Slot van die Paarl Primary locks in community values
19 March 2021
On a recent visit to Laerskool Slot van die Paarl, our passionate and eagle-eyed T2P Lead Champion, Dr Johann Burger, spotted some eye-catching images (displaying the value of compassion) adorning the foyers’ walls.
It was evident to him that compassion (or “deernis” in Afrikaans) was driven home by the principal, Mariaan Witsche and her staff who had even gone as far as awarding learners with “deernissertifikate” for living out the value in the month of February.
Needless to say, this idyllic situation had Burger beaming.
When we reached out to Witsche, she assured us that their school had been a values-driven school long before the advent of the T2P strategy and naturally the WCED theme for 2021. “Our vision, she said proudly, “is focused learners with balanced values”.
Furthermore, their mission had always been “NETHEID” – and Afrikaans anogram built up of Nederigheid (humility), Eerlikheid (honesty), Trotsheid (pride), Empatie (empathy), Initiatief (initiative) and Dissipline (discipline).
Witsche went on to explain the thinking behind the Compassion certificates as follows:
“Compassion is one of our 12 core values that we have chosen to focus on at our school. It was also our value for the month of February. After a month we chose a child in each class that had shown the most compassion towards others. Each month this will also happen for our other values. We call them our Value Winners. They receive a certificate and a badge for this honour!”
When asked about her take away message in doing this, Witsche replied:“Being compassionate is the foundation for a strong school family. Our children should always show compassion towards our diverse family. This makes us stronger as a class, a school and a community.”
Well done Slot van die Paarl!
