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26 May 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Leonie Bolleurs
UFS South Campus Creative clubs Initiative
UFS staff members from the Social Responsibilities Projects, Patience Aba, Judith Lefa, Noluthando Zwane, Dr Angela Stott, and Queen Selema, with a group of learners from the Ikaelelo Senior Secondary School looking at the effect of wind on the evaporation rate of water. This is one of the science experiments used as exemplars to stimulate the learners to plan their own science expo projects.

“This class teaches us how things work, and it gives us many ideas.” These are the words of Bokamoso Mahlasi, a Grade 9 learner at Ikaelelo Senior Secondary School, who says he dreams of becoming a radiologist one day. 

He is part of a group of 100 Grade 9 learners from schools around Bloemfontein, who – once a week for two hours – have the opportunity to learn more about mathematics, science, coding and to prepare science expo projects. This is made possible through the Creative Clubs programme, an initiative of the Social Responsibility Projects on the University of the Free State (UFS) South Campus. 

An opportunity to expand horizons

Dr Angela Stott, Researcher and Teacher Educator in the Social Responsibilities Projects, believes that they are providing township learners, who tend not to have much access to extracurricular opportunities, the chance to expand their horizons, obtain problem-solving and reasoning skills, and increase their interest in mathematics, science, and coding through a range of extracurricular extension activities.

Dr Joleen Hamilton, initiator and coordinator of this programme, says, “The learners attending these sessions are achievers in the current school system. Teachers often don’t have time to give extra stimulation to higher-achieving learners. With Creative Clubs, we want to address that gap.”

She continues: “Besides creating an interest in mathematics, science, and coding, we also focus on building self-esteem and confidence. Our thinking is that if learners believe in themselves, they are more willing to take on challenges. Developing skills such as perseverance and reflection form part of our focus as well. With some of the activities we also give learners the opportunity to work as a team, preparing them for real-life situations where one often needs to work in a group setting. By developing the mentioned skills, we aim to empower learners to excel in different areas.”

The importance of mathematics in real life

During the Creative Clubs sessions, a series on the basics of doing a science expo project is presented to stimulate interest in this competition and to guide the learners in planning their own science expo projects. Dr Stott adds that they are also presenting a session on extracurricular mathematics activities. “This includes problem-solving tasks, brain teasers, and games. We emphasise the importance and use of mathematics in real life,” explains Dr Hamilton.

We also focus on building self-esteem and confidence. Our thinking is that if learners believe in themselves, they are more willing to take on challenges. – Dr Joleen Hamilton

Also in the pipeline is a planned outing to the Naval Hill Planetarium, as well as a session introducing coding, where learners will be playing the Boats and Tanks coding game, teaching them the basic coding commands. 


News Archive

Community workers, activists and scholars to discuss Gender-based violence
2012-10-03

The Gender Studies Programme and Gender Initiative attached to the Dialogue between Science and Society Series at the University of the Free State is holding a one-day symposium titled African Gender Perspectives on 23 October 2012. Activists, scholars and community-based workers will speak at the symposium about their work in the field of gender and gender-based violence.

Keynote speakers include Cheryl Potgieter (University of KwaZulu-Natal), Bette Dickerson (American University, Washington, D.C) and Jennifer Fish (Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia). Dickerson and Fish will be speaking about their participatory action research with the group Grandmothers Against Poverty and Aids (GAPPA) who are based in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Fish will also talk about her experience of setting up a gender centre in Rwanda.

The women’s support network Sisters for Sisters from Woodstock, Cape Town will give a presentation on their community work with women from various parts of the African continent that have experienced multiple forms of gender-based violence, and they will expand on their experiences of participating in an academic research project.

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