19 August 2020
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www.thevillagenews.co.za
Safety first at Babbel & Krabbel Writer & Photographer Hedda Mittner
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abbel & Krabbel has become an institution in Hermanus; ask anyone about it and they’ll tell you it’s been there “for as long as I can remember”. Many prominent local residents spent their formative years at this preschool but, like most institutions and businesses in the Overstrand, gigantic efforts are required to keep it going during the Coronavirus pandemic. Fortunately, Principal Lorna Such, who started the first pre-primary class way back in 1979, is up for the challenge and has gone to astonishing lengths to keep her staff and young charges safe. Now known as Hermanus Pre-Primary and Babbel & Krabbel Aftercare, this Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centre has 276 learners from the ages of three months to six years (Grade R), and also provides after-school care for both its own learners and those form Hermanus Primary School. However, not all their learners have returned, as some parents are still apprehensive about the possibility of infection, while others are no longer able to pay the school or after-care fees due to salary cuts and lay-offs. “We are doing our best to accommodate those parents who are struggling, by making special payment arrangements,” says Lorna, adding that the school is also continuing to offer online teaching and e-learning for those children who are still being kept at home. Those who have returned, however, are very happy and excited to be back at school. “They have clearly missed their teachers and the social interaction with their friends,” she says. Working parents are probably just as happy and relieved – and, judging from the stringent protocols being followed by the school, the children are arguably safer there than anywhere else. The entire premises are sanitised at the end
of every day, each child’s temperature is taken three times a day, there are no towels in the bathrooms (instead, the teachers use paper towels to dry the children’s hands) and every piece of equipment, be it a building block, a book, a ball or playground apparatus, is sanitised after a learner has used it. Also, school bags are no longer used and in their place each child now carries a plastic container, which is also sanitised at the start and end of every school day, along with the children’s hands and even the soles of their shoes. It all seems quite daunting, not to mention exhausting, and yet Lorna and her dedicated staff – 13 teachers and 15 assistants – have shown that it can be done. “I studied every single Gazette, the Standard Operating Procedures, the guidelines from the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Social Development, the Disaster Management Act and the Department of Employment and Labour Workplace Preparedness Act to ensure that the school complies with all the health and safety policies,” says Lorna. While it might seem an impossible task to teach such young children about the need for social distancing, sanitising and the wearing of masks, Lorna says it has been heart-warming to see how quickly they have adapted and how eager they are to cooperate. “With many households under financial pressure and parents having to juggle working from home with taking care of their children’s needs and education, there has been increased stress at home during the lockdown,” says Lara Such, Lorna’s daughter who is also a Grade R teacher at the school. “Far from inducing further stress, the new pro-
tocols at the school seem to make the children feel more safe and secure – especially because the rules are applied consistently, without exception. It has simply become the ‘new normal’ for the children and they enjoy participating in all the new rituals, such as frequent hand washing and having their own designated work space behind a screen. Because they can’t all be let loose to play outside at the same time, brain gym activities have been introduced in the classrooms on big TV screens to make sure they get enough exercise. “It also helps them to focus better on their work if we alternate periods of concentration with periods of fun and games,” says Lara. Lorna adds that although the world has changed so much since schools first closed way back on 17 March, she and her staff stayed in touch with the children and their parents right through the lockdown. In addition to compiling and designing all the e-learning material, Lara, who seems to be the tech boffin in the family, also made videos of the teachers singing songs for the children that were designed to teach them about health protocols such as hand washing and mask wearing. So they were already familiar with these new behaviours by the time they returned to school. Lorna also completed a trauma course during lockdown so that she would be able to support the children emotionally. Although everything possible is being done to ease their way back into a more normal routine, Lorna says it is still unclear when, or if, the school will be able to host their usual events such as concerts or diploma ceremonies. An even bigger problem is the fact that all their fundraising events had to be cancelled, which adds to the school’s finan-
ABOVE: Shani Eksteen with one of her Grade RR (5 years) learners, Kimberley Louskitt, who is very happy to be back at school. CIRCLE: Janine van Niekerk with one of her charges in the baby class (3 – 18 months) at Babbel & Krabbel Aftercare. cial challenges. “The parents on the school governing body have been very supportive and have initiated several fundraising efforts such as raffles and the donation of food and used clothes for the learners and their families. And even though salary cuts were inevitable, I am very grateful that we were able to keep all our staff members.” However, until parents are able to afford the school fees and all the children have returned, and until their main fundraising events can again be held, both the school and especially the aftercare centre will continue to experience a shortfall that puts this 40-year-old institution in jeopardy. Anyone who would like to sponsor a child whose parents are no longer able to afford school and/or aftercare fees, is welcome to contact Lorna Such on 028 313 1025 / 072 904 3666 or principal@hermanuspreprim.co.za FAR LEFT: The principal of Hermanus Pre-Primary and Babbel & Krabbel Aftercare, Lorna Such, with teacher Hettie Maree in the 3 – 4 year-olds’ class at one of the work tables that have been partitioned to ensure social distancing. LEFT: Michelle Swart, who earlier this year won the national award for Excellence in Grade R Teaching, with Lara Such in front of a television screen displaying the e-learning material that Lara designed during the lockdown.
