Hi!
It's been a hectic couple of days here in KwaZulu Natal. I've been nursing a head cold and have been feeling pretty ropy by the end of the day so have had two early night's in succession! Seems to be clearing now, thank goodness!
On Tuesday a cold weather front moved in and brought with it much cooler air and a misty rain. This was the day that we had arranged for the Primary aged pupils of First Step Right to sit their end of year standardised attainment tests. These tests provide a benchmark for the attainment of pupils and allows them to be placed correctly for the next year of school. Many of the current pupils of First Step Right will move to other Primary schools in 2020. This is a result of the necessity for all schools to be registered with the Department of Education and that the current operation of First Step Right as a Primary school was not conducive to that registration process. First Step Right started life as a creche and pre-school and that is where it will remain from 2020. As part of the transition process, parents are being supported in finding alternative schools for their children for 2020 and beyond. FSR will continue to offer Grade 2 and Grade 3 next year, to ease the impact of the number of pupils entering the Primary schools in the area and will be fully a creche and preschool from 2021.
Over the December holidays, the building will be refurbished by the owner and landlord, Frey's and the teaching staff have already commenced their training on the governance and management of an Early Childhood Development (ECD) centre. It is a time of great change for this project, and like all change it has it's challenges and obstacles. However, the end aim is a positive and impactful one and at GAGA we are keen to ensure that we support this change, with the best interests of the children, first and foremost in our minds.
The children had not experienced standardised testing before, although they do have tests each Friday to check understanding of the work completed the week before, so the concept was not entirely new to them. They settled very well and, for the most part, worked diligently through the tests. Grades 1 to 3 were supported by a facilitator to ensure that they answered questions in a timely and structured manner and Grade 4 and Grade 5 worked their way through the hour long paper independently. By far the most exciting part of the test was that they each received a sticker at the end! The tests will be marked and moderated by a team of educational consultants to ensure that they deliver a validated, bench marked result which will be accepted by the receiving school.
I spent the afternoon session with Grade 4 and Grade 5 and we talked about the importance of flags to a nation, discussing how the national flag is used a sporting events as a way of showing the team that the crowd is behind them and they are proud to be representing their country.
We talked about the South African flag and the inspiration behind it's design and how it represented South Africa's move to a democratic country. My plan was to get the children to design a flag of their own but when this was suggested, some of the children didn't want to do that. So, I decided to use this as an example of democracy. We discussed taking a vote and whether we should just allow one side of the class to vote or just the girls to vote and talked about fairness and equality in voting. When we took the vote the class were 50% in favour and 50% against, so we had to work out a way to resolve the impasse. This time, we offered an alternative activity, so make a flag or play the "30 second" board game. The votes were cast... and another draw! Then we talked about how to resolve this, someone suggested a fight! Then someone suggested a contest of rock, paper, scissors. We agreed the rules and everyone agreed to abide by the outcome. So the Rock Paper Scissors commenced, with pairs of pupils, one on each side of the decision. It was a draw right to the last pair, a deciding vote.... and the "30 Second" game won the day! The afternoon was completed playing the 30 Second word game until after the end of day bell went.
At the end of the school day, a heavy mist fell on Cato Ridge and consequently two of the pupil transports failed to arrive. We waited an hour and a half until finally, out of the mist we saw the approaching vehicles. There were 30 pupils and 3 teachers left waiting and so we pulled together an impromptu "camp fire songs" session..... little wonder I had lost my voice when I woke up the next day!
Wednesday was, thankfully clearer and brighter. I once again headed out to Cato Ridge to meet Tayla, the transition project manager who was taking me to visit the iThemba project. This is a partnership of the people of Hilton with the community of Sweetwaters (Mpumuza) which aims to transform a generation of kids and teens through education and mentoring so that they may bring hope to their community, and be a light throughout South Africa. We were met by Stuart, one of the originators of the project and gave us a wonderful presentation of all that they initially set out to achieve, how they had refined and revised their approach along the way and the learnings from that journey. Key to the success is that "when the work is done the people should say "we did it"" The iThemba project has already supported the change at First Step Right by providing training in ECD governance and management to three of the existing staff members. They were full of great ideas and gave me lots of direction for resources and inspiration that I can share with the FSR team. Their programme is called ASILADE which translates as learning through play. They also engage the parents and ask that each child has one hour of play a day at home with a parent or caregiver and that they are also read to each day at home. This reinforces the link between the home and the educational environment. We had a very productive meeting and have lots to share with the team as a result. Read more about them HERE
After a quick bite of lunch, we returned to the school where we were to meet representative from GROW. GROW is an ECD franchise business. Their model is to encourage South African businesses to "Adopt and ECD Centre" which means that the business pays for the five year franchise support with an aim that the ECD centre develops into a five star rated ECD operation in that time and becomes a self-sustaining business for the women running the centre. They too have a standard ECD framework and the franchise operates on both the curriculum and the business side, offering training and mentoring as well as reporting and assessment. Clearly another excellent opportunity and yet more food for thought. Find out more HERE
A very wordy blog from two very intensive days, but the activities are very important to give a full picture of the situation and allow the Board of Trustees to make the necessary decisions about the future.
It's been a hectic couple of days here in KwaZulu Natal. I've been nursing a head cold and have been feeling pretty ropy by the end of the day so have had two early night's in succession! Seems to be clearing now, thank goodness!
On Tuesday a cold weather front moved in and brought with it much cooler air and a misty rain. This was the day that we had arranged for the Primary aged pupils of First Step Right to sit their end of year standardised attainment tests. These tests provide a benchmark for the attainment of pupils and allows them to be placed correctly for the next year of school. Many of the current pupils of First Step Right will move to other Primary schools in 2020. This is a result of the necessity for all schools to be registered with the Department of Education and that the current operation of First Step Right as a Primary school was not conducive to that registration process. First Step Right started life as a creche and pre-school and that is where it will remain from 2020. As part of the transition process, parents are being supported in finding alternative schools for their children for 2020 and beyond. FSR will continue to offer Grade 2 and Grade 3 next year, to ease the impact of the number of pupils entering the Primary schools in the area and will be fully a creche and preschool from 2021.
Over the December holidays, the building will be refurbished by the owner and landlord, Frey's and the teaching staff have already commenced their training on the governance and management of an Early Childhood Development (ECD) centre. It is a time of great change for this project, and like all change it has it's challenges and obstacles. However, the end aim is a positive and impactful one and at GAGA we are keen to ensure that we support this change, with the best interests of the children, first and foremost in our minds.
The children had not experienced standardised testing before, although they do have tests each Friday to check understanding of the work completed the week before, so the concept was not entirely new to them. They settled very well and, for the most part, worked diligently through the tests. Grades 1 to 3 were supported by a facilitator to ensure that they answered questions in a timely and structured manner and Grade 4 and Grade 5 worked their way through the hour long paper independently. By far the most exciting part of the test was that they each received a sticker at the end! The tests will be marked and moderated by a team of educational consultants to ensure that they deliver a validated, bench marked result which will be accepted by the receiving school.
I spent the afternoon session with Grade 4 and Grade 5 and we talked about the importance of flags to a nation, discussing how the national flag is used a sporting events as a way of showing the team that the crowd is behind them and they are proud to be representing their country.
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| Grade 4 students earlier this year |
We talked about the South African flag and the inspiration behind it's design and how it represented South Africa's move to a democratic country. My plan was to get the children to design a flag of their own but when this was suggested, some of the children didn't want to do that. So, I decided to use this as an example of democracy. We discussed taking a vote and whether we should just allow one side of the class to vote or just the girls to vote and talked about fairness and equality in voting. When we took the vote the class were 50% in favour and 50% against, so we had to work out a way to resolve the impasse. This time, we offered an alternative activity, so make a flag or play the "30 second" board game. The votes were cast... and another draw! Then we talked about how to resolve this, someone suggested a fight! Then someone suggested a contest of rock, paper, scissors. We agreed the rules and everyone agreed to abide by the outcome. So the Rock Paper Scissors commenced, with pairs of pupils, one on each side of the decision. It was a draw right to the last pair, a deciding vote.... and the "30 Second" game won the day! The afternoon was completed playing the 30 Second word game until after the end of day bell went.
At the end of the school day, a heavy mist fell on Cato Ridge and consequently two of the pupil transports failed to arrive. We waited an hour and a half until finally, out of the mist we saw the approaching vehicles. There were 30 pupils and 3 teachers left waiting and so we pulled together an impromptu "camp fire songs" session..... little wonder I had lost my voice when I woke up the next day!
Wednesday was, thankfully clearer and brighter. I once again headed out to Cato Ridge to meet Tayla, the transition project manager who was taking me to visit the iThemba project. This is a partnership of the people of Hilton with the community of Sweetwaters (Mpumuza) which aims to transform a generation of kids and teens through education and mentoring so that they may bring hope to their community, and be a light throughout South Africa. We were met by Stuart, one of the originators of the project and gave us a wonderful presentation of all that they initially set out to achieve, how they had refined and revised their approach along the way and the learnings from that journey. Key to the success is that "when the work is done the people should say "we did it"" The iThemba project has already supported the change at First Step Right by providing training in ECD governance and management to three of the existing staff members. They were full of great ideas and gave me lots of direction for resources and inspiration that I can share with the FSR team. Their programme is called ASILADE which translates as learning through play. They also engage the parents and ask that each child has one hour of play a day at home with a parent or caregiver and that they are also read to each day at home. This reinforces the link between the home and the educational environment. We had a very productive meeting and have lots to share with the team as a result. Read more about them HERE
After a quick bite of lunch, we returned to the school where we were to meet representative from GROW. GROW is an ECD franchise business. Their model is to encourage South African businesses to "Adopt and ECD Centre" which means that the business pays for the five year franchise support with an aim that the ECD centre develops into a five star rated ECD operation in that time and becomes a self-sustaining business for the women running the centre. They too have a standard ECD framework and the franchise operates on both the curriculum and the business side, offering training and mentoring as well as reporting and assessment. Clearly another excellent opportunity and yet more food for thought. Find out more HERE
A very wordy blog from two very intensive days, but the activities are very important to give a full picture of the situation and allow the Board of Trustees to make the necessary decisions about the future.
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