What we do

Early Literacy Programme

Our Early Literacy Programme supports the early literacy and language development of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. We work with local communities to establish reading centres at schools, libraries and community premises. We provide training and mentoring to volunteer co-ordinators on how to set up a team of volunteers at a new centre, and also to all our volunteer tutors, who work with small groups of children to support their emerging reading and writing skills.read-more

Home-School Partnership Programme

Our Home-School Partnership programme empowers parents and care-givers of children aged between 3 and 7 years to support informal learning in the home. We provide training and ongoing mentoring to facilitators on how to set up and run a series of two-hour workshops over a period of seven weeks for groups of about twenty-five parents and care-givers. The weekly workshops equip parents with the knowledge, skills and confidence to support the literacy and language development of their children.read more

Training for Grade R teachers

In 2011, Wordworks has extended its work to include a training programme to strengthen literacy and language teaching in Grade R. While much progress has been made in South Africa in getting children into Grade R classes, the content and quality of provision is key to closing gaps for children from underprivileged backgrounds. The Grade R curriculum contains detailed information about what needs to be taught, but there is an urgent need for hands-on practical ideas and resources to translate these learning outcomes into classroom practice. read more