IT was a win for literacy on Friday when Windermere Shopping Centre donated a literacy kit to the Shine chapter at Clayton Primary School.
Andrea Rodseth, a regular shopper and teacher by profession, established the Shine chapter at Clayton Primary School, and was on hand to accept the teacher kit, which is an afrocentric Wordsworth manual full of games, stories and alphabet teaching aids.
“We are so pleased to have this now, as it will help so much with our programme at the school,” she said.
She said Shine was started 14 years ago in Cape Town. There are four chapters in the Durban area, at Waterloo, Clarence Road, Clayton Primary and in Sherwood.
Shine’s programmes are helping to transform the prospects of some of South Africa’s most vulnerable children by breaking the destructive cycle of poor literacy, low educational attainment, wasted potential and poverty.
They do this by providing structured English literacy support to children, providing storybooks and readers and empowering parents and caregivers through family literacy workshops. Shine works in partnership with like-minded NGOs, individuals and non-profit organisations to raise awareness and develop approaches that are appropriate and sustainable.
Shine Centres provide individualised, one-on-one support to children in Grades 2 and 3 to strengthen their English reading, writing and speaking skills. Children work with trained volunteers twice a week, on Monday and Wednesday at Clayton Primary, during the school day, for at least one year.
“We do an assessment and select children who need the extra individual attention. We had four volunteers when I started the programme and now have 44 from all walks of life. Young and old, from hairdressers, paediatricians, statisticians to interior decorators! You don’t need to be a teacher, as we train volunteers,” she said.
Andrea said Clayton Primary School offered good facilities. “I have now opened the library and each classroom has a book corner. Some of these children have never held a book before! During the classes, you never know who enjoys it more, the children or the volunteer, as it is so rewarding seeing their progress. Durban Girls’ College girls also use us for their community service hours and have catalogued the whole library,” she said.
Andrea’s chapter hosts book sales at Windermere Centre every second month, with the next sale on 31 March, to raise funds for the programme.
“It’s a win-win situation, as people donate books, we sell them to enable people to read, and the money helps our organisation,” she said.
For more information on becoming a volunteer or to help with donations of books, contact Andrea on 082 466 8323 or anthearod4@gmail.com.
