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20 December 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Supplied
OSM Heidedal Outreach
The OSM ROC Outreach Community concert is an annual highlight on the community calendar in Heidedal.

The annual Odeion School of Music (OSM) Heidedal Outreach programme’s underlying philosophy is that of equal learning experiences for the community as well as the OSM. The community concert is an annual event in Bloemfontein in partnership with the Reach Our Community Foundation (ROC).

The Heidedal Marimba Project – founded by the OSM Music Education department in 2015 – works in collaboration with the ROC Foundation to serve the children of Heidedal. Through the programme and music,, learners from Heide Primary School in Heidedal participate in an event of beauty and harmony and the OSM students get the opportunity of arranging, teaching and performing music with the learners, as well as compiling a musical performance programme. .

“We are grateful for the privilege to be inspired by the children from Heidedal while we in return incorporate change in their lives,” said Gerda Pretorius, OSM lecturer and co-organiser of the Outreach programme. Pretorius is co-organiser with Patrick Kaars, director of the ROC.

Service learning important for UFS students


It is the third year that the popular concert has taken place in Heidedal and forms part of the BMus, BA (Music) and Diploma in Music qualification which integrates Music education modules with Service Learning. The partnership between OSM and ROC lies in the philosophy of shared benefits. 
“The main objective is to provide a service to the community by offering basic skills, which include aural training, as well as teaching both music and movement,” says Pretorius.

The OSM believes not only in the intrinsic musical experience of music-making but is also advocating music-making as an ethical action for social justice.
The community footprint of the OSM is entrenched in the Bloemfontein community with Music Education partnerships at the Brandwag Primary School, the Lettie Fouché School (for mentally impaired learners) as well as the Sentraal Primary School.

The concert took place on Saturday 19 October 2019 at the Heide Primary School. 

The OSM students who took part in the outreach were Sibongile Mafata, Lauren Aldag, Nadia Smith, Lesley-Ann Mhalo, Brendaly Buckley, Mary Moalosi, Enslin Smith, Chrismari Grobbelaar, and Phillip Verster.

News Archive

New modern dissection hall ensures optimal learning experience for medical students
2015-12-14

New Dissection Hall in the Francois Retief Building on the Bloemfontein Campus.
Photo: Stephen Collett

The School of Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the university opened its doors on 6 June 1969. Three years later, a dissection hall for anatomy training was added to the school. This year, because of the prospective growth in the number of medical students as well as in changing methods of teaching and training, a new modern Dissection Hall has been completed on the Bloemfontein Campus. This ensures that students receive an optimal learning experience during dissection tuition.

The Dissection Hall was built as a double-storey wing to the existing Francois Retief Building. Covering 733m², the new facility is on the first floor - the same level as the existing hall - to allow easy access between the two facilities. The ground floor, totalling 465m², houses various offices for 16 people.

The new hall has special lighting and modern equipment for the training of second-year medical students in dissection. The hall also has high-quality sound and computer equipment. A unique camera system allows students to follow dissection demonstrations on 10 screens in the hall. Dissection demonstrations are recorded, enabling lecturers to compile new visual aid material for teaching and learning.

The dissection programme for medical students is of critical importance, not only for acquiring anatomical knowledge, but also for developing critical skills in medical students.

The new hall is also used for clinical workshops and postgraduate teaching seminars, as well as workshops in orthopaedics (shoulder, hip, and knee), otorhinolaryngology, cardiothoracic surgery (valve and endoscopy), and anaesthesiology, among others.

Both present and future generations of medical students will benefit from this new world-class facility.

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