Project Overview : ....( Pdf Description of Project )

Research has shown that learning is more effective when learners are actively involved in the learning process. Learners learn best when they construct something that they find personally meaningful. Herein lies the basis of the project.

Primary Schools - Grade R to 7 - [ 5 Schools a year for the next 5 years ] Numbers
◄ Schools are provided with a full range of LEGO Educational kits & support material
◄ Teachers receive initial & on-going training plus teacher guides & activity packs
◄ Learners ( Grade 4 to 7 ) receive workbooks
....Kits & Support material : ...Junior ....Intermediate

The curricular material and training is designed with the understanding that learners cannot simply be given knowledge; they must actively build their own theories and marry new information to their existing views. It is also based on the belief that children learn well through creative or constructive play.

Project Progress :

• In conjunction with the GPEDU we identified the first 5 schools in Atteridgeville for 2009.
  Bathogwa / Mmabafeng / Makgatho / JJ de Jong / Patogeng
  
• The LEGO kits were delivered on 22nd July 2009.
  PHOTOS
  
• Initial training was conducted at Lemoshanang Teacher Centre on 25th July 2009.
  GRADE R & 1....... GRADE 2 & 3....... GRADE 4 - 7
  
• 2 Vuleka schools were also chosen to pilot the project.
  St Marks...........St Martins
  
• Initial training was conducted at Vuleka on 3rd August 2009.
  PHOTOS
• 18th & 24th of Aug - Follow up sessions with all 5 township schools.
  Happy to report that the LEGO kits are being used in the classrooms at all 5 schools. Teachers and learners are all very motivated.
  PHOTOS
• On the 21st of September we did a presentation of the project to about 40 LEGO employees.
• Then on the 24th of September we were thrilled to be able to do the presentation to Kjeld Kristiansen. ( Owner of LEGO )
• 27th to 30th of Oct - Next round of Follow up sesssions. Bathokwa gave us some pictures of a Grade 7 class and we visited all the classes from Grade R to Grade 7 at Makgatho Primary School to see how the learners were doing. These pictures speak for themselves.
  PHOTOS
• Attended the end of year Prize Giving at Vuleka. These learners have done so well at technology this year. So many have now received full bursaries to study at Private Schools in 2010.

2010

• In conjunction with the GPEDU we identified the next 5 schools in Atteridgeville for 2010.
  Bud-Mbelle / Mahlahle / Masizani / Makwaraneng / Motsweding
• The GPEDU also identified a farm school that has been producing some excellent results and included them in the project for 2010.
  Congratulations to Bathabile Primary School.
• The LEGO kits were delivered on the 15th of January 2010.
  PHOTOS
• Initial Training took place over 3 weeks this year.
  #1 - 19th January 2010
  #2 - 26th January 2010
  #3 - 2nd February 2010
• Outstanding teachers from 2009 were asked to assist with the training in 2010 as "Master Trainers" Congratulations to you all !
• Bathabile had their own training sessions.
  #1 - 28th January 2010
  #2 - 4th February 2010
  #3 - 11th February 2010 & 16th February 2010
• During the second week of February we had a visit from some colleagues from LEGO Education in Denmark. They came to learn about and assist with the project & training. During the week, we visited many of the old and new project schools and met with DoE. PHOTOS
• On Wednesday 17th of February, we ran a training session for the subject advisors - Department of Education - Tshwane South. PHOTOS
  Special thanks to Leon Faurie for all his input and assistance.
• On Thursday 25th and Friday the 26th of March we delivered 5 security cabinets to each of the 11 schools. These cabinets will allow the schools to safely keep the equipment in the classrooms.
• 29 April - Visited all the new schools - dropped off Dolls Family Sets and completed First Follow Up Session for 2010. Some of the schools have made amazing progress so far this year.
• 12 May - Held a mini LEGO stadium building competition at Bathabile Primary. Bo Jensen [a master builder from Denmark], Jason Datnow [ a South African builder ( see model ) ] and two representatives from the Gauteng Education Department assisted and acted as judges.
• 19 May - Classroom Visit - Mahlahle Primary School - lessons in grade 2, 1 and 7 classrooms.
• 25 May - Classroom Visit - Masizani Primary School - lessons in grade 2, 3, 1 and 5 classrooms.
• 27 May - Classroom Visit - Bud-Mbelle Primary School - grade 6 class on the netball court. May sound strange, but is a good idea !
• To celebrate hosting the Soccer World Cup, the LEGO Foundation ran a very exciting mini project : schools in Gauteng were invited to participate in a
  LEGO Soccer Stadium Building Competition.
• After the World Cup Soccer in South Africa, many schools were affected by industrial strike action by most of the teacher unions. We did a number of follow-up visits to teachers in their classrooms - but during this period, access was difficult and follow-up visits infrequent.
• In October, South Africa hosted the first Care for Education conference at Sun City. Here partners from around the world came together to discuss the various activites/projects taking place in their countries. It was an excellent opportunity to learn from and share with each other.
• It was also an opportunity to visit some of the schools in Atteridgeville.
• Southern Hemisphere conducted an Impact and Outcome Assessment of our project - fieldwork was done on the 25th to the 29th of October 2010.
  The research included :
  ◘ Classroom visits / Observation - Grade R to Grade 3
  ◘ Learner surveys - Grade 4 to Grade 7
  ◘ Teacher surveys - 10 teachers per school
  ◘ Interviews with - Principals / Parents / Education Department / HOT
  ◘ Teacher Focus Groups - between 5 and 8 teachers per school
• The final report will be released early in 2011 and a link posted on this site.
  ....... Research Report
  
• In conjunction with the GPEDU we identified the next 5 schools in Atteridgeville for 2011.
• Congratulations to the following schools who met at Lemosanang on the
  30 of November to discuss thier participation in the project :
  Esikhisini / Isaac More / N'wa Mhinga / Phuthaditshaba / Thoho ya Ndou

2011

• 18 Jan - Visted the 5 new schools for 2011 - See Photos
• 1 Feb & 3 Feb - Initial Training - Week 1 at Lemosanang Teacher Centre
• The LEGO kits and cabinets were delivered on the 3rd of February 2011.
  PHOTOS ...................Video 1 .......Video 2.......Video 3
• 8 Feb & 10 Feb - Initial Training - Week 2 at Lemosanang Teacher Centre
• 15 Feb & 17 Feb - Initial Training - Week 3 at Lemosanang Teacher Centre
• Certificates were handed out to teachers who completed the training.
• Draft Report on Impact Study released : Southern Hemisphere Report
• Outstanding teachers from 2009 & 2010 were asked to assist with the training in 2011 as "Master Trainers" - Thank you so much for all your help!
• 16 to 19 Mar - A TV producer, Søren Johan and cameraman, Jes Hansen visited South African and some of the schools in Atteridgeville to film and produce some short documentaries about our project.
• While they were here, we also visited Ezibeleni school in Katlehong, to show how we are using some of the project lesson ideas with some of the LEGO Charity boxes we have been distributing on LEGO Care for Education's behalf to schools, pre-schools, day care centres and institutions throughout SA.
• 7 April - Visited classes at St Marks with Bente Molgaard from Hempel in Denmark [ Fantastic that other donors are keen to get involved ! ]
• 14 April - Brent Hutcheson was invited to do a presentation about the project for the 2011 LEGO Idea Conference in Denmark.
• 20 April - Project Visit by SA and overseas donor representatives - [ Dr Sheila Mokoboto-Zwane and Mr Christophe Voumard and family ] - visited 2 schools in Atteridgeville ( Makgatho & Bathokwa ) . Also had a meeting with the Department of Education in Pretoria.
• The lessons we saw at Makgatho were excellent and really showed the power of the project once the teachers get used to working with the LEGO.
  Congratulations to Jane, Clementine and their staff !
• 24 May - Classroom Visit - Makgwaraneng Primary School - lessons in grade R, 1 and 7 classrooms.
• 26 May - Classroom Visit - Motsweding Primary School - lessons in grade 6, R and 2 classrooms.
• Excellent news ! We have just been awarded a 6-school extension to our current project. Names of the 6 new schools will be posted here soon.
• 7 June - Classroom Visits - Phuthaditshaba & Thoho ya Ndou
• 8 June - Classroom Visits - Isaac More & Esikhisini
• 10 June - Classroom Visits - N'wa Mhinga
• New schools for Extension Project are :
  Cosmo City West / Dieplsloot # 4 / Sharonlea / Muzomuhle /
  Paradise Bend / Masakhane-Tsweleopele comb with Zandspruit
• These schools are from the Johannesburg North District
• 22 June - Met with the Department of Education and all the heads of the project extension schools to explain the project and the roll-out plans.
• 22 Aug - Follow-up Training - Isaac More
  [ Brain Gym Exercises - Numeracy & Literacy Lessons - Curricular Integration ]
• 31 Aug - The LEGO kits & security cabinets were delivered to all the new project extension schools.
  PHOTOS
• 6 Sept - Follow-up Training - Thoho-ya-Ndou
  [ Brain Gym Exercises - Numeracy & Literacy Lessons - Curricular Integration ]
• 7 Sept - Teacher Training Session 1- Ext - Paradise Bend
• Some more great news ! Hempel have agreed to support the further development of one of our project schools - see Vuleka Schools. This is fantastic news and will make a huge diffrence in the lives of many children.
• 13 Sept - Teacher Training Session 1- Ext - Cosmo City West
• 21 Sept - Teacher Training Session 1- Ext - Muzomuhle
• 26 Sept - Teacher Training Session 1- Ext - Diepsloot #4
• 28 Sept - Follow-up Training -Phuthaditshaba
  [ Brain Gym Exercises - Numeracy & Literacy Lessons - Curricular Integration ]
• 29 Sept - Project visit by Hempel - Esikhisini
• 7 Oct - Assisted NASA with a "build-your-future" LEGO building event for 400 learners in Cape Town.
  SABC News article
• 10 Oct - Teacher Training Session 1- Ext - Sharonlea
• 11 Oct - A team from NASA including Dr Leland Melvin, Associate Administrator for Education and an astronaut, visited two of our project schools in Atteridgeville. Makgatho and Isaac More.
• The NASA team also visited Eduplex - an inclusive and unique parallel medium (English and Afrikaans) mainstream school, which caters for both normal hearing and a small number of deaf children. [www.eduplex.co.za]
  One of the initiatives the NASA team had heard about and wanted to see was their "Space Themed - Introduction to Robotics Club"
• We are hoping soon to be able to offer similar robotics classes for learners leaving our project schools - to assist them with maths and science during their high school years - to continue with them until they are in a position to study further at a tertiary institution.
• 19 Oct - We were asked to do a full presentation about our project to the Education Portfolio Committee of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. Went really well - they were very impressed by what we are doing.
• 26 Oct - Teacher Training Session 1- Ext - Masakhane-Tswelelopele
• 26 Oct - Teacher Training Session 1- Ext - Zandspruit
• All the project extension schools have now had their initial training.
• Delivered all the carpets for grade R classrooms to the project ext schools.
• 1 Nov - Launched the Care for Education Facebook Page and NPO
• 8 Nov - Follow-up Training - Esikhisini
• 9 Nov - Follow-up Training - N'wa Mhinga
• 28 Nov - Met with the Departent of Education at Lemoshanang to discuss a "Robotics Intervention" to help learners at High School - aimed at girls and learners from our project who show initiative whilst at Primary School.
• In conjunction with the GPEDU we identified the next 5 schools in Atteridgeville for 2012.
• Congratulations to the following schools who met at Lemosanang on the
  28 of November to discuss their participation in the project :
  Banareng / Kgabo / Matseke / Seaparankwe / Walton Jameson

2012

• The LEGO kits & security cabinets were delivered on Monday 30th January.
  PHOTOS
  
• Two of our schools, Makgatho & Esikhisini were visited by the Gauteng Provincial Legislature ( Education Committee ) and a number of Gauteng Education Department officials. The committee were interested to see how the project was being implemented, what was happening in the classrooms, and wanted to talk to the schools, heads, teachers & pupils.