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LEAP 2, serving the communities of Gugulethu and Crossroads, opened in January 2007 and shares a campus with LEAP 1 (Langa) in Pinelands. 2009 marks an exciting milestone for the school as it nurtures its first Matric class. “The children of our school continue to excite, delight, surprise, sometimes disappoint, but always enthral as we make this journey together.” Angus Duffett, Principal of LEAP 2 (Gugulethu) LEAP 2 Newsletter - May 2009    
2008 Highlights Academic A combined group of Leap 1 and 2 learners represented LEAP and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) at the Grahamstown Sasol SciFest which forms part of the National Festival of Science, Engineering and Technology. The group performed two plays raising awareness about global warming and recycling. They have since been invited to perform at a number of other events. This collaboration has not only produced a performance of superb quality, but given the learners exposure to the complex environmental issues involved. The travelling MTN Science Centre visited and presented a series of wild, wacky and amazing experiments. The learners were also involved in working through a number of problem-solving activities all with a Science theme. The afternoon was incredibly well received and a good opportunity for our learners to see Science in action. Most of our learners participated in the first round of the Harmony Maths Olympiad and 2 learners, Tsepo Mphomane and Siyabonga Mashalaba (LEAP 1, Grade 12), made it through to the second round. Cultural Activities A special event was held at the school to celebrate Heritage Day. All our learners were involved in performances teaching and celebrating Xhosa culture. The day concluded with a traditional Xhosa meal. A group of Grade 10 learners from LEAP 1 and LEAP 2 took part in the International Blastbeat competition. Blastbeat is a teenage music and multimedia business project offered to high schools around the world to teach entrepreneurial business skills, promote young musicians, and support youth communities on a local and global level. Teenagers organise themselves into companies with each member of the company taking on a different job description. The company is responsible for producing a concert in order to identify the best musical talent in their areas. There are two competitions in one, an enterprise competition for the companies and a concert for the musicians. Winning bands are selected from the school concerts and progress to regional finals ultimately vying to win a trip to the World Finals in Dublin. The Leap 2 Blastbeat company, TAP, organised an extremely successful concert. The winning band from this concert ultimately went on to win the competition and the overseas trip. Two of our learners received individual awards for their part in the National Blastbeat competition: Siyanda Fokazi (Best Videographer) and Baphiwe Maki (Top Talent Spotter/Agent). The Green Club was established during 2008 in line with the green status adopted by LEAP. There is one club consisting of learners from both LEAP 1 (Langa) and LEAP 2 (Gugulethu)s. Among the club activities initiated was a recycling campaign within the school and tree-planting during Arbour week. School Visitors Waubonsie High School from Chicago, America, visited the school at the beginning of 2008 with the purpose of building relationships with South African learners. The learners engaged in a number of community outreach programmes with LEAP in Kalkfontein and Langa and kindly donated 12 laptops to LEAP. The laptops have been placed in our study centre in Langa. “Personally I really enjoyed their visit because the students were the same age and grade as us. They were such awesome people.” Nomtandazo Mde, LEAP 2 (Gugulethu), Grade 11 Third year physiotherapists from the University of the Western Cape visited the school to teach the students about chronic diseases and how they can affect our lives. “The exciting part about their visit was the fact that they didn’t just teach us what they know, but also talked and listened to us as we told them about what we understood.” Nomtandazo Mde, LEAP 2 (Gugulethu), Grade 11 LEAP hosted the Glee Cub choir from Moore House College, Atlanta, America. Together, LEAP’s choir and the Glee Club were able to provide a gift to the Langa community by performing a combined concert for Langa residents at the Langa community sports hall. |
