My house in the morning
“I drew the time when my granny boils the water. Mr Mahlangu said the colours of the sun were brave.”
A real day, a real school, a place that feels like home.
Our buildings are simple. Our playground is sandy. The classes are full. But come and stand at the gate at 07:45 and listen — you’ll hear something that no money can buy.
Around the school
Twelve corners of our campus.
Modest, well-kept, used every day. We add to it slowly as the budget allows.
Foundation Phase classroom
Bright, simple, full of learners’ work pinned wall-to-wall.
Art & craft room
Shared with Life Skills — paint, clay, scissors, glue.
Music corner
One marimba set, a few drums, plenty of voices.
Science room
Doubles as a senior-phase classroom; basic kits and microscopes.
Reading library
Around 4,200 books, sorted by reading level. Open every break.
Sandy sports field
Soccer in winter, athletics in spring. Lined with whitewash on Fridays.
NSNP kitchen
Two food handlers, one storeroom, 255 plates a day.
Outdoor lunch area
Shaded benches, water tap, a hand-washing station.
Quiet room
Where learners go to talk to the social worker or rest.
Admin office
Where parents are welcomed every weekday morning.
Edible garden
Spinach, onions, beetroot, morogo. Tended by Grades 5–7.
Mural corridor
Painted by alumni in 2019. Repainted by Grade 7 every two years.
We are continually improving our grounds within the budget our Section 21 status allows. Donations of books, sports equipment and child-friendly furniture are warmly welcomed — please contact the office.
A year in pictures
Eighteen days we won’t soon forget.
Click any photograph to see it larger. Captions are short on purpose — every child here has a longer story.
Friday assembly
The whole school sings together.
Sports day
The 100m final, sand still in shoes.
Tug-of-war
Grade 6 vs Grade 7. Always close.
Choir festival
District festival, Magaliesburg.
Drama afternoon
Grade 5 retells the Lion & the Mouse.
Reading buddies
Grade 6 reads to Grade 1 each Tuesday.
Heritage trip
Grade 7 visits Freedom Park.
Heritage Day
Setswana, Sepedi and IsiZulu attire.
Grade 7 farewell
Certificates and tearful parents.
Open Day
Parents in classrooms, books open.
Garden harvest
Spinach goes straight to lunch.
Robotics club
Wheels turn for the first time.
World Book Day
Story characters in the library.
Bird walk
Grade 3 spots a hadeda.
Winter mornings
Gate at 07:30, cold but cheerful.
Teachers’ Day
Hand-drawn cards, all year saved up.
Mandela Day
67 minutes of community clean-up.
Grandmothers’ Tea
The most-attended event of the year.
Children’s work
Seven things they made, in their own words.
No re-touching, no helpful adult fingers. Photos are by Mr Mahlangu, with parental consent.
Setswana proverbs, in cursive
A copy of ten Setswana proverbs in his neatest handwriting. He chose them with his uncle, who is a teacher in Limpopo.
Plastic-strip place mat
Woven from cut-up bread bags during the “Trash to Treasure” week. She used the geometry she learned in maths to plan the pattern.
“What I will do when I am big”
A short, careful essay about wanting to become a nurse at the Jubilee Hospital, “to be the one who is kind when people are scared.”
English Speech: Why I love my township
Won the school’s English Public Speaking final. Quote: “Makapanstad is dusty in October but it remembers everyone’s name.”
A working model of our borehole
A cardboard-and-bottle model that uses a bicycle pump to lift water — built after his family lost their tap during the August water cuts.
A maths-quiz game in Scratch
Built in eight Wednesday afternoons in the Coding club. Younger learners now play it on the donated tablets.
School news
What’s happening at Makapanstad.
A little corner of the school’s news, mostly written by Mr Tshabalala on Sunday afternoons.
15 March 2026
A bigger Open Day this year — and a new reading corner for Grade R
Our March Open Day welcomed a record 84 families, including 28 from the surrounding farms. Thanks to a donation of 200 picture books from the Hammanskraal Rotary Club, every Grade R classroom now has its own little reading corner.
11 January 2026
Welcome to our 38 new Grade R learners
First day of school, soft tears and very small uniforms. By 09:30 most were singing along.
22 November 2025
District Reading Excellence — silver award
For Bojanala’s 2025 reading benchmark our Grade 3 cohort moved from amber to silver. Mrs Sefadi credits the daily “DEAR” quarter-hour.
3 October 2025
Edible garden gets a third bed
Provincial Department of Agriculture officers helped Grade 5 dig and plant. Spinach, beetroot and morogo are in.
9 August 2025
Choir places fourth at District Choral Festival
Our 36-voice choir came fourth in a field of fourteen. The standing ovation lasted longer than the song.
14 June 2025
Grade 7 heritage trip to the Apartheid Museum
A long bus ride, a quiet hour in the exhibitions, and many questions on the way home.
26 April 2025
Mothers and grandmothers tea — packed hall
Cake, tea, songs from the choir, and not a single empty chair. A small tradition we wouldn’t miss for anything.