Learners at Chapel Street Primary School in Woodstock now have access to their own library thanks to a collaborative project between civil society organisations and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED).
The Sunbird library was officially opened by David Maynier, provincial minister of education, on Tuesday 27 September. It forms part of a collaborative project by these organisations.
The project also saw the construction of a new Grade R classroom and the upgrade of the Grade R playground at the school. The project started in February last year under the stewardship of a project steering committee which included representatives from the Otto Foundation, the Waterfront Rotary Club and the school management team and governing body.
The R1,78 million project was made possible by the contributions of philanthropic organisations, non-profit organisations and local businesses.
June Webber, Public Relations Officer for the Waterfront Rotary Club, says the club supported this initiative as part of the organisation’s aim to promote literacy.
Webber says the club has been involved with 13 libraries in the City Bowl area thus far.
“We contributed expertise by way of our members with skills to come in and assist this project to help them manage it. It is a collaborative partnership; it’s all about bringing different people, corporates and civil society together to make things happen.”
Frouwien Bosman, CEO of the Otto Foundation, says: “Our foundation is focused on promoting reading for enjoyment and instilling a love of reading in our learners. We look forward to welcoming the learners into the space, we believe that the space communicates something to them about the importance of reading and how we value them as individuals.”
She says the library boasts a variety of books by mostly local authors.
“There is local literature, books that speak to the lived experiences of the learners. There are popular international series, but we love the local authors, books that kids can see themselves in and that say something about being a South African child.”
Bosman explains that the Grade R classroom was erected to be a fun learning environment.
“There is a fantasy corner where they can dress up. There’s a reading corner, where they can spend quiet time reading.”
Maynier says his department takes the value of reading seriously.
“This is why we announced at the start of the third term that we would be allocating two additional hours each week to reading in the Foundation Phase.
“Reading scores suffered during the pandemic, and we are working to reverse the learning losses caused by making sure our Grade 1 to 3 learners spend more time reading.”
Maynier says the gift of reading is not just a gift of learning, it is a gift of wellbeing.
“It is a gift that the learners of Chapel Street Primary will be able to put to good use in a beautiful space. These are magnificent facilities that are going to make a difference in learners’ lives, hopefully the family’s life and then the life of communities in the province.”
Maynier also expressed his gratitude to the partners who made the project possible.
“I thank the Otto Foundation, Waterfront Rotary, and all of the other organisations who came together to deliver such a wonderful, multi-functional space for reading, as well as a Grade R classroom and playground.”
Karriem Gabriels, school principal, says they are grateful to have access to these facilities now.
He says the school serves 581 learners and adds that under the leadership of dedicated teachers they are working hard to consistently improve the school’s literacy scores.
“We never had a fully fledged library; we want our learners to meet the learning outcomes and especially have a special space for them to read.
“The learners are enjoying the library, they cannot wait to get there and read all the books. In the communities where they come from there isn’t proper facilities like this. We are happy to have this space here at school,” says Gabries.
He says as a school they want to instil a culture of reading for enjoyment among the learners.
“Studies show that reading has been very poor in the country, learners can’t read with comprehension. Hopefully with this library we will be able to get them to interact with books even more.”
Gabriels explains that the grade R learners are elated about their new play park.
“The kids could not wait to play in the new playground. While they were busy building the jungle gym, the varnish wasn’t even dry yet, and they were on it.”
Grade 5 learner Neo Bless says he is ecstatic about the new library.
“There are new books, so we can get knowledge from the books. We can make new friends as we read the books.”
Grade 6 learner Azuke Gopeni says: “The library is a nice place where you can focus. I like reading all kinds of books and the library is a nice place to do that.”
