HELP : Homework - Enrichment - Lifeskills - Programme

24/09/2026

Celebrating our South African heritage 🇿🇦

This term the learners have been exploring what makes South Africa special through art, literacy and hands-on activities.

We created a map showing the people of South Africa, celebrated the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela, and learned about some of our magnificent wildlife through our Lion, Elephant and White Rhino projects.

Each project has been a chance to learn, create and celebrate — while reminding our learners that South Africa’s heritage belongs to all of us.

Happy Heritage Day from everyone at HELP and Harmony Primary School! 🇿🇦

23/09/2026

23/09/2026

What do you get when you take a grey rhino, cover it in white and add a whole lot of texture? A “White” Rhino!

For World Rhino Day, the learners created a giant rhino from cardboard rescued from an old box. The image was divided into puzzle pieces, with each piece covered in a different white texture, including straws, sea glass, cotton wool, string, bottle tops, buttons, beans, samp, fabric and tissue paper.

The activity encouraged creativity while showing how everyday and recycled materials can be transformed into something unique.

08/09/2026

Well done to Jean Mackenzie and Coach Kerry-Anne for their dedication and commitment to getting soccer off the ground at Harmony Primary.

08/09/2026

🐘🌈 Celebrating World Elephant Day with Elmer! 🌈🐘

The learners enjoyed reading the much-loved story of Elmer, the colourful patchwork elephant who reminds us that being different is something to celebrate.

Inspired by Elmer, the children were encouraged to let their imaginations run wild as they coloured elephants in the brightest colours they could find. They also learned new terminology relating to elephants, with their colourful creations becoming part of the learning experience.

The highlight was creating our very own patchwork elephant using recycled plastic bottle tops! 🐘♻️

A wonderful combination of storytelling, creativity, learning and recycling – proving that, just like Elmer, there is always room for a little more colour in the world. 💛💜

06/09/2026

Women's Month South Africa

For Women’s Month, the girls traced their hands and wrote five positive attributes about themselves—one on each finger—including their dreams for the future.

The colourful display is a powerful reminder to see themselves positively, believe in their potential, and never stop dreaming about who they can become. 💛💜

04/09/2026

Chess: Opening Up New Opportunities

The learners are being introduced to the challenging world of chess thanks to volunteers who generously give their time to teach and play with them.

For many of the learners, this is a new experience. As they learn the game, the learners are also developing valuable skills: concentration, patience, critical thinking, problem-solving and the ability to think ahead. Chess teaches an important lesson too — that every decision has consequences, mistakes can be learned from, and sometimes you have to rethink your strategy and try again.

For learners at a no-fee school, opportunities like this do not often available. We are enormously grateful to volunteers such as Maxine, who are opening doors to new experiences and showing the learners that learning can be challenging, rewarding — and fun.

Maxine, who has volunteered at several other organisations, had this to say about her experience at HELP: “It is the best at HELP as it feels like having fun with wonderful kids while playing chess with them!”

25/08/2026

Debating Society

Two HELP volunteers are providing learners with the opportunity to develop and hone their communication and debating skills.

Life is about communication, whether a learner is in the classroom or the community. Debating is a formal way of communicating that develops confidence and self-esteem. Speaking publicly and conveying ideas and thoughts coherently is a valuable tool that can be carried through life. Importantly, debating develops critical thinking and reasoning skills. It goes beyond simply public speaking, requiring learners to think on their feet and quickly formulate ideas.

The learners are all showing great promise through challenge, and every meeting is full of interesting insights as they start to think through ideas and look for real-life examples to support their thinking. The team camaraderie amongst the learners is fostering an inclusive group environment, allowing all of us to learn and make mistakes together.

17/08/2026

World Lion Day 🦁♻️

The Grade 5 learners celebrated World Lion Day by combining Maths, Art and recycling to create this magnificent lion!

They explored geometric shapes, created designs on used teabags and then transformed them into a lion using recycled materials.

🦁 Used teabags became the body
👀 Bottle tops became the eyes
🌿 Dried tea leaves became the nose and tail tip
✏️ Pencil sharpenings and teabag strips created the mane
📦 Discarded cardboard became the canvas

With a bit of creativity almost anything can be turned into art!

14/08/2026

Mandela Month 2026

The learners celebrated Mandela Month by creating a life size figure of Nelson Mandela.

The learners began by colouring an outline of Mandela with bright, vibrant colours. They then cut their artwork into different parts of his body – his shoes, trousers, jacket, hands and shirt. These individual pieces were carefully collaged to create a large, colourful image of Mandela.

The learners not only created an image of Mandela, they also explored the qualities that made Mandela a great leader and a true gentleman. Whilst the learners coloured in words such as respectful, forgiving, brave, strong, patient, peaceful, fair and helpful, volunteers spoke to the learners about the meaning of these words.

Through creativity, teamwork and discussion, the learners discovered that history can be brought to life in ways that are meaningful, memorable – and fun.