As another school year comes to a close there is particularly good news to report from the English Please programme at Fish Hoek Primary school. Masicorp volunteer, Milli Firth is a specialist English teacher who gives her time to tutor the students from Masiphumelele that attend the school. The programme has been very successful as we have reported previously.

The grade 7 group that finished this year was the first group that Milli has taken all the way through their time at Fish Hoek Primary. We met up with the group in the week before school finished to chat about their experiences on the programme and their hopes for the future. The ability to speak English fluently gives the students a massive advantage in life, and this was highlighted by their placement in high school. As early as June, all five of the girls in the group were placed in Fish Hoek High School and are looking forward to the significant step up in learning, with new subjects to master and new friends to make.

Gift is the solitary boy in the class and has an even larger adventure to look forward to following his award of a bursary to attend Bishops All-Boys Independent College School in Cape Town. While the girls will remain living in Masiphumelele, Gift will become a boarder, sharing a room with five other learners. Bishop’s is one of the most prestigious schools in the Western Cape, with a long history of high academic achievement. It will be a huge challenge for him, but it is a fantastic life opportunity that has been made possible by the tutoring he has received in the English Please class.

All of the students were able to talk enthusiastically about their future hopes and conversation turned to their ambitions in life after school. Gift has an interest in the arts and hopes his experience at Bishop’s will enable him to work in drama. The girls were hoping that Fish Hoek High will help prepare them for careers in the travel industry, the legal system or social work. Or in one case the opportunity to be on TV – doing absolutely anything – as long as it is on TV.

Well done to all of the students and to teacher Milli. We wish them all well in their future studies and will be sure to check in again to see how they are progressing.