Parents of Turfhall Primary School’s Grade 7s held a breakfast for staff on Sunday and gave them gifts in celebration of World Teachers’ Day the day before.
Kulsum Parker organised the function at The Lounge in Crawford.
“I thought it would be nice to do something to show our gratitude and involve all the parents. Fortunately, it didn’t take much convincing. Some of us won’t have another child at the school next year, and we built such good relationships with all the staff members,” she said.
“We not only invited the teachers, but the support staff as well, including the security. That was 68 staff in total.”
Another parent,Habiba Abdurahman, said they were grateful to all the teachers.
“Our children turned out to be good teenagers with good values, and the teachers played a significant role in that,” Ms Abdurahman said.
Grade 1 teacher Fayruz Francis said she felt honoured to be there.
“No one else has done this, and it’s a great privilege to be part of this.”
Principal Sukanya Naidoo thanked the parents for being so involved in the school.
“We thank them for their continued support over the past seven years. There were some issues, but these were resolved amicably. The school is 42 years old, and this is the first time something like this was hosted. Their children started their schooling journey in 2013, and I remember when parents had to apply in 2012, the queue started at 2am. This relationship we built, brought us together like a family.
“The parents took this on themselves and they did a sterling job. One of the children is very sick and was not able to attend school since the beginning of the year, and the parents invited his mother as well. This warms my heart,” Ms Naidoo said.