Laerskool Fontainebleau has thought of many innovative ways to keep the wheels of education running smoothly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Our innovative staff quickly realised that not all parents and learners have full-time access to the internet and that we need to do something to assist and support the parents and children to maintain our high academic standard,” said the school’s Carien Venter.
A very successful ‘drive thru’ project was started where printed work packages were distributed to learners’ parents. In the first week, these work packages were available for collection at a local mall but soon they were made available to collect at the main entrance to the school.
“Parents then came to pick up the work every Saturday until the school could reopen.”
During the project, staff stepped in to photocopy the packages and more than 1 700 of them were handed over to parents during this time to assist learners.
“Work that could not be photocopied and collected was distributed to parents and learners through PowerPoint presentations and videos on our own YouTube channel. During the period, more than 130 such presentations and videos were uploaded to the channel. Here, new concepts were introduced and explained to the learners. Our staff videos have been viewed more than 17 000 times already.”
During these ‘drive-thru’ days, parents also had the opportunity to donate food, clothes and electronic devices, which were then distributed to families where there was a need.
“Our Fontie parents had open hands and hearts and donated generously. Companies were also approached to help and the support that came from the community was overwhelming.
“We can therefore truly say that thanks to our staff, parents and community, every child in Fontainebleau Primary School’s academic progress, as well as their physical well-being, is taken care of through thick and thin during this difficult time.”
