The winery established the Really Good Library at the school in March 2021 truly bringing to life the ‘small town with a big heart’ ethos that Robertson Winery stands for.
As part of the device handover, Robertson Winery brought together over 30 parents and grandparents of learners at the school - all part of the Robertson Winery family - to have their hands painted and to make their mark on a piece of art to be hung at the library.
Robertson Winery marketing manager Ankia Niemann says that while the library was designed with vivid illustrations highlighting what makes the Robertson valley so special, they wanted to take that a step further by bringing the many hands of the community into the school.
“Just as it takes many hands to make our wine, so it takes many hands to raise a child and we wanted that heritage, legacy and sense of community to be visually displayed for the kids to see,” says Niemann.
The library itself, which is available to over 1000 learners at the school, is covered in imagery representing what the Robertson valley is all about, a plentiful valley of wine, horses and roses depicted as something the children can be proud of; with interactive elements specially created for the learners to find hidden letters in the scenes.
Mr John Ngonyama, principal at Nkqubela Primary School, says that the impact of the library at the school has been profound. “The library has been such an incredible blessing to the learners. We were all really struggling with getting the learners excited about reading and now they are always in there.”
He goes on to say that the children love spending time in the library and the teachers have noticed such a great improvement in their reading skills.
Niemann says that in the words of Mr Mandela himself, “It is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it.” She says that Robertson Winery has focused on giving back to the community that has interacted with and worked at the winery for many generations, and Mandela Day is a wonderful opportunity to bring this to life.