Meet Bonita, a teacher at Reddam House Waterfall who is “fired up” to share her experience and expertise with the staff and children at Philile Diepsloot. Having taught in both rural and private schools in South Africa and gained teaching experience in the UK and Middle East, she brings a wealth of experience. Working with different cultures and having access to limited resources at times, she’s often had to be creative with teaching materials and methods.

Inspired by her passion to see children thrive, she is now studying Educational Psychology and one of her assignments involves working with a school in the community. This is what brought her to us, but her involvement extends far beyond satisfying the requirements of an assignment to a passion to truly add value to Philile Diepsloot.

“Teaching is who I am, I don’t feel like myself if I’m not doing it”

Before diving in with her own solutions, Bonita met with Irene, one of Philile Diepsloot’s ECD practitioners, to find out her needs. When Irene expressed that she needed help with structure around numeracy and literacy she knew exactly what to do. She put together a file of tools to guide Irene and visited her class one day to interact with the children and demonstrate a few techniques. She also presented a variety a cost-effective methods and ideas. Both Irene and the  children responded to Bonita with excitement, joy and a hunger for learning. Bonita also encouraged the staff, explaining that they were “worth more than gold to those children”.

Bonita’s humble approach to working with Irene shows that though she might have a lot of experience, she recognises that Irene is the expert on her children and the environment they live and learn in. Knowledge and experience from both sides are essential to real growth. This means that instead of doing something for Irene that she did not ask for, she inquired about her needs and desires and partnered with Irene to enhance the children’s learning experience. This is what powers lasting progress.

Bonita, we are so grateful for your passion and involvement with Philile Diepsloot. You are bringing so much value. We love that you’re working alongside Irene and know that your story will inspire others to do the same!