A team of Grade 6 pupils from Norma Road Primary School has won first place in a reading quiz held by a non-profit organisation.
Two teams from Athlone North Primary School took second and third places in the Edu-Read Academy’s Subject Reading Quiz.
Eleven five-member teams from Sunnyside, Athlone North, Bokmakierie and Norma Road primary schools competed in the event, held at the Athlone Calvinist Church Hall in Kewtown, on Thursday September 28.
Roland Abrahams, the director of the Edu-Read Academy, said they supported pupils who faced barriers to learning.
“We have a laser-like focus on practically teaching learners how to read with our researched methodological approach. We volunteer our services to schools in Kewtown and Athlone. We started our reading programme after the Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study (PIRLS) illuminated the fact that 81% of our South African Grade 4 learners could not read for meaning. Many of our learners are still experiencing reading barriers. Our aim is to focus on solutions to enhance the reading skills of Grade 2 learners through our intervention and support strategies.”
The programme helped parents continue with reading support in the home, he said.
“Our support is two-fold. We do a two-hour a week programme where we intervene and support Grade 2 learners who experience barriers to reading. Secondly, we conduct a Grade 6 content subject reading quiz where we help learners to read with understanding the content of history, geography, natural science and technology, life skills and we include a section on spelling.”
Bokmakierie Primary School principal Michele Pinto said the programme was “extremely beneficial” for her pupils.
“I popped in a few times, and I liked how interactive the sessions were. It was also not just about the quiz, but Mr Abrahams also spoke to them about career choices, and this is something children from our community are not often exposed to. The other good thing about this programme is that I spoke to the subject teachers, and there has been an improvement in marks. Mr Abrahams also taught them study methods. This is something I hope we can continue with, as it is definitely of value to the curriculum and to the learners’ own skills.”
Athlone North Primary School acting principal Bassier Noordien also praised the programme.
“The way the quiz is structured is that it covers the curriculum, so it supplements their knowledge on work done in the classroom. I have seen how this programme boosted our learners’ confidence and their morale, and they also had lots of fun competing with other schools. This was a pilot project, but I am hoping we can continue with it.”
Schools that would like to be part of the programme can email theedureadacademy@gmail.com or call 076 896 1343.