Creative Academy Preparatory celebrated its left-handed learners on International Left-Handers Day on August 13, recognising the individuality and unique experiences of children who use their left hand.

The day aims to celebrate left-handed people while raising awareness of some of the challenges they can face in environments designed mainly for right-handed users.

At Creative Academy Preparatory, inclusivity means recognising that every learner is different. Left-handed learners may need simple adjustments to workspaces, equipment and practical activities to help them learn and create comfortably.

For some left-handed learners, everyday school activities can come with their own challenges, from using right-handed scissors and navigating shared desks to writing in workbooks without smudging freshly written ink.

Principals Leon Lourens and Tyla-Jade Botha highlighted these experiences with humour.

“Being left-handed at school means growing up thinking you’re completely normal until you try to write in a workbook,” said Leon.

They also joked about the familiar struggles of fighting with those right-handed scissors, sitting next to a right-hander and playing elbow wars, being told to just turn your book around and dealing with ink travelling directly through a freshly written page.

However, they stressed that left-handed learners should not be viewed as awkward right-handers.

Creative Academy encourages learners to embrace their individuality and find their own ways of expressing ideas and developing their skills.

The school believes that being left-handed is not a limitation, but simply another way of experiencing and engaging with the world.