Emeris Durban North Students Create And Donate Storybooks To Local School

Seven groups of second year Emeris Durban North IIE Bachelor of Education in Foundation Phase Teaching students at wrote and illustrated their own storybooks as part of the School of Education’s Once Upon a Future initiative. The storybooks were recently handed over to Briardene Primary School’s Foundation Phase teachers for classroom use.

During the handover the students read their stories to Grade 1 learners, creating a meaningful literacy experience for the learners.

Briardene Primary School is the campus’ KHUMO (Kid Heroes Under the Mentorship of Others) partner, Emeris’ national corporate social investment initiative which focuses on supporting and uplifting local communities through skills sharing and development projects.

“Earlier this year, Suhaima Moola from Al Falaah College presented an inspiring workshop for our second year students as part of our Once Upon a Future Initiative. The workshop encouraged and guided the students to write their own storybooks for young learners,” explained Lerecia Kymdell, Education Lecturer at Emeris Durban North.

Moola writes and publishes her own storybooks based on ideas from her learners and shares the books with the learners’ parents.

“By writing their own stories, the students learnt how to guide young learners through the same creative process in the classroom,” said Kymdell.

The students, in pairs or groups of three, wrote their storybook based on their chosen Grade One theme. “There was a wonderful variety of stories. Many of the students choosing themes around wild animals or farm animals,” added Kymdell.

Second year students Hamara Nagiah, Diya Sukhnanan and Skye Bengston wrote and illustrated The Three Knights of Bravery, a story about three inseparable friends: Nandi the cow, Abigail the pig and Shreya the chicken who live on The Willow Ranch.

“Our inspiration for the story came from our friendship and trust. We wanted to show learners that true friendship exists and that friends help one another,” said Bengston.

Nagiah said the framework for the book came together when they bounced ideas off each other. “I opted to be the illustrator because I’ve love drawing. To make the book more authentic and closer to our personalities, we coloured in our own characters and the illustrations”.

The group also included a glossary and an isiZulu translation page with key words to their storybook to help learners build their vocabulary.

Sukhnanan said it was the first time they collaborated on a storybook and would definitely do this again.

“It was so rewarding watching the learners’ faces light up with excitement when we read the story to them. It also opened my eyes to how many learners and schools need more learning resources,” she said.

The trio also used toy animals and a story map to create a more interactive reading experience for the learners.

Nagiah was keen to continue writing and illustrating stories as a hobby and a way to connect with and encourage children through literacy.

The initiative was further supported through a campus book collection drive for Briardene Primary School, with students and staff donating children’s books to help improve access to reading resources for learners.