DESPATCH Preparatory School is honoured to have one of South Africa\u2019s top Grade R teachers in their midst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the 20th annual National Teaching Awards which was held two weeks ago at the Soshanguve East Secondary School in Gauteng, Asja-Leah Katia Strydom was announced as the second best Grade R teacher in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She previously was named the best Grade R teacher at both district and Eastern Cape provincial levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and the Minister in The Presidency Jackson Mthembu, hosted the awards, which is an annual event held by the Department of Basic Education to recognize and celebrate teachers for their dedication and outstanding work, at times under extremely challenging circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is an enormous honour to be seen and recognised by your country,\u201d said Asja-Leah Katia Strydom, a Grade R teacher and head of department at Despatch Preparatory School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was absolutely amazing seeing the extra effort and how many teachers are going like ten thousand more miles. Children\u2019s lives are genuinely changed by these teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are teachers devoting their time to run Grade R classes over weekends to assist children. Others have designed apps and programmes interlinking with a curriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe best mathematics teacher in the country pushed herself for three years to get massive sponsorships by literally going from door to door. She did this to get Lego blocks, which she uses to teach high school maths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat was also inspiring, is language teachers taking their learners into the depth of areas where specific languages are spoken, so that the learners can hear the different dialects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt must have been very difficult to judge us, because what one school has another hasn\u2019t, but you all have to bring something to your community,\u201d said Strydom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were nine finalists in each category, representing the different provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Madel\u00e9ne Sachse, principal at Despatch Preparatory School, said, \u201cThis is an excellent achievement and a first ever for Despatch Preparatory, where a teacher was awarded the best at provincial level and second best in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are extremely proud of Asja. She is a \u2018go-getter\u2019 and always strives to excel at whatever she does. Weekends and holidays are not there for her to relax. It seems to be the ideal time for her to plan yet another project in making teaching exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nominees for the National Teaching Awards go through a rigorous selection process by expert panellists who put teaching practice and excellence to the test. Teachers nominated represent the diverse nature of schools in the education sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Strydom, not enough teachers are aware of this competition in which the nominations start June\/July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is a lot of good getting done by teachers and it doesn\u2019t always get seen or recognised,\u201d said Strydom. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DESPATCH Preparatory School is honoured to have one of South Africa\u2019s top Grade R teachers in their 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