It is always exciting for learners to go back to school after summer holidays. But for Grade One’s, the first day of school is composed of mixed feelings.
At Glencoe Primary Violet Street, about 60 pupils registered for Grade One. Ms Singh, head of the school’s foundation phase, said: “We serve a disadvantaged community. Some of the challenges we face on the first day include the language problem while some children cry. After school, one has to ensure that all children board the correct transport going back to their homes.”

R Ragubeer, a Grade One teacher, said: “as teachers, we come prepared for the day. We comfort and settle down the children.”
The foundation phase curriculum is composed of singing of rhymes, basic writing, phonetics and mathematics.
Ms Singh said: “After we have received the children it is important to maintain contact with parents during the year. The challenges we face are that some of the children are raised by their grannies.”
Added Ms Ragubeer: “We write notes to parents to inform them on their child’s progress.
“We invite parents to meetings per grade and we get a positive response from parents.”

Glencoe Primary Violet was opened in 1970 and the school has some top students for local high schools. Ms Singh and Ms Ragubeer have been with the school for about 30 years.
When asked why they loved teaching, Ms Singh said: “To be part of the child’s developing is important for me. Children come in a class for the first time without information and after a year they have absorbed and learned a lot.”
Ms Ragubeer said: “Sometimes we notice children with problems.
“We assist those kids by referring them to social workers and psychologists. We also identify kids without lunch boxes and arrange lunch for them.”
The Al-Imdaad Foundation and a local church provide food for about 40 needy children in the school.