Our Head of Programmes, Paulene Solomon, was on the airwaves!
She delivered an enlightening interview with The Voice of the Cape
radio station on their Education Indaba program. Paulene delved into Wordworks’ impactful programmes, emphasizing how they support early years language and literacy learning.
A huge thanks to Voice of the Cape for the opportunity!
We are growing!
Lebone Centre and ICDP Trust implements our Little Stars programme
Wordworks launches the second year of the Think Equal Programme in the Western Cape Education Districts North, East, and South.
A big congratulations to our recent Home-School Partnerships (HSP) graduates at Eldene Primary School.
Wordworks adds to WOW Week at Varsity College
Embracing Emotional Learning at school
False Bay Echo shines light on parents going the extra mile!
“Twenty-one parents whose children attend Kleinberg Primary School have completed an eight-week programme to help them support their children’s language and early literacy development.
Kleinberg Primary School principal Denzil van Graan said the parents had diligently attended weekly Saturday morning sessions of the Home School Partnership programme run by Wordworks and had graduated on Saturday August 12.
Wordworks is a non-profit organisation that focuses on early language and literacy development in the first eight years of children’s lives.”
Find out more by reading the article here.
Empowering early learning: Wordworks and Mainstream Renewable Power Collaborate in Loeriesfontein
Wordworks and Mainstream Renewable Power have united their efforts to create a positive impact on the community of Loeriesfontein. This partnership aims to equip ECD practitioners in Loeriesfontein with the essential tools and knowledge required for the successful implementation of Wordworks’ Every Word Counts and Little Stars early literacy programmes.
The rural community of Lorriesfontein faces a significant challenge with very limited access and participation in Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes due to the financial constraints posed by social ills. Recognizing the crucial role of early education, the project has played a pivotal role in nurturing ECD champions. This effort began with a partnership with the Centre for Early Child Development and later extended to Wordworks. These emerging champions are now assuming roles within the local primary school system and are also actively involved in organizing free play groups for the community, implementing Wordworks’ Little Stars programme into their activities. The project’s impact lies in its capacity-building initiatives, empowering individuals to become advocates for early childhood development. This is what Wordworks Early Literacy Specialist, Sudika Martin had to say with regards to what the children are gaining from these activities, “When we revise new vocabulary from Little Stars stories during site visits, we see clear evidence that the children are benefiting substantially from the two-week cycle and that their vocabulary is growing.”
Visits to an ECD centre, a primary school, and a community playgroup that have been implementing Little Stars programme into their activities have allowed Wordworks to witness the positive impact it has on the beneficiaries – young learners. Reflecting on these visits, Natasha Rosen, a Wordworks Early Literacy Specialist says, “The site visits gave me a clear understanding of how the programme is being incorporated into their activities and where I can offer more support to the practitioners.”
On completion of the programme, participants are honoured with a certificate of attendance, validating their commitment to enhancing early childhood development through this initiative.
By focusing on early literacy development and empowering ECD practitioners, this joint effort is paving the way for a brighter future for the children of Loeriesfontein.
Find out more about our Every Word Counts and Little Stars early literacy programmes, click here.
Have you seen Yizani Sifunde’s hanging libraries?
Home-School Partnerships continue to empower and celebrate Parents!
Southern Mail features HSP graduation
Wordworks mentors ECD practitioners in the Metro South Education District
Wordworks participates in the WCED’s Broad Management and Leadership (BML) strategy planning
Who is Anonymouse?
A priceless competency: young children learning how to identify and manage their emotions.
Wordworks Team Building!
After School Programmes (ASPs) offered by early literacy organisations.
Teachers step up for Grade R Academy Training
38 Grade R teachers and assistants from AZ Berman, Welwitschia, Vuyani, Gardenia and Belhar primary schools are part of Social Innovations Grade R academy after school programme run by Social Innovations. Wordworks is presenting early literacy training for these schools. Earlier in the year, participants were trained on our TIME Home Learning Programme which they use in their after-school programmes.
Our recent, lively follow- up session focused on the importance of supporting young children’s oral language, phonological awareness, letter-sound knowledge, emergent reading and writing skills and partnering with parents in order to develop strong early literacy foundations.
Wordworks’ mentors will continue to visit the Academies to support teachers and assistants in the implementation of the TIME Programme.
Faheema Hassiem presented information on our TIME programme. Participants looked for good moments in a TIME Read Aloud story that can prompt open-ended questions.
To find out more about our TIME programme, visit the link below:
RE-IMAGINING EDUCATION: TEACHERS IN A CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT
The teachers were excited to understand the teaching and learning processes to ensure that learners acquire the foundational skills to become confident and competent readers and writers.
The teachers could identify these struggles in their learners. They expressed that most of the children have gaps in their learning because they lack a foundation in early literacy. Wordworks presenters, Bukelwa Yuze, Gaynor Cozens and Colleen Diedericks enjoyed sharing our work with the passionate teachers.
SPECIAL GUESTS AT THE SEMINAR
Western Cape Education Department director, Berenice Daniels spoke on iInclusive and specialised education support. She mediated the CAPACITAR toolkit which provides teachers with tools for their wellbeing. Teachers enjoyed the practical exercises for themselves and their learners to relieve stress and the challenges of life.
Rodney Van Staden, a teacher from the Athlone School for the blind, informed the audience as to the challenges in education that blind people face and the efforts to overcome them. He showcased his musical talent as a gateway he uses in his teaching.
Florence Vermeulen, a passionate teacher from Luckhoff Secondary school, demonstrated tools and skills he uses in his classroom which motivates and uplifts his learners. He had everyone energised with his uplifting teaching tips.
*Planned by the Education Desk of the Methodist church of Southern Africa.
Wordworks supports ECD practitioners in Malmesbury…continued
Wordworks celebrates Nelson Mandela Day 2023
The 18th of July, on Nelson Mandela Day, the Wordworks family spent the day putting together gifts that will be given to boys and girls at our Early Literacy festival on the 26th of August in Worcester and on the 16th of September in Cape Town. The gifts include books for ages 0-5 and 5-8 as well early literacy development resources.
Wordworks director, Mammuso Makhanya shares what Nelson Mandela day means to her and the organisation:
“The 18th of July is so special here at Wordworks, like it is every year as we remember our founding father Nelson Mandela. He has taught us to do our best, to give to others without expecting anything in return. He said there can be no greater gift than giving one’s time and energy to help others without expecting anything in return. This is a Motto that we hope to uphold and do our best every year to honour Nelson Mandela, and today our team excitedly gave of their time and effort into doing our bit to contribute to the legacy of Nelson Mandela. We had fun putting together crafts that help improve early literacy development, which really honours our mission, ensuring that we’ll be able to change lives through early literacy. This continues not just on the 18th of July, but every single day. As Wordworks we believe that we need to honour Mandela by what we do, what we give and how we learn.”
Wordworks and Yizani Sifunde partnership featured in GO!&Express
“Yizani Sifunde (isiXhosa for ‘come, let’s read’) is a special reading-intervention project involving three prominent SA literacy NGOs — Book Dash, Nal’ibali and Wordworks — and made possible by the Liberty Community Trust. The project is aimed at early childhood development (ECD) and since its inception in 2021, has provided more than 3,000 young children from communities in East London, Elliot and Komani with high-quality storybooks in their home language, isiXhosa.”
Read the full article here.
CELEBRATING OUR GRADUATES
We’re back with another round of inspiring Home-School Partnerships (HSP) programme graduations. Today the spotlight is on Forest Heights Primary School, Fairview Primary School and Saxonsea Primary School. During this programme the participants gain knowledge about how to assist their children’s early literacy development at home with learning activities and educational games.
FOREST HEIGHTS PRIMARY SCHOOL
A group of 23 participants completed the HSP programme at Forest Heights Primary School. They explored ideas of learning through play, and reading with their children during some of the sessions. 23 parent graduates posed with their Teacher-facilitators and Forest Heights Primary School Principal. Learning resources that were made by the participants were put on display. These can be used at home to assist their children in their early literacy development.
FAIRVIEW PRIMARY SCHOOL
The 9 HSP graduates of Fairview Primary School were welcomed and celebrated by having their hard work on display during the graduation. The 9 graduates posed with their graduation certificates and Little Books. The participants had their folders and learning resources on display. HSP Facilitator Berenice Smith, shared information about what the participants learnt in the sessions. Fairview Primary School’s Deputy Principal Mrs. Patti Harris, spoke to the graduates and congratulated them. One parent said she was so inspired by the HSP Programme that she is determined to go into ECD.
SAXONSEA PRIMARY SCHOOL
Saxonsea graduates showed up ready for the celebration in fancy dress and graduation gowns! The parents shared their ideas on how they would like to play a role and uplift their community. The MC of the day also completed the training this year. He said what surprised him was the fact that the presenters’ technology knowledge was astounding.
If you are interested in our HSP programme, please visit our website.
The ex Breede River Winelands Rotary Club braving the cold in the name of changing lives through literacy!
Dr. Shelley O’ Carroll wins the Early Literacy award
Wordworks shares early literacy materials with Grade R teachers
How our Little Stars programme is used in the classroom
Make your own learning resources!
TIME home visits are in full swing.
Three schools hold celebratory graduations
Wordworks supports ECD practitioners in Malmesbury
Catching up with our Social Innovations Grade R academies.
UPDATE ON A LIFE-CHANGING PARTNERSHIP
Yizani Sifunde collaborates with ECD centres, parents, and communities to tackle literacy challenges facing various communities in the Eastern Cape.
Wordworks and Do More Foundation bring practical workshops to Worcester.
Three beautiful HSP graduations
WORKING TOWARDS MEANINGFUL CHANGE
Floreat Primary School graduation
Sid G Primary School parents graduate in the Home-School Partnership programme
“Teach back” approach training with Nal’ibali’s Story Sparkers and Literacy Mentors (LM).
Chumisa Primary School graduation
Grade R intervention in the AASA Education Project
Who is Mammuso Makhanya?
Happy families and teachers at Tuscany Glen Primary School!
Featured today is a wonderful graduation ceremony for 10 parents and caregivers that took part in Wordworks’ HSP (Home-school Partnerships) programme at Tuscany Glen Primary School. The graduates successfully completed 8 sessions with Teacher-facilitators to learn how to support their children’s learning informally at home.
Tuscany Glen principal Carol Ritchie, 6 Teacher-facilitators, and family members of the graduates all celebrated together.
The graduates gave heart-warming testimonies, sharing the journey of their growth during the course.They also shared how they used the learning materials they had made for the development of their children’s literacy. A beautiful family moment called “Interact with your child” completed the ceremony.
Home-School Partnerships Programme gets featured in the Southern Mail!
Square Hill Primary School’s Home-School Partnerships Programme graduation was such an exquisite event that newspaper, Southern Mail featured it as one of their stories!
“The caregivers and parents worked with teacher-facilitators to help their children learn at home through fun interactive activities to improve their literacy. The graduation took place on Saturday May 20 and parents are encouraged to take part to bolster foundation phase learning and to support informal learning at home.”
Read the full article here.
Wordworks’ Stellar Programme thriving in Zimbabwe
Our longtime partner, Jo Labouchere has been implementing the *Stellar programme in Zimbabwe for 12 years, with her latest contribution being at the Jabulani Reading Centre where she’s been implementing the programme since last October. The Children in the Wilderness organization (CITW) founded the centre with her.
CITW’s main aim is to improve the literacy levels of both the school children from the Jabulani community, as well as that of the older adults who were never given the opportunity to go to school when they were younger.
The Stellar impact at the Centre
Speaking about the impact of the Stellar programme at the centre, 21 year old Jennifer Tafuma (one of the mentors at the centre) says, “There has been a gradual change in children’s performance in terms of reading and writing.Read More
The REP shines light on the Yizani Sifunde project
Yizani Sifunde is a collaboration between Nal’ibali, Book Dash and Wordworks, funded by the Liberty Group SA. The project aims to increase the amount of books available to children as well as to grow their early literacy.
Newspaper, The REP featured Yizani Sifunde on their website.
Children learning how to become compassionate, confident and resilient members of society.
196 Schools, 606 teachers and approximately 18 000 Grade R learners in the Western Cape will be impacted by our ground-breaking partnership with Think Equal – a story-based international programme that teaches 25 social and emotional learning skills and competencies to children aged 3 – 6 years old. These include self confidence, self esteem, kindness, empathy, resilience, inclusion, and many more.
Over the last few weeks, we trained teachers from the Cape Metro South, East and North Education Districts on how to run this Programme in their classes.
Prior to this, we also held online sessions to provide Foundation Phase Department heads with the Programme overview and to offer support for implementation at their schools.
Read more about Think Equal here:
https://thinkequal.org/about-us/our-story/
Early literacy in the spotlight
“Concerns have been raised by early childhood organisations regarding the development of children who are six and younger.”
Innovation Edge has launched a campaign to find and fund products or services that aim to improve pre-school teachers’ support of early literacy development for 4- to 6-year-olds in South Africa’s impoverished communities.
Read more about what Wordworks, the Centre for Early Childhood Development, and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) have to say in response to early childhood challenges in South Africa.
To read the full article, please click on the link below:
This year’s story sparkers are on fire!
In February, a team of 12 freshly recruited Story Sparkers were trained on how to implement the Yizani Sifunde project in the Eastern Cape. The project aims at strengthening early literacy development in the early childhood development (ECD) sector.
WHAT THEY WILL BE DOING
1.Over the next 10 months, they will be engaging in communities around East London and Queenstown, running weekly storytime sessions in ECD centres allocated to them. Read More
Local makes it big!
Square Hill Primary School held a certification event on the 21st of May for parents and caregivers that completed the Home-School Partnerships (HSP) programme! The celebration was filled with enthusiasm and pride, but what boosted this feeling was a feature in the Southern Mail newspaper!
The article shines light on the amazing work that this school did with the Wordworks HSP programme.
To read the full article, click here.
An exciting and groundbreaking partnership!
Education Day: dedicated NGOs need help creating a bright literacy future for SA
A total of 78% of Grade 3 pupils can’t read for meaning, while more than 30% are illiterate. These are damning statistics – especially since R351 billion was spent on education in 2018.
Fortunately, on International Education Day, it’s heartening to know there are several NGOs and non-profit companies – which need constant public support, monetary and otherwise – that are on a mission to end the illiteracy epidemic in South Africa.
To read the full article, click on the link below:
Wordworks conducts ECD study in partnership with British Academy and Stellenbosch University
Wordworks’ Little Stars story-based language programme has been used in training for Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioners in the Western Cape.
The training process and results have been developed into a study, in partnership with the British Academy and Stellenbosch University.
WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE STUDY?
The study aims to strengthen language and literacy teaching in pre-Grade R through training ECD practitioners on a story-based language programme. It will assess the impact of the resource-based training on practitioners’ knowledge and practice, as well as on children’s language and early literacy skills.
TRAINERS AND PRACTITIONERS GIVE THEIR FEEDBACK ON THE STUDYRead More
Mother-tongue early language and literacy training empowers children and parents
“Following an eight week literacy training programme which commenced in August this year, twenty Loeriesfontein parents proudly graduated. This is a massive boost for literacy in this rural Northern Cape town as it not only builds confidence amongst parents but will have a direct impact on foundation learning, as literacy is a key driver for both language and mathematics.”
To read the full article, click on the link below:
Graduation pride at De Doorns Primary for Grade R learners!
Ntsiki Ntusikazi, one of our Early Literacy Specialists gives us insight into the graduation, “Learners and parents were over the moon on this special day. During the year, it has been good to witness the amazing confidence of the Grade R TIME longitudinal study parents, in supporting their children’s learning at home. They kept on updating WW by consistently sending videos working with their children.”
Wordworks is conducting a 2-year longitudinal study with 37 children and 67 parent/caregivers using our TIME (Together in my Education) programme at home. 4 of the 37 children that are a part of the study attend De Doorns Primary.
Wordworks was invited to address the group, and we used the opportunity to talk to the plus minus 120 parents who attended the graduation. Bukelwa spoke to parents about the importance of supporting children’s education at home and told them about our programmes that help parents to support children’s learning at home.
See more about the TIME and Home-School Partnerships programmes here:
Developing kids’ language
“We teach children from Grade R through to Grade 3. By focusing on the younger grades we hope to eradicate problems that might arise later on. A child cannot successfully complete their school career unless they are first able to read and write,” says Tina Harcourt-Wood, the Wordworks facilitator at Capricorn Primary School.
To read the full article, click on the link below:
https://www.news24.com/News24/developing-kids-language-20190422
Little Stars zones in on Western Cape Districts
Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioners have graduated in the Little Stars Programme. Little Stars has been developed by Wordworks for language and literacy learning in pre-Grade R using a story-based language approach. Since the start of implementation in two Western Cape Districts in February 2022, Wordworks has conducted training sessions, classroom observations for implementation support, Interviews with ECD practitioners, principals and district officials.
The funding for this project is through the Old Mutual Foundation to run the Little Stars Pilot projects in two Western Cape Education Department (WCED) districts. Through the project implementation Wordworks will assess the impact of the resource-based training on practitioners’ knowledge and practice as one practitioner shares, “I am feeling much more positive in myself when I need to tell the story to my group. Then what I did before I attended the little star group.” Wordworks has also used the project to assess children’s language and early literacy skills with the help of the practitioner’s feedback, “every day you learn something new about the program and it helps us with the children’s language development.”Read More
Reading Begins at Home
‘Children who learn to read and write successfully don’t only have good teachers at school, they also tend to be those who have benefited from critical early learning experiences from birth to five years…Research has shown that skilled reading and writing depends on oral language abilities that begin developing from the earliest days in a child’s life. Through nurturing relationships, critical brain connections are made that support a child’s language development from birth.’ – Shelley O’Carroll
To read the full article, click on the link below:
https://www.wordworks.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/SAFair-Inflight-article-0219.pdf
Ready, Steady…action!
Our Ready Steady Read Write (RSRW) team held a celebratory graduation ceremony yesterday for all the new RSRW Programme coordinators. The event took place live on YouTube, and backstage, the cameras and the excitement were rolling! The event also applauded coordinators that have been working with the RSRW programme for five or more years! Wordworks’ RSRW Programme manager, Paulene Solomon elaborates on what this accomplishment means: “Participants who complete Coordinator training are equipped to train tutors to work with Grade R and Grade 1 children using the RSRW Programme, to set up and manage a RSRW site and to administer early literacy assessments.”
Wordworks director, Mammuso Makhanya sent a few words that were shared with the audience, “Congratulations on successfully attaining this important milestone. As Wordworks we are highly blessed to add another cohort of graduates into our reach.”Kerry Saadien-Raad says that practitioners are “the ones that keep the spirit of the programme alive and through doing this touch each of the children you work with.” RSRW coordinator graduates were encouraged to send in pictures of their lessons.Read More
How you can be part of the solution to our literacy crisis
Why should YOU help to solve our literacy crisis?
You may think, ‘Why is this my problem? I pay my taxes and education is government’s responsibility. Isn’t this the work of NGO’s, philanthropists and CSI departments? How will I know my money will be well used?’ In this article, on Giving Tuesday, Wordworks Director Shelley O’Carroll responds to these questions and provides some practical ways for you to contribute. She challenges all South Africans to become part of the solution, and talks about why giving is important for those who give.
To read the full article, click on the link below:
https://mg.co.za/article/2018-11-26-how-you-can-be-part-of-the-solution-to-our-literacy-crisis/
Wordworks Early Childhood Development (ECD) team celebrates partners and graduates!
Wordworks’ (WW) Early Childhood Development (ECD) team held a stunning 3rd Community of Practice Session and graduation ceremony for our partners who have been using the WW Little Stars (LS) and Every Word Counts (EWC) programmes. These are part of our early literacy development programmes. WW partners had the opportunity to present information on how they used the programmes and what resulted from incorporating them into classrooms.Read More
‘Early literacy and numeracy starts in the womb’
More than 30 students were awarded certificates for successfully completing an Every Word Counts course in early numeracy and literacy…The course was presented by the Foundation for Community Works (FCW) in collaboration with Wordworks and the Do More Foundation.
To read the full article, click on the link below:
https://www.netwerk24.com/Netwerk24/early-literacy-and-numeracy-starts-in-womb-20181121-2
Zero2Five Trust takes November by storm with the help of Wordworks and Biblionef South Africa!
One of Wordworks’ Early Childhood Development (ECD) partners, Zero2Five Trust has claimed November as their training month in the last few years and this year they are using the month to conduct workshops for their Ethekwini ECD centres, at the Baby Bear Creche in Nt’Shongweni.
The training is for over 120 ECD sites that use resources that were donated by Wordworks and Biblionef South Africa.
Wordworks ECD specialist, Faith Shabangu, shares how Wordworks feels about the workshops, “Wordworks is excited that Zero2five makes every effort to bring high quality ECD programmes, delivered by skilled practitioners to the communities they work in. We wish you all the best for all the November training sessions.”Read More
Inkwenkwezi Society looks up
The Inkwenkwezi Society aims to implement change through the use of preventative resources provided by national NGOs – such as Wordworks and Shine, to enhance the individual strengths of pupils as well as promote their mental well-being and resilience in schools around Grahamstown…at the end of a child’s programme, there is a notable difference in their self-esteem in that the students are more capable and confident in reading, writing and speaking in English. In addition, the programme has had a positive impact on each child’s sense of self-worth as they feel they have role to play in the classroom and want to be there.
To read the full article, click on the link below:
https://grocotts.ru.ac.za/2018/08/01/inkwenkwezi-society-looks-up/
A celebration of Home-School Partnerships (HSP) programme Teacher-facilitators!
The 2022 HSP programme Teacher-facilitators graduation has taken place and there is so much to share about this momentous occasion! 115 Teachers-facilitators from 29 schools took part in 7 online sessions of training to prepare for workshops with parents to support their children’s informal learning at home. Teachers ran 8 sessions with parents and submitted a portfolio of evidence. The portfolio reflected their insight into the HSP programme and also the growth of parents.The graduates, Wordworks, and special guest speakers all came together to celebrate this achievement through an online graduation.Read More
‘Ready Steady Read Write’ helps Kranshoek kids
‘The ‘Ready Steady Read Write’ programme has been piloted at Kranshoek Primary to selected Grade R and Grade 1 learners during this year’s first two terms… (Bitou10 Foundation) expresses sincere gratitude to Wordworks for making a life-changing impact on the development of learners and teachers in Bitou.
To read the full article, click on the link below:
Implementing Wordworks ECD programmes in KZN
Lulamaphiko’s 2022 Classroom Library Project followed a Wits University research project in 2021 that aimed to get children to build the habit of borrowing books to read at home. The project has been drawing on the Every Word Counts and Little stars programme. Speaking about how the programmes have helped the project, Director Lynn Stefano had this to say “EWC and Little Stars have helped us to understand how children begin to learn to read and write, and the important role that educators and parents play in supporting these skills to emerge over time. We believe that Gr R is a critical transition year between home and/or pre-school and Gr 1. Unfortunately, many Gr R teachers are not supported or equipped to make the most of this year, so learners start Gr 1 having lost many opportunities to put in place reading and writing skills needed in ‘big’ school”. According to Lynn, the Foundation phase teachers they work with now have a better understanding of how to encourage their young learners to begin to read and write. They understand the importance of drawing as one of the foundations of writing and children delight in new opportunities to read and draw. Read More
Empowering parents of ECD kids
‘A parent is a child’s first teacher.’ Parents in the Langeberg are being encouraged by their children’s ECD teachers to create informal learning opportunities with their young children at home, using the Wordworks Home-School Partnerships Programme.”
To read the full article, click on the link below:
https://www.netwerk24.com/Netwerk24/empowering-parents-of-ecd-kids-20180521-2
Wordworks evaluates its TIME parent programme
The Wordworks team is conducting a field study of theTIME (Together in my Learning) programme. Wordworks knows how important it is to get feedback from parents and caregivers as the programme was also developed with the intention to make it easier for parents and caregivers to bond with their children through their education. One parent shares, “We do TIME at least three times per week and we love it. It is our special time together. It is very well set out, easy to read and follow. V. loves all the activities, there is nothing that he doesn’t like. He will come home from school and immediately ask which TIME activity we are going to do today”Read More
Project fosters good relations
‘Parent Thabisa Mathebula said the programmes not only helps her to effectively assist her child, but strengthened their relationship. “Through this course, I(have) learnt how much we as parents neglect our children. I have a new born baby and sometimes I would brush off my child because I am busy with the baby. This has helped me identify those things and be more involved in her school work,” she said. She said she has also learnt to take the child’s opinions into account and be more considerate.’
To read the full article, click on the link below:
https://www.news24.com/News24/project-fosters-good-relations-20180425
Wordworks learns on the other side of the world!
Two members of the Wordworks team, three teachers and a Rotarian had the privilege of visiting Sweden and working with Rotary International. Rotary International is a worldwide organization of business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian service and help build peace and goodwill. One of the Rotary Foundations Programmes include the Vocational Training Teams (VTT) where groups of professionals travel abroad to share their expertise and to learn more about the best practices.
Rotary District 9350 from South Africa and Rotary District 2390 in Sweden, arranged for a team from South Africa, to visit Sweden in October 2022. The aim was to learn more about how schools in both countries support literacy and basic schooling in pre-school and early grades in primary school.Read More
Yizani Sinfunde visit
Our visit to communities in the Eastern Cape that are a part of the *Yizani Sifunde project helped us understand the logistical challenges that come with distributing thousands of books into the homes of children – but also, it has confirmed that the project is impacting the ECD practitioners and children deeply.
As our training partners on the project, Khululeka and ITEC are facilitating training, support and materials dissemination to 47 ECD practitioners. Our learning visits with our partners have taken us as far as Mdantsane, Kwelera and Burgersdorp!
Asanda Mpahla and Katherine de Wet attended a training session at ITEC, visited ECD sites, and interviewed practitioners and caregivers about their experience and understanding of the project. It was encouraging to see how the children confidently chose which Book Dash book they wanted to read. They continued to swap the books for new ones after ‘reading’ them.Read More
Sharing our work at the 2022 Literacy Association of South Africa (LITASA) conference
Changing the narrative in the ECD space
‘It has not been an easy journey because you have mothers who are old enough to be my mother and having to trust me with their children. There is also the discomfort that comes from the fact that I am a man but I believe that in a way, I do play a father figure role as well, especially to those children who are raised by single mothers’.
The Early Child Development space is a predominantly female one where thousands of parents put their trust in the hands of trained female ECD practitioners, but Siya’s story is of a different kind.
We met him at a Wordworks’ event for ECD practitioners to learn a little bit more about him.Read More
The development of ECD practitioners takes centre stage in year long research study
“I thought I knew everything about storytelling but in this training I have learnt that there are many ways of telling stories such as singing songs, role play, drawing and using sequence cards”.
Wordworks, in partnership with the British Academy and Stellenbosch University, is embarking on research aimed at strengthening language and literacy teaching in pre-Grade R through training ECD practitioners on our Little Stars story-based language programme.
36 ECD practitioners working from under-resourced communities were recruited through Wordworks’ partnership with Sikhula Sonke and Ikamva Labantu (Khayelitsha) and Inceba Trust (Paarl) to participate in the first round of training from February to August this year.
The study will assess the impact of the resource-based training on practitioners’ knowledge and practice as well as on children’s language and early literacy skills. The results of the study will be shared in early 2023. In August, Wordworks held graduations of the ECD practitioners from Paarl and Khayelitsha to celebrate their participation in the study.Read More
Great-grandparents, grandparents and parents – all dedicated to supporting the little ones’ learning at home!
Another special Home-School Partnerships (HSP) certification event!
Levana Primary School is another of Wordworks’ valued, long-term partner schools. It is lovely to see a great-grandfather and a great-grandmother (pictured) who took the 8-week course to benefit the young ones in their care at home!
Congratulations to Teacher-facilitators, parents and caregivers, who give up their time after hours to make these workshops happen.
Our STELLAR Programme goes back to Zimbabwe
Jo Labouchere, one of Wordworks’ training partners, recently continued in-person Stellar Programme training with teachers and mentors in Zimbabwe. She went to several schools around Victoria Falls, and travelled further afield to work with ECD and Grade 1 teachers and deliver books to schools*. She also worked with mentors (a mix of school leavers and parents) who will help implement the Stellar Programme as a literacy intervention – even up to Grade 5!
Jo says: “It has been incredible to see the different schools and work with some amazing teachers. Many of the schools are in remote areas with no access to materials… Teachers often do not have basics like chalk, pens or text books provided, and children walk vast distances to get to school.
Some feedback on the training:
‘I am fully equipped to teach both Tshivenda and English using the materials I have been given. I will also support teachers who remained behind to make teaching more meaningful’. Read More
This story will warm your heart
Madwaleni Hospital in the Eastern Cape believes, as we do, that ALL children have the right to be exposed to a language rich environment, including those who have developmental difficulties.
They train the caregivers, therapists and ECD practitioners of affected children at the hospital and surrounding communities, on the Wordworks EVERY WORD COUNTS (EWC) Programme, and LITTLE STARS classroom-based programme.
Caregiver training encourages book reading with their children (even those who have disabilities like cerebral palsy and need to be in special positions like in a ‘Waskom’ or lying down on their backs. Caregivers are also trained in the CP (cerebral palsy), T21 (Down’s Syndrome) and SAM (severe acute malnutrition) groups regarding play.
Madwaleni also trains community service speech and occupational therapists working in other hospitals in their district to support their services and provide them with EWC materials for caregiver training.
Wordworks in Gauteng
Wordworks has broadened its horizons to support early language and emergent literacy teaching in the Gauteng Province. Wordworks has been appointed the Language technical partner to the Gauteng Grade R Improvement Programme and has been responsible for materials development as well as the training of trainers, which started in the 4thTerm of 2021.
The Grade R Home Language Improvement Programme is fully *CAPS-aligned and designed to strengthen the oral language and emergent literacy of Grade R learners. It is organised into two-week cycles of teaching built around a story which is brought to life for the learners through fully interactive activities.
The programme is supported by the following resource components that were developed in close collaboration with the GDE: A Concept Guide which sets out the educational and curriculum principles that underpin the programme design; Read More
The first thousand days of a child’s life
Through presentations and events Sikunye spreads the powerful idea that churches can play a unique and significant role in the First Thousand Days (FTD) of a child’s life. Sikunye is an initiative of The Common Ground Church together with church leaders and congregants.
This week Wordworks and Nal’ibali were guest speakers at one of their big biannual events. Wordworks’ presentation focused on TALKING and emphasised that communicating with your baby helps the baby’s brain to grow.
Our Early Literacy Specialist, Faith Shabangu, presented on behalf of Wordworks, and she says,Read More
Teamwork leads to change
Heideveld Primary School held their Home-School Partnerships (HSP) programme graduation recently. As well as graduating parents, six newly trained HSP teacher-facilitators were celebrated as well! This occasion was attended by all the HSP facilitators, trained and established, standing together with parents as a team
Parents were passionate about sharing the fun they had with their children. They embraced learning through playing. The facilitators prepared 3 easels with newsprint paper in the playground for parents to reflect on their learnings (see frame 3). They worked in groups and gave feedback on the poster they made. A good advert for their community to see the impact of the programme! Read More
A celebration filled with sweet treats and proud hearts!
Square Hill Primary School held a certification event on the 21st of May for parents and caregivers that completed the Home-School Partnerships (HSP) programme!
Square Hill began with 20 participants attending the workshops and ended off with a bang, with 14 of them graduating. 6 HSP teacher-facilitators conducted the eight sessions with the parents on Saturday mornings. Square Hill HSP coordinator, Juliet George describes her approach with the teacher-facilitators: “We actually split our sessions up between the facilitators so that each of their home lives weren’t drastically impacted. We also had a lot of group and interactive work.”
At the function, the deputy principal Imelda Nefdt acknowledged the parents’ efforts on behalf of the school. Colleen Diedericks attended the graduation on behalf of Wordworks and spoke about the important role that the teachers of Square Hill have played in supporting parents to assist their children’s early literacy development and thereby uplifting their community. Read More
South African NGOs coming together for early literacy development!
Nal’ibali, BookDash, and Wordworks have partnered in the Yizani Sifunde project, funded by Liberty Community Trust, which focuses on improving early literacy in the Eastern Cape. The project has been working in communities from East London, Sterkstroom, Molteno and Burgerdorp. The consortium aims at strengthening early literacy development in the early childhood development (ECD) sector.
Since the initial implementation in 2021, Yizani Sifunde has reached over 1400 children. ECD centres have received resources from our classroom-based programme for pre Grade R, Little Stars, to implement in the classroom. Children have also received storybooks from BookDash in their home language to take home and read with family, as can be seen in frame 1. This has also encouraged more practitioners, parents and caregivers to start reading stories to young children, highlighting the importance of reading in their home language.Read More
Laying the Foundation for Functional Literacy in the Early Grades
School Leadership Forum(SLF)has partnered up with Wordworks (WW) to curate an early literacy online course for educators. This course, Laying the Foundation for Functional Literacy in the Early Grades, is accredited with the South African Council for Educators (SACE). Attendees are awarded with 10 points.
This course consists of four sessions that will be running until mid-August. Session 1 took place on the 26th of May and focused on strong oral language as the foundation for literacy.
Teachers that attended the first session enjoyed the Wordworks videos that were used during the session. The Wordworks facilitators in frames 1 and 2, prompted discussions after which the participants engaged in chat groups to take the conversations further. It is anticipated that these online discussions will only improve as they warm up to each other over the course of the sessions.Read More
Online learning in the 21st century!
The Wordworks (WW) programme, Ready Steady Read Write (RSRW) is now in its second year of using a dual online training model. This includes an online Learning Management System (LMS) on which users can complete the self-study programme at their own pace.
Face to face training is always great, but online training also has its benefits as we reach more participants across the country. WW has recreated the programme to fit into an online course. With this online course, participants are given the opportunity to complete the course in their own time, processing and grasping the concepts..
Newly recruited coordinators are registered by their organisations and schools to learn online how to run the RSRW tutoring programme. The programme comes with targeted reading and writing skills that work as solid support for Grade R and Grade 1 learners.Read More
Creativity and literacy – a successful relationship.
Creative Skills Factory is a NPO based in the Overstrand. This organisation keeps their eyes and mission set on providing holistic support for children, families, caregivers, and teachers. The support is given to assist individuals in developing a foundation of social and emotional skills. Creative Skills Factory uses our Little Stars Programme in their Early Learning Programme.
The Creative Skills Factory NPC team says, “We would like to express our appreciation to (Wordworks) for your wonderful resources which we are thoroughly enjoying using in our work with young children.”
Creative Skills factory uses the Little Stars Programme and its stories to not only encourage the children to learn, but to also encourage their creative thinking.Read More
Young people continue to create change!
The WCED @HomeLearning Programme in partnership with Year Beyond (that provides experience for unemployed youth, referred to as ‘Yeboneers’), are using our TIME programme materials as one of a number of activities that are being used in the communities and schools.
The Yeboneers are conducting the TIME sessions in a number of communities in Winelands, Eden Karoo and West Coast.
As one of many activities, mentors support Yeboneers to run parent/caregiver workshops, one which includes doing practical TIME activities with them. This assists them in understanding the materials, after which they will be able to support children with the activities. The Yeboneers work directly with the children in the community and also run specific TIME sessions at schools, which children attend voluntarily.Read More
Here at Wordworks we’re celebrating Mother’s Day alongside all of you!
Today we are shining light on how engaging in literacy activities with your child enhances that special bond!
Mem Fox said that “The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book, and the person reading.” To all the mothers out there – may the literacy fire between you and your child always remind you of how special you truly are.
Some mothers in the WW team shared how reading together has brought them closer to their children:
Jacqui says “Reading with my children has, and always will be, my most treasured time spent with them. No matter what kind of day we’ve had, when we start reading, the world somehow feels different … lighter and happier. Working at Wordworks has taught me that there is no greater gift that we as mothers can give our children, than the gift of reading. It not only benefits our children’s educational journey, but it feeds their souls and opens their minds to a world of magic and unlimited possibilities. ”Read More
Wordworks without borders!
Jo Labouchere has been doing various projects with Wordworks for 11 years. She has widened the spread of our work and taken our programmes to teachers in Zimbabwe, training them on the Wordworks Ready Steady Read Write and Stellar Home Language programmes since 2017. Post-Covid, she went back to conduct in-person Stellar training with 40 teachers.
Jo says, “It was so exciting to be able to visit the teachers of Zimbabwe and Zambia again after two years’ delay. Many of the teachers travelled far to attend the training.”
During the past two years Wordworks has updated the Stellar material with new activities, which now cover a full year of literacy teaching. The participants were so excited to see the new materials and realise that they now have a full years’ literacy programme.Read More
A school of opportunities.
This week we feature another long-term partner of Wordworks (WW). Zwaanswyk Academy has been running the WW Home-School Partnerships (HSP) programme since 2015!
This year they hosted yet another heart-warming graduation for parents and caregivers that completed the programme.
In the HSP programme, teachers are trained to run a series of workshops over eight weeks to empower and inspire parents and caregivers of children aged 6 to 8 years to support informal and fun learning at home.
Two of the current teachers have been facilitators since this school began running the programme.
Even though the programme is targeted at mainly parents, a Grade 4 teacher from the school attended the entire course because she felt that as a mom, there are always things to learn and ways to improve her child’s literacy skills.
Another mother attended the course through the encouragement of her husband, who had attended the course 6 years ago and was still reaping the rewards.Read More
Making a difference in the lives of the youth!
Year Beyond, otherwise known as Yebo, runs as a Youth Service programme for 18 to 25 year olds that assists them in gaining meaningful work experience, work while volunteering, and stepping onto a path that could help further their studies.
The @HomeLearning programme and Year Beyond will be providing Workworks TIME programme materials to grade R and grade 1 learners in over 50 schools in the Western Cape, and the life-changing approach doesn’t stop there!
The schools located in the Cape Winelands, Eden Karoo, and the West Coast will receive the materials that encourage at home learning but in addition to that, over 300 unemployed youth have been recruited as Yeboneers and will use the TIME materials in community hubs and to provide support for the children.Read More
Fairview Primary School celebrates 10 years of running the Wordworks HSP programme
Fairview Primary School, located in the heart of Grassy Park, has always prioritised providing the best and most efficient approach to education for their learners. The Wordworks Home-School Partnerships Programme (HSP) was introduced to Fairview by their late teacher Mrs Agmat, and the school worked to get the HSP programme to be an integral part of Fairview’s educational strategy. This has led to Fairview celebrating 10 years of running the Wordworks’ HSPP in March, 2022! Read More
A husband and wife team that goes above and beyond!
Mr and Mrs Malope are a couple that have proven that enough is never enough! Being the parents of 27, 21, and 15 year old girls, the Malopes haven’t let parenting duties stop them from going the extra mile for children that are in need. They also foster two, four, and five year olds. The Malopes run their own ECD centre and orphanage. The Malopes wanted to try a different parenting approach, “so we can employ contemporary methods in dealing with our children’s growing and learning and do away with the iron hands approach we grew up with.” They decided to do the Wordworks Home-School Partnerships Programme (HSP) Programme with Ubunye Educare Centre to help them evolve their parenting. Read More
Libraries – keeping the doors of learning open!
The week of the 14th to the 18th of March was #LibraryWeek. We shared some recollections from Wordworks team members of their experiences with public libraries.
Here are extracts from pieces written by Colleen Diedericks, Natasha Rosen and Magali von Blottnitz.
We need to ensure that libraries are valued and kept open for the essential role they play in society.
ReImagine…RePurpose…ReDiscover…Libraries!
Wordworks and Book Dash – in partnership to change lives through literacy
Seven years down the line, the partnership between these two NGOs has resulted in over 26 600 books for little ones going to children in families across the provinces. This distribution has happened through the many schools, ECD centres and NGOs that run Wordworks programmes.
Julia Norish, Book Dash Director, says: “We value our work with Wordworks so much for its reach and impact.” And we feel the same way about Book Dash!
Read more about Book dash here: https://bookdash.org/
Helping young children learn Maths at home can be fun!
A great partnership between Wordworks and the Primary Science Programme (PSP) has resulted in 3000 parents in our Home-School Partnerships (HSP) network having access to their Practical Maths at Home guide for parents. The book enhances children’s Maths literacy informally, in a fun way, using ordinary and daily activities at home.
This book has been excitedly received by teachers at their training as it perfectly complements the HSP session which covers learning about Maths. They could see how both they and the parents could use the very practical and engaging activities to make learning about numbers, shapes, time, measuring, patterns and data gathering easy and fun, whether using it at home or in the classroom.
Zorina Dharsey (Director of the PSP) tells how the book was developed: Read More
A long-standing school, always moving forward!
This week we’re talking about Sid.G.Rule’s significant relationship with parents of their learners and their long-time commitment to running our empowering, and driven programme. We’re referring to the Home-School Partnerships Programme (HSPP). As you may know, HSPP is one of our well-loved and well-known programmes, and Sid.G.Rule Primary School in Grassy Park is one of the schools that can advocate that this programme is highly valued.
The HSPP involves Wordworks training the teachers in the programme and the teachers following with 8 training sessions with the parents of learners at their school. Parents feel empowered to support their children’s learning and develop a new connection with them. The hard work of parents is rewarded by an event, organised by the teachers, accompanied by a certificate to celebrate their new-found skills. Read More
