Fairmount High School recently launched its newsletter, called Fairmount Times.
The Grassy Park school finished the first edition on Thursday June 17.
English teacher and project co-ordinator Rholda Gosain, said the aim was not only to improve pupils’ writing skills but to also give them something to add to their CVs.
“Everybody was invited to get involved in the making of the five- page newsletter,” she said, adding that media professionals had been invited to guide pupils through the process.
Among them was Mansoor Jaffer, former deputy editor of Cape Community Newspapers which publishes Southern Mail and its sister titles.
He had been asked to provide workshops to upskill the pupils’ writing skills, but when his wife, Kay Jaffer, a lecturer and ex-teacher, saw the learners respond “so well” to the workshop, they decided that producing a newsletter would be a good way to showcase the pupils’ newly acquired skills, said Ms Gosain.
Among the pupils’ responsibilities was to report on the school’s extramural activities.
Mr Jaffer said some of the pupils had been “eager to learn and I was impressed how they applied themselves”.
He said writing was a valuable skill to learn and “if you have writing experience it can help you in many aspects of your life”.
Also involved were photographer Alvin Andrews, journalist Bridgett Pitt and designer Moegsien Ismail.
Eunice Mulomba, Grade 10, head designer said she had to oversee and discuss how to create the pages. “It was challenging getting everyone to focus, but we enjoyed it and got along very well. The designer showed us how to use the app, get the right colour, format and font and guidelines.”
Saajidah Jacobs, Grade 10, was part of the team responsible for designing pages. “At first I didn’t know how it was supposed to be done, but the designer showed us how.”
Principal Terrence Klassen said he was pleased that despite the pandemic, “exceptional things are still happening at school to take anxiety and fear out of our children’s minds by being involved in engaging extra-curricular activities”.
“We are grateful to Mansoor Jaffer and his team for sacrificing their time and sharing their expertise to work with our learners and teachers in producing a quality Newsletter.”
Mr Klassen said they were looking for a company which would sponsor printing so that they could sell copies of the newsletter to help raise funds for the schools’ upcoming 40th anniversary bumper edition.
“We would like the parents, ex students, businesses and the community at large to support us by purchasing a copy.
“We hope that all our ex students/Alumni will support their Alma Mater in delivering the quality education they received.”
For more information contact Mr Klassen or Hilton Meyer on 021 705 1826.