Hangberg Pre-Primary is in dire straits but through a fund-raiser being held at the end of August, the school hopes to turn things around.
In 2013, in line with its key belief in quality early childhood interventions, the Hangberg Educational Trust (HET) started pursuing its goal of offering affordable, sustainable infrastructure to 300 pre-school children in Hangberg with its first project being the Hangberg Pre-Primary School.
The HET was started by Marquerithe Schreuder and Tania Gray who is also the principal of Hangberg Pre-Primary. She said they faced several challenges, with funding being the main one.
“The school fees cover only half of our monthly overheads and as we are not yet government-funded, we run into a shortfall of close to
R40 000 per month,” she said, adding the children were fed two cooked meals a day.
Since July 2014, the HET has been running the independent school which started in classrooms “on loan” from Sentinel Primary School. The school building for 120 pre-school children was completed in September 2016 on the grounds of the Sentinel Primary School.
“The school also targets parents and carers through services such as parent skills training,” Ms Gray explained.
Organiser of the Mardi Gras-themed fund-raising event, Karen Temlett, said: “Each year, we run a fundraiser for two reasons – one to create awareness of what is being done in this beautiful bay of ours and secondly to raise much needed money to help with the shortfall,” Ms Temlett explained.
Those who want to get involved, she said, can do so by sponsoring a child’s school fees, buying raffle tickets or bidding in their online auction.
“We hope to see Houtbayains and corporates come along to the event and support early childhood education and development which is so needed in this country,”
Ms Gray said.
Ward councillor Roberto Quintas applauded the efforts of the school and encouraged the community to come out and support their fundraising initiatives.
“The school has done tremendous work in preparing young learners for the first stage of schooling. As a feeder preparatory school for the Hangberg area, it has done some phenomenal work in our community,” Mr Quintas said.
The fund-raiser takes place on Friday August 23 at the Suikerbossie Restaurant in Hout Bay, from 6.30pm until late.
For more information about the event, contact Karen Temlett on 082 417 4871, or Tania Gray on 082 491 5626 or email Marquerithe Schreuder at hangbergeducational
trust@gmail.com to find out more about the school.
