This year’s Communications Practical and Outreach weekend took place at the Pilanesberg National Park over the weekend 15 – 17 May 2026.
Outreach
This year, the Outreach part of the weekend’s program was slightly changed: the challenge set for the schools was split into two sections.
Section 1 was the “Project”. This was the challenge set in advance for the two participating schools (Selly Park Secondary School from Rustenburg and Sedibelo School from Moruleng). Their submissions were then judged, and the Maria Cazzavillan floating trophy was awarded to the winning school.
The 2026 theme was
LEARNING FROM NATURE: BIOMIMICRY IN PLAY
‘LEARNING BY PLAY’ is both an educational catchphrase and a vital biological strategy for survival.
In most schools, playgrounds contain various pieces of equipment that help young children develop important skills like balance, coordination, and fine motor skills. Physical play is essential for overall growth and social development.
Nature demonstrates this same principle. Lion and Leopard cubs, for example, develop depth perception and timing by stalking their mother’s twitching tail. If they pounce too early or too late, they lose the ‘toy’ — and in real life, they go hungry.
So the task was to create and build a model of a nature-inspired piece of playground equipment that is fun, skill-building, and eco-friendly.
Section 2 was the “Pledge Poster”, which for 2026 was –
NATURE TEACHES US — PROTECT WHAT INSPIRES US
Nature provides us with ideas, materials, beauty, and life itself. By observing nature, we can learn smarter, more sustainable ways to live and play.
The poster should visually show “how nature inspires people” and “why we must protect the environment” for future generations.
The format of the Pledge poster was changed this year. In the past, this poster was created beforehand by the individual schools. This year, we wanted to try to achieve a more unified body of learners who would interact and, hopefully, learn from each other. So, we had the learners from the two schools bring an assortment of raw materials with them. On Friday night, we then mixed the children up and created two teams, who had to design the Pledge Posters on site.
Watching the children interact on both Friday night and Saturday, we all agreed that this approach had achieved its desired objective and that we should continue with it in the future.
Communications Practical
There was also a slight change to the format of the Comms Practical this year, as due to the small number of Bushveld Mosaic students, we only had two ecosystem teams – Grasslands and Wetlands, which did make the morning a bit more leisurely than normal. That said, even though the number of teams was reduced, there was certainly no reduction in the effort put in by the Bushveld Mosaic students to ensure they passed on what they had learned to the next generation of conservationists.
Kagbo Safaris.
There is no doubt that for most students and their teachers, the Saturday afternoon game drive is the highlight of the weekend, and, as in previous years, Kagbo Safaris came to the party by providing a 25-seater game-viewing vehicle and a guide, free of charge. So, from all of us, a very big thank you to Fortune Morake (a former Bushveld Mosaic student who organized the outing) and Mr. Bernard Marobe of Kagbo Safaris.
I can tell you both that some of the children are already looking forward to next year.
ED’s Note: The innovation and dedication shown by all who participated in this important weekend shine as a ray of hope for conservation in South Africa. Thank you, everyone.