Five-year-old Tyra Spiders digs into her snacks like it’s the reason she came to school.
Today was Tyra’s first day at school at Valencia Primary near Nelspruit. “Can you open this for me, please?” she asks as she points at her juice bottle on the table.
“I like to come to school. I enjoy school,” she says, but claims that her parents told her nothing about what to expect.
Tyra wants to be a doctor when she grows up, “so I can help people”.
Next to her is six-year-old Gcobisa. Although she volunteers her opinions and likes the attention, she does not know her surname.
Gcobisa says she likes school because of the toys and wants to be a police officer. But she’s not quite sure why.
Teacher Debbie van Heerden says the games they have been playing put the children at ease on their first day.
“They all look happy. We were clapping hands and learning each other’s names,” she says.
