Oh what a trip! It was very short this year due to running out of annual leave however I got a lot done and, most importantly, attended the graduation ceremony for our 33 children who have turned 6 years old. They will be moving up to primary school at the end of January when school recommences after the 2 month summer break.
Mungo's opened in 2010 and our first graduates in 2011 will be entering Grade 7 in January and the serious business of passing exams begins!
Since 2011 over 100 children have graduated from Mungo's giving them the same footing as every other child.
The day was to commence at 10am but I was awakened at 4 am by the crashing of pots and the start of frantic cooking over a log fire since the indoor kitchen wasn't enough to prepare the amount required to fill hungry tummy's later in the day!
There was a last minute panic, necessitating a quick run into town (1.5 hrs, off road, round trip) but the morning finally began promptly an hour late!
All week there had been ferocious storms daily and quite chilly at times however today, with a 4/5 hour ceremony, in a crowded room with a corrugated iron roof, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature was an uncomfy 30 plus degrees - by the end of the day I had almost melted into a puddle!
It was all worth it though to hear our children sing and recite lessons learned - numbers 1-20, the alphabet, colours, shapes, days of the week, months of the year, weather, spellings...... then on to a carefully prepared drama with a moral to the tale. Next traditional dances and drumming which the parents sometimes got overexcited about - joining in briefly but enthusiastically! Finally the children go out to put on their gowns and the speeches are made, First a parent, then a teacher invited from another school who was clearly impressed by our clever, well behaved students, then me - thanking the children, the teachers, the parents, getting quite emotional looking at the faces I'd seen grow up now ready to move on to the next stage of their future. Certificates awarded, photo's taken and then out into the sunshine to eat chicken, pap, beans, salad and of course the graduation cake. Play on the playground equipment, a game of catch, happy chatter and excited faces - what an amazing day to be part of
