MirandaNet Fellows in Free State, South Africa

Latest News | WE Citizens Newsletter | Reports from the Advisers

Mara Chrystie
Gelukwaarts School, Van Stadensrus

Monday October 25th
The moment you enter the school you can feel you are in a place that takes pride in its environment, from the smartly dressed and confident learners, the hand-painted school sign and slogan and the well-tended gardens.

We received a warm welcome from the Principal, Danie Wilken, and a description of his vision and practice and the strong belief that God is guiding his work. As well as his commitment and hard work to be at the leading edge of ICT and educational practice, he is rightly proud of running training for Learners in farming skills and hotel work.

We were taken on a tour of the school grounds with its neat classrooms, well-equipped computer suite, flower beds, vegetable patches and irrigation system, and playground. Next to the school are two enormous tunnels which were won by the school in a garden competition run by the Department of Health in April 2003. The tomatoes and vegetables are now a major source of income, employment and training for the school. There are many good examples of re-using materials including iron beds made into benches, oil drums beautifully redecorated as planters and artwork made out of wire and beads. We need to do much more of this in the UK.

I was introduced to the staff and ran the first workshop as an introduction to the E-Lapa project and to the Free State- for sure celebration. Staff filled in worksheets to give suggestions for the content for the celebration and gave very useful information about the Sights and Sounds and also the Learners Making a Difference, although the learners nominated were ex-learners. Staff were very responsive, and suggested the sound of children laughing as one of their favourite sounds.

First session with learners began by asking them what they knew about England- only response was that everyone in England was rich. They were surprised by me saying there were some poor and homeless people in the UK. They worked well in groups on the first worksheet and fed back the groups work clearly. They are more comfortable and focussed when working on a worksheet than responding to discussions at the moment, but this is not surprising on our first day and they are revising for tests.

On a typical day we taught 2-3 sessions for Learners and a staff workshop.

We are guests of the Principal and his family and shared a delicious dinner with them eating farm produce.

Tuesday October 26th
Great breakfast, including home-made jam and bread.

I gave them a calendar of UK and a book by Benjamin Zephaniah “We are Britain” to show some British beauty spots and our multi-racial population. I talked a little on the sights they could see in the book and calendar and introduced the Sights and Sounds element of the celebration.

Work with learners today included:

• Researching school grounds and surroundings for sights to photograph and drawing sketches
• Discussion on composition of photographs
• Learners in groups taking photographs
• Mind maps, session led by Ina which the learners picked up very well.

I asked them if they would sing as we walked to and from the tunnels which they did beautifully.

Workshop with Educators also focussed on Mind maps which they were very used to doing. I also gave out the questionnaires which I went through and answered questions, saying they could give them me the next day.

A frustrating time for Ina trying to set up the whiteboard. Some issues were resolved through her hard work and getting advice over the telephone.

Darnie was delighted that a group of local Basotho women had asked if the Farmers’ wives would join them at their Prayer Group. Bottle of champagne to celebrate!

Wednesday October 27th
All questionnaires returned!

We began the work on Learners Making a Differerence. Ina introduced research skills, explaining the use of a book’s content and index etc. They were very interested in the books in the “Learning African History” series on Freedom Fighters, and concentrated well on completing individual worksheets. They reported back well to the rest of the class. They had mainly written about the facts they had learned about the Freedom Fighter they studied, rather than what they had learned from them so more work would be needed on this point.

Johan was doing some very interesting technology work, getting the learners to construct and thatch model roofs. They are going to build a real structure next year- a Lapa! This will be available for hire for community use and to bring in revenue for the school.

Workshop for educators discussed sights to photograph and how we could follow up suggestions for interviewing Learners. I also showed them the Power Point presentation on the project at the suggestion of an Educator who had seen some of the slides I showed the Learners.

In the evening we went out for a meal to a local Guest House.

Thursday October 28th
A fascinating outing to look at some very ancient artwork, in a cave on the farm. Some scary climbing up and down slippery slopes and steep rocks. The artwork is very impressive although subtle, and the drive there on his quad bike a real thrill- I even got to drive it a bit! Lovely to experience the open spaces of Free State.

Sello was extremely supportive, invaluable. He organised three kinds of traditional games to be played, and also facilitated interviewing 3 Learners who “make a difference”. They were very confident and knowledgeable- great leaders.

The Learners were shown their photos and Ina led a discussion on taking good photographs. I followed up the worksheets on Freedom Fighters and we began to list the qualities of leadership. This could lead on to discussing the leadership qualities in other Learners. I asked the Learners to think overnight of any fellow students to nominate.

Friday October 29th
Children began the day with a bible reading, then they did some lovely singing. I enjoyed singing the National Anthem with the Learners and Educators, must learn the English and Afrikaans! We were presented with sweatshirts and made little speeches.

A somewhat frustrating day as several teachers were away including Sello (studying for exams). This also meant we couldn’t run afternoon Inset or meet with the Learners as school finished earlier than normal.

We looked at their improved photos and discussed their composition, the lighting etc. Ina showed them how to download the images. The Learners had completed their roofs so we took photos of the proud groups None of the learners nominated any of their fellow students for the Learners who make a difference category. I think this would need more preparatory time and discussions.

We had sweets and said goodbye. I’ll be very happy to meet up with them again in London, they are a great group of young people.

Opportunities
There is the possibility that two small neighbouring schools will join Gelukwaarts which will give more children the opportunity to enjoy its facilities. The women’s group that approached the school wants help in learning skills and earning an income, and plans have immediately started to bake and sell biscuits. I think it is greatly to the credit of the school that it is seen as an approachable resource by the community. The school was also delighted during the week to learn that there will shortly be a Telkom satellite installation. As the whiteboard is being installed in a classroom next to the computer suite, there will be more possibilities for e-learning.

Overall
It was ideal staying with Ina as we could evaluate and plan each evening. It was a great pleasure working in partnership with Ina, we felt we had complimentary skills.

Also, as we were guests of the Principal and his wife-who also teaches at the school- we had many useful and lively discussions over a wide range of topics. Alongside the Free State- for sure celebration Ina was teaching computer skills and how to use a digital camera which the Learners enjoyed tremendously. The whole family strongly contributed to the enjoyment of our stay, with Danie as a very informative and entertaining host, Riana sharing wonderful cooking, son Boetie taking us to the caves and helping me to negotiate tricky climbs, talking to daughter Trix about her course as a trainee teacher.

It was also wonderful to work alongside Sello, a very committed teacher, who organised interviews with three Learners and the display of traditional games. He also commented that most visitors just comment on the animals and mountains of South Africa, and that he was happy that we were recognising the contribution of people.

Reports from the Project Advisory Team

Here are some reports from the MirandaNet team: more will follow.

• Andree Jordan, e-Lapa Adviser for Retief High School
• David Thomas, e-Lapa Adviser for Heilbron School, Heilbron
• Mara Chrystie, e-Lapa Adviser for Gelukwaarts School, Van Stadensrus
• John Cuthell, e-Lapa Adviser for Ikanyegeng Combined School, Ratanang
• David Jordan , e-Lapa Adviser for Marallaneng School, Ficksburg
• Mara Chrystie, e-Lapa Adviser for Unitas Welkom
• Tom Rank, e-Lapa Adviser for St Bernard’s High School, Motheo District
• Lawrence Williams, e-Lapa Adviser for Retshedisitswe

Article in the Volksblad, October 28th 2004

• Read the article here

World ECitizens Newsletter

• Follow this link for the World Ecitizens Newsletter

Back