Dainfern College

One of the High School’s more recent, heart-warming Outreach initiatives has been the forging of a relationship with the Matrics at a school in the nearby informal settlement of Diepsloot.

In an intervention coordinated by the South African School Children’s Help Appeal (SAScHA) – a volunteer organisation run by a group of Dainfern College moms - the 74 Matrics of Diepsloot Combined School have been attending weekend revision classes on our campus.

In the lead-up to their final exams, Mr West invited them to make use of the school’s classrooms and computer facilities while volunteer tutors assisted them in preparing for their Maths, Physical Science, English and Computer Applied Technology (CAT) papers.

“We are grateful that the school opened its doors and heart so freely,” say the SAScHA moms, “and last Monday we all learned the true value of Outreach.”

That was the day Matric exams started for government school pupils around the country and Diepsloot Combined School was affected by a power cut which meant the CAT students were unable to make use of the school’s computers to complete the paper.

It was a hugely stressful situation but, the instant the crisis occurred, DCS Principal Veronica Kgabo picked up the phone to Dainfern College outreach coordinator Cheryl Coetzee and, within minutes, it was arranged that the computer rooms would be made available for her Matrics to complete their exam that afternoon.

Since Dainfern College had already reached out to Diepsloot Combined, it was natural to turn to them and, thankfully, because the Matrics had already been attending CAT classes at Dainfern College, they were familiar with the surroundings and were able to get straight down to work – turning a potentially disastrous day into a wholly positive one.

Now that’s Ubuntu in action!