In this post I though I would summarise the last few days in South Africa, as well as giving an overview of my experiences in and around Alex.
Firstly, just as an update to where the sponsorship I collected earlier in the year went. Some of it went into the project itself, this year we had expanded to two or three new locations and we intend to expand further and even to new countries next year! The remainder got spent on buying geometry sets for the mathematics department at KwaBhekilanga to ensure that the first time the learners see a compass or use a protractor is not during their Matric, but in geometry and related lessons as soon as they arrive at the school! We also bought a collection of revision guides and past papers that will help the teachers better prepare the students for their examinations, offering them a better chance to get the grades they need to improve their situation. Alongside this, we bought as many educational posters (mainly multiplication tables) to be placed in the Grade 8 classrooms, hopefully combating the reliance on calculators that we found thwarted a significant portion of the lessons we were trying to deliver.
Obviously I cannot yet comment on the effectiveness of these aides, but since they were also identified by the Head of Department who requested we spent our funds in these areas, hopefully there will be a noticeable difference when Warwick in Africa returns next year!
On one of our last evenings in Johannesburg, we visited the headquarters of ABSA Capital (the trading name of the investment division of Barclay's Bank in South Africa) where we had to present to a small group of banking officials, who currently sponsor the project, and the BBC a report on what we felt was good and what could be improved about the scheme. The point they seemed most interested in was the fact that many schools in Alex close early due to a lack of water, yet a simple and relatively cheap solution such as the installation of water tanks could help combat this. In fact, they seemed so interested that they commented on how they would try and investigate to see how they could contribute to fixing such a problem.
In KwaBhekilanga, my last few days passed without major incident. We did have a little party in the Maths Office to say goodbye and most of my pupils told me they would miss me. Unfortunately, although some of them were brighter than their peers, I ended up not recommending any for IGGY (The International Gateway for Gifted Youth) as although they were smart, this was only in comparison to the remainder of the class so I was not confident that they would benefit from the scheme.
Overall, I felt the project went well and I would definitely consider participating next year, although I might request that I teach older pupils as I believe that the behaviour challenge will not be as problematic!
For the last time this year,
Better be off now - got to go fill in project evaluation forms and submit finance reports...
