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!
On Saturday, 27th August 2016, we received a surprise visit from one of our Accounting tutors, Nosipho Mjiyakho who works for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). This was not just an ordinary visit, Nosipho was sent by PwC to drop off stationery for all our learners at the branch. This was really exciting news for us as we know that our learners are in need of stationery so we were also excited as staff to share the news with the learners.
The stationery donation included exercise books, flip files, exam pads, pens, rulers, erasers, pencils and even calculators. We are so grateful to PwC for this gift because it will really be helpful for all our learners.
We distributed the stationery packs to our grade 9 and 10 learners on Monday the of 29th of August and to our grade 11 and 12 learners on Tuesday the 30th of August. The learners were all smiles after receiving their stationery as this was really unexpected. After the Post Mandela Day Celebration at the branch earlier this month, we did not expect that PwC would come back to the branch so soon. We are really grateful.
One of our grade 9 learners, Ayakha Ndzuzo said: “PwC has really helped me with the stationery, I am grateful and cannot wait for the PwC employees to visit the branch again so that I can say thank you in person”
The Nyanga branch is thankful to PwC, its employees and our amazing superhero tutor Nosipho Mjiyakho.
On Friday 12th August 2016, the grade 9 and 10 learners were fortunate to spend some time with employees from Pricewatercoopers (PwC). It was an exciting afternoon for our learners as they were only expecting a talk before getting back to their books. Instead the PriceWaterCoopers employees brought along board games marking the beginning of a fun-filled afternoon.
The learners were divided into small groups and played different games including 30 Seconds, Monopoly, Twister, Wikipedia, Dominos, Snakes and Ladders and many more. With music playing in the background and the learners having fun with the guests, it felt like a celebration.
One of grade 10 learners, Yolanda Ntesha said: “It was enjoyable and it would be really great if PwC employees decided to come back again and spend time with us. We enjoy having visitors at the branch.”
It is always great to see people taking time out of their lives to give back to young people. We appreciate PwC for availing their employees. We are grateful as IkamvaYouth and our learners definitely enjoyed it. At the end of the event, PwC handed over food packs for the learners and trust me when I say it was a wonderful treat for our learners.
Thank you PwC ?
One of their friends, Keitumetse Sebokanelo (Pictured on left) went to the Department of Water and sanitation offices in Mafikeng where she saw a poster about the competition. Keitumetse decided to tell her classmates, Mmabatho and Ontlametse about it. They entered their names for the competition and received a phone call from the department. They did not waste time when they were told to come and speak on the topic “ Underground water”. They did research on underground water and presented to the department while others did drama and acting around the topic. “I was scared and did not know what to expect,” said Ontlametse.They did very well as their speech was loved by the judge and took first position in the whole North West province. Last month (27-29 June 2016) they went to represent the North West province in at Port Elizabeth for the Finale. There were learners from schools all over South Africa representing their provinces and the competition got tough. Unfortunately for them, they got fifth position, however, they did not walk away empty handed. The department awarded them with full bursaries to study at any university in South Africa, towards qualifications in water science or other courses related to water sanitation.
Max Coyle, a recent Biology graduate from the US, voluntarily came during his holiday time to introduce the foldscope to the Masinites. Max wanted to share his experiences of using the Foldscope with the learners, to feed their minds and make them think and see that the world is much more than what we see with the human eye.
This foldscope is a low-cost optical microscope that can be assembled from simple components, including a sheet of paper; a light-emitting diode; a watch battery that powers the LED and a lens (although natural light of lamp light can easily substitutde for the LED). This tool was developed by a team led by Jim Cybulski and Manu Prakash, an assistant professor in Bioengineering at the Stanford University. For more information you can click here and here.
Max introduced the microscope and its purpose to the learners and further took them through the assembly of the kit and how to operate it. By assembling the foldscope themselves, they got a chance to follow the instructions given by Max and put it together perfectly. The learners placed a small piece of leaf on the lens and what they saw was amazing and interesting, it brought up a lot of exciting questions! The fact that this foldscope is adjustable (can be moved up/down and side-ways) allowed the learners to see the microscopic world clearly and from different angles.
The Foldscope also comes with a feature which permits one to attach a smartphone to it, allowing the learners to take pictures and zoom into what they see. This experience left our learners quite scientific- minded :). They got to keep their foldscopes as well as extra lenses that they got from Max. Experiments like these help boost how people see and think of things. Our learners can now be their own scientists and use their foldscopes to explore what they cannot see with the naked eye!
Thank you to Max for this DIY / Biology workshop and the Masinites that took part!
My passion for writing stories. Sive Ncanywa grade 8 learner
First of all I love myself, I want to see myself successful so that I can be able to provide for myself and my family. I want a bright future and I know the key to a bright future is education, so I thought to myself, let me work hard at my studies so that I can be able to live my wish.
For the Year Beyond Programme to come at my school was like a dream come true to me and it was a great opportunity to motivate me to work hard. Then I joined.
In the programme we had two sessions, Mathematics and English. For Mathematics we attend Olico sessions online/offline and for English we attend Fundza sessions online/offline. I remember one day after reading a story from Fundza, at the end of the story it had the name of the writer. I so wished that it was my name that was written there. I’ve always had the dream of being a young author, but i gave up since i couldn’t find the right people to help me. I always write stories on books and never got the opportunity to show them out.
I wished to write for Fundza. So I asked one of the tutors if I can write stories or poems for Fundza, I was so happy when she said yes. I I’ve always had the passion for writing but never got the right people. It’s like a dream come true; God has finally opened doors for me.
This programme has bought up my self-esteem and confidence. I am so proud of myself for being part of this programme.
I’m good at writing and reading it’s like I was made for it.
Sive Ncanywa Grade 8 Student @GUGULETHU COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOL.
Lloyd Lungu