Tutus in R75 000 upgrade for kids
THE Desmond and Leah Tutu Foundation handed over an early Christmas present to the children of the Tygerberg Hospital School by upgrading the school’s playground.
The safety of the pupils has been significantly improved by the recent R75 000 upgrade of the school’s playground.
Costs of the upgrade, which began last year, were paid for by the foundation, said project manager Dean Jacobs.
According to him, the upgrade consisted of a newly installed border safety fence and freshly painted equipment comprising swings, jungle gyms, crawlthrough tunnels, seating and artificial turf serving as a safety cushion for children falling from swings.
From Page 1 A type of tree bark resembling sawdust had also been spread below playsets such as the trampoline and slide, while traffic road signs were repainted, Jacobs said. They still want to finish the roof of a tree-house.
Speaking while the children enjoyed the upgraded area, school principal Susan du Plessis said her school taught between 1 300 and 1 400 pupils a year and followed the national education curriculum.
“We’re a school for patients at Tygerberg Hospital. Some pupils, who are too sick or cannot come to the school, we teach in the wards.
“Today we have 70 kids here at the celebrations. The rest are in the hospital. We (the 13 teachers) are not here during school holidays, but parents are welcome to use the playgrounds with their (hospitalised) children.
“The biggest plus factor of the upgrade is the safety fence they put up to barricade the park from the rest of the hospital’s public space,” said Du Plessis.
A Grade R teacher for five years at the hospital school, Anel du Plessis, also commented on the upgrade.
“We are so thankful. We have been waiting for so long for a nice fence,” she said in thanking the foundation.