Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

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

Co-architect of peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland to present Annual Reconciliation Lecture today

2015-03-03

Colm McGivern, Director of the British Council in South Africa

To emphasise the University of the Free State’s Human Project, the UFS has positioned itself as an institution that is recognised across the world not only for excellence in academic achievement, but also in human reconciliation. The Annual Reconciliation Lecture, whose organising committee is chaired by Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, is a unique and major initiative to enhance this important vision of our university.

This year, Colm McGivern, Director of the British Council in South Africa, will present the Fourth Annual Reconciliation Lecture at the Centenary Hall on Thursday 5 March 2015.

Colm McGivern was brought up in Northern Ireland at the height of the conflict that has come to be known as the ‘Troubles.’ His early experiences of conflict, sectarianism, and living in a divided society have driven his career, and his personal commitment to peace-building and promoting reconciliation. He was a student leader at Queen’s University in Belfast during the time of the first IRA Ceasefires in the 1990s, and then worked in the Higher and Further Education sectors, and at a community level with peace-building groups across Northern Ireland and internationally. He was Director of the British Council in Northern Ireland for four years and, in that role, facilitated discussions between divided communities before and during the Ceasefires and Peace Process, with a particular focus on bringing young people together across Ireland.

In his role as Director of the British Council, McGivern has created thousands of cultural and educational connections between the UK and SA. Every year, he ensures that young South Africans can get access to educational and cultural opportunities that are life-changing while deepening their connection with the UK.

A highlight of this year’s lecture will be a performance by musicians from the Odeion School of Music, Tumi Ntantiso (soprano), Bertha Menyatso (mezzo-soprano), Malefetsane Mofokeng (baritone), and Cezarre Strydom (piano). They will be performing works from ‘Tales of Hoffmann’ by Jacques Offenbach, among others.

Members of the public and media are welcome.

RSVP: Jo-Anne Naidoo, e-mail: Naidooja@ufs.ac.za

Date: Thursday 5 March 2015
Time: 17:30 (please be seated by 17:15)
Venue: Centenary Complex, Bloemfontein Campus

The event will be streamed live on: http://livestream.ufs.ac.za/

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept