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BY CATHY GUSH
A notable feature of the recent Community Engagement Conference hosted by Rhodes 老虎机游戏_pt老虎机-平台*官网 at the Settlers Monument in Makhanda (Grahamstown), was the attendance and participation by a number of their community partners. This is in no small part due to the fact that the Rhodes Community Engagement Office (RUCE) has consistently been very intentional about working with partners to carry out their community engagement activities in the city.
One such example is the support of literacy development in young learners. A key partnership here has been with the Lebone Centre around the implementation of the Wordworks programme for Grade 1 learners in no-fee paying schools.
Through Engaged Citizenry programmes, Rhodes students are recruited to act as tutors for Grade 1 learners who have been identified as being in need of additional literacy support. These students are trained by the Lebone Centre in the one-on-one approach that utilises the TIME (Together in My Education) materials that were developed specifically for this purpose by the Wordworks organisation in Cape Town. Before they move into the schools, these students undergo a general orientation by RUCE about the principles of community engagement, as well as the issues of literacy and social justice.
The Lebone Centre, with over 12 years of implementing this project, provides mentorship to the groups of students who go into three schools in the township areas of Makhanda, and also does the assessment of the learners at the beginning and the end of the year, to establish a baseline and progress made. While students are drawn from a range of disciplines, and not necessarily Education, this is no doubt also a learning experience for them. For B.Ed students in particular, this often serves as the only opportunity to hone their practical skills and speak back to the theory they are learning in the university environment. In return, the partnership enables the Centre to considerably expand its reach and the number of children served.
In an extension of literacy support for young children, RUCE also partners with local private school, Kingswood College, to implement the Budding Q school readiness programme for Grade R learners at 3 no-fee paying primary schools. While Kingswood provides the human resource in the form of its Grade 11 pupils, as well as the necessary equipment, RUCE provides the training and orientation.
Other partners of RUCE include the Centre for Social Development (in support of Early Childhood Development), GADRA Education (the 9/10ths mentoring programme for senior school pupils), the Assumption Development Centre (skills development) and the Principals Forum.
Community partners of RUCE were given the sterling opportunity of attending the CE Conference at a special rate, to engage, to network, and to learn from the many noteworthy presentations by people from around the country and abroad, as well as to showcase their own work through posters and presentations.