Our Easter Cafe will take place at the school on Thursday 28th March, from 12pm to 1.45pm. Come treat yourself to a delicious lunch served by our kindergarten children. All the money raised from this year’s cafe is to support the Sisonke Steiner School in South Africa.
Sisonke (meaning “together”) is a small community run school based in a traditional rural area of South Africa called Port St Johns. The school first opened in January 2008 and now has 114 children from pre-school to Grade 6 (ages 3-14 years) attending. It is the result of a vision of a team of dedicated teachers and volunteers wanting to bring a new educational approach to the impoverished area.
Without any contributions from the government, religious or charity institutions the team worked hard at fundraising the initial costs involved. In the run up to the opening of the school, the team decided not to advertise as they already had a number of parents interested in bringing their children. However when they opened the doors on the first morning they had a queue round the building of parents waiting to enrol their children. Although it broke the teacher’s hearts they had to put a limit on how many children they took on. With overcrowding in government schools still prevalent it was a decision of those involved not to allow this to happen in Sisonke School.
The school has literally been built from the ground up, with classrooms built in traditional style to accommodate the eager children. The school remains independant, receiving no financial contributions from the government. It relies on the fees paid by parents able to contribute finanically, and by fundraising efforts in SA and the UK. You can learn more about Sisonke School and how you can help on their website.