Turning Page — Paper, worksheets and creativity for Cape Town classrooms

Our story

Two schools, a short distance apart. Two different worlds.

My name is Carys Morkel. I'm 18, in my final year at the American International School of Cape Town, and this project began with a school visit that I haven't been able to stop thinking about.

Constantia Primary is a government school just down the road from my own. When I visited, I saw young children going without something as basic as paper — a resource I have taken for granted my entire school career. Teachers couldn't print worksheets. Assessments were rationed. Daily lessons were shaped by what the photocopier budget allowed.

Meanwhile, businesses across Cape Town discard clean, perfectly usable paper every single week. Turning Page simply connects the two — and I plan to build it into something that keeps running long after I've finished school.

Paper was only the beginning — it opened the door to sponsoring WorksheetCloud, the online worksheet programme that helped me through primary school myself.

— Carys

"Seeing children go without something as basic as paper — a resource I have always taken for granted — was both moving and alarming. I came away wanting to do something practical about it." Carys Morkel, founder

What we do

Three ways we turn surplus into schooling.

Everything starts with donated paper — and grows from there into worksheets, homework support and creativity for the classrooms that need it most.

Paper supply

We collect clean surplus paper from businesses — off-cuts, overruns, single-sided misprints, end-of-roll and office surplus — and deliver it directly to classrooms.

Collected fortnightly, it becomes worksheets, assessments and daily lessons at Constantia Primary.

WorksheetCloud sponsorship

We fund WorksheetCloud subscriptions — around R400 per grade per year — for the Foundation Phase, Grades 1–3. The Department of Education doesn't fund it; affluent schools pay for it themselves.

Every worksheet comes with a memo, so parents can check their children's homework even where their own schooling was cut short — and teachers can spot gaps early.

"WorksheetCloud helped me through primary school — every child deserves the same head start." — Carys

Creativity from off-cuts

Scrap paper too small for the photocopier becomes art supply packs — weaving, coasters, placemats, painting and drawing — building the fine motor skills young learners need.

We're working toward publishing a school reader and a Turning Page activity book, so the ideas travel further than the packs do.

Aiding teachers Paper for worksheets, assessments and daily lessons — so teaching isn't shaped by supply.
Relieving families Essential resources at no cost to parents, in a community where every rand counts.
Sustaining education Reliable support for quality schooling — fortnight after fortnight.

What we accept

If it's clean and printable, we'll take it.

Off-cuts — trimmed edges and odd sizes from print runs
Overruns — extra sheets from completed jobs
Single-sided misprints — one clean side is all a worksheet needs
End-of-roll stock — remnants too small for commercial use
Discontinued or aged stock — clean paper past its shelf appeal
Office surplus — unused reams, notepads and copy paper

For print businesses

The paper your operation writes off as waste is exactly what a classroom is missing. If your bindery or guillotine produces regular clean off-cuts, we can set up a standing fortnightly collection — zero admin for your team.

Participating schools provide Section 18A donation certificates, and donations count toward B-BBEE scorecard ratings.

We collect at a time that suits you, at no cost.

How it works

Three steps. We handle the rest.

Step one

Get in touch

Email us with roughly what you have — a box of misprints or a pallet of overruns, everything helps.

Step two

We collect

We arrange pickup at a time that suits you. Once-off donations are welcome; fortnightly collections are our goal.

Step three

Paper reaches classrooms

Your donation goes directly to Constantia Primary — and, as we grow, to more under-resourced schools across Cape Town.

The road ahead

What we're working toward.

Expanding to schools in Elsies River and Bonteheuwel
Publishing a school reader and arts-and-crafts activity book
Registering as a non-profit company (NPC)

These are ambitions, not promises — but every collection brings them closer.

Have surplus paper — or a soft spot for worksheets?

Whether you can offer a single box of off-cuts, a standing fortnightly collection, or sponsorship toward a grade's WorksheetCloud subscription, one email is all it takes to put resources into a classroom that currently has almost none.

carysmorkel@gmail.com

Partners

Your surplus paper is a classroom's next lesson.