The staff of Cox Yeats Attorneys celebrated Mandela Day by attending the handover of a fully refurbished drama classroom at Amaoti No 3 Secondary School to the school educators.
Cox Yeats Attorneys’ corporate social responsibility programme places a huge focus on education and encouraging learning and excellence. As it is a disadvantaged school in their community, Amaoti No 3 Secondary School, located in Amaoti, Phoenix, Durban has been supported by the firm for a number of years. Staff at Cox Yeats personally visit the school often and have identified many areas where they could add value to the teaching and learning outcomes at the school. Learners should be given every opportunity to dream, and Cox Yeats strives to make sure that these dreams materialise.
One such project is the drama classroom project, which has been driven by a passion to expand the range of learning opportunities available to the learners at the school. As many of the young teens at Amaoti No 3 Secondary School have gifts in dance, music, poetry and art, the school can now offer the drama course to any learners interested in pursuing a career in dramatic arts.
The renovation involved the removal and replacement of the entire classroom floor, the construction of a spring form stage along with the removal and replacement of roofing, the walls were skimmed and painted, curtains were hung, and lighting and décor installed.
The drama room project ensures that the classroom is fit for purpose and adds enormous value to bringing out the best in the learners. It provides an ideal teaching environment for passionate educators to find creative solutions to encourage learning as well as promoting a sense of ownership and pride.
During the handover on Mandela Day the Cox Yeats staff were treated to drama, dance and song performances by the learners. The firm also provided meals for all the educators.
Over the years, Cox Yeats has seen how its efforts at the school have paid off. This positive effect is apparent in the increase in pass rates at the school, in the development and enhancement of the teaching of the English language as well as in the new and improved syllabuses and courses which Cox Yeats has assisted in setting up.
The Cox Yeats interventions at the school include the provision of a library together with the donation of books for the library. The firm has provided seating at tables for the learners, so they have somewhere to sit during break time or study periods. In addition, the following items have been provided over the years:
· Jerseys for the learners
· Mattresses for the matric learners who sleep over during exam time
· Blankets for the learners
· Scientific calculators for the grade 10/11/12 learners
· Laptops and computers to the school
· The provision of year end gifts to the matric top achievers at the award’s ceremony each year
· The provision of sandwiches to the matric learners – so they have an afternoon meal each day
Cox Yeats firmly believes that it is an enormous privilege to participate in projects such as these that assist in enabling learners to reach their potential.
