CWED repeats T2P rally feat
13 December 2022
As the only education district to have held a large T2P gathering during pre-pandemic times, the Cape Winelands Education District (CWED) has recently repeated that achievement – this time in the town of De Doorns.
Hexvallei Secondary School played host to learners and staff of seven other schools in the area as well as their parents, NGOs, performers, guest artists, community leaders and institutions, social services and even the police in the region.
At around 08h00 on Saturday, 5 November 2022, waves of marching, dancing, singing and chanting learners in their school uniforms, accompanied by their parents and surrounding community members, took part in a lively procession. And whilst the region isn’t free or oblivious to scourges such as gender-based violence and unemployment, this was a rally with a difference, as was the one before in Worcester in 2019.
School communities had again overwhelmingly answered the call from new CWED Transform to Perform (T2P) Lead District Champion, Chantal Van Reenen and her team, to gather and engage in values conversations in addition to presenting a unified front against the social evils plaguing their communities.
The bumper-packed programme kicked off with an opening address by Jeanette Harker, Acting Director at CWED. After a mayoral address by the Breede Valley deputy mayor, it was soon Warda Conrad’s turn as the T2P Provincial Strategy Driver to address the crowd. See the link below to her keynote address.
The rest of the programme was a hodgepodge of performing artists, cultural offerings by schools, personal testimonies, motivational speakers and a guest appearance by the very popular and talented actress, Melanie du Bois (of 7de Laan and Arendsvlei fame respectively).
The main reason for the gathering, namely promoting values conversations was not lost on the attendees. “I was particularly encouraged by the police’s interest in wanting to forge greater use of values conversations both within their ranks as well in their interactions with the community,” said Conrad.
“Moreover, I was also really moved by how the master of ceremonies used a mantra-like chant to get the learners to be at their most responsive – something as simple as ‘Children, tell your friends… values matter!’ which immediately set the tone for further engagement. It speaks to the level of buy-in by the children and their schools which is indeed very encouraging. Well done, CWED!”
