Teaching in South Africa | Diary of an Adventurous Retiree

As usual time has flown and this short week has been filled with activity, fun and excitement. My carefully planned Monday had to be adjusted when the girls’ favourite teacher (IT bloke of course) came to inform us that we were to have an unscheduled period on the ipads. This on the same day that we have Visual Motor so that set the tone for the day! However, the little geniuses applied themselves diligently so as not to be excluded from the I.T. lesson if certain goals were not reached! Always great to have a carrot to help with discipline.

I have for a few days been assigned a visiting student teacher. She is studying through UNISA and needs to do her practical so I am the lucky one. Her first lesson had the children clapping, clicking and, dancing and singing as they learned to recognise patterns in Music.

Old Mac Donald

Singing, Clapping and Clicking

I am the kind of teacher who believes that junk food is very bad for children. That does not mean that I never indulge in the odd pizza or chocolate. I also use sweeties as treats on occasion. BUT – my rule is that no junk may come to school in lunch boxes – and don’t dare buy lollipops from the school tuckshop! The girls know this and try their best to bring healthy snacks to school. So when The Grade Seven Market Day happened on Wednesday they couldn’t believe their luck when Teacher said – you can buy and eat whatever you like!

The lessons learned went above my food fetishes. At the entrance to the hall – (rain prevented and outdoor market) R1 tickets were sold and with these they could make their purchases. It was amazing to see the little ones work out what they could afford and carefully make their choices for the best bargains on sale. It was also delightful to see the Grade 7s gently being patient with them and helping them to count out their tickets and what they could spend.

These look good

Are you sure I’m allowed to buy these?

How do I look?

We’re all going on a sugar high

Look what we’ve got

All stocked up with treasure

How can I help you Angel?

Coloured hair in Uniform!

I was very proud of my girls when after all this excitement, they settled down well with their Xhosa teacher and impressed him so much that he gave each one a star!

The weather in Cape Town has been that preferred by ducks and chilly on top of it. So it was great to see a tiny bit of luke-warm sunshine on Thursday. The only interruption to our day was a full practice for our upcoming assembly. Moms and Dads you are in for a treat on Tuesday morning. Be seated by 8:15 sharp when your little stars will be sharing with you all they have learned about caring for Pets. Hard work followed and we achieved most of what we set out to do at the beginning of this busy week and then we burst out to greet the long weekend and celebrate being free and liberated women and girls.

For my overseas readers this is why we celebrate National Women’s Day in South Africa. On 9 August 1956, more than 50,000 women staged a march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria. They were protesting against the Urban Areas Act or “Pass Laws” of 1950. Petitions containing more than 100 000 signatures were left the Prime Minister, J.G. Strijdom’s office doors. Outside they stood silently for 30 minutes, many with their children on their backs. They sang a song which translated means – you touch a woman you touch a rock. That phrase now paraphrased to “You strike a woman, you strike a rock” has come to represent women’s courage and strength in South Africa.

Because of our mothers’, grandmothers’ and great-grandmothers’ strength and courage in all kinds of human rights protests, we as women and girls have a better life. And I think that so do our boys and men. And as we celebrate this Women’s Day weekend let us not forget the support and affirmation we receive from our wonderful fathers, brothers, sons, husbands and male colleagues. Have a great weekend everybody!

Although I had enjoyed a stunning three weeks abroad on my own I couldn’t wait to get home to my husband and family. The plan was to land in Cape Town at lunch time on Saturday giving me a day and an half to prepare myself for school. But that didn’t happen did it! Because my grandson was to have a birthday party that night my amazing husband decided to whisk me away for a Romantic Reunion and save me from the invasion of a dozen teenagers!

The following morning we went to see my daughter in her new flat and then to lunch with friends! The last thing on my mind on Sunday evening then was school! Isn’t it amazing thought that when you’ve been doing this job forever you just walk straight in and it is as if you haven’t been away. The only thing I forgot was to bring back the freshly washed chairbags! “You see girls,” I said. “You should never be in a muddle on your first day of school. You should get everything ready the night before!” They all agreed but were very forgiving nevertheless. Within five minutes we were back into the swing of things. The girls clearly had a great holiday and were ready for action. They were excited to begin writing in feint lines and I am proud of how well they are coping. We also began our sum cards which are not very easy to set out, Moms and Dads and there were a few glitches about skipping a line and muddling plus and minus but it won’t be long before these little geniuses have that sorted too.

Mandela Day was the big event of the week. Sadly the day dawned rather cold and overcast and rain was imminent when we all went out to sit in formation on the netball court and sing to Madiba. The photograph of the children with a drawing of Mandela’s face is awesome. Go to the school’s webpage to see this. http://blogs.sunvalleygroup.co.za/

The Grade Ones were about to go and do their 67 minutes of community service and we were ready and armed with our black bags for a litter clean up. One of my princesses piped up “We can’t go out in this weather. It’s too cold. I might get sick.” “No,” I replied, “We’re doing this for Madiba – we must be strong and brave!” “Yes,” replied another “We’re not that kind of princess!” We’re certainly not – we’re the hard-working kind! But the heavens opened and the rain came down so our 67 minutes had to be postponed after all! Even tough princesses could melt in the rain. Instead of the litter clean up and gave the girls a brief lesson on the life of Nelson Mandela and showed them a clip from the internet planning to stop it if it was beyond their understanding. But they were riveted and had many questions to ask. They were horrified to hear that apartheid meant segregated beaches, busses and classrooms. I also showed them a clip of Johnny Cleg dancing with Mandela and that got some of them up and dancing too.

On Friday we got stuck into a cooperative activity. The girls brought boxes of all shapes and sizes and designed a city. The idea was to build the kind of buildings they would see in their community. I was delighted to see how well they worked together and how creative they were with the limited materials they had.