“With education there is hope, with hope there is a future” David Rattray, Foundern”.
Edition 1 2015
A shift in gear Greater accessibility for learners
The entire village of Rorke’s Drift is still buzzing with excitement as the school kids have finally got their hands on a convenient and economical mode of transport with which to get to school. Thanks to our partner Bicycles for Humanity in Perth, Australia, the village has become lively with learners cycling up and down the roads on their prized donated bikes.
On a dull, grey weekend in September learners from Shiyane Secondary and Oscarsberg Primary joined forces in a celebratory bike ride from Rorke’s Drift up to the Fugitives’ Drift Lodge gate. It was a stunning display of appreciation for the indomitable team Peter, Blaze and Micko who are currently blazing a trail from Rorke’s Drift to Brecon in Wales, raising funds for the Foundation. Teams of learners proudly displayed flags from countries along the team’s route and gave beautiful music and
dance performances. Once back in Rorke’s Drift, tailed by two (weary) Foundation cyclists, the crowd gathered at the school hall where learners delivered a programme of informative speeches and performances taking us through the Africa-UK itinerary. The amount of work that had gone into the presentations was evident and the results were educational, emotional and heart warming to see. Enormous thanks to Peter, Blaze and Micko for initiating the partnership with Bicycles for Humanity and their new fundraising initiative. Mr Zulu of Shiyane Secondary School claimed
“Had there been a way, we would have climbed Shiyane mountain and shouted ‘Go boys, Go!’ at the top of our voices until Blaze, Peter and Micko heard us from Sudan”. Visit the David Rattray Foundation Facebook page to see the video and experience the fun, laughter and atmosphere of that day.
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S PR I N G I N G TO WA R D S S U MME R
A welcome from our CEO, Ben Henderson As the seasons change from Spring to Summer here in KwaZulu Natal, it’s been a hive of activity at the Foundation HQ! We welcomed two new staff members to the office and an additional two staff members to our Preschool Programme at Isisekelo. We also bid a fond farewell to Peace Corps volunteer Laura Bramblett, who assisted with accounting and project admin at the Foundation after completing 2 years teaching at one of our schools, Hlazakazi Primary.
Sibongi Thwala
Admin & Accounting Assistant
Kat Miller Fundraiser
At the same time we’ve had a steady stream of visitors: Robin Woodhead, Chairman of the UK Trust, Jordi Ruiz Cirera, Photographer and Videographer, and Dave Brown, Creative Director at APE Inc and the lead on the Foundation re-brand project. I hope you enjoy catching up on our news, Ben
Bonga Myeza
Isisekelo Preschool Teaching Assistant
Zandile Mtshali
Isisekelo Preschool Teaching Assistant
OUR WORK I N FRAS TRUCTURE F OR L OCAL SCHOOLS
• Facilities • Health & Sanitation • Educational equipment • Nutrition TR AINING
•T eacher training including the Rattray Outreach Programme for Educators (ROPE) •L eadership team capacity building including the DUKE Leadership course EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
• Establishing Foundation Preschool • Developing & training new staff in-house • Building partnerships with ECD centres EX TRA- CURRICUL AR
• Summer Camps • Partnerships including:
Lalela Arts Programme Madrinha Mentor Scheme Peace Corps Support Bicycles for Humanity
None of our work would be possible without the support of the Rattray Family and Fugitives’ Drift Lodge. Isisekelo Preschool children have particularly welcomed Nicky Rattray and Simeone Kohrs’ visits to read to them.
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E XC I T I N G N E W D E V E L O P ME N T S
Lights, camera, action!
Mid September saw the arrival of award-winning photographer Jordi Ruiz Cirera, to shoot a feature documentary about the work of the Foundation. Jordi and Kat spent an intense three days filming out at the schools, spending a day in the life of a learner at Hlazakazi School and capturing the essence of our work. Ben, Sibongi and principals Ma’am Khumalo and Mr Zulu didn’t manage to escape the camera lens and delivered excellent interviews to help narrate the documentary. Coming soon to a screen near you!
Jordi in action
Transformational times ahead
Dave Brown: photographer, graphic designer and owner of APE Inc, spent a working week with the Foundation. His primary mission was to start building a library of images, to get to know and understand the work of the Foundation, to learn as much about our communities and their needs and to understand the ethos of our operations as much as possible in the five days that he had. Dave didn’t waste a minute - from Arrivals Hall to Departure Gate he lived, ate and breathed as much of
Some of Dave’s shots from his trip
the Foundation and its setting as possible. Some four and a half thousand pictures in three days on site was an impressive haul and judging by the response to Dave’s images we have shared so far over social media and those that you see in our newsletter, our supporters are most appreciative of the beautiful imagery. Since his return to the UK, Dave has been busy developing the creative themes he observed on his trip and we can’t wait to share his work with you.
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O U R SC H O O L S
Building foundations
Over the years working within the local schools it became apparent that there was a gap in the education process before the children are enrolled in school. In order to address this, we founded the first of our Early Childhood Development centres, Isisekelo Preschool - meaning ‘foundations’ in isiZulu. The preschool takes children ages 3-4 and qualified teachers supervise early motor skills development and social interaction, helping to prepare them for formalised schooling. Early September saw the arrival of Robin Woodhead, Chair of our UK Board and longtime Foundation supporter Christian Ravina. Robin and Christian were instrumental in the establishment of the preschool and so were keen to see how the first class of learners were progressing. The group were immediately impressed by the standard of the education that these young children had achieved since January and this will put
Celebration of our ‘beacons of light’
The Foundation team were honoured to be invited along to the annual Teacher’s Day conference at Rorke’s Drift Hotel in late October. Awards were presented in recognition of the lasting contribution our teachers are making to the lives of the pupils. Following the awards ceremony Lindani Zulu, Principal of Shiyane Secondary School, gave a moving and motivational speech to his colleagues:
them in good stead for their future understanding as they progress upwards through primary and secondary education. Robin and Christian also spent time at the Arts Centre in Rorke’s Drift, in particular the pottery enterprise. The small team there are struggling due to the limited availability of resources and the minimal market demand from the tourist gift shop in Rorke’s Drift. Employment and livelihoods provision for families in the local communities are intrinsically linked to education provision for our learners. Without a steady source of income, families may be unable to provide the basic resources like uniforms, stationery and even meals for their children, having a detrimental impact on the capability of the children at school. The Foundation, with the assistance of Robin and Christian, will be exploring ways to boost this local source of revenue for the community.
“ We work with the most precious material on earth. The mind of a child” “ Teachers are like beacons of light guiding our learners through their education”
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O U R PA R T N E R S
Overcoming obstacles to success
Madrinha Trust recognises that young people with great potential often face many barriers which prevent them from achieving their goals in life. The Madrinha mentor scheme operates at Siyanda, Shiyane and Springlake schools, with five Madrinha beneficiaries in secondary education. Three of the original students have progressed on to tertiary education. The Foundation assists with the logistics of this programme by purchasing and delivering the food parcels, uniforms and stationery for the students, tracking progress with their school work and passing along any letters or reports to Madrinha Head Office in London. We look forward to reporting that we helped the next generation of leaders to succeed!
Expression through art
Lalela provides educational arts for learners to spark creative thinking and awaken the entrepreneurial spirit. Our partnership with Lalela provides art classes to pupils of Oscarsberg and Shiyane Schools in Rorke’s Drift. In mid-September, we were visited by Cat Rieper, from the Lalela Head Office in Cape Town. Cat spent a few days with the Lalela Team discussing the upcoming syllabus and new ways to use local materials and art styles to inspire the kids. In late October, the Rorke’s Drift Lalela team made a reciprocal visit to the Head Office for further training.
Rattray Outreach Programme for Educators
ROPE, a team of passionate and well-regarded teachers from Johannesburg, spent a few days with us in Rorke’s Drift to complete a teaching assessment in our schools. The findings of the assessment will enable them to deliver bespoke content guaranteed to tackle current challenges faced by teachers at their next workshop proposed for early 2016. The observations indicated a marked improvement in the teaching practices in most classes as a result of the bi-annual ROPE teacher workshops. Of the nine schools observed, the teaching technique that stood out was that of an educator selecting learners at random to answer questions on the lesson. This kept the whole class focused and asking questions whenever they did not understand any of the content. A great strategy! We look forward to the next workshop and to put into practice the insightful findings of the assessment.
Sally & Nina from ROPE in discussion with Ma’am Manyathi, Principal of Masotcheni Primary School
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F UN D R A I S I N G F OR T H E F OU N DATION
Rorke’s Drift to Brecon Motorbike Mission
Since the departure of Peter Rattray and Blaze & Micko O’Byrne at the beginning of August on a marathon motorbike mission from Rorke’s Drift to Brecon in Wales, we have been keeping our Facebook followers up to date with their adventures through the blogs they sporadically post whenever they can find a stable internet connection! We are hugely grateful to the brave team who are raising money and awareness for the Foundation, while at the same time educating us by providing an insight into the countries they are passing through. We wish them the best of luck and look forward to their safe return here at Rorke’s Drift!
Please support this cause and donate to the Foundation please visit Peter Rattray’s fundraising pages on Just Giving for UK donors and Doit4Charity for South African donors.
www.justgiving.com/Peter-Rattray www.doit4charity.co.za/fundraising/peter.rattray
Above and Beyond
Massive thanks to Rosie Morgan for completing the Great North Run while fundraising for the Foundation. Thanks to your efforts, the children of the local schools will benefit from an improved quality of education hopefully that makes the blisters worth it!
Follow us on social media /DavidRattrayFoundation @DavidRattrayF @davidrattrayfoundation
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Branch: Ladysmith Branch code: 057725
Account name: David Rattray Memorial Trust
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