​For the next 11 months, Impala Crescent Primary School will have bragging rights after scooping the 2021 Young Creatives Relay Story Competition.

The Lenasia-based school won the top prize in the competition, which was aimed at Grade 6 pupils and involved making a video of songs, dances and theatrical productions while narrating a story.

The competition, initiated by the City of Johannesburg’s Library  and Information Services, formed part of the National Library form 15 to 30 March 2021.

Second place went to the Randburg-based IR Griffith Primary School followed by Rutegang Primary School in Jabavu, Soweto. Consolation prizes went to Mikateka Primary School in Ivory Park and Tulip Combined School in Roodepoort.

The enthusiastic pupils were asked to contribute parts of the story: the beginning, middle and the end. The topics that were suggested to inspire the stories included “A visit to the library; Reading; Bullying, Friendship, Families, Animals, Environment or anything with a lesson”. Once they created the story, pupils recorded each other. The presentations were in many forms such as poetry, chants, rhymes, songs, and other playful activities.

City of Johannesburg libraries offered the pupils space to be creative, to share their thoughts, to express their culture and their observations of the world.

“We had to reach out. By introducing this competition, we allowed children to play with their smart devices and work as teams to create stories. We are hoping to inspire more children to embrace the culture of reading and creative writing, as well as working with others,” said Jeff Nyoka of the City of Johannesburg’s Library and Information Services.

Pupils selected team members or a teacher to assist in recording the story using a smart device. Videos were uploaded on the Joburg Libraries Facebook page during the National Library Week. Teachers selected enthusiastic pupils who demonstrated creativity and the ability to capture the audience’s imagination

“Congratulations to all school learners who participated. This was a small pilot competition that will be expanded to more schools in the next financial year. Experience from this competition gave us an opportunity to plant interest in narrating African stories and connecting with learners using what they like most, their cellphones,” said Ms Nobuntu Mpendulo, the Director of Library and Information Services.

For more information Facebook page @JoburgLibraries