Retiring: but with new plan

After three decades of teaching and preparing toddlers for the big world, principal of Buckets and Spades Educare Centre Janet Bands is retiring.

Bands started teaching at Hudson Park Pre-Primary School in the 1980s and met her husband, former Arcadia Special School principal Dave Bands a few years later.

The couple have three children.

“After having my children, I realised that I needed to spend more time with them. That is when I established Buckets and Spades in 1987, which I started here at my home.

“I believe mothers should spend time with their children, especially when they are young. I started the school with only six pupils, but I currently have 20 pupils,” Bands said.

One of her challenges when starting the school was not having any colleagues to work with, she said.

“I have so many fond memories that I have made throughout these years at Buckets and Spades, but the one I will cherish the most will be watching the children grow and being responsible.

“Children are a blessing. The best moment is at the beginning of the year when they start school, all nervous and clinging to their parents because they are scared of starting a new chapter in their lives.

“But as the year ends, they become like my own children,” she said.

Bands said the school would be taken over by Sarah Erasmus, a qualified teacher, who also bought Bands’ house.

“My plan after retirement is to travel. We start in January, and in June we will be going to Botswana with a group of friends.

“The other plan my husband and I have is to start a study course for school pupils. I like to mentor children and mothers.

“I am going to miss the children most when I retire, I will miss dealing with them and the parents,” Bands said.