Preparing the school for re-opening under COVID conditions
After the worst of the hunger crisis during lockdown was over, the school continued with food preparation for the children and the staff had their hands full preparing the school for re-opening under COVID conditions.
It was like starting the year over again getting everyone settled back into routine and re-teaching the simple rules that make Pikkewyntjies a happy and safe place to be.
They had no sooner got the train moving steadily down the tracks again though before schooling was interrupted for the second time.
The staff took advantage of the time they weren’t expecting to have, to give the school an anti-gloom-‘n-doom facelift to welcome the children back if and when permission was granted to continue with their education.
The classroom is now the colour of yellow daisies and a newly painted alphabet frieze teaches from the walls.
The stoep has also been freshly painted and the plants have received some tlc - it was a good opportunity to get ready for the Spring.
They also turned necessity into fun, by preparing two ice cream tubs of goodies decorated and labelled with each child’s name.
Box 1 contains things like cards for counting games to teach numbers and clay and crayons.
Among the contents of box 2 are plastic sticks to make patterns, cubes and weaving baskets.
Previously when the children had finished the given task they gathered on the carpet to enjoy activities of their choice, together but now each of them must stay seated at the table and the boxes will help make that enjoyable too.
All the toys have been sanitised and are kept that way in sealed boxes. To prevent the children from using items from one another’s boxes as well as to keep them apart, the school has put dividers on each table which Zaan painted and Sandra decorated most beautifully with stencils.
An outsider seeing that, sees another instance of the care the Pikkewyne take of the Pikkewyntjies they are nurturing. They did that so the children look up at something pretty rather than board as dreary as most of their homes. It also reinforces the lesson that it’s not wealth that determines what one does with one’s life.
