• contact
• donate
• volunteers
• about
• home

The Shine Centre

- Bringing literacy and language enrichment to school children with reading difficulties

Cape Town, South Africa

What we do: Having established two beautiful rooms within Observatory Junior School, the volunteer collects their 'learning partner' once or twice a week and takes them up to the Shine Centre where they provide invaluable support by reading books using a method called paired reading, writing stories and playing games which develop their language and phonological awareness. More importantly they are able to give their learning partner their full attention, time to think with no sense of urgency. They praise their efforts and work hard to build their self-confidence. We also offer a multi-sensory intervention programme twice weekly to grades 2, 3 and 4 called Literacy Hour. Our aims are to develop a love of books and develop self-esteem.

Children are encouraged to borrow books from the centre and we are working hard to provide children with their own set of readers which they can own.

The Shine Centre also provides funding for eye and ear tests as over the years volunteers have come across children with severe ear and eye problems which had not been picked up.

Why we do it: With class sizes of forty-two pupils, it is almost impossible for the class teacher to cope with each individual child's needs. The Department of Education is unable to provide school with an adequate support service when learners are failing to make progress at school. If a learner needs an assessment or psychometric testing; the waiting list is anything from six months to two years. And then of course even if they do highlight a problem area; they cannot provide the support and intervention needed!

Children at inner city schools like Observatory Junior School have the added difficulty that they are learning in their second language.

We can see that we are being met more then half way by everyone involved. Teachers who work under challenging conditions; parents who are paying huge transport costs; and finally, by children who really want to learn. They are just a pleasure to work with.