KEEPING UP WITH ATLANTIS!

It is week 7 of tutoring, we are sitting in our Atlantis office and thinking, “we have come this far!” Of course, we still have a long way to go but if you think of the time when we first introduced IkamvaYouth to the community of Atlantis in June, presenting to schools and community forums, we had no idea how things would pan out as much as we had tried to plan for everything.

Tutor Orientation/Training 23 July

6-7 weeks ago on the 23rd of July 2016, IY Atlantis held its first tutor training/orientation day at IkamvaHouse in Salt River. This was the first time that the Atlantis superheroes met and they immediately hit it off! The Community Collaboration Department were the head facilitators for the day, Zoe Mann & Pepe Hendricks, and they hosted the training for the first time IkamvaYouth tutors. The tutoring methodology/pedagogy was the main topic of the day but the Superheroes also had a chance to be introduced to the history, vision & mission, values and the IkamvaYouth Model.

Andile Miya, a final year law student from UWC said, “I had no idea, how much detail goes into tutoring. Especially having to balance transferring information without coming across like a teacher and using the right questioning.”  After a whole 5 hour training/orientation, the Superheroes were confident to go and begin tutoring the Atlantis Ikamvanites.

IkamvaYouth Atlantis Orientation Day

The day we had been waiting for had arrived, kickoff time! Saturday morning, 10am; it was a lovely sunny day in Atlantis and the Proteus Secondary School Hall was filling up with curious parents and eager learners, ready to hear about the branch.

Mr Smith, a science teacher at Proteus Secondary School, welcomed all who were in attendance and urged the parents to hear out what IkamvaYouth had to say. Simone Peinke, our Western Cape District Coordinator, kicked off the programme by sharing a bit of background about IkamvaYouth. Yanga Totyi, the Atlantis Branch Coordinator, talked about the programmes IkamvaYouth offers emphasing the core of the programme which is Tutoring as well as covering the Career guidance and Mentoring aspects of the programme.

The audience was then engaged on what the factors they had in mind that will make the programme a success. One of the parents mentioned that commitment from the learner, the parents and IkamvaYouth will make a big contribution, the community is one filled with challenges but all stakeholders should unite in the spirit of making this work! Afterwards, the parents had a chance to sign a pledge poster which will serve as a reminder that WE WILL MAKE IKAMVAYOUTH ATLANTIS WORK!

First Week Of Tutoring

First time Ikamvanites gathered at Proteus High School, eager and ready to begin with this much anticipated programme. Andile Miya, Chante van der Merwe, Namhla Kantolo, Phathiswa Silwana had their capes on, ready to begin with the agenda for the week and finally, it all began.

This is what a few Ikamvanites had to say;

“We hope that IkamvaYouth can help us learn how to learn. We are happy that this programme came to our community and we are ready to work hard to make sure that we do better in our studies.”

– Clyde Muller, Grade 10 Proteus Secondary School Learner

“If you look at our community, our peers are joining gangs and participating in a lot of bad activities. I could be there with them but I chose my education first and that is why I joined IkamvaYouth. We want IkamvaYouth to help us become something one day!”

–  Marlin Cupido, Grade 11 Proteus Secondary School Learner

“It is such a cool thing interacting and learning with learners from a different school. We get to share the different explanations we get in class and explaining to one another makes it easier to remember the work.”

– Amber Donson, Grade 11 Atlantis Secondary School Learner

Despite the branch being far from Cape Town, superheroes came to make sure these learners get help. Nerves & excitement are to be expected in the beginning of something new and through all of that, Ikamvanites made it through week one and they were encouraged more than ever to make it work!

Today…

It’s week 7 and here we are again, ready to begin with another week of tutoring. We look forward to what the week brings and we also look forward to the very first parent meeting on Saturday.

Really the Ikamvanites are MAKING IT WORK!