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South Campus Creative Clubs: empowering learners to excel

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

New multi-purpose residences open in January 2015

2014-06-18

The UFS is currently busy with exciting new accommodation developments on both the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses.

This includes a new residence with a hotel and a conference/lecture hall on the western part of the Bloemfontein Campus and the building of another residence on the Qwaqwa Campus.

“We have done what was possible in our quest to maximise the number of beds available in the older residences on the Bloemfontein Campus,” says Quintin Koetaan, Senior Director: Housing and Residence Affairs at the UFS. “This we achieved by converting underutilised and unutilised dining halls and kitchens into bedrooms, which was totally insufficient to address the dire need for beds.”

“The new residence building will have different types of accommodation. I am very excited and look forward to the completion of this project. And this particular residence also brings a very exciting architectural design to the university environment.”

The residence, with multiple blocks for different accommodation, will be wheelchair friendly and numbering and signage will also be in braille. This futuristic-designed building will stand the test of time and will be provide student accommodation until 2030.The R60 million project is funded by the UFS and the Department of Higher Education and Training.

In step with international university accommodation trends – as with Yale's residential college system – this residence will house female first-years who will be mentored by postgraduate students. Postgraduates will be headhunted with the support of the Student Representative Council’s (SRC) postgraduate committee. These postgraduate students will represent all the faculties. Block A and B will accommodate 184 female first-years.

Each floor in this residence will have a study room, two lounges, a kitchen and a laundry for 25 students. Security will be very tight, with three levels of security: entrance to residence, corridor and individual bedroom door. There will also be perimeter camera surveillance and a security officer outside and inside the residence.

Block C will accommodate postgraduate students. The ground floor will house eight single-bed roomed flats. The first floor will have 16 single rooms sharing a bathroom, kitchen and living room, as well as one double room with its own bathroom. The second floor will have 21 single rooms sharing a bathroom, kitchen and living room.

Block D will house 18 hotel-like en suites, with a dining room where breakfast will be served. The target market here will be visiting academics and other university-affiliated visitors. Prices will be competitive to those of local guesthouses and hotels.

Bookings have already opened. Guests will be able to book in and access the hotel desk 24/7. The dining room, accommodating up to 60 people, will not only be open for hotel guests, but also for postgraduate students and UFS staff. Bookings will therefore be essential.

The expansion of bed spaces also took place at the Qwaqwa Campus. In 2012 a 200-bed residence with a state of the art computer room was completed. As a follow-up to this development, another 248-bed residence is now being built. In this particular residence, there will be designated post-graduate accommodation for 48 students.

The project will be handed over at the end of October 2014, with the first intake planned for January 2015.

Another development at the Qwaqwa Campus is the Chancellor’s House Bed & Breakfast. This B&B, with its 5 en suite rooms, is open for business for all UFS staff.

For enquiries or bookings at this new accommodation facility, contact:

- Undergraduate (first-year ladies’ residence):
Monica Naidoo at +27(0)51 401 3455 or NaidooM@ufs.ac.za

- Postgraduate:
Hein Badenhorst at +27(0)51 401 2602 or BadenH@ufs.ac.za

- Hotel:
Ilze Nikolova at +27(0)51 401 9689 or NikolovaI@ufs.ac.za

- Chancellor’s House Bed & Breakfast on Qwaqwa Campus:
Olga Molaudzi at +27(0)58 718 5030 or molaudziOD@qwa.ufs.ac.za

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