ORANGE FARMS.- Zonkiziwe Primary School hosted a reading picnic for Grade 4 and 5 school learners outside the school premises over the weekend.
The event was attended by community members with COVID-19 protocols observed.
Tlholohelo Matsha was the main speaker of the day, motivating the learners to take reading seriously.

Speaking to Sedibeng Ster, Emily Chaka who is the brain behind this initiative, said the event was meant to create awareness to the learners that reading is not only taking place in the classroom. She said learners can use any public space including the community parks to read. The learners were reading English, Sotho and Zulu books.
“This idea of reading picnic was brought to our school by one of our colleagues, Shaylote Ndlovu because they used to host this event at her previous school. When she proposed this reading awareness event, we saw it as a great initiative, and I want to thank our Principal Mr Nkwe Koboekae and all the teachers for making this event a success. I also like to thank the support from the Extension 1 community and the School Governing Body (SGB). The learners had a fun filled the day reading outside classroom.

“The purpose of the event was to show these learners that reading is not only supposed to take place in the classroom but everywhere. This was the first event of its kind to take place at the school and everyone was excited because this was a unique initiative,” she said.
Chaka, who is also a teacher at the school, said that the school intends to host another reading picnic for grade 6 and 7 learners in the near future.