As Mr Mandela said, “Each of us, as citizens, has a role to play in creating a better world for our children”.
ITEC celebrated the generous spirit of Nelson Mandela in AmaJingqi, near Willowvale. Together with the local people, we brightened four Early Childhood Development Centres with a fresh new coat of paint in honour of Mandela Month.
Each Centre received much-needed toys and equipment, aimed to enrich the lives and learning of our future leaders!
Click on a picture to scroll through the gallery.
Celebrate Nelson Mandela!
Reaching to the ceiling
Each child got a ‘goodie bag’ filled with snacks
Children receiving their goodie bags
Each Centre got a range of resources
Juice and snacks!
The hoops were very popular
New tyres to climb on, freshly painted
ITEC staff and community members joining together to smarten up the ECD Centre
Unpacking toys for the children
A newly painted ECD Centre
Hard work
Community and ITEC working together
Play time!
Fun to play outside in the sun
Proud community members
Juice time!
Hooploads of fun and learning
Loving a new doll
A thoughtful moment, sitting on a new playground tyre
There was joy and celebration in Jeffreys Bay this week, with a double reason to feel that things are getting better for young children in the Kouga area.
We celebrated the graduation of 17 ITEC students who achieved the Further Education and Training Certificate in Early Childhood Development. The FET:ECD is accredited at Level 4 on the National Qualifications Framework, so there is every reason to be proud of our students’ hard work and commitment, and to feel confident that the young children under their care will have a high quality programme at their Centres. The event was attended by representatives of the Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm, who funds this project, and the Department of Social Development.
The second celebration was for 24 Grade R teachers who have completed the STELLAR course through ITEC. STELLAR, which was developed by Wordworks, provides Grade R teachers with materials and training that enables them to teach early language and literacy effectively.
Proud graduates who are now qualified ECD Practitioners
Graduates with representatives from the Jeffrey’s Bay Wind Farm and the Department of Social Development
Grade R teachers who have completed the STELLAR course
Displaying their STELLAR work
Proudly able to promote emergent literacy in Grade R
This year’s theme for South African Library Week, which runs from 19 – 25 March, is Libraries: Heart of the Community.
ITEC aims to place reading in the hearts and minds of teachers and children. In the two weeks building up to SA Library week, nearly 100 local teachers attending workshops on Reading Aloud to children.
Teachers at a Read Aloud workshop in the Teacher’s Resource Centre at ITEC
Sharing with other teachers
We are partnering with Stirling Primary School on a book drive so that we can provide more books to schools that serve disadvantaged children. If you would like more information, please contact the Library staff on 043 7438333.
Ayanda Mxhalisa tells how her daughter has benefitted from having a classroom library at her school. ITEC rotates large block loans of delightful books to participating teachers.
There is a unique joy in reading aloud to children – try it out on World Read Aloud Day (February 1st) and discover the magic for yourself. Sharing a story with children forges a bond between parent and child, promotes language skills, and helps you both relax!
Asking ‘Why?’ and ‘What if?’ questions at the end of the story promotes authentic discussion and builds children’s critical thinking and self-expression skills.
Visit the official World Read Aloud Day site here: http://www.litworld.org/register/ to register your activities. Or simply pick up a book and Read Aloud!
The ITEC Teacher’s Resource Centre is filled with Read Aloud resources and exciting ideas to celebrate stories. Please come and explore!
