Little Stars in the North West

Donor: DGMT
Partners: Ntataise
Duration: 2025-2026
Location: Ngaka Modiri Molema, Bojanala, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, and Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati Municipalities

Project model:
Wordworks is collaborating with Ntataise as the training partner to roll out the Little Stars programme in selected ECD centres in all four districts of the North West province. Ntataise, a well-established organisation, who partners with a number of role players at national, provincial and local levels, was recruited by Wordworks as the optimal partner to build and strengthen early literacy in the province.

Through a train- the- trainer model, Wordworks will capacitate Ntataise trainers to equip an expected 100 ECD practitioners to implement the Little Stars programme in their classrooms. Project funding has facilitated the versioning of the Little Stars programme into Setswana which supports Wordworks goal to have our classroom programmes accessible to a variety of local contexts and available the languages of the region.

Sustaining the intervention:
Ntataise has built strong relationships with government roleplayers and this established partnership will support the sustainability of the intervention. In order to sustain the gains of the intervention after the project period, trained ECD practitioners will become members of Wordworks online programme network,granting them access to resources, courses and programme support systems.

Research and results:
We do not have evaluation results from this particular project but you may find it useful to look at two recent evaluations of the Little Stars programme:

• A randomised control trial funded by the British Academy in 2022, which was aimed to investigate the impact of the Little Stars early literacy classroom programme when implemented in challenging socio-economic conditions, with a minimal training and support model. The study found that the Little Stars programme enhanced early literacy outcomes, boosted teacher confidence, and improved classroom practices. In subsequent projects we have been able to develop models of teacher training and support to improve effectiveness and impact.

• The 2020-2024 Yizane Sifunde project evaluation funded by the Liberty Community Trust. Yizani Sifunde was a collaborative early literacy initiative implemented in Eastern Cape ECD centres, involving Book Dash, Nal’ibali, Wordworks, and local NGOs. The evaluation validated the effectiveness of the Little Stars programme and the value of a multi-partner model supporting practitioners, providing high-quality resources, and engaging caregivers.