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May 2021 newsletter
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Extra-mural activities for our learners
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Despite the fact that our curriculum is limited to three subjects, we aim to include extra-mural activities where possible, for our children to be exposed to different learning opportunities. Given the restrictions imposed by COVID-19 which have brought about teaching and learning challenges, our teachers had to be innovative, and we have adapted our sports activities to no-contact sessions to observe social distancing.
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Every Friday, the grade 7 learners of our Sacred Heart College campus enjoy no-contact karate lessons which are taught by a teacher from the main school. Karate classes are beneficial because in addition to serving as exercise, they boost their confidence and help them deal with anxiety and strep. They also teach children discipline, respect, focus, self-control.
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On our Holy Family College campus, we hold soccer classes several times a week and have Ipad, choir and judo classes with them every Thursday. These activities support their development and their well-being. During soccer and judo practice, the children are taught techniques that they practice individually to stay safe. For instance, during soccer lessons, the children each have a ball that they play with and with which they practice the techniques taught by their coach (e.g. how to kick and dribble it). The children have adapted well to these new ways of practicing these sports.
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The children also observe our COVID protocols during choir classes by staying spaced out and wearing their masks. Knowing that singing is an act of worship and praise to the Lord, it has been a source of inspiration and of comfort, and a constant reminder that all is well despite COVID19.
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Reading assessment
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This month, Aneene Dawber, who is a speech and language therapist, finished assessing our children’s reading. The process started in April and involved our three campuses. Aneene assessed 10 learners in each of our grades, and used standardized testing for it: one on words (the children had to read a list of words) and one on short passages to test their reading and comprehension.
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General observations were made for our teachers to support the children’s academic progress and make sure our children meet their learning milestones.
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Uniform and mask distribution
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As we are facing an increasing number of COVID cases in the country, the project bought more masks for the children who received several ones each early this month to help reduce the spread of the virus. Along with these were distributed the children’s winter uniforms, jerseys, tee-shirts and tracksuits to keep them warm when at the project.
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Thanks to our funders whose support allows us to provide our children with these essential items to keep them healthy.
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It is very important for our learners to have knowledge on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), as it is a lifesaving technique that is useful in many emergencies, such as heart attacks.
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On the 13th of May, two grade 12 day school learners from Sacred Heart College organised a CPR training session for our grade 6 and 7 children learning at that campus.
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They taught them Hands Only CPR on adults and children, measures to take before and after engaging in CPR, where and how to position their hands and the positions of recovery. Our learners have learnt a lot and are now equipped with the necessary skills to deal with an emergency situation. A very big thank you to Lindokuhle and Nhlamulo for their time and great presentation.
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Africa Day celebrations
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On the 25th of May, we celebrated Africa day. Our learners united in style by wearing their traditional attire on campus.
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The day at our Sacred Heart College campus began with learners playing drums and dancing. On our Observatory Girls' Primary school campus, learners representing different ethnic groups from their countries of origin taught the class basic daily words in their languages and the celebration commenced with music and dance. The learners had prepared poetry to honor the beauty of Africa and its many cultures.
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The common thread throughout the day was the unity of Africans and the willingness to learn more about all the traditions, languages and cultures that exist on our beautiful continent. Africa day is more than a celebration of countries but a feeling of human dignity and unity in all our differences.
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New Testament Bible distribution
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We are a Marist project, our teaching is founded in the gospel values and the life of Christianity, which is celebrated through masses and assemblies for instance.
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On the 27th, the project received a donation from a church of 140 New Testament Bibles: 80 Testament books in English, 25 books in Swahili and 25 books in French which are some of our children’s home languages. The books were distributed to the learners during assembly and encouraged them to meditate.
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The primary objectives of our monthly alumni days are to give our alumni academic support and to involve them in recreational activities such as sports and art.
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On the 29th May, the Marist Youth movement organised another alumni day at Sacred Heart College for our past learners. We started the day with a guest speaker from Edu-Fun.org.za, a youth programme designed to develop sports in schools and to give employment to otherwise unemployed youth. Coach Serge, founder and CEO of Edu-Youth, gave a formal presentation on the programme, and explained how the alumni could join and become part of a great cause for their communities and for their own development.
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The past learners then enjoyed an art and craft session during which they learned a brief history on Mandalas, an art form, and created unique designs of their own.
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They also played soccer together and lunch was provided before they were safely transported back to their homes.
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Child participation training
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On 12 May, our advocacy officer attended a training on child participation organised by Terre des Hommes (TDH), a Three2Six funder. It is part of a series of three training sessions on the topic, which take place between April and June. The participants included representatives of various TDH offices, of partner organisations in Africa and South-East Asia, and of youth.
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During the session, which was around some sections of the TDH manual on child participation, the participants learnt about how to effectively communicate with children and young people with disabilities. They also looked at the tools and approaches supporting child participation in each stage of the programme cycle (e.g. for situation analysis: body mapping of children’s likes and dislikes) and joined group exercises to apply some of the recommended child-friendly participatory techniques.
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We look forward to the next and last session.
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Earlier this month, we went around our three campuses to record footage of our activities and of the areas we operate in, and we filmed inspiring interviews with the Archbishop Buti Tlhagale, our staff and one of our past learners. This footage will be used for an exciting high-level project that we will announce soon. Stay tuned!
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A second video will be made out of it which will also include some testimonials from our alumni read out by our current children. It will be launched on World Refugee Day, on 20 June. Follow us on social media to make sure to see it!
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