Setting an example

Rustenburg – Oom Paul Skool is a skills school which means that it provides education and skills to learners who find it difficult to progress in the mainstream schools. These learners have to meet the criteria and have to be referred by a psychologist.

From the age of 13, Afrikaans and English learners can attend the school, and are educated in an environment adapted to help them flourish. The school has to work according to each child’s ability, creating the perfect atmosphere for them to excel when they couldn’t do in a mainstream school.
Half of the school-day is dedicated to academics and the other half is used to teach them various skills that will enable them to enter the labour market.

Main skills they teach:

• Woodwork: They are trained in basic woodworking skills. They build various items of furniture that is displayed and used all over the school.
• Maintenance: The learners get to know more about plumbing, roofing and other household maintenance as well as motor maintenance like draining oil.
• Hairdressing: It gives the youngsters the option of working in a salon when they finish school. 
• Food Production: Oom Paul School have a well-equipped class that teaches kids the basics of preparing food. 

Extracurricular activities like rugby, soccer, netball, athletics as well as cultural activities like public speaking are also offered. They have several learners who have received North West colours with their achievements.

Learners from as far as Taung attends Oom Paul School and can comfortably stay in their hostel that currently host 108 boys and 72 girls. The hostel provides food for the children which are prepared in their state-of-the-art kitchen. 

At the steer of Oom Paul Skool is principal Cas Combrink. He has 38 years’ of experience in education and for the last 10 years he has been taking the lead at Oom Paul Skool. “People have a misconception about a special needs school. These children just need an environment where they and their situations can be understood and developed to help them to thrive,” Combrink said in an interview with Platinum Weekly.

When Combrink first arrived at the school, he was shocked about the state it was in and decided that the learners deserved a school which they could be proud of. Little by little, classroom by classroom, they started with renovations – most of it done by the learners themselves. 

The schoolgrounds underwent a complete makeover and the school now boasts with a borehole system, a big generator for when the power goes off, a beautiful hostel and even a gym for the learners.

Combrink also arranged that the school invest in a ride-on lawn mower, that he uses every Monday to cut the school’s grass. “It is important that the learners know that no one is better than anybody else, we are all equal,” he added.

Other values that they try to instill in the learners is honesty, discipline, punctuality, neatness and to work hard so that they can be proud of what they have achieved. This will all contribute to good work ethics and make them contributing members of the society.

While taking Platinum Weekly on a tour of the school, one thing that truly stood out was that the learners had great respect and admiration for their principal. Their faces lit up as he walked past them, all greeting him with a smile. A group of boys even came to great Combrink with a firm handshake.

Oom Paul Skool learner Hansie Visser said: “I love my school and I have an awesome principal. He treats all of us like his own children.” Visser is also one of the schools’ star rugby players. Children are the future and Oom Paul Skool is dedicated to teaching learners to becoming contributing members of society not only by telling them how to do it but by setting the example.

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