Latest News Archive

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

Shimlas & Kovsie Netball reign at SASSU 2007
2007-07-25

Various sporting codes of the University of the Free State (UFS) participated in the SASSU tournaments over the past June/July holidays.

 

 
Shimlas

Rugby:
The Shimlas won their first game against Walter Sisulu University (Buffalo City) 69–0. The game was stopped 20 minutes before the end.

In their second game, the Shimlas won UJ 24-20.

The Shimlas won the final match against Pukke with a convincing 28-13. 

 Hockey:
The UFS woman’s team ended 6th in die A division
The UFS men’s team ended 5th in die B division

Squash:
The UFS men’s team ended 5th in the A division
The UFS woman’s team ended 1st in the B division

Karate:
Johann Rourke – 1st – Men above 80kg Kumite
Deidre West – 1st – Ladies open Kata Section
3rd – Ladies above 60kg in Kumite

Cross Country:
Women 4km – 2nd (Esté de jager came in 2nd)
Men 4km – 2nd (Boy Soke came in 1st)
Women Road Relay – 4th
Men Road Relay – 1st

The teams were as follow:
Esté de Jager
Thandi Malindi
Rone Reyneke

Boy Soke
Johan Cronjé
Michael Tlhoro
Dumisane Hlaselo

Netball:
Won the tournament.

Compiled by
Ansu Colditz
KovsieSport: Sports Officer
 

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