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08 September 2022 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Rulanzen Martin
Bartimea school outreach
Annemarie Le Roux and two of the learners from the Bartimea School for the Deaf and Blind.

It was a perfect Spring Day with laughter, cupcakes, and the brightest smiles on excited little faces of learners from the Bartimea School for the Deaf and Blind in front of the Main Building of the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS). The UFS Department of Deaf Studies and South African Sign Language hosted the school on 1 September 2022 for a day of learning, fun, and lots of games to kickstart #DeafAwarenessMonth. 

The relationship between the department and the school is stronger than ever, and after a two-year hiatus both staff and learners were basking in the excitement of the day. The school faced closure back in 2016 and it was in this year that the department and the student group Signals started a project to visit the school, which saw them participate in different activities with the learners. “We helped the school with the cleaning up of the school grounds and painting the playgrounds,” said Annemarie Le Roux, South African Sign Language lecturer at the UFS. 

UFS could set blueprint for outreach to Deaf communities 

The department and the UFS are in a unique position to set a blueprint for engaged scholarship with the Bartimea school in Thaba ’Nchu and the Thiboloha School for the Deaf and Blind in Phuthaditjhaba (formerly Qwaqwa). 

The Bartimea outreach is an important project for the department because it not only enables the students to put their teachings into practice but also demonstrates the engaged scholarship mandate of the UFS. Le Roux believes more teachers should be able to use SASL in schools, and the UFS could facilitate such training opportunities. “It would be wonderful if the university and the school could work together in engaged teaching and learning.” She added that leaners at the two schools sometimes do not get all the information they need when applying to universities. 

Le Roux thinks the relationship between Bartimea and the department could enable meaningful action to foster engaged citizenship. “We can help with fundraising, because the school is always in need of funding, as most parents cannot contribute to helping the school.” 

Putting teaching excellence into practice

This engagement with Bartimea allows students to put what they have learned in lecture halls into practice. “Students who attend the visits to the school or the school to the university understand more about the culture, and want to learn more and develop their language skills,” Le Roux said. “Before the COVID-19 pandemic we took our third-year and honours students to the school to give them access to the Deaf community.” Furthermore, the engagement helps students gain a better understanding of Deaf culture and sign language.

Also visit our Deaf Awareness Month webpage for more information.  

 

News Archive

Planetarium now open to the public
2013-11-27

The Naval Hill Planetarium

The Naval Hill Planetarium, the first digital planetarium in sub-Saharan Africa, will now screen regular shows and is inviting members of the public to attend shows every Friday from 29 November 2013.

This planetarium was inaugurated on Friday 1 November 2013 and the response has been overwhelming.

Prof Matie Hoffmann from the Department of Physics at the University of the Free State, says the public and visitors in Bloemfontein are very eager to visit the planetarium to learn more about the night sky.

The highly-rated full dome show, Space Junk, will be screened on Friday 29 November 2013 and Friday 6 December 2013 at the Naval Hill Planetarium.

The Space Junk show at the planetarium collides head-on with Gravity, the blockbuster science-fiction thriller and space drama that was on circuit in movie theatres in South Africa during the past few weeks!

In 2014 the planetarium will provide a regular public programme as from 13 January 2014.

In the meantime, people can book for programmes on Friday evenings at 19:00 until Friday 13 December. Group appointments can also be made by special arrangement.

For more information please contact Yolandie Loots at ficky@ufs.ac.za for more information.

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