Zakariyya Park Combined School serves learners from the suburb of Zakariyya Park and the informal settlements of Vlakfontein and Lehae. The notion that this could become an Imperial support school was discussed by the trustees in 2012.
The school was situated close enough to Vlakfontein (an area the Trust worked in) to be regarded as a feeder school for learners from Inkululeko Yesizwe, which was already an Imperial school. The opportunity to continue supporting these learners was the main reason that the trustees accepted the challenge of working with 1900 learners ranging in grades from 1 to 12.
The trustees had no illusion of the formidable challenge of working in such a large and differentiated system. The task of sourcing materials and resources for the range of grades and the number of learners would prove to be very difficult. On top of that, specialised training for our staff would be pivotal for the reading programme.
By this time, the Trust had decided that the focus would change from developing mathematics and science results to reading and literacy; learners would have a greater chance coping across all subjects if their reading competencies improved. Literacy through the establishment of libraries would henceforth be the key focus of the Trust.
The trustees committed to upgrade and modernise the outdated resource centre which was at that point filled with tired and outdated books and nothing much else. Phase one consisted of:
Phase two followed around 2016 when a structural defect in the original building resulted in the library not being safe for learners. The department undertook the task of fixing the problem and the Trust commenced with refurbishing the library for a second time, in addition to new shelving and extra books. Private reading rooms were also created to allow for small group reading sessions.
An array of teaching aids was acquired that covered most subjects. Teachers, provided they were sufficiently motivated, remain spoilt for choice in every school subject.
