Teaching blitz

FOR two weeks in August, 50 Irish teachers will work with their South African colleagues in five schools in Cape Town as part of the first Mellon Educate Teaching Blitz.

The five schools in Khayelitsha and Masiphumelele townships will receive intensive coaching and mentoring over the two-week period from experienced Irish teachers and school principals.

Mellon Housing Initiative and Mellon Educate are well known for their pioneering work in South Africa in housing and now in education.

Working closely with the Western Cape Education Department, Mellon Educate provides curriculum support, mentoring and training to help improve schools in the Western Cape.

Every year in November, Mellon Educate organises a Building Blitz in selected schools.

More than 250 volunteer builders from Ireland, UK and US come to Cape Town and complete impressive building projects in one week.

In 2016, 13 additional classrooms and two library areas as well as kitchen facilities were provided in two schools in Khayelitsha.

The plan for 2017 is to build and complete additional classrooms in three township schools.

The schools that benefit from building infrastructure also sign-up to be part of the Mellon Educate training and mentoring programme in an ongoing relationship of improvement.

John Curran, Mellon Educate’s director of education in South Africa, said: “This is a very exciting project bringing together teachers from Ireland and South Africa to share experience, share best practice and build cultural ties which can lead to really exciting opportunities for future development together.” Candice Daniels Fund-raising and marketing manager