The Camp ~ 31 October to 3 November 2005 - Mrs Abrahams

The excitement level was high, at last we were on our way, despite the fact that we nearly left without Luvuyo and Eric, who were held up on public transport on the way to school. All the way to Worcester there was a constant “How much further?” The first stop was a tour of Kleinplasie where we saw a hut with cow dung floors, tobacco drying sheds, candle making, bread being baked in old fashioned ovens and went on donkey cart rides.

At last to Oudtshoorn. On our first night we had a show and the local people told us, through song and dance, the story of the ostrich feather industry. The Khanyisa pupils were keen to join in and we were much entertained.

The days were full of exiting places to visit and things to do. We had a guided tour of the ostrich farm, learning all about ostriches, their eggs and their chicks. Everyone was impressed by the strength of ostrich eggs which can be stood on without cracking or breaking them. Some brave souls actually rode on an ostrich and survived. Iain nearly had his nose pecked off when he gave the ostrich a food pellet with his lips instead of his fingers! The indoor swimming pool and slide was much enjoyed by everyone after a day of sightseeing.

The highlight of the tour was definitely the visit to the Cango Caves: the stalagmites and stalactites, Jacob’s Ladder, San rock paintings, the chimney, crawling through the very narrow passage and the magnificent amphitheatre. Everyone came out at the end bubbling over with enthusiasm and amazement at the grandeur of the caves.

Another highlight was definitely the impromptu concert arranged and performed by the pupils with no assistance from the adults. There were all sorts of surprises and great talents were revealed.

For many of the pupils it was their first trip out of Cape Town and they enjoyed all of it. We thank all those who generously helped to sponsor learners who could not pay the full cost and also those that gave freely of their time to assist during the camp. Thank you to Janet in the office who managed to keep track of who had paid, who had not, who could not and who had paid in part!

Class 4 / 5 - Mrs Francis

Mfundo, Ilhaam, Daanish, Kyle, Tauriq, Sibonisiwe, Sinthembele and Vuma

Looking back over the year with my class there were many highlights and wonderful experiences. The children drank in the main lessons that were presented to them and I can see how they have gained and changed over the year. In the plant study main lesson the children went out each day to observe the plants in the garden. Everyone chose their own particular plant to study. For me, it was amazing to realise that the children had each chosen a plant so similar to their own temperament! We studied the different stages of development in fungi and angiosperms and, miraculously, through this, they were linked to their own life and development. A safe platform was created by the children and they spoke about issues that touched them in their own lives. They shared openly about their circumstances, family, friends and the many things they are exposed to in their lives. I was humbled by the difficulties experienced by some of these children. During this time, we crossed boundaries with each other and our culture and background was no longer important, only who we are now. The after effects of this lesson still lives within the class, there is still a sense of sensitivity and compassion.

Class 6 / 7 - Mrs Hack

Litha, Emmanuel, Precious, Darlington, Tauriq, Luvuyo, Juta, Eugene and Shenice

We started the year with twelve children, three girls and nine boys. There were two very difficult boys in the class, which was challenging. Their attendance was often erratic and their coming and going (for that is what they did) had an unsettling and negative effect on the rest of the class. Eventually they left, giving all of us a breather.

In the third term, from July to the end of September, I took my three month sabbatical and this made the year seem disjointed. On my return the dynamic of the class was somewhat changed and it took a while to regain the old atmosphere. During my absence Mr Dawes taught the class. He did the scientific subjects, which are his expertise, and the children really enjoyed this… and having a male teacher.

In the final term we looked at the Human Being from the three major aspects: the digestion, the breathing and the blood circulation. We are all quite in awe of our own body and how well it functions.

For each child there is a purpose in life, and when life is difficult and there are hindrances we need to hold onto this and face the challenges openly.

Class 7 - Mrs Klassen

Zintle, Nicole, Songezile, Jezreel, Scott, Bongani, Jonathan, Natassja, Alvie, Robin and Siphenathi

Five new pupils came into the class at the beginning of the year. They adapted quickly and soon became a part of the class. It was a very challenging year, teaching a class of energetic teenagers, who have the answer to just about everything in life! There were a number of difficult incidents to manage, but in the end everyone gained a lot. Through it all, we had some fun times, learnt new skills, acquired interesting knowledge and made beautiful things during the various main lessons. There has been an improvement in the level of work in the class, which is pleasing. On the whole they work well together and are supportive of each other.

Next year the class will move into the high school with a new teacher, Mrs Petersen.

Class 8 / 9 - Mrs Abrahams

Dylan, Sinawo, Vuyo, Bradley, Iain, Amanda, Floyd, Tiffany, Danielle, Tazwell, Salim and Suihing

The year started with four new pupils from other schools and Sinawo, Tiffany and Raviv from Mrs Klassen’s class.

At the end of the second term Raviv transferred to a local mainstream school and Dylan joined us at the beginning of the third term.

It has been encouraging to see the confidence and maturity of the pupils develop throughout the year. I remember Amanda exclaiming at the beginning of the first main lesson, on the cardiovascular system, “I know this”. At the end of the three and a half weeks she said, “Whew, I thought I knew this, but I have learnt so much!” What a reward! This has generally been a trend in the class and there has been much enthusiasm to discover things for themselves. A lot of research was done, followed by a lot of excited discussions with the teacher afterwards! This positive energy and friendly, competitive attitude resulted in fantastic projects, both individual and in teams. They really
worked well together and achieved first class results..

It was a good year. Many incidents in the class and the kinds of discussions reveal that they are typical teenagers, dealing with the normal humps and bumps! They certainly have proven that there is so much ability within their souls and with encouragement, guidance and care they can explore the many facets of themselves.

Class 10 / 11 and 12 - Mrs Darries

Eric, Gino, Sven, Siya, Rayhaan, Philip, Olga,Jeffrey, Donavan, Cedric, Edwina and Liyabona

This is the time of the awakening the “I” to enable the young person to find a place in the world and become a healthy member of society. The curriculum at Khanyisa is tailored to accommodate learning difficulties and the content of the main lessons is reduced, without losing the quality, or essence, of the subject taught. The awakening of the “I” within, through conscious thought, imagination or feeling and will has been woven through all the subject choices this year. The theme of the year was “expanding my consciousness”. This is done through the content of the main lessons and also in the practical subjects such as pottery, woodwork, gardening, eurythmy, fine art and craft.

We covered subjects such as:

« Geography: the physical formation of natural phenomenon (earth / earthquakes, air / wind, fire / volcanoes and water / tsunamis) and how they impact on the lives of human beings.

« Physics: the development of the individual.

« Ancient history and anthropology: the awakening of human consciousness from pre-history to the development of the great civilisations.

« Biology: the higher senses, the brain and nervous system

In Astronomy the theme was expanding my consciousness and how we all carry the building blocks of the universe within us.

It was a successful year for the class. At the end of the year, three of our young people, Olga Mei, Sven Bräsler and Gino Benjamin, graduated from the class to stretch their wings out into the world. They will be sorely missed in the group. Next year Floyd Robinson, Bradley Katz and Iain McDougal will move up from the junior high class and Jessica Stark will join the class from a mainstream school.

Graduation 1 December 2005

Olga Mei

Olga has been at Khanyisa School for four years. She participated fully in all the tasks and produced amazing results, both academically and artistically. Olga is wise and kind and she will be greatly missed by everyone in the class and all the staff. Next year Olga will move on to Kindergarten training at the Centre for Creative Education. Olga presented one of her beautiful paintings to the school, to be hung in the hall.

Sven Bräsler

Sven has been at Khanyisa for five years. He has always been a presence at the school and is a strong and interesting character. His open and honest approach to all situations and his special image will be missed by us all. Sven loves music and would love to DJ at parties next year. He will also help in a landscape gardening company and a sport shop.

Gino Benjamin

Gino came to Khanyisa at the age of 15. He loves to study, read and to learn. Gino found a “home” at Khanyisa,. He enjoyed all the main lessons and when his epilepsy prevented him from coming to school he completed a comprehensive autobiography as a final project. Gino’s quiet and gentle presence has been missed over the past months and we hope he can find something that will fulfill and stretch his many abilities.

More of the graduation…

Sven and Mrs Darries

Gino receives his certificate from Mrs Darries

Ms Mtimkulu and Olga, holding the picture that Olga presented to the school

Singing good-bye to good friends

News of graduates of 2004

Bulelani Ndyambo

Bulelani has worked all year in the Khanyisa Recycling Workshop, collecting recycling from restaurants and sorting it. He has done well, not even feeling envious when the school had holidays and he had to continue coming to work everyday! Next year we will again expand the recycling and we hope Bulelani will continue.

Nozuko Tolobisa

Nozuko wanted to do domestic work and with the assistance of some of the teachers she has done just that. She is improving her skills and managing four part-time cleaning jobs during the week.

Stefi Woods

Stefi spent the year at Cape Town College studying child minding. She had a successful first year and still has one year to go.

Eurythmy - Ms Mtimkulu

Ms Mtimkulu was trained in eurythmy at the Kairos Eurythmy School, who operate from the Centre for Creative Education, our neighbours. She has been at Khanyisa for four years. We are so proud of the standard of eurythmy at Khanyisa School. I suppose it would be stretching it to say that all the pupils love eurythmy, but at a recent performance given by all the classes, their enjoyment was evident. Ms Mtimkulu works alongside the teachers and augments the curriculum.

News of this year and next

In the middle of the third term, while the rest of the school was on their educational excursion, Mrs Klassen had her new Class 3 and 4 children at the school for a trial period. This will be the sixth class at Khanyisa. The class is unusual in that, so far, there are six girls and only one boy. It is nice to swell the female contingent to a more even proportion at the school! Mrs Petersen has been hired to teach Mrs Klassen’s Class Eight group. The school has now changed from two high school classes to four of high school age - over the coming years we will need to monitor this situation to ensure we can continue to cater for younger children - without having to open a new class every year! We will begin the school year with 68 children and young people, 13 more than this year.

In order to accommodate the new class at the school and to give Mrs Francis more space for her growing Class 6, we are to construct two new classrooms. We are grateful to have received funding from Sanne Foundation for this purpose. It has been a long journey to get to the actual construction and we are still not quite there. The land belongs to the Department of Transport and Public Works and we had to put in an application to them for the building of the classrooms. We have finally been granted permission and the classrooms will be erected, in the back, under the trees, in February. Together with the Centre for Creative Education, we are still in negotiation with The Department of Transport and Public Works and Department of Education about the lease and ownership of the land.

Finance and Administration

The school year finished with 54 learners in five classes. The main administrative challenge at the school continues to be raising sufficient funds to cover the shortfall between fee income and running costs. Another fund raising challenge is to try and increase donations from South Africa, at the moment they lag far behind those from overseas. Denise Janssens, new in the office, will concentrate on local donors while Eileen Parker will divide her time between existing donors and the recycling. Khanyisa continues to follow a policy of accommodating all those who need the school, even if they cannot afford the full cost of their education.

Although we have not received subsidy, we still work with the Western Cape Education Department. Dr Theron, Head of the Department for Learners with Special Needs sent a letter of support with our application to the Department of Transport and Public Works, in favour of the school being granted a longer lease and permission to erect two new classrooms. Every year we fill in the relevant subsidy forms and surveys.

The Parent Action Committee, formed during the year, has extensive plans for future fundraising functions to try and involve the entire parent body in the development and needs of the school. They are working hard to form groups of parents who will make crafts and articles for the school fair. They did a sterling job with the fair in September 2005 and R17 933 was raised. It is vital to have the conscious support of all the families at the school and we are grateful to Lovell Pyper and Shirley Williams for starting and running the Parents Committee.

Khanyisa School is growing in size and strength and needs to continue. Thank you to all those who so generously continue to help and support us, it is deeply appreciated by all the families and staff at the school.

Recycling - We strive to make a difference!

The Recycling Workshop has continued steadily throughout the year, with Garth and Bulelani collecting and sorting daily. We have again received funding from the National Lottery Fund and so work will continue and hopefully expand. A grant from the Cape Town City Council for education in recycling will entail moving into the wider community with workshops on the how, what, where and why of recycling. Khanyisa families also need constant reminding on the necessity to separate their waste material and bring recycling to school. The Cape Town waste dump only has ten more years before it will need to be closed down and there is no suitable land for new waste dumps in Cape Town – the situation is urgent.

Return to the Khanyisa School Homepage