Jess and Jarrod

Noma sent me a little message last week saying that this was a  '...very sad day for me. I had to say goodbye to Jess, a friend and a learning partner to Jarrod. Jess is having a new baby in early August. We look forward to the surprise of hearing whether you have a boy or a girl! Jarrod had bonded with you deeply, and we will both miss you. Many thanks Jess.'

Jarrod and Jess, Observatory

Test Week at the Centres, May 28th-May 31st

Test week has been and gone at the Shine Centre: as I write this, we have tested every single grade two and grade three at our six schools, a total of 763 children. We like to test all the Grade 2's and 3's, regardless of whether they attend Shine or not. It is a great record for us, but it is also a useful tool for the teachers, who are busy writing their end of term reports. It is a way for us to celebrate the childrens' successes, as well as see where their gaps are, so we can finesse the work we do with each child.

Some of the children lining up on their cushions, ready to go into the centre to be tested at Observatory Junior 

Testing under way....

Each D1 assessment can take anything from 5 mins to ten, depending on the ability and confidence of the child 

Ginette, one of our longest standing volunteers,  and Lelethu at Observatory

The last child waiting.... with the most glorious of smiles! 

A day in the life....

I received a lovely email from Noma, our centre manager at Observatory the other day. 'Brave Hilary Hart-Mowzer insisted on going way beyond the call of duty today. One of the volunteers was not in, so she stepped in to help. As Hilary said to me "It's easy, unlike being a grade two teacher, who has 42 learners in her class."' 

Noma commented "I am so glad that I have such caring volunteers at my centre." Bravo Noma and Hilary!

 Hilary had a fun time with the children at the beginning of the session, 'wheelbarrowing' them to help with muscle tone and balance.

Hilary with her four learners 

Full circle.... what goes around.....a lovely coincidence

Dimpho, on the far left, with his friend Buhle Roto ( in grey, far right)  in 2008

Maurita Glynn our Founder Director, met Nontsikelelo, one of our 2008 Shine parents from Observatory, last week at a lecture she was giving at UCT. Coincidently, she is doing an Honours class with Carrie Maschek, our Outreach programme manager. Carrie found an old photo of Dimpho, (above) and sent it to Nontsikelelo, who relaid the most wonderful memories of her son Dimpho's time at the Shine Centre.

"Carrie,You have a good memory. Dimpho was always into art and is still fond of drawing. His friend was Buhle Roto, (pictured) and they used to go together to the Shine Centre from Miss Semetu's class. 
(When I asked him yesterday about the Shine Centre) he says he remembers that at first it was very difficult for him to read, and he said he would sometimes ask Buhle for help. According to him, Buhle was sharper than him! He is now in Grade six, and he is doing very well except for mathematics, but overall he is ok!

 Thank you

 Kind regards

Nontsikelelo."

This kind of feedback is very precious to us, and we hope to have more accounts as we become more able at tracking our students. 

The age to start reading with our children!

Observatory had a parent workshop on Saturday the 5th of May; 35 parents turned out, and a nutritious meal was served whilst discussing the joys of reading: a demonstration of paired reading was a very powerful tool to show the ease at which children can engage with text. Thank you to everyone involved.

The age to start reading with our children! 

Watching a film on the joys of the closeness created whilst reading to children 

 A warm bowl of soup and a discussion on what stops us reading to our children for two minutes a day  

Loui reading with the Observatory children 

Signing in with Nosipho

getting ready for soup and sandwiches 

The hall filling up....

Maurita and Linda

Enjoying sharing information

Story-time with the children whilst their parents are busy

Enthusiasm Reigns!

End sounds lotto at Observatory

And the enthusiasm for the new games keeps rolling on!

A volunteer's testimonial

Katy joined us through a volunteer programme called Cross Cultural Solutions, and her email to Carrie was so heartfelt that I just had to include it on the blog. 

'Hi Carrie,
I just returned to the UK after 4 weeks volunteering at the Shine Centre in Observatory Junior School. I have to say they were some of the best 4 weeks of my life - the children taught me so much and it was an absolute pleasure to spend time with them assisting with language and literacy development.

Thank you so much for the opportunity and best of luck with the Shine Centre for the future - it is an amazing project which I think is really making a difference to those childrens' lives.

Kind regards,
Katy Armitstead.'

Katy 

Nomawethu: Love was in the air last week!

Nomawethu had a lovely surprise last week in the form of a valentine's gift from Lorna and Acwhaitile.We so appreciate the care and attention that 

our volunteers show the children and our colleagues....by the look of the photo, it made Noma's day! 

.