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2012

NSC 2011 Results

We congratulate all the learners from our schools who were rewarded for their hard work in reaching their goal of passing their final school year.

Murray High did particularly well, achieving a substantially improved pass rate from 54.2% in 2010 to 78.4% in 2011, and although Wittedrift High recorded a slight drop from a 100% to a 93.8% pass, their number of candidates increased from 51 to 64.

The Eden / South Karoo District Circuit 4 as a whole performed very well with the average jumping from 54% to 72% with not one underperforming school in the circuit! We extend to each one of the Circuit 4 Team our heartfelt congratulations on this superb accomplishment!

MEC for Education in the Western Cape Mr Donald Grant comments on the province’s 2011 Grade 12 results:

“The results indicate that since 2009 significant progress has been made in improving the education system and learner outcomes in this province.

In 2010 the Western Cape Provincial Government reversed a six year decline in the matric pass rate in this province. In 2011 we continued to make further improvements – increasing the pass rate even further from 76.8% to 82.9%.

What is particularly gratifying is that key success indicators in the province are continuing to show a positive trend; these indicators include improving learner retention, improving the quality of passes, improving Mathematics and Science passes, and reducing the number of underperforming schools.

We believe that the good progress made in improving education outcomes in the Western Cape since 2009 is the product of a maturing provincial education system and we believe that this progress can be sustained through the continued promotion and protection of teaching and learning time.”

2011

Spring 2011

Welcome to our quarterly update, the spring edition. It’s hard to believe that 2011 is fast nearing its end; in the meanwhile though here’s what we’ve been up to in the third quarter:

Our learners’ interest in, and contributions to, this one of a kind programme continues to grow – only 195 submissions were received for Issue 1, an astonishing 1320 for Issue 9 – a tribute indeed to the growing culture of writing, reading and Literacy in our local communities where the background traditionally is oratory in nature. Issue 10 will be out before the December holidays.

We have reported back to our programme sponsors the DG Murray Trust and are in full agreement with them that the time has come to take the programme to the next level; this will involve a team of Grade 10 to 12 learners being appointed to manage the process on each issue in its entirety, under Margi’s guidance, with a view to opening career paths for learners in graphic design, journalism or perhaps copywriting and editing.

Our heartfelt thanks to the DG Murray Trust for their appreciation of the Interschool Magazine’s impact, and for their continued support of this unique programme; their more inclusive strategy will be implemented with the first issue of 2012, Issue 11.

We celebrated the successful launch of the ASAP in September at two showcases involving more than 200 learners who, during the first two terms of 2011, have been participating in dance, drama and art classes at Plett Secondary, Phakamasani Primary and Murray High. Together with members of the Plett Pioneers Field Band these dedicated learners made use of the opportunity to amaze their teachers, families and friends with their newly acquired skills. Well done to each and every one of these up-and-coming artistes, they certainly did impress!

At Plett Secondary on the 23rd the drama class, who have been coached by Lunchbox Theatre’s Stuart Palmer, came alive on stage, giving a brilliant delivery of their short adventure-comedy. Alex Eloff from Footprint Dance Studio’s dance class enthralled with a line dance, rumba, jive and salsa and for the first time took up the cha-cha to a piece by the Plett Pioneers who also performed four pieces in tremendous style.

The drama class and two dance classes from Phakamasani Primary, under the instruction of Lunchbox Theatre’s Amanda Valela, had their chance to shine at the mini-showcase held at Murray High on the 28th. Here parents and peers were thrilled by a fusion of Traditional African and Contemporary dance routines while the drama class entertained with a brief English-isiXhosa play.

Also on show were delightfully creative artworks by learners from Amos Lwana of Art nKosi’s art class.

Parents and educators alike commended the exceptional quality and standard of all the performances. We in turn extend our thanks to the independent tutors and our schools for their support of this programme which not only develops learners' talents, self-esteem and life skills but most importantly brings them much joy and a firm sense of achievement!

Grades 8 and 9 Maths educators, Heads of Departments, Curriculum Advisors and representatives from the WCED Circuit 4 Team have been working with us to develop a programme that will address their own professional development needs while at the same time addressing barriers to Maths learning and teaching in our schools. The objective is to increase the number of learners passing Maths in Grade 9 and of course ultimately in Grade 12.

To date we have established a peer learning community to enable our Grades 8 and 9 Maths educators to learn through, in turn, demonstrating lessons to each other on topics that have to be covered in the curriculum. The programme plan involves bringing Best Practice Specialists to Bitou to share their knowledge and skills with these teachers; to provide learners with workbooks; to motivate learners to strive to pass Maths in Grade 9; and to take Maths as a subject in Grade 12 through raising awareness of career opportunities only available to school graduates with Grade 12 Mathematics.
 

Following the needs analysis conducted by the WCED, thirty Grade 1-3 learners at Wittedrift Primary and Kranshoek Primary were selected to participate in our pilot Occupational Therapy Programme aimed at addressing developmental delays and improving learner performance. Local Occupational Therapists Michelle Luyt and Nicole Macdonald have been working with these learners in small groups at their schools weekly to improve, among others, visual perceptual and listening skills, as well as the confidence levels, of these learners.

It is significant that our teachers too have expressed the need for additional workshops and lectures on empowering them to better identify, understand and support learners challenged with special needs. We plan to do everything possible to assist them.

Through dedicated Programme Funds we are currently offering professional group counselling for learners referred by their schools and the WCED who are experiencing emotional challenges, and individual counselling for those who have suffered recent trauma, as a means of providing critical emotional support for these learners in need.

In an effort to develop capacity to provide further learner support in our schools, we have made Programme Funds available to enable six learner support educators to participate in a workshop on Sensory Integration and Emotional Intelligence run by Occupational Therapist Sally Mackenzie and Clinical Psychologist Pam Tudin.

On September 26 we had the privilege of hosting the SA Association for Learning and Education Differences (SAALED) who have in turn been host to Professor Angela Fawcett, a leading international researcher on dyslexia, at Plett Primary.

Over 50 teachers and practitioners attended her lecture on the complex subject of dyslexia. It was hugely informative and it was very clear that our teachers are sorely in need of support and guidance as they seek to address the many learning and education differences they encounter daily in their classrooms.

When we consider what we are learning about our children from the Special Learning Needs Programme we are running with our WCED Circuit 4 team and local Occupational Therapists Michelle and Nicole, as well as the high level of response from teachers to what Professor Fawcett shared, we have a strong sense of the need our teachers have to be enabled to help our children and how we can facilitate further support for them by collaborating with SAALED. Barbi Raymond, National Director of SAALED, has agreed to begin a conversation with us on how best to proceed.

Our thanks to Plett Primary for making their hall and facilities available to us; our sincere appreciative thanks also go to especially Tania Nieuwoudt, Lisa Shattock, Oom Hansie Vermaak and Principal Mr Bester.

And of course to Professor Fawcett and SAALED!
 

The Plett Pioneers have once again done us proud at this year’s championships, earning a Silver Award in the Premier Division and finishing fourth overall out of the nine bands in this division; they also received a second placing in the Mixed Ensemble Performance category and were placed third in the Percussion Ensemble Performance section. A huge round of applause to the tutors and learners alike who put in so much time perfecting their art; this news is music to our ears!


Our focus remains resolutely on our children; there is work to be done yet before the year winds to a close!
 

The Bitou 10 Foundation Statement on our Programmes of 2011

The Bitou 10 Foundation (B10F), a developmental education NGO working in a cluster of 11 schools in greater Plettenberg Bay, has successfully implemented the year’s programmes in our schools in collaboration with the Western Education Department’s District Circuit 4 Team (C4MT), and professional and dedicated local service providers:

The trilingual Interschool Magazine is the only initiative of its kind in the country – an intercultural, interschool, interracial magazine written, edited, produced and designed for children by children. The programme, which benefits more than 4000 learners, aims to develop learners’ Literacy skills in three languages from as early as Grade 1. The landmark Issue 10 was distributed in all 11 schools before they closed for the year.

School Leadership and Management, presented by an Education and Training Specialist, is offered through quarterly workshops: 66 School Management Team members from our schools are receiving training, the objective here being to enable them to manage their schools more effectively. Also – through one-on-one mentoring and coaching – principals from four schools are receiving school leadership and management training.

As part of Maths Development Grade 9 Maths educators participated in a brainstorming session for input on interventions which would have the greatest impact on Maths development. The programme, which benefits 400 learners and 12 Maths teachers, aims to help improve these learners’ results.

In Learner Support we held a Motivation and Study Camp, benefitting 115 Grade 12 Murray High learners, to assist them in academic support. The objective was to help them to achieve acceptable results in their year-end exams. Teachers reported that since attending the Camp learners started submitting their work in time and absenteeism was less prevalent. In as early as June their exam results already showed marked improvement in almost all subjects.

Following a needs analysis, Grade 1-3 learners at two B10F schools were selected for the pilot Occupational Therapy programme. Currently benefitting 30 learners with developmental delays or barriers to learning, the programme focuses on improving the learners’ fine motor, gross motor and visual perceptual skills. The Conscious Classroom Journey assists another 115 Grade 12s through motivational sessions while 12 Grade 12s were able to attend the annual Science Fair courtesy of a local donor.

Close on 900 learners in Grades 4 through 12 participate in After-School Activities which develop learners' creativity, emotional, social and physical well-being and keeps them occupied in the afternoons. The programme has been welcomed in all our schools: it includes the Field Band’s 300 members, Dreamfields’ 115 soccer players and primarily focuses on providing support in Aftercare, Homework, Creative and Performing Arts, Life Skills and Sports Development.

Working with C4MT Team Leader Suzette de Villiers and her team – where collaborative planning has been key – has been a rewarding experience. We remain committed to supporting C4MT and the B10F schools by developing strategies and interventions in consultation with all of them. And of course without our donors none of this would be possible – our most heartfelt thanks!

Summer 2011

Welcome to our Christmas update, the last for 2011. Although our work is never done, we are delighted to report on our year’s progress and activities:

In June we launched our new school support model through a pioneering first: the signing of the Expression of Common Purpose with WCED’s Circuit 4 Team (C4MT). Since then we have worked closely with Leader Suzette de Villiers and her team – consulting, sharing, supporting and learning together. It has been a stimulating and encouraging experience thus far. Authentic conversations and genuinely collaborative planning have been key features.

We are hugely encouraged that this kind of collaboration is already bearing tangible and measurable results. We see our collective selves as The Common Purpose Team and B10F is committed to supporting and strengthening the C4MT and the B10F schools by developing strategies and interventions in consultation with all of them.
 

Having called on the services of numerous professional and dedicated service providers we have been able to continue the existing, as well as implement new, programmes in our schools – a direct result of our belief in thinking and acting local, of drawing on local resources, and of networking and connecting local…

The trilingual Interschool Magazine is the only initiative of its kind in the country – an interschool magazine written, edited, produced and designed for children by children. It is a literacy support tool in 3 languages reaching more than 4000 children and homes with contributions having soared from 195 to more than 1400 in 10 editions! The landmark Issue 10 was distributed in our schools before they closed for the year!
 

The School Leadership and Management Programme provides coaching for School Management Teams and principals at all our schools through Workshops, and one-on-one principal mentoring and coaching at Murray High, Phakamisani and Kranshoek. To date three principals and 66 School Management Team members have benefited. C4MT is monitoring the impact of this coaching. Our thanks go to Education and Training Specialist Bev Booker who has also provided the schools with a tool to ensure school readiness for 2012 – a manuscript entitled ‘Developing your Strategy’.

The Maths Development Programme has seen the voluntary formation of a Bitou Interschool cluster of 12 Grade 9 Maths educators. These teachers are working together to improve their own Maths skills as well as their Maths teaching skills by workshopping twice a month with peer teaching and review – 400 learners stand to benefit directly from this focused and collaborative initiative, a major breakthrough. Thank you to the WCED’s Maths Curriculum Advisors for their support.
 

The Academic Support Programme saw a Motivation and Study Camp for 115 Grade 12 Murray High learners earlier this year. Teachers reported that since attending the Camp these learners submitted their work on time and their absenteeism rates dropped significantly; their June exam results showed marked improvement in almost all subjects. To the countless service providers involved, our thanks.

Support has been extended to Grade 1 to 3 learners at Kranshoek and Wittedrift Primary. Following a needs analysis 30 learners with developmental delays or barriers to learning were selected for a pilot Occupational Therapy intervention which addresses developmental delays. These 30 fortunate children are alas a mere tip of the iceberg. However its value for these 30 is to show the way for our intensified and expanded support for more learners in our 2012 to 2014 programme development. Thank you to Occupational Therapists Michelle Luyt and Nicole Macdonald.

Further Learner Support for those at risk is the ‘Conscious Classroom’ Journey being offered at Murray High, Plett Secondary and Kranshoek Primary; this is a healing process which involves guided visualisation aimed at releasing pent-up emotional pain, 75 learners have been reached with 15 of them receiving additional individual sessions – once again, this is but the tip of the iceberg! Both principals have reported vast behavioural, relationship, concentration and results improvement in the participants but let’s get a few of their own comments:

Before : I felt heartbroken, emotional, unhappy, weak
After   : Glad, good, happy, excited, enthusiastic

Before : I felt tragic, heartsore. It felt as if things were getting too much
After   : I can smile again. I feel better now. I wake up with a smile in the morning

Before : I was a criminal and people didn’t love me
After   : I’m grateful now because the Journey made me a better person

Before : Bad emotions, angry. Felt bad all the time
After   : This process makes me feel happy and changed me

One individually counselled learner said she was suicidal before the Journey but now feels happy, is concentrating and sleeping better and has recovered her self-worth. Educators feel though that work with parents – as well as in the learners’ communities – is urgently needed to really impact on the learners' lives.

Our children are in deep and real need of coping skills for harsh and unforgiving socio-economic privations. Carol Surya, thank you.

Puppetry therapy for some 25 children at Wittedrift Primary is also in place, our thanks to Sarah Mackie.

Close on 900 learners in Grades 4 through 12 participate in our After-School Activities Programme which aims to develop learners' creativity, emotional, social and physical well-being and keeping them occupied in the afternoons. The programme has been welcomed in all our schools: it includes support for the 300 strong Plett Pioneers Field Band; Dreamfields’ 115 girl soccer players; and drama classes, ballroom dancing, design, and art classes at our schools. Our thanks to Stuart Palmer and Amanda Valela from Lunchbox Theatre; Alex and Yvette Eloff from Footprint Dance Studio; and Dreamfields’ John Perlman and Jeremy Wyngaard. And at Formosa Primary the School Choir is up and running with 82 members who, after only one month, performed publicly on two occasions! Tessa Bisogno, we say thank you.

Plans for 2012 – 2014 Literacy and Numeracy Programmes for the B10F primary schools – in close collaboration with the WCED C4 Team – which include the Maths Development for the Bitou Cluster of Grades 8 and 9 Maths Teachers’ Programme, and the Learner Support and Therapy Programme are far developed and we are ready to submit funding proposals to ensure that these important programmes can forge ahead. We plan to:

  • Develop and expand the programmes launched in 2011
  • Establish a mobile learner support team of remedial teachers, educational psychologists and therapists i.e. provide specialist support to learners in mainstream schools
  • Build capacity within the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector i.e. design, develop and implement programmes to improve Grade R learner school readiness; Murray and Roberts have given us a kickstart to work with Operation Upgrade in this vitally important area
  • Shape a Career Development Programme for Grades 9 to 12 involving career development research, planning and guidance

At last our website is enjoying a long overdue facelift – look out for a new design, improved functionality, updated content, tweeting, facebooking, and more from the first day of 2012! So pay a visit to www.bitou10foundation.co.za in early January.

Our region is a laboratory for our vision of ‘creating a learning environment that develops children who are well equipped to lead independent and responsible lives’. Our report card shows we have made good progress – please visit our website for more information – but we need your help and support to continue doing our work.

FNB Plettenberg Bay    |    Branch Code 210514    |    Account Number 62103279510

And so we are asking you to become a Friend of Bitou 10. You can do this by committing to making an annual donation which is tax deductible! Please email your details and the reference code used for your deposit to donations@bitou10foundation.co.za so that we can send you the relevant S18A certificate. We will acknowledge your support in the local media and on our Friends of Bitou 10 webpage unless you request anonymity, and keep you abreast of our work – and the impact it is having.

And to the generous souls who became new Friends this year, our grateful thanks:

Rob and Charlotte Matthews, JABREE, David Wallington, The Horton Foundation in the USA, Ann Marie and Neven Matthews, Jenny Gardy, David Matthews Snr, Andrew Taylor, and an Anonymous Friend!

We were once again generously funded by an old Friend, the Wally Brink Education Trust but record with sadness the tragic death of Wally and his son George in a flying accident. We are touched that Wally’s widow, Jeanette, has ensured that our Friendship endures.

For the equivalent of one average Woolworths, SPAR or Checkers shop a year YOU can affect the lives of many children as our report on our programmes attests.

We invite YOU to ‘walk together’ with us in 2012.

We cannot sufficiently express our thanks to the following sponsors for investing in our work and in our children:

Engen Petroleum Oil for their support of our Maths Development Programme; the DG Murray Trust for making Issue 9 of the Interschool Magazine possible; the Dietmar Hopp Foundation in Germany for providing us with seed funding for all our 2011 programmes including a percentage for core funding; Murray and Roberts for making the ECD School Readiness Programme a reality for 2012; and the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund for crucial core funding. Investec Bank has made a generous undesignated donation to us as has the Ruth and Anita Wise Education Trust through Investec Private Trusts.

To each and every one, we are deeply grateful! It has been a very tough year indeed and your faith in us and your support for our collaborative model has been deeply encouraging and motivating.

Next year we embark on a collaborative School Management and Leadership initiative with BRIDGE, an NPO which came into being as a result of the Dinokeng Scenarios exercise. We subscribe to the Dinokeng ‘Walk Together’ scenario, so it is a natural progression that we should be working with BRIDGE whose Advisory Council is chaired by Dr Mamphela Ramphele. BRIDGE’s Barbara Dale Jones has been down twice to consult with the WCED Circuit 4 Team and ourselves.

Dr Barbara Holtman will be helping the C4MT, the B10F schools and ourselves get 2012 off to a positive and inspirational start when she works first with us and the C4MT, and then with our schools with their full complement of stakeholders – from parents to learners, principals and teachers – on January 21st. Dr Holtman is a highly acclaimed and internationally recognised facilitator of systemic models for safe communities of opportunity. We are hugely privileged to have been able to secure Dr Holtman so timeously at the beginning of a new year of ‘Walking Together’.

Finally, we wish you and yours a festive Season filled with peace and joy, and a New Year rich with blessings. We will be back in the office on Monday 9 January and look forward to hearing from you in the new year.