Libraries

Tshepana Primary School was identified in 2007 as a well-managed school in need of assistance. The school was built by the community and handed over to the Department of Education. As with most schools in the township, the classrooms did not allow for effective learning and teaching as they were mostly unclean, largely over-crowded, and altogether under-resourced.

At the time, the school had raised funds to construct a school hall, as a source of additional income. Unfortunately, the governing quickly body ran out of funds and the project stopped at the construction of the basic steel structure and nothing more. 

The first round of assistance to the school included the following:

• Revamping the classrooms
• Providing teaching resources and training educators on their use
• Procuring additional textbooks for each learner
• Completing the construction of the school hall and adding a resource center, office, storerooms and kitchen to the existing plans
• Establishing of soccer fields
• Erecting a play gym for grade 1-3 learners
• Paving, fencing and constructing a play gym for grade R learners
• Introducing the flagship formal ’reading acceleration programme’ at the school in 2013 to the present

The academic growth of the learners has been phenomenal, with many moving through high school and university with accolades.

The first University of Pretoria reading and comprehension evaluation was conducted at this school and provided ample proof that the reading programme was working.  Learners recorded reading and comprehension scores well above their counterparts at neighbouring schools.

The library which was established in 2009 soon became too small for the large numbers that visited daily to read, study, or simply to relax over a board game.

A full renovation was undertaken in 2018 that included:

• The incorporation of an adjacent storeroom into the existing library to increase its size
• Setting up private reading rooms for small group reading
• New shelving and furniture upgrades
• The replacement of old books and
• The replacement of lost teaching aids