Excitement ran high in the community of KwaBhaca (formerly Mount Frere), when Phathi-sanani Reading Club from Siqobeni Primary School was named the top reading club in the Alfred Nzo District.
The final of the 2018 reading club competition took place over two days at Mount Frere Community Hall last week on Thursday.
All the seven reading clubs finalists had already gone through several rounds of competition.
Siyakhula Reading Club from Zinyosini Senior Primary came second, while Siyafundisana Reading Club from Qadu Senior Primary came third.
The annual competition was organised by Nal’ibali, the national reading-for-enjoyment campaign, and the department of basic education as part of Nal’ibali’s Story Powered Schools project. The project aims to cement a culture of reading in select rural schools in the Eastern Ca pe and KwaZulu-Natal.
Along with their trophy and certificates, the top three reading clubs were rewarded with exciting prizes from Nal’ibali, including new books and a radio and CD player for each club.
“All the prizes were chosen to give the successful clubs new story resources and ways of using them in schools,” said Jade Jacobson, managing director of Nal’ibali.
Founder of Phathisanani Reading Club, Sindisiwe Phezuka, said she started the club as a response to the low pass rate in the province. “I believe if we groom the children at a young age to be proactive readers, then it will encourage them to focus on their studies and produce quality results. Hopefully when these kids get to matric things will change. I knew we would impress the judges but I did not think we would win.
“The competition level was very high and all schools worked very hard. I am proud of my kids,” said Phezuka.
Phathisanani Reading Club member Endinako Quadi said: “We worked hard for the competition and our teacher Miss Phezuka supported us a lot and we are grateful to her for that.”..