Alumni of schools worldwide have, in various ways, set up and run "past pupils' associations". Sometimes these are purely for social get-togethers and reunions. At the more organised end of the continuum, some such associations raise funds for bursaries for students at their old schools or help in other ways to motivate them to succeed in various fields.

As part of our broader "Community Ploughback" programme, we approached a number of organisations for some practical advice on how to make such an association work and the outcome is the enclosed booklet. The booklet is also available electronically on the WCED website (see link below) via the alphabetic index.

Participants in the exercise kindly allowed us to give you their contact details should you want further practical advice.

We would love to be able to track the impact of this initiative and encourage any novice organisers to contact Zoliswa Lonja on tel. no 021 467 2070 or zlonja@pgwc.gov.za to share progress.

This booklet speaks for itself. It is a manual containing stories of interactions between schools and communities that came about because of the "Community School Initiative" of 2006. We contracted a research team to track the progress of a few examples of the 200 such initiatives undertaken at that time. The results make for an encouraging read. We are convinced that such efforts pay dividends in countless ways and we will continue to try to mould and support this kind of exercise.

The WCED gave some stimulus and modest support to a further initiative in this category, viz. the "Retired Teachers' Association". The attention of schools is drawn to this as well. It also has a place on the WCED website, in the alphabetic listing. This is a completely independent entity which has the broad support of the WCED.

It has, to date, about 100 retired teachers across the province and is heading for its inaugural AGM, at which the constitution will be agreed upon and the interim steering committee will hand over to the elected body. Options via such a grouping are many: They might, for example, meet socially or secure benefits for members; they might help schools who ask for it with, for example, mentoring of beginner teachers or with timetabling challenges; they could volunteer to support reading programmes, library duty or even gardening. Once they are up and running, they could also provide a data base of retired teachers who might be able to fill vacancies at your schools through the normal formal routes. For details, contact Ms Nazeema Omar at nazeemaomar@mweb.co.za/ or cell no. 082 562 9784.