25/10/2016
Good Day Friends
The class of 2016 at Vlakfontein spent the past weekend camping out at the school. The purpose of the camp was to study and they really "roughed" it out at the school. This was the initiative of the LRC and learners themselves as they work towards their goal of achieving a 100 % pass rate this year. The highest matric pass rate at the school is 74% and this was achieved many years ago. The teachers and principal spent the weekend at school as well. Some parents also came to offer support and even brought food. SAPS also visited while CPF patrolled the school.
We were generally not supportive of this ‘weekend special’ special initiative because of the safety aspect, but the learners were determined to go ahead studying with or without our support. However, having witnessed the determination for ourselves we believe that we need to plan ahead better for next year because those who will be in matric just want their own camp.
On Friday some parents came in to help clean toilets, and that was encouraging
On Saturday a few more parents and teachers brought in food and spent some time.
This camp helps in getting everyone in the spirit of learning, it also makes sure learners focus on nothing else but learning for at least 48 hours
Going forward, we suggest the following:
Help with preparation of classrooms, make sure all windows are fixed, sufficient lighting, etc;
Donate or maybe borrow the learners board games to play (i.e. chess boards, scrabble, playing cards);
Screening of good educating/motivational movies in between (i.e. Spelling Bee); and
Participation by alumni in games and competitions with the learners.
Do you have any other suggestions in terms of what can be done next year?
Is the school a right place for a camp (logistically)?
Can we fund raise and take them out to a proper camping facility (or just save cost and add value)
Maybe we can have a few Day Camps throughout the year, Saturday say from 8am to 5pm and Sunday 9am to 3pm ..
Next year is 70 years of Vlakfontein, this could be a year of positive and proactive action for Alumni Association