WESSA Schools Programme Impact Report 2020

Kopanelang Thuto Primary School

Zamdela, Sasolburg, Free State

MOSIUWA MOTSAMAI’ STORY OF CHANGE

dispensers in each of the classes from which the learners can quench their thirst, since all taps are locked during the day to minimise water wastage. The challenge of water wastage has been wonderfully minimised due to the distribution of these water dispensers to different classrooms and we owe our gratitude to our WESSA mentor Mr Ngwenya for supplying the dispensers. The water recycling project plays a prominent role especially during water supply cuts, which are frequent in the area where our school is situated.

A teacher at Kopanelang Thuto Primary School in Zamdela, Sasolburg, I teach Social Sciences to Grade 4, 6 and 7 learners. Our school is one of the largest in the Free State, with around 1,800 learners. As a member of the Environment Committee I serve as the committee’s contact person, usually overseeing projects pertaining to environmental matters around the school. GETTING INTO WESSA PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS Since Kopanelang Thuto Primary was already a member of the Eco-Schools Programme, my involvement began when I was tasked to coordinate the ad hoc committee that was organising a cleaning campaign for the school. The campaign went well and I developed a passion for the environment. From then on I have been involved in WESSA Eco-School projects and have never looked back. OUR ECO-SCHOOL PROJECTS Our school undertakes a variety of projects such as food gardening, tree planting and water saving. The water saving project is a major one since we were fortunate enough to have a donated water recycling plant installed by a private company! The water recycling plant plays a tremendous role in saving water, since it allows the school to recycle used water and even waste water

Our food garden project is extremely important, since it contributes to our school’s feeding scheme as part of the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) and saves money because we do not have to buy in so many vegetables. Our learners receive healthy school meals, supplemented with freshly harvested vegetables from the school garden. We are also able to assist learners from destitute family backgrounds when the harvests are good and there is excess food available.

We celebrate Arbor Day and various other environmental days and occasions. The Arbor Day celebrations include tree planting programmes. These trees are contributing to a steady improvement of our school grounds, providing shade and shelter for the learners.

FUTURE WISHES Since our school is such a very large school with a high numbers of learners from Grades R to 7, it is our wish to extend our facilities, such as the food garden, in order to reach the majority of our struggling learners with food and other necessities.

from our toilets. The recycled water is then used once again to flush toilets and water the garden. We also have drinking water

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