Rustenburg Girls’ Junior School (RGJS), in partnership with the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) recently hosted the first-ever South African virtual Creative Arts Conference, with a variety of local and international speakers, to assist teachers with the necessary resources to provide quality creative arts education to all learners.
The two-day Creative Arts Conference was well graced by almost 2000 attendees, who engaged with the speakers throughout the conference. The principal at RGJS Belinda Petersen says “The impact of the conference has not only been in providing access to quality content by exceptional speakers but also in establishing a connected community of Creative Arts teachers and practitioners in schools and the arts industry. I am excited that teachers have already arranged to meet up after the conference to build their professional learning networks (PLNs) that will continue to place the Creative Arts at the heart of our schools once again”.
Such conferences play a pivotal role in finding ‘the missing heart of the school’, especially in the South African education sector. The Creative Arts Conference was successfully organized and coordinated to make sure that all educators had access to the event, especially those that teach at underprivileged schools with a lack of resources. Tamsanqa Songabe: Eastern Cape Chief Education Specialist Creative Arts – GET Phase said “This has been a mind-blowing conference; I’ve been to conferences before but this one is out of this world. Our teachers in Eastern Cape are excited to be exposed to such amazing tools that can help us be better teachers to our children”.
Our keynote speaker Debbie Schäfer – MEC Education Western Cape said “The Western Cape Government prides itself on thinking ahead, and in being prepared for what is yet to come. That is why we have expanded our strategic approach from STEM education to STEAMAC incorporating Arts, Agriculture, and Coding. We support the Creative Arts conference as arts education can boost resilience as learners engage with the world around them and are challenged to see things differently”.
The WCED expressed its gratitude – As the WCED we are in awe of the contribution made to the Creative Arts Conference and would like to sincerely thank every speaker as a member of our arts community of practice for the careful and detailed preparation and inspirational, informative, and ground-breaking presentations delivered at the conference. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and this is so encouraging in moving forward. We can only strengthen the arts in our education system when we work together, collaborate, and indeed form arts’ communities of practice – hence the thank you to all presenters as a valuable community.
The brainchild behind the Creative Arts Conference Hendrik Marais, head of Creative Arts at RGJS says “I would like to thank everyone for their participation in the inaugural Creative Arts Conference. As we have started to take the first step in the right direction to find ‘the heart of the school’, the rest of the steps can only be taken in the classrooms and there is ‘the heart of the school’”.
Thanks to our incredible team at Rustenburg Girls’ Junior School, especially Hendrik Marais, who took a somewhat crazy idea and passionately brought it to life. We are grateful that the Western Cape Education Department and Schoolscape partnered with us to make this event happen with input from the Purple Za team. Our sponsors, including Old Mutual as our main event sponsor, enabled hundreds of teachers to attend the conference from across our beautiful country. The end product was far beyond our wildest expectations, yet this is just the beginning. There are already ideas brewing for #CAC2022!
ENDS.
About Rustenburg Girls’ Junior School
Rustenburg Girls’ Junior is a beautiful school in the heart of Rondebosch. Although we cherish the traditions of our long history, our girls are provided with an excellent 21st century academic, sporting, and cultural programme. The school is a happy, vibrant, and caring place and has a strong sense of purpose. Learning is important! The knowledge and skills learnt in the classroom are linked to the life lessons learnt during sport, music, cultural and community service activities. Teamwork, dedication, hard work, respect, consideration, and compassion for those less fortunate are some of the values we hold dear. Our girls are encouraged to develop thinking, problem solving and research skills and to reach their unique potential. There is something for everyone at Rustenburg and the girls embrace the opportunities provided. They are enthusiastic, energetic, and excited by each new experience.
For more information please contact:
Marketing and Communications Officer
Thapelo Phukuje
Mobile: 079 425 4914
Tel: 021 689 1981
Fax: 021 686 7106
