School reaches out to learners left vulnerable by COVID-19 pandemic | Western Cape Education Department
School reaches out to learners left vulnerable by COVID-19 pandemic

School reaches out to learners left vulnerable by COVID-19 pandemic

9 April 2020

Camps Bay High School provided food parcels to learners identified as being in need of assistance during the unexpected extended break from school.

Shortly before schools closed last month, Camps Bay High School Principal, Dave de Korte, said: "We are above all else a caring, community school and we recognised that the next couple of weeks may be quite tough for some of our learners as the unplanned extended break will put additional financial pressure on their families, particularly those who do not receive other assistance from bursary programmes or sponsors.  So, we decided to put together a food hamper for these learners, identified by their tutor teachers as possibly being in need of assistance."

De Korte said he was grateful towards all the roleplayers who made the project a reality.

"A big thank you to Ms Kirsten Mobsby - Head of Service at Camps Bay High School and Ms Carol van der Spuy - our school's Marketer for co-ordinating this project at very short notice with the assistance of learners and parents including Cara Kahn from Camps Bay High School Alumni Association, Simone Segall and Janine Thetard from Camps Bay High School SGB, 2020 Head Prefect - Amava Mkuku, plus all the other teachers and members of CBHS PR Team who helped make this happen!”

Van der Spuy said due to the lockdown it has proven to be impossible to find an organisation that could deliver more food to the learners who were scattered all over the Peninsula, from Ocean View to Khayelitsha to Mitchell’s Plain and Hout Bay so the school provided families with a R500 virtual Checkers voucher to tide them over until the end of the current lockdown period.

“If lockdown is extended, we will review and look to assist these 60 families, provided we can find funding. Obviously we are very concerned about cash flow at the school and the inevitable drop we will see in school fees, but we will do our best to keep this running for the families in need!”