First day of school for pupils from left, Isaiah Phillips, Ridaah Awaldien, Maajidah Petersen, Likuwe Qhalo, Mohamed Amein Abdi and Abongwe Bushula with their grade 1 class teacher Britney Stevens.

Last week was the first day of school for the prospective matriculants for the class of 2037 and the class of 2038.

When Plainsman entered the grade R classroom at Meadowridge Primary School on Wednesday January 15 the pupils were quiet and eager to have the lessons begin. Although there were one or two who weren’t quite ready to let go of their parents just yet.

Excited for their first day on Wednesday January 15 from left are Amirah Marney, Aatiyyah Allie, Aayaan Joshua, Lunam Sulo, Mia Petersen and Luniko Sikiti.

Ready for their first lesson were Fakier Basadien and Malichai Booysen.

Grade R teacher Annelise Balie said she’s very excited for the school year to begin.

“It’s a joy to meet new faces. I’m looking forward to what we can build and how we can progress during this year.”

From back left with their grade R class teacher Annelise Balie and assistant teacher, Jaylin Balie were pupils from left, Alunamba Landu, Kwakhanya Majija, Abubakar Jatt and Cruz Huysamen.

Grade 1 teacher Britney Stevens said she is looking forward to teaching her new class and learning who they are and how they will evolve.

Meadowridge Primary School principal Denver Albertyn said even though there are shootings in the area, the community still comes out and supports the school.

“We see pupils as our children, inculcating this into our teachers.”

He said, they’re focusing on building relationships with the community and involving them. They’re creating more after school programmes for their pupils especially to prevent them from being on the streets. They’ve also been working around the state budget cuts affecting teachers and looking forward to a positive academic year.

Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the department did not retrench or fire teachers.

Some contract teachers are not being reappointed after their contracts ended on Tuesday December 31 last year.

“Like any contract appointment, there is a start and end date. Some teachers may be reappointed, and some may not be renewed and they have the opportunity to apply for vacancies within the system. Some permanent teachers will be asked to move to another school where there is a suitable vacancy in the system that meets their skills set. Otherwise, they will be declared in excess at their school until another vacancy becomes available,” she said.

Between January and November last year, they converted over 5 800 contract appointments to permanent appointments in qualifying posts. Another 1 400 are being processed, she said.

Teachers looking to find alternative school employment opportunities can go to their e-recruitment system and apply https://e-recruitment.westerncape.gov.za/

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Eager start to first day of school