Samuel Ntsiko Primary School in Joza celebrated World Book Day on 23 April with great enthusiasm. Teachers, pupils and parents were all involved in a reading and storytelling event entitled Festival of Stories that took place in the school hall (a double classroom).
Samuel Ntsiko Primary School in Joza celebrated World Book Day on 23 April with great enthusiasm. Teachers, pupils and parents were all involved in a reading and storytelling event entitled Festival of Stories that took place in the school hall (a double classroom).
The venue was beautifully decorated for the occasion: appropriate posters, interspersed with tinsel, adorned the walls, while books of all shapes and sizes were displayed around the room.
There was also a display of the homemade cards and books that the pupils had created around the theme of World Book Day.
An excited group of about 150 children and 30 parents gathered together and sang songs while they waited for the first part of the programme to commence.
After welcoming remarks by Nombulelo Koliti, the principal, the special guests were introduced. These were Sarah Murray from Rhodes Education Dept, Brian Fargher from Gadra, Kary McConnachie of the Reading Camps project and Dineo Magwaxaza, Subject Advisor for the Dept of Education.
Magwaxaza encouraged the pupils to keep on reading, saying, Ukufunda kutshintsha impilo yethu (Reading changes lives).
The participating groups ranged from Grade R through to Grade 6, starting off in their mother-tongue isiXhosa and ending up in English.
A large number of children participated through group reading and other activities and considering this is only the beginning of the second term, their skills were impressive.
There were some very creative efforts, for example where the teacher used a Grade 1 child to tell the story of The Three Little Pigs while she showed some large hand-drawn pictures and his class mates got involved in huffing and puffing.
In another item, there was even a television set created out of a box and a pupil acting as a newsreader. Samuel Ntsiko Primary has a rich history that dates back more than 100 years. They can be justifiably proud of their efforts to promote literacy.
