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Project Scope:
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Foundation Phase:
The development of mother tongue in the Foundation Phase will be supported in RBN schools through the Molteno - Breakthrough to Literacy Programme. The methodology of teaching literacy to learners will be taught to educators in workshops supported by RBI staff and funded through the RBH.
The new government draft policy on education emphasises the need to formalise the teaching of English from Grade 1 to ensure children are equipped with the necessary language skills and vocabulary to cope with the content of the Learning Areas in Intermediate Phase. To this end the RBI will extend the READ programme presently in Grade 4 - 7 into the Foundation Phase.
Intermediate Phase:
After an initial investigation into primary schools in the Bafokeng region in 2007, it was established that literacy skills, particularly in the Intermediate Phase, i.e. Grades 4 - 6, were below average. The medium of instruction in Foundation Phase is Setswana which changes to English in Grade 4. Learners are ill- prepared for this change.
Five schools, one in each region, were selected to initiate a literacy project. A contextual reading programme was implemented in the schools and support was given to teachers in the form of planning, assessment and teacher learning support material. A sample of learners was selected in each school and a word recognition test was administered individually which established reading ages. A year later the same children were tested and positive progress was made.
Over the next eighteen months the programme was then implemented in all Bafokeng primary schools. The process followed was the supplying of materials, a workshop on how to use the programme and a demonstration lesson.
To ensure standards are maintained and the programme continues to be implemented utilising sound pedagogical practices, a monitoring and evaluation tool needs is being developed in conjunction with a professional development course for English first additional language teachers.
Senior Phase:
Professional development workshops, 8 through the year, will be developed to extend the content knowledge and teaching practices of educators in this phase. A special project will be undertaken at Charora High School with a group of learners who have been identified as having limited literacy skills.
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