said.

She added that through the Spelling Bee competition they want to develop their learners’ confidence.

“Although we had a productive day spelling and reading aloud, I have noted that some of our learners cannot sound spell words using phonics and this means they cannot know how to read properly.

“This is why learners need to be taught the proper way of reading, which is using phonics while they are still in primary because that is the foundation of reading.”

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“The other approach we assist learners in reading correctly is using pictures. If they can see the object in a picture, it becomes easy to mimic what it sounds like.

“Overall, spelling is vital because it helps learners to develop a strong connection between their letters and sounds.”

The learners could showcase their spelling and reading sounds to their fellow learners from other local schools invited to the programme.