Intensive Intervention Programme Update - Feb 2019

2019 will be the 3rd year that KET has the opportunity to present the Intensive Intervention Program (IIP). KET, the IIP team and the schools partaking in this DSD initiative are looking forward to helping, empowering and improving the skills and abilities of not only the children in the project but also the teachers in these schools. The IIP Team are half-way with the pre-screening process which happens at the beginning of every year. The team are aiming to screen 500 children by the middle of March 2019. These pre-screening tests will determine who will be included in the therapy groups starting at the beginning of the 2nd Term. Therapy groups are presented twice a week for 45 minutes at each school. This year, the team are using tablets to pre-screen the children, saving a lot of time, effort and money on printing and paper. The team consists of 3 teachers and 2 occupational therapists. The pre-screening tool is designed to evaluate and determine the numeracy, literacy, fine-motor, visual perception and thinking and reasoning skills of the children born in 2014. Children turning 5-years-old in 2019 are included in this program in 22 different ECD centres from Plettenberg Bay, Knysna, Rheenendal and Sedgefield.

Newsletter December 2018

Happy Festive season to all our sponsors, volunteers, students and staff. This was a very busy year and there is so much to share.

Knysna Education Trust is in their third year of presenting FET accredited Pre-school teacher qualifications. With a strong service provider, Professional Child Care College, KET offers part-time courses to students who work, while simultaneously accessing quality training within the Garden Route. A total of 27 students completed their courses at the end of this academic year.

Fifteen students completed the Basic Child Care Course. Six students graduated on a pass level, receiving on average, marks above 60%. Two students received marks above 75%, which is considered a merit, and six students received a distinction, above 80%, for their overall mark.
This year 12 students completed their Preschool Teacher's Course, which gives them a full NQF Level 4 Preschool Teacher qualification. With this they can register with SACE (South African Council of Educators).

Intensive Intervention Programme 2018 – This was the second year of this program and many positive changes were made . We started off with pre-screening 400 children in February and had 220 children in the Therapy Groups. A total of 24 weeks of Therapy Groups were presented twice a week at 18 different sites. Between all the hard work there was time to share fruit with the children, some tasting strawberries (for the first time) during our theme "Healthy food" and all the children in the groups each received their very own soft toy to cuddle when we discussed "Our feelings". The boys especially loved our theme "Transport". Wonderful books like The Hungry Caterpillar and Handa's surprise was read and discussed weekly and really aroused the children's interest not only in books and stories but also about the world around them. It was difficult for the team to say goodbye to the children in the therapy groups we have come to love them and is sad to see them move on to Grade R.

Our Parenting workshops were all well attended and we were able to upload the CareUp app on 350 parents' phones. In October the parents, teachers and schools who used the app the most was rewarded with certificates. All schools in the program received a certificate for participation. This year 50% of the children in the therapy groups were tested on the ELOM (Early Learning Outcomes Measure) to determine how successful the program and therapy groups were this year.

There are currently almost 300 children on the ACE (Adopt a child's education) programme, and thanks to the loyal support of our kind donors these young children are able to attend preschool where they previously would not have been able to. There is an on-going drive towards increasing these numbers annually. The only way to tackle the alarming national literacy and numeracy statistics is to teach these vital lessons to pre-schoolers. The ACE Programme continues to be a top priority for us.

To further assist with the Literacy and Numeracy development of the young learners we serve, the FONIX literacy and NUMICON mathematics programmes are implemented daily in 75 preschools in our area. These programmes tackle the essential skill of learning to read and count, in a fun and interactive way – Play is after all the best way for children to learn.

We remain humbled by the dedication of our preschool teachers who despite scares resources, trying conditions and a lack of fee paying parents, still strive every day to make the preschool years count, for every child in our community. WE salute them!

Regards from the KET team. 

Published 18/12/2018

KET Teacher Training – Welcomes a New Bursary Partner.

Obtaining a formal ECD preschool teachers' qualification in Knysna, has been out of reach of most young teachers due to the formidable challenges this brings. Significant obstacles include having to travel to neighbouring towns, and as many of these teachers are the only caregivers at a preschool, this also means taking time away from the Preschool and having to pay a stand in teacher, this has been extremely difficult and very costly.

Recognising this, and on the back of existing training programmes KET sought for many years to be able to offer quality SETA registered NQF ECD training locally.
By putting in place a series of strategic partnerships, and a strong team on the ground, KET launched our first round of formal ECD training in July 2016. The training is run at the KET training centre, which has been upgraded to be a complete resource centre.
The student teachers work through a nationally certified curriculum and have onsite support in the form of the resource centre, training materials, and one on one coaching, translation, and assistance from the KET Education facilitators.

The cost of SETA registered training is another significant factor which inhibits teachers from obtaining formal qualifications. Most of the teachers rely on incomes from their own preschools, which serve a community where most parents cannot afford to pay towards their children's schooling. This leaves these teachers earning very little and affording additional fees for studies is just not possible.

As far as possible, financial assistance is sought by KET through social entrepreneurs, corporate and sponsored bursary funds. We are very proud to welcome on board a new bursary funder, Rotary Club Northampton West.
This grant initiated following a Rotarians visit to Knysna and witnessing first-hand the quality of work being done by The Knysna Education Trust.
With the correct qualifications a young teacher can provide the children in her care with the necessary lessons they need to THRIVE and not just survive. For children to be ready for formal schooling their preschool years are the place essential lessons are learned, without these lessons – children are at risk of not reaching their full potential and falling behind in the later schooling years.

With Support such as these bursaries, KET can lay the foundations for well qualified and competent teachers which will ultimately be able to support children on every level and provide them the essential building blocks they need to thrive and become successful Adults.

We are extremely grateful to all the members and Rotarians from The Rotary Club of Northampton West who were instrumental in seeing this grant realised, and look forward to sharing the success stories of the chosen candidates in the future.

Published: 28/11/2018