It has been an incredibly busy two quarters for our ECD team as we officially launched the Sibaya Trust Bright Beginnings programme as part of The Domino Foundation’s Early Childhood Development Programme in the Waterloo community. We met with 12 enthusiastic and motivated ECD owners and began Mentoring and Monitoring at the end of January 2017. The team visited each crèche on a weekly basis to oversee, support and empower owners and educators in implementing fundamental ECD practices as well as general governance of the ECD centres.
TRAINING AND SUPPORT
The rigorous schedule saw crèche owners take part in a number of training sessions throughout the first half of the year. Our nutritional partner JAM SA, conducted a training time on the importance of nutrition and began supplying monthly donations of porridge mix to each crèche. Proper nutrition is fundamental to a child’s growth and aids in the physical and cognitive development of each child.
During the April school holiday’s crèche owners attended a training time with our ECD partner, The Unlimited Child, where they were provided with high quality curriculum and resources which is focused on the social, emotional, physical and cognitive development of children between the ages of 0 – 5 years of age.
To ensure training was implemented in the crèches, our NQF Level 4 qualified field workers continued to visit each ECD centre on a weekly basis, providing much needed support, guidance and mentoring. Our team also held bi-monthly lesson planning and stimulation workshops at the Waterloo community centre where vital themes, techniques and lessons where re-emphasised with the educators.
RESOURCES AND DONATIONS
Our ECD team and beneficiaries were extremely encouraged by a number of volunteers and donors who have supported the programme this year. Blue Sky Society donated thousands of Cherub baby wipes to a number of ECD centres on our programme and students who attended our Community Service Work Week made story books, resources and playdough for each of our crèches.
We are extremely excited to see how the rest of the year unfolds in the ECD space and how the lives of the 683 learners are impacted through quality foundation phased Education.
DOMINO EFFECTS 