Moms, dads, grandparents and other caregivers have received certificates after attending our 8-week Home-School Partnerships (HSP) Programme. Well done to these caregivers, and to the dedicated teachers who met with them after school or on Saturdays to empower and inspire parents and caregivers of children aged 4 to 9 years to support informal learning at home.
In February and March this year, Teacher-Facilitator training for the HSP Programme was attended by 150 new Facilitators, from schools across the Peninsula and further afield. Training sessions encompassed a detailed engagement with new materials, and training on how to present the 8 parent sessions. Sessions were conducted in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa. Some of the participants are shown below with HSP materials:
Some feedback from programme participants
Feedback from these sessions shows parents eager to contribute to their children’s learning, better communication between parents and teachers, and more responsive children in classes.
Parents talking about how the programme has helped them:
‘I now realise that making interactive time with my child is important in turn this is helping me with self-development. I too have a challenge myself as a parent when it comes to writing. Now the programme is going to help me while assisting my child. This has been an eye opener, about how to be a parent that is involved into our children’s life.’
‘The programme has helped me with my 17 year old too. Now we both have time for the little one. There is now routine at home and peace.’
“The programme has made me to be open minded, I always thought the teacher has done enough, now I know that the child who is assisted at home becomes a champion at school. My child has shown that.”
HSP Teacher-Facilitators noting changes in the children whose parents did the programme:
“Children are more confident and their motor skills have improved. Learners that did not want to speak are speaking now.”
“Children’s reading has improved (fluency, word recognition and comprehension). Children’s participation in group and class discussions has improved. They now share opinions and ideas more freely because their confidence and self-esteem is growing.”
“The learners are more excited to do activities in class… They like to read and write their own stories.”
“The learners are going to the library and are more interested in reading.”
“The learners are more eager to do their homework and it is completed more regularly.”
Log onto our facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/wordworksSA/) to see photographs of graduations from 22 primary schools. Look out for more photographs of graduations as more parents complete the HSP course at primary schools across the Peninsula and further afield.