Season’s Greetings

The year 2011 is drawing to an end and there was a huge build up to the end of year concert, graduation of our first group and the children’s Christmas party. It will be bitter sweet to say Good Bye to our ‘Grade R’s’ who we have watched grow up over the past couple of years. Grade R is the preparatory year before primary school. They are now allowed to attend the ‘big school’ and all of these Grade R kids found places at primary schools in the area.

There were so many highlights over the past 12 months and the time has been one of incredible growth at iThemba School in Capricorn. In January our school grew from 50 children in 2010 to that of further 25 children and we saw the arrival of additional staff at the school to cater for this growth.

We had our very first iThemba bazaar in June which was huge fun for the kids and a great success for the school. Many of the staff at GTS supported the bazaar, an event that is worth becoming an annual affair.

A special day for Lufthansa, South Africa and iThemba was Tuesday 28th June. The A380 named after Johannesburg took off on a scenic flight with 350 Passengers to and around CPT. The flight was dedicated to iThemba.

In August the staff at the school hosted a Women’s Day Event to pamper the women and moms at the school and to bring awareness about the very real issue of women’s abuse in this area. The teachers at iThemba launched an anti-child abuse campaign because of the high incidence of abuse in the communities.

Birgit Thümecke

In October the GTS and iThemba staff spent a Saturday creating a mural at the school, something that the children, staff and visitors can enjoy every day at the school. And in November the staff also took part in the Discovery Big Walk and they covered an incredible 13km on the day.

A special moment for me was when I visited the school later this year. I took the chance to sit down in the sand pit and to play with kids. We had a great time!

We wish you a spiritually and energy-enriching festive season. Enjoy the well-deserved break with your family and friends.
May God bless you All.

Birgit Thümecke

Sponsors link

We at iThemba are grateful to the tireless support we have received from our sponsors, which included trees, compost, toys, clothes, books, blankets and furniture from our countless visitors as well as a big ‘Thank You’ to all the volunteers who have dedicated their time to improve the lives of our children. Finally, a sincere Thank You to the teachers and support staff of iThemba, without your commitment the success of this year would not have been possible.

The Principal’s Overview of 2011 – Veronica

Barbara Meyer joined as the new iThemba Project Coordinator in July, Juanita Langford, Grade R teacher and Emily Matthews class assistant joined the school in January. Lena was promoted to cook in May to take Faeza Fennie’s place that left in April and Charmaine joined us as the assistant in the kitchen. Thandi Isaacs and Nangamso Sixubane were promoted to a dual role of teacher and assistant. Katharina Steinke, an intern from Germany has filled the role of assistant teacher for the past three months.

The Grade R curriculum was geared to prepare the learners for Grade 1 next year. They were assessed at the beginning of the year; this is called the baseline assessment to see at what level the children are and to give the teacher an idea of what needs to work on. They also received one progress report for the year with quarterly updates which covers different work every term; the overall result is that you see at a glance how each learner has progressed and grown throughout the year.

Areas that were covered this year are math’s - counting 1-10 and down from 10-1, mental math’s, shapes, colors, opposites, mass, height, different sounds, beginning and end of words, word games, clapping words and counting how many syllables the word has, figure ground; to distinguish a hidden picture in another picture.

The schools that our learners are enrolled at: Capricorn Primary, Hillwood Primary, Thomas Wilschutte Junior, St James Primary and Zerilda Park Primary schools.

Warm Regards,
Veronica Nicholas

COMMUNITY LIFE

Child Abuse Campaign

A Child Abuse campaign was launched at iThemba School on Tuesday 22 November because of the high incidence of violence against children in the area.

The campaign was initiated after iThemba staff members Thandi, Nangi, Lena and Emily completed a ten week course about child abuse, community development and crime in our communities.

The course was facilitated by Derrick Naidoo from Popular Education Program (PEP).

The group decided to run a campaign on child abuse at iThemba School because they realized that child abuse was rife in not only Capricorn, but country wide. The aim of the campaign is to involve as many parents as possible by educating them about caring for their children and giving them tools to cope with if they find themselves in an abusive situation.

“We as educators have to do something to make a difference in this poverty stricken community with its high crime and drug rate, and what a better place to start the campaign than at our school,” says Veronica, the school’s principal.

The school aims to share this knowledge by involving as many Early Child Development Centre’s in the area and Lavender Hill. Experts in child abuse awareness were invited to share their knowledge on the subject.

“We would like the campaign to be sustainable in order to make a difference in our communities,” says Veronica.

SCHOOL LIFE

A Colourful Facelift for iThemba

iThemba School in Capricorn was transformed into a rainbow of flowers, sea creatures and farm animals on Saturday 29 October by the staff of iThemba and GTS Cape Town.

The mammoth task took three days to complete and in preparation for the big day, over 40 meters of vibracrete wall were painted in shades of blue and green as the background of the sea, the sky and the grass. Then on Saturday, over 30 volunteers braved the damp weather and armed with paint brushes and buckets of color they tackled the humongous concrete canvass to make sure that the children have a bright and funny area to play in.

The transformation of the school grounds is not over, in the next few months, when it is warmer; the wooden structure in the playground and the ‘sponsorship tree’ at the school will be painted.

The paint was donated mostly by Lourens van der Merwe, while the balance of the paint was provided by Builders Warehouse in Tokai, and without their goodwill, the event would not have been possible.

Volunteers take on iThemba’s boundary wall to create a fun an interesting background to the children’s playground.

The Big Walk: In spite of the continuous rain our iThemba family and friends, a group of 20 together completed the 13km leg of the Discovery Big Walk on Sunday 13 November 2011. The atmosphere was amazing and the staff enjoyed the experience. From the back row left to right: Rudi Theunissen, Sue-Ellen Theunissen, Graham Gxekwa, Thandi Isaacs, Colin Adams, Emily Matthews in front of him, Veronica Nicholas, Katharina Steinke, Sally Jacobs, Nangamso Sixubane, Charmaine Hartzenberg. Seated in front: Lena Koeberg, Taryn Nicholas, Julia Koeberg and Devryn Nicholas standing next to her.


Snug as Bugs: iThemba kids snuggle down for their midday nap in the beautiful blankets that were knitted for them by the Morning and Evening Women’s Auxiliary Group at the Methodist Church in Plumstead. From left to right five year-olds, Agcobile Dike, Irefaan Daniels and Chadwin Gertse.

FUNDRAISERS

iThemba Angels

iThemba Angles are a beaded piece of art depicting the iThemba children as angels. The angels are being sold to raise funds for the school, and they are selling like hot cakes across the GTS Group. The Dublin based GTS location for example has ordered 200 angels and give them to their staff as Christmas gift.

The beautiful creations have been made by Monique Berger’s mom as her contribution to the school. The angels are available as Christmas tree decorations and key rings. If you would like to place an order talk to Barbara Meyer, the iThemba Project co-Coordinator in the HR office.

Cakes from the Nations

iThemba hosted a cake sale on Thursday 1 December to raise money for a Christmas Party for the preschoolers on Wednesday 7 December. The funds will also be used to construct a roof to shelter the playground for the little ones.

Barbara Meyer, iThemba Project Coordinator, says they sold 10 cakes and 90 cookies, and rose about ZAR 1800 on the day. In addition, exclusive shopping bags made from recycled Hausbrandt coffee bags, iThemba Christmas cards, and iThemba Angel key-rings and Christmas trimmings were sold on the day.

It was decided to host this fundraiser on World Aids Day because it is a day of Global Awareness about HIV and AIDS. Capricorn is an area of incredible poverty with a high incidence of HIV and AIDS in this community and children have become one of the most tragic casualties of this epidemic.

CHRISTMAS CHEER

iThemba Pre-Primary School Concert

iThemba School hosted their annual concert and the Grade R graduation on Friday 2 December 2011. The concert was hilarious as the Grade R learners introduced each act starting with the four-year-olds who sang the sunflower song.
After that the five-year-olds rendered a song and danced the Macarena, and the six-year-olds did the shuffling dance. At the end of the show each child received a certificate at their graduation and ended the evening with a farewell song. Veronica the principal at the school said that they were very excited and sad as they had to say farewell to their first lot of children starting their journey in the big world of primary school.


Santa’s Shoe Box

Big Hug for Father Christmas The Festive Season is alive at iThemba and the children couldn’t wait to see what Santa has brought them this year on Wednesday 7 December. GTS Group Dublin raised about 1.350 Euro through their year’s Christmas raffle, which contributed to the Christmas party and other improvements at school.

SPONSORSHIP

Building a Better Future

A big ‘Thank You’ to Builders Warehouse in Tokai for donating ZAR 5.000 to upgrading the classrooms iThemba, the store, generously donated goods to the value of ZAR 5.000 so that we could replace our tread-bare carpets at the school and install heaters for the classrooms. It is very chilly in the class rooms in winter. The money has also been used to buy compost for the soil and ladders.


A Warm Hearted Gift

	Hausbrandt Coffee Gert Tuppinger outside his coffee shop in 32 Waterkant Street.

Gert Tuppinger has a generous heart. An entrepreneur from Austria, Gert has found a way to combine his business venture of trendy coffee shops in South Africa with regular donations to iThemba. Together, he and his business partner Jaco Viljoen own and manage three ‘Hausbrandt’ coffee shops in Cape Town and Johannesberg. Hausbrandt is a brand of coffee that is popular in cafés throughout Europe. He also provides vending machines with coffee and snacks to GTS. About four months ago Gert approached iThemba and offered to donate ZAR 0,5 of every item sold from his vending machines to iThemba. He then further offered to donate a portion of another product to the preschool.

Inspired from the overseas market, Gert decided to produce exclusive shopping bags from the recycled Hausbrandt coffee bags. A part of the proceeds of the bag will be donated to iThemba, a valuable gift that will be used towards the upkeep of the school. The shopping bags at the retail price of ZAR 95 at the Hausbrandt coffee shops in Waterkant Street and Greenmarket Square in Cape Town and in shop in Melrose Arch in Johannesburg.

Media

If you watch our iThemba movie you get a feeling of the atmosphere at school, the laughter of the kids, the excitement of everybody involved with iThemba and what it means for the community.


The film had its premiere at the A380 inauguration flight and can now be found on the website, here.

We have also updated the website and our facebook page.

Join our new iThemba School Capricorn Facebook Fanpage to stay in touch and keep up to date with what is happening at iThemba.

Support the iThemba School of Capricorn

The school continues to rely on sponsorship and donations. It only takes a small amount of effort to make a big difference in the lives of these children.

Support iThemba and become part of this important project by

Donating school supplies
Make a monetary donation

Your donation will help to secure the expenses for the running of the school and to ensure the daily education and nutrition of the kids.

SOUTH AFRICA:

Besides the conventional way of donating money, there are many other ways that you can support us.

iThemba School Capricorn is part of the South African MySchool Initiative and by signing up for a MySchool Card, money will be donated to us every time you shop and swipe your card at over 2,500 participating Business Partners (e.g. Woolworths, Engen, Waltons etc).

If you have a MySchool card already, you can add iThemba School Capricorn to your account. If you are not yet a part of my school, visit www.myschool.co.za and complete the Supporter Card Application form.

Please help us to make a change in our communities and better the lives of those in need. A sincere thank you to all our sponsors and helping hands in 2011!