Walmer township residents have eagerly jumped on board a reading project for primary school pupils in the area – and are keeping the sunny side up despite a recent financial hiccup.
Shine Literacy Project aims to bolster the literacy levels of grade 3 pupils in the disadvantaged community and has gone from strength to strength since its introduction more than six years ago.
The programme was implemented at Walmer Primary School in 2013 by the Walmer Angel Project charity organisation.
It benefits grade 3 pupils, who work with trained volunteers once or twice a week, during the school day, for at least a year.
The pupils are selected after an assessment, and further assessments twice a year to monitor their progress in reading, writing and speaking English.
Glenda Brunette, who runs the Walmer Angel Project, said she had been working on various projects in the area on a full-time basis since 2010.
“I have a passion for languages. I can speak the isiXhosa language fluently, so I wanted to teach the Xhosa children how to speak English,” Brunette said.
“I contacted Shine [Literacy] in Cape Town and they came down to meet us. We had a whole lot of meetings and then we eventually set up the Shine literacy centre at the school.”
Despite several challenges, Brunette said the past six years had been “amazing”.
“We started off with four volunteers and we now have 50,” she said.
“I think more and more people want to be part of the
It benefits grade 3 pupils, who work with trained volunteers
Shine programme because they can see the difference at the end of the year – children enter our programme not speaking English, but by the end of the year they are speaking reasonably well.”
Since its inception, more than 380 pupils have graduated from the programme.
And to broaden its influence, the programme introduced the Out of School Youth (OOSY) programme this year.
This programme subsequently acquired the services of four unemployed Walmer township residents, who were trained and aided in assisting a further 48 pupils through the programme.
However, earlier this year, nonprofit organisation Umlahli, which partnered with Shine Literacy, could no longer fund the OOSY programme – leaving Shine Literacy currently looking for a donor to assist with funding.
Walmer Primary School acting principal Nomonde Mgoduka said the programme had been beneficial.
“To us as a school it’s a blessing because I see the enthusiasm from the learners when it’s their turn to come to these containers,” Mgoduka said.
“And the teachers at the school can see the difference in the learners who are part of this group compared to [those who are not].”
A grade 3 teacher, Zoleka Mantanga, said: “I think this project has been very helpful.
“It has helped the children, who have developed a love for reading and even in English they have become more fluent.
“It helps a lot and you can see they are enjoying the lessons [because] when their mentors arrive they are excited to go for their English [classes].
“What I like is that the children also get books to take home and read at home.”
Volunteer Natasha Dana said working with the children made her feel good.
“It’s so heartwarming when you see how the kids have grown when it comes towards the end of the year – just to see their growth and their happiness makes me happy.
“And that’s exactly our aim – for them to love to read, because that’s the key to their future,” Dana said.