About 200 volunteers attended the Wordworks Indaba at the Novalis Ubuntu Institute in Wynberg on Tuesday September 20.
Tutors and site co-ordinators who work at schools across Cape Town, Darling and Morreesberg, participated in the first annual Wordworks’ ‘Ready, steady .. read and write’ Indaba.
The programme was developed by Wordworks and is used in Grade R to build a solid language and literacy foundation and as an early intervention in Grade 1.
Wordworks trains and mentors site co-ordinators who manage and support tutors to work with pairs of children on a weekly basis for at least six months.
Many of the tutors are women who volunteer in the school communities. No qualifications are required.
Wordworks’ director, Shelley O’Carroll thanked the tutors who give up their time every week to work with young children.
“Although they are not trained teachers, they have shown commitment to learning about children’s literacy, and are playing a vital role in supporting children who need extra help learning to read and write.
“This is a great example of communities taking up the challenge of low literacy results, and really making a difference.”