Goodbyes at the end of the year

Bushwillow students represented United Shotokan Ryu at the 2024 WUKF South African National Championship.

Part of Bushwillow education is to create opportunities to connect with nature in a meaningful way. One of the ways we are doing is this is through the Food Forest and Gardens initiative, led by Bushwillow grandparent Tim Wigley and teacher Yvonne van Breugel....

Since the beginning of October, under guidance of volunteer Anne Keating, our learners have been practising for our school play ‘Lets the Birds Sing.’ While we had to call off performances due to the Covid 19 pandemic last year, thankfully, we were able to regroup...

This year we adapted our Friday schedule to include exciting hands-on activities. Every Friday there are five or six activities organized by the teachers and Bushwillow friends, allowing our children to broaden their skills, follow their interests, and learn...

When we began our Friday activities, a committed group of chess players in the senior class was willing to lead the chess activity. There are children from age six to fourteen who consistently choose chess every Friday, and this group is steadily growing. When...

Rainfall (mm) in 2020 - R343, Kenton on Sea, RSA (Year total: 646 mm) This rain record (scroll to the bottom of the page) was compiled by averaging data gathered from Beehaven cottage, Beehaven farm, Kurmark and Bushwillow (R343, Kenton on Sea; Bushmans-side and...

At the end of April, Bushwillow held its traditional annual Bonfire Night. It rained the day before and it was a windless evening – perfect conditions for a bonfire. The Bushwillow community gathered just before sunset to help set the wood, which was kindly...

Ron and Angie Engert have played a vital role in the story of Bushwillow. In 2016,  a couple of months before Bushwillow opened its doors (in January 2017), Ron and Angie agreed to donate part of their farm, “Birdsong,” to Bushwillow for one Rand, so long as the...

In March we said goodbye to one of our founding families. Anouk Verheijen and Stephen Wigley, along with their four children, Marijke, Thijmen, Luc and Yens, left South Africa in April bound for the Netherlands, and are sorely missed. Anouk Verheijen and Stephen...

On the 26th of February the senior class at Bushwillow School held a long awaited and much belated Valentines Dance. With COVID protocols in place, the children danced, chatted and enjoyed a bring-and-share snack table. The highlight of the evening was a tango...

During these Covid times we have been blessed with so much on distance and on site support from our volunteers. Without them it would not have been possible to run our school so smoothly! Jasna, Katryn, Marcela and Peter, you all have been stars in the classroom....

Thanks to the Municipality of Tilburg, we are extending our outreach to our community through a food gardening programme. This programme kick started on 17 August with natural farming training in the Ekuphumleni township by permaculture specialist Tim Wigley. For...

Fortunately, due to our low numbers of students per class and our spacious set-up, we have been able to re-open our school in full on 8 June. After such a long break, our teachers and learners were very pleased to be reunited again in the classroom. In the first...

Together with our teachers, the Bushwillow Board has prepared for school re-opening by putting in place a comprehensive Covid-19 plan. Our board member and General Practitioner, Eleanor Galpin, has been crucial in ensuring this plan took into consideration the...

The hard lockdown in our country means a loss of income for many people, putting many members of our community in a vulnerable position. We have been proud on the ways in which our school family has been supportive in various ways: Supporting the local soup...

Like everywhere in the world, so far this year has been an unprecedented one for Bushwillow School. Due to Covid-19 restrictions in place, our school has been closed from 18 March. This has challenged us to change our way of operating to ensure the safety of our...

Thanks to the generous support of the Dutch ZIJN Foundation, we were able to install 10 new water tanks at the school, which now supply all our drinking water. The ZIJN Foundation grant also helped us to create a separate beautiful playground for the pre-school...

From the beginning of this year we started to roll-out explorative learning project modules in our Grade 3-4 and Grade 5-7 class. The first modules were a big success with exciting snorkelling and fishing excursions to discover our ocean ecosystem. As part of each...

Every year we celebrate the school’s Birthday with a talent show. At this show, children of each class share their talents on stage. Our fourth birthday was again a true celebration with various dance drama and singing performances. Our teachers finished the show...

Teacher Xabsi, who started as a co-teacher at our school, has been promoted to a lead teacher position in the Grade R- 2 class this year. While she was a little nervous to step up, she has risen to the challenge! We are very proud to be able to support teachers in...

Our pre-school class is exploring the ocean this term. They drew the land and the ocean, designed their own boats and ships, built their class boat together out of card box and sailed around the world with it in one day! During this ocean adventure they explored...

In July 2019, we started the Ubuntu Skills Programme, providing sewing lessons to teachers, parents and women and men from our local community. A group of 10 people have enthusiastically started two-hour lessons twice a week and will continue till the end of the...

In the week 20-27 September millions of people took to the streets all over the world to call attention to the urgency of climate change. The children of Bushwillow School decided to join these people and try to raise awareness in our own town Kenton on Sea by...