 This Friday we are pushing our FutureFund up a gear to highlight an important but not always obvious issue. Join us live on East Coast Radio from 6am to 9am as we broadcast from Westmead Secondary School. Not only have we moved the needle on science practical learning experiences with our innovative Science2Go programme which is now set to reach more schools and more learners with the second vehicle on the road already, BUT we are tackling the issue of calculators. Our studies have revealed that up to 70% of learners in Grades 10 to 12 in our rural and township schools are studying maths and preparing for exams without a personal scientific calculator. So we partnered with MAHLE, Seartec and Maths@Sharp to put calculators in the hands of learners.
For every R200 raised we will supply a calculator and Seartec will match that. So TWO for the price of ONE! Join us as we create opportunity and inspire future maths leaders! In association with Lighton Education, CASME will be hosting a one-off practical, fun, interactive workshop for Foundation Phase teachers, teacher trainers, NGOs. Date: Saturday 3 March 2018 Time: 11:00 – 13:00 Registration at 10:30 Venue: CASME 23 Caversham Road Pinetown Cost: Only R50 pp, pay at the door in cash or with Zapper Booking: Email your name, mobile number to reception@casme.org.za Bring: SACE & ID number, pen, bottle tops, scrap paper with at least one side unused Learner to Use What YOU Have and get set for SUCCESS!!   Seartec has partnered with CASME for their exciting new FutureFund campaign which aims to raise R2 million to put 10,000 brand new state of the art Sharp calculators into the hands of learners. Research has demonstrated that a calculator for personal use with training and support can improve learner performance in mathematics. At least 15% of the maths exam can be answered quickly using a good scientific calculator. With the knowledge that many learners don't have a calculator the mark allocations for these questions are low. But, if you don’t have a scientific calculator you are going to spend a lot of time answering very low mark questions, which sets you up to not being able to answer higher mark questions that don’t need a calculator. Research also shows that maths marks predict future income. It’s not difficult to see why. If you perform better in grade 11 and 12, you are more likely to be accepted into university (and earn a bursary) and thus get a better paying job. If we want to improve South Africa’s economy we need to start producing strong maths students and results from all walks of life. Each set of calculators will be accompanied by a workshop, so that not only do these students have access to the right tools, they can use them effectively too. And of course, if we surpass our goal, we will keep going until we run out of money. We want to reward you for getting involved so: Teachers – the school that raises the most money towards the #FutureFund will also get 40 calculators of their choice. Companies – donate more than R20 000 and choose to nominate the school they are sent to. CASME is an NPO so you will also receive a tax certificate for supporting this worthy cause. We will also send you a picture of the students with their calculators so that you can see the positive impact you have made on them. There are 3 easy ways to give. 1. Scan the QR code with the Zapper app from your phone and choose the amount you want to donate, R10, R25 or R50 or choose your own amount 2. Click through to the CASME Future Fund campaign page at GivenGain here: https://www.givengain.com/cc/futurefund/ 3. Donate directly through our PayFast cause page using any credit, debit card, instant EFT or even Bitcoin. Get there by following the link from this page here: http://www.casme.org.za/futurefund   THE NPC/Intercement cement company, which has a factory at Simuma, is aware that South Africans need educated, informed teachers to build their country and has decided to do something about it. It is involved in a three-year project that started last year and that assists teachers by offering them informative workshops run by the cement company’s project partner, the Centre for the Advancement of Science and Mathematics Education (CASME). The Department of Basic Education’s Ugu District is also involved in the project. As it aims to build strong foundations for learning in the lower grades, the project’s 2017 focus will continue to be on providing training and support for maths and English teachers in grades 4 to 6. Early last year when NPC/Intercement decided to invest in education as part of its corporate social investment programme, it approached the Ugu Educational District. Those involved in the social investment proposal were keen deliver a local education initiative that would be embedded in the work of the district and would provide additional support to schools in the area. Together the district and NPC/InterCement designed a teacher development programme to support maths grade 4 to 6, or intermediate phase, teachers as this was the phase identified as being the most in need of intervention. In February last year they approached CASME and asked it to support the implementation of the programme. Together they devised a three-year project implementation plan that includes training workshops, held at the start of each term, for intermediate phase maths teachers. The workshops focus on mathematical content across the intermediate phase grades and on teaching skills training. Teachers are also given manuals to help them design and implement lesson plans. The training model also allows the teachers to share their newly acquired knowledge with their colleagues. A programme to support English teachers has also been implemented. It will build on the five-day training that was recently provided to intermediate phase teachers by the British Council. The workshops began in September 2016.
The Ugu Educational District has welcomed this programme and is already seeing some positive results. Teachers’ skills have been enhanced and they have gained confidence. Principals have already noticed an improvement. So far 277 of 502 maths teachers earmarked for the project have already attended mathematics workshops. All Ugu Educational District intermediate English teachers, about 600, are involved in the programme and will eventually benefit from workshops. “The NPC Intercement and CASME workshops provide high quality workshop materials and quality facilitation that includes motivation for teachers to do their best to ensuring quality learning and teaching,” said Ugu District spokesman, Nozipho Mbotho. The district was confident it would see an improvement in the teaching of the two targeted subject and in all subjects taught in English, she added. This article originally appears in the South Coast Herald: http://southcoastherald.co.za/193846/workshops-enhance-teaching-skills/ |
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