Grabouw Schools’ Project – Funded by Anglo American Chairman’s Fund
This project focused on one school – Pineview Primary – whose principal requested our support in implementing the Foundations for Learning Project. Negotiation and some rope-walking were necessary to balance the school’s need for a strong focus on Literacy and Numeracy activities with our need to work in a more holistic way. Our activities included hands-on training in classes, motivation and skills-training workshops for parents to enhance their ability to support their children’s learning, and the introduction of our Activity Pack (translated into Afrikaans) to enhance pre- and early Literacy and Numeracy activities. This project had many highlights and we managed to build good relationships with the teachers and children. At the same time, it also led us to revaluate our involvement in schools and to seriously reflect on ways to stay tuned to their real needs. We realised again how important it is to involve the whole school in the planning exercise, ensuring that we understand each other’s needs and reach clarity on the methods we use and the involvement expected of all role-players.
Bridge School Workshop Series: “Bridging the Gap in Communication”
In early April 2008, IEWC joined with SAALED Western Cape in hosting 2 days of workshops run by the Bridge School of San Francisco at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital. The Bridge School is dedicated to ensuring that children with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation. Their outreach programme works at promoting and disseminating information about alternative and augmentative forms of communication. The team shared strategies and ideas around educating children with complex needs, inspiring the group of 170 teachers, therapists and parents on what can be achieved, even with few resources. We were very grateful for their generosity and demonstration of a truly child-centered outreach to our most challenged, and often most excluded, learners.