Education South Africa Project #21813

Education Programmes for Kids &Teachers, Cape Town

by Children's Helpers Worldwide

Project Report | Mar 20, 2025
Thank you for supporting education in South Africa

By Catherine Franks | Founder of Children's Helpers Worldwide

Thank you for making a difference for children in South Africa by supporting this project!

One of CHW's partner organisations in Cape Town, ORT SA CAPE, runs educational programmes for teachers and children. Your very kind contributions have been supporting this.

Below is an update from Bev at ORT SA CAPE:

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Welcome to the first report of 2025. As we embark on a new year, we reflect on the progress made in 2024 and outline our goals and strategies for the coming months.

In 2024, ORT SA CAPE proudly celebrated a significant milestone - 30 years of transformative impact in education. For the past 3 decades, ORT SA CAPE has been operating at the forefront of education in the Western Cape, South Africa. We focus on educating, training, supporting, and empowering teachers in under- resourced communities.

Our reach during 2024 was remarkable:

518 youth placed on our year-long work experience programme.
183 students enrolled in our ECD Level 4 Qualification.
2,348 teachers participated in our various workshops, collectively impacting over 90,000 learners [school pupils].

Below is an overview of some of our key initiatives and accomplishments.

ORT SA CAPE obtains QCTO accreditation

ORT SA CAPE has officially received accreditation from the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) to offer the Occupational Certificate: Early Childhood Development Practitioner (NQF Level 4).
The QCTO, established under the Skills Development Act, ensures that occupational qualifications meet industry standards by developing and registering qualifications, accrediting training providers, and overseeing learner assessments. This helps bridge the gap between education and employment, ensuring that skills training aligns with workforce needs.

Our newly accredited ECD qualification includes three key components--Knowledge, Practical Training, and Workplace Experience --which learners must complete before sitting for the External Integrated Summative Assessment (EISA).

We are thrilled to launch our first cohort in April 2025 and look forward to shaping the next generation of early childhood development professionals! This is a significant milestone for ORT SA CAPE, and we are embarking on accrediting more courses through the QCTO.

Early Childhood Development (ECD) garnishing the attention it deserves

We were fortunate to attend an ECD symposium in January, which brought together the corporate sector to prioritise investment in early childhood development (ECD). The Minister of Education delivered the keynote address at the event, emphasising the importance of ECD in shaping the future of our country.

As ORT SA CAPE has been actively working in the early childhood sector for nearly 30 years, we are encouraged by the growing commitment to strengthening ECD - both from the minister and from the president during the State of the Nation Address (SONA).

ECD is a national priority, with Government aiming to achieve universal access by 2030. Research shows that investing in ECD yields a high return (7-10%), not only benefiting individuals but also driving significant social and economic progress.

We remain hopeful that all critical areas affecting the ECD sector will be effectively addressed, ensuring the best possible outcomes for our children and our nation.

Unlocking Digital Futures: The Dory Code's Educational Revolution

We were excited to launch our very own ''Unplugged Coding'' solution, The Dory Code. We have developed teacher and classroom kits as well as training on this important topic for educators. The Dory Code turns teaching into an adventure. With Dory the Dragon, coding is accessible and fun, helping educators bring it to life. The Dory Code provides engaging training and resources to support and inspire teachers. With coding continuing to be a national priority in education, The Dory Code will remain one of our core projects, as we work to reach and empower more educators across South Africa.

Since our last report in Nov 2024, we continue to offer our various short courses for ECD practitioners and Foundation Phase teachers. We started the year by offering two Unplugged Coding workshops to 82 teachers, these took place on 25 Jan and 22 Feb. We also provided training to 90 educators on Purposeful Play, each receiving resources for their classrooms.

The latest donations from CHW went towards the Unplugged Coding workshops.

This includes a full day workshop, lunch and snacks and a resource pack for each teacher.

The resource packs include:

1x ORT bag
1 x Little Dory
2 x A4 Little Lego Six Bricks pages
1 x Numbers or Alphabet mat
1 x Blank Grid mat
1 x Dory the Dragon Key for Coding
1 x Dory's Cheat Sheet (glossary)

Feedback from one of our Education Department Subject Advisors, on ORT SA CAPE's training:

''I appreciated the fact that the trainers were always at the workshop well ahead of time, the set up would be smooth and the workshops would start on time. The facilitators were well prepared, could answer any questions from educators, and showed the utmost respect to all our teachers. I would always be present in the sessions and was particularly impressed by the curriculum knowledge and the way all workshops would link to the national curriculum.

As part of a school visit, I would monitor the implementation of the programme. It is wonderful when an educator showed me photos of the evidence of implementation. The educators also feel more confident and often extend on what he/she has learnt on the training. As the learner engages with a particular concept the educator can assess the learner which helps with either giving the learner another opportunity at practicing the same skill perhaps in a different way or enriches a learner by building onto the initial activity. Assessment through play is vital and because the educator has gone through an ORT course the educator feels more empowered to be able to assess the learner in a meaningful way.

Thank you, ORT SA CAPE, for always partnering with Metro South and for enriching the lives of so many in our district" - Lesley, Subject Advisor ECD.

Thank you once again to CHW for the continued support of our teacher training programmes.
Our training equips teachers not only with the skills they need to succeed but also with the confidence and enthusiasm to experiment and innovate.

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Your help is making such a big impact for the children and teachers! Thank you so very much!

From Tuesday 25 March until Friday 28 March, GlobalGiving will be running its Little By Little campaign. Donations of up to £38.50 will be matched by 50% during that time, or until matching funds run out. Around £20 could sponsor a place for a teacher at an Unplugged Coding workshop, but with the matching funds, if you give £15, GlobalGiving will give a further £5, and a teacher's place could be sponsored!

We would love to ask you to get involved by sharing our project page during the campaign, starting on 25 March. Letting others know about this project will also be such a wonderful support for the children.

Thank you for all the help you have given the children and teachers so far. The gift of a good education is life-changing!

School child creates a cake from a book he read

Unplugged Coding Workshop

Resource pack

Lego Playbox Workshop

Subject Advisor ECD

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