CPUT staff members and students will join millions around the globe who will celebrate international Mandela Day today.

Held on Mandela’s birthday, 18 July, this event is a global call for individuals to take positive action and change communities for the better.

The event came about in 2009 after the United Nations General Assembly declared Mandela’s birthday, 18 July, as Nelson Mandela International Day. It marks 67 years of his life that he dedicated to the struggle for humanity.

In honour of this great South African leader, CPUT staff members will contribute towards improving literacy at a primary school in the Delft community, by increasing access to books and other appropriate learning materials.

The initiative is being driven by the institution’s Civic Engagement Unit.

CPUT has been participating in this event since its inception and the initiatives rolled out have impacted positively on communities.

Last year, CPUT staff members teamed up with various other organisations to build a crèche in Tafelsig and clean the Sarah Baartman centre in Manenberg, which is home to abused women and children.

Staff members also cleaned the grounds of the Chris Hani High School in Khayelitsha and provided the school with paint supplies.

Written by Candes Keating
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

“To develop and sustain an empowering environment where, through teaching, learning and scholarship students and staff, in partnership with the community and industry, are able to create and apply knowledge that contributes to development.”

This is the motto CPUT prides itself in, and a group of third-year Radiography students recently did well to uphold this noble vision.

Several safe houses in and around Cape Town now boast a cleaner and more efficient working environment thanks to a group of 42 third-year Radiography students who recently visited the various organisations during a community outreach project, as part of their civic engagement responsibilities.

Radiography lecturer, Saaiga Ismail, said the project formed part of the students’ syllabus for the subject, Radiography Management.

She said the aim of the assignment was for the students to learn planning skills, team work and through exposure to the plight of others, realise how many people were in desperate need of assistance.

“Every year the project becomes more satisfactory. It’s a wonderful initiative form CPUT and enables the students to be exposed to the different side of the patients they come into contact with daily. One can already see the growth and maturity in the work they produce.”

Saaiga explained that students were divided into seven groups and were all required to choose an organisation within Cape Town. The task was to identify areas where they could lend a helping hand, either through doing refurbishments, giving donations or conducting workshops.

However for students, Qaanita Isaacs and Lindi de Vos, this project meant more than just scoring good marks for their report. They spent three weeks uplifting children at the Masiphumelele Educare in Fishhoek in the process.

“At first we didn’t understand how the project was relevant to our course, but after being exposed to their living conditions, we forgot about our problems and concentrated on theirs. It was a humbling experience and definitely felt good to give back,” they said.

Another pair that enjoyed giving back to the community were Chulumanco Majola and Tahnee Stoffels, who donated books, clothes, perishables and stationery to the Solomon’s Haven in Mitchells Plain. They also painted the floors and designed new information boards for the premises.

“It was an eye-opening experience and made us more appreciative of what we have. Working with these abandoned children also made us more passionate about our work as radiographers.”

By: Sonia Koopman

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Grade R learners from WD Hendricks Primary School are set to go down in the school’s history books thanks to CPUT Clothing Management students.

The learners will be graduating in custom-made graduation gowns, made by students from the Bellville campus.

Up until now, the school, which is based in the impoverished Factreton community, has been unable to purchase the necessary garments for their annual Grade R graduation ceremony.

The initiative came about after Dr Elspa Hovgaard, head of the Clothing and Textile Technology Department and member of the Pinelands Rotary Club saw the possibilities of teaming up the two institutions in order to address the school’s need. Earlier this year the school submitted a ‘wish list’ to the club, identifying its need for graduation gowns.

Hovgaard immediately identified it as a viable opportunity for second-year students following the extended curriculum programme, to come on board and hone their manufacturing skills. With the club willing to sponsor the necessary materials for the garments, the plan was soon put into action.

As part of the initiative, the Grade R class visited the Clothing Management department earlier this month where they were each fitted for their gowns, which will be manufactured over the next few weeks.

Hovgaard said they are looking at extending the programme with the school. 

“In the future we would like to see if we can produce other garments on their wish list,” she said.

Grade R teacher Dorothy Gilbert said teachers, parents and learners are looking forward to the graduation, scheduled for November.

“The graduation gowns will add that special touch to the ceremony,” she said.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For the first time in CPUT’s history, the institution hosted 235 primary school learners for an educational campus tour in early August. Staff members of eight departments namely - Marketing; Jewellery, Fashion, Industrial and Graphic Design; Somatology; Environmental Health and Management; Food Technology; Civil Engineering; Horticulture and Analytical Chemistry - on both the Cape Town and Bellville campuses, welcomed Grade 6 and 7 learners from the Sun Valley Primary School, Fish Hoek into their lecture rooms and laboratories.

During the visit, learners were exposed to the different teaching environments of the various departments and were given an overview of each course. Student Recruitment Officer in the Marketing and Communication Department, Thandokazi Mtshekisa, said this new initiative serves as a great starting point for CPUT to target younger learners and possibly influence their choice of a tertiary institution and career path. 

“This is the first time that CPUT hosted a primary school for a campus visit and it is definitely the start of many more. I believe that it will motivate them to make an educated and more informed decision when they eventually start thinking of career options. We also wish to instill the value of higher education at an early age.”

Food and Technology lecturer at the Bellville campus, Anthony Obilana, was one of many staff members who welcomed this new initiative.

“I was very impressed with the learners’ enthusiasm. They seemed really keen to learn more about the course and also interacted very well with the staff. I think it is important that children get this kind of exposure from a young age.”

The Grade 6 learners have enjoyed a practical in the Food Technology lab on the Bellville campus.

Dean of the Informatics and Design Faculty, Professor Johannes Cronje said campus tours, such as these, serve as a great way to market the Faculty and the Institution.

“The learners showed much interest in the courses. They were very inquisitive and asked a lot of questions. As a faculty, we encourage learners to come and visit to see what we have to offer and how our students work within our environments,” he said.

The school’s Grade 6 and 7 Head, Allison Nuttall, who accompanied the learners on the tour said: “The girls especially enjoyed visiting the Civil Engineering, Horticulture and Food Technology departments, which helped them realise they have other career options.”

One learner, who particularly enjoyed the tour, was Grade Seven learner, Jaimie Kruyer. She said although she is still undecided about her future career path, the visit to CPUT helped her to realise more options.

“It was a really good educational experience. I learnt a lot about all the different courses, especially within the Technology sector, which I never knew one could study for. It was a lot of fun,” she enthused.

By: Sonia Koopman

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

It’s a sad fact that more money is spent on upgrading rugby fields at urban schools than is spent on all the educational needs of most children in rural areas. This neglect of South Africa’s rural poor has prompted CPUT’s Education Faculty and African stationery giant Waltons to join forces. While this budding partnership is still in its infancy, it has already resulted in every child in two of the poorest schools in the province receiving all the stationery they need to make learning possible and fun.

Director of Waltons, Elizabeth Arulappen, says as the largest stationery supplier on the continent, Waltons is fully aware of the importance of education for the future good of South Africa. Speaking to the excited children at Nondzame Primary in Pniel and Bergrivier Primary in Wellington, Arupallen said, “We are a wonderful and generous nation, of many different cultures and beliefs, but we all agree on one thing. That is the importance of a good education for all people."

Each child received a “toolbox” of stationery worth R300, packed with all the essential goods such as staplers, scissors, pencils, and crayons that most schoolchildren take for granted.

Professor and Head of Department of Research in the Faculty of Education, Rajendra Chetty, was delighted that Waltons had given of their resources so willingly. “Poor rural children in every province across South Africa are being marginalised, said Chetty. “It’s about poverty, not politics. If you’re poor, you don’t have a voice, and if you don’t have a voice, you’re easy to marginalise. It’s our assertion that the state is abdicating their responsibility and failing to protect the right to a primary education for children living in rural areas.”

The success of this year’s alliance with Waltons has fired up the Education Faculty to expand their collaboration. Plans are now afoot to partner with Waltons to provide 10 of the provinces' poorest schools with their stationery needs next year. But, says Chetty, the state must still be mindful of their duty to all South Africa’s learners. “Some of these children attend schools without electricity, drinking water, sanitation, suitable buildings or adequate learning materials. While we have policies that recognise education for all and are aimed at addressing the needs of the poorest schools in South Africa, a great deal remains to be done.”

by Jan Weintrob

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A group of CPUT students are on a crusade to provide shoes for children living in a foster home in the Du Noon community.

The Shoes Fundraising Project is an initiative of the Anglican Society (ANSOC), a CPUT student group that runs a number of community outreach programmes during the academic year.

ANSOC chairperson Vuyisani Ludidi says the group initially raised money for the home, but during a recent visit identified the need for shoes.

“We found a dire situation in which we felt that our token of support would never be enough. We then resolved to withhold the money we had raised and instead agreed to raise more so that we can at least buy shoes for all the children living in the foster home,” he says.

Vuyisani says the children are forced to share shoes that are in a bad condition.

The home’s caretaker, 64-year-old Nonhlanhla Mntungwa, says she is grateful for the support offered by the CPUT students.

To donate to the home please contact ANSOC on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Sharing Abundant Life Together, a local NGO supporting the home on 021 557 3948.

Written by Kwanele Butana

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CPUT students are changing communities for the good, one Service- Learning Project at a time.

From running gender violence awareness programmes to building sustainable houses, this year, students and academic staff participated in numerous Service-Learning projects across all faculties along with government departments, industry partners and community organisations.

The success of these projects was showcased at the Service-Learning Open Day and Awards held on the Bellville Campus.

TEAMWORK: Members of the Samora Machel community attended the event, along with representatives from the City of Cape Town

Through these projects, students are given an opportunity to experience learning outside of the classroom setting whilst using their skills to address a need in a community.

And the impact of these projects is far-reaching.

This year Environmental Health students educated 400 households in the Samora Machel community through a door-to-door Environmental Awareness Campaign they developed for the City of Cape Town.

DESIGN: Surface Design students created canvasses based on their experiences at Robben Island as part of a Service-Learning Project.

Zanele Figlan, a representative of the City of Cape Town says without CPUT’s assistance they would never have reached so many households.

Human Resource students made their mark on several communities by lending a hand to non-profit organisations, while Emergency Medical Science students embarked on projects with the South Africa Police Services and the Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre.

In Khayeltisha students are working on a multidisciplinary sustainable housing project that will continue into next year. This project is a collaboration between the Construction Management and Quantity Surveying, Architecture, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering Departments.

DOING GOOD: Human Resource students exhibited their array of projects

Manager of the Service- Learning Unit, Jacqueline Scheepers commended students, staff and the various partners for participating in these projects, which teaches students about the importance of giving to others, whilst strengthening and reinforcing their disciplinary knowledge.

Scheepers says they are looking forward to strengthening ties with government departments and communities as they embark on several new projects in 2014.

The following Service- Learning Projects received awards:

Most innovative project – Multidisciplinary Sustainable Housing Project (Tony Florence: Envirochoice Project Management and lecturers- Desmond Jackson: Architectural Technology and Eric Simpeh: Construction Management and Quantity Surveying)

Most Effective partnership – City of Cape Town: Environmental Health (Lecturer: Louella Daries)

Most outstanding project – Human Resource Department (Lecturer: Mandy Mavuso)

Written by Candes Keating
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

Determined to be a beam of hope for the nation, education students are preparing to host a car show at the Bellville campus to raise funds to buy school uniforms for disadvantaged learners.

The Community Development Association (CDA), a student-led community outreach organization attached to the CPUT Education Department, together with SSJ Concepts, will hold the event on the sports grounds on Saturday and it will feature competitions such as a show and shine, park-off, rev-off and sound-off.

Several prizes will be up for grabs and there will be food stalls for the convenience of everyone at the show.

The event was conceived after noticing many students at Bonnievale Primary School with no uniforms. The school is situated in Happy Valley, a poverty-stricken area with a high rate of unemployment.

“By supplying uniforms to the learners, we believe that this will not only clothe them but also give them the confidence to perform well academically,” says organiser Ruth Franke.

Ruth urges everyone to attend the show to show their support for the needy children.

Admission fees are R20 for adults and R10 for children.

Prizes will include CPUT goodie bags and merchandise as well as trophies.

Written by Kwanele Butana

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A group of BTech Mechanical Engineering students have put their skills to good use by assisting with the conservation of the banks of the Liesbeek River in Bishopscourt Village.

The project is an initiative of the Bishopscourt Village Residence Association and has contributed to the conservation of the area and job creating through the establishment of a nursery that propagates indigenous shrubs for planting on the river bank.

Earlier this year CPUT was approached by the association and asked to develop a greener and cost-effective solution for pumping water from the river to the nursery.

STRUCTURE: Students constructed a pump house for the hydraulic ram-pump

James Ledingham, Lorenzo Parisi, Ross Rampf and Clifford Hakimi took on the challenge as part of their BTech project and came up with an innovative solution.

The team developed a hydraulic ram-pump that relies on hydropower to pump the water into the storage tanks, which are located 20meters above river level. They also built a pump house and laid over 100meters of pipeline.

Group leader James says the nursery was previously making use of a petrol pump, which proved costly.

“We developed a prototype and ran a number of tests,” says James.

Once happy with their design, the students manufactured the hydraulic ram-pump, making use of standard parts that can be easily replaced.

CLOSER LOOK: The hydraulic ram-pump is constructed from standard parts

James says they also developed a manual that can be used by those involved in the daily running of the project.

Lorenzo says the project, which ran from March to November this year, was challenging but well worth all the effort.

“We were able to apply what we learnt in class and get insight into other aspects of engineering,” he says.

Lecturer Victoria Cain, who supervised the project along with Dr Joan Parker, says the project will continue into next year and will see the 2014 BTech class further develop aspects of the pump.

RIVER: The group at work alongside the banks of the Liesbeek River in Bishopscourt Village

Written by Candes Keating
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Provides coverage for the Engineering and Applied Sciences Faculties; the Bellville and Wellington Campuses, and research and innovation news.

In trying to fast-track its energy-saving Demand Side Management (DSM) project, Eskom has joined hands with the Energy Technology Unit of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) by conducting a three-week pilot study to see how much energy can be saved through the retro-fitting of energy saving lamps and other initiatives.

Eskom sponsored five million Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) to the Western Cape as a means of saving 400 MW of energy in the province and thereby reducing blackouts drastically.

Twenty students from the Electrical Engineering Department at CPUT are involved in the 1000 homes project at Flamingo Vlei in Table View. They replace conventional, incandescent light bulbs with CFLs, which consume only one-fifth of the energy normally consumed by a conventional bulb and CFLs last six times longer.

Prof Ernst Uken, Head of the Energy Technology Unit (ETU), suggested that apart from the CFLs, Eskom should look at other effective means of saving energy in homes to which Eskom agreed.“Not all energy in homes should be electricity based, you have to give other energy sources a chance, “ said Prof Uken.

Once the 1000 home project is completed, CPUT and Eskom will decide on future extensions of similar projects in the Western Cape and beyond. The Blaauwberg area has also been targeted for a similar project.

Apart from the survey, CPUT hosted the 14th International Conference on the “Domestic Use of Energy” (DUE) at the Cape Town campus. Practitioners and professionals in all fields of domestic energy were invited to examine the most recent developments in the efficient use of energy in the domestic sector.

This conference was of importance as the domestic sector’s energy demand in South Africa has risen so much and the question of electricity has become topical in the light of recent power outages in the Western Cape.

The DUE’s mission is to advance sustainable development in Southern Africa. These countries face many challenges in the electrification and the wider use of household energy.

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) donated bed linen to Western Cape’s fire victims in January.

The two loads of linen were handed over to Red Cross South Africa to distribute accordingly to those in need.

The linen, which includes 160 cushions, 136 blankets, 62 bedspreads, 294 flat sheets, and 130 pillowcases was availed by the institution after new linen was purchased for use by students at its various residences.

Mr. Sizwe Nduku, Head of Asset Control at the Cape Town campus, said, “In light of the recent shack fires that have ravaged many parts of Cape Town and surrounding areas, we as an institution saw it fit to contribute in whatever way we could in helping out those fire victims, hence the donation of these blankets, pillows, sheets etc. These were donated to SA Red Cross who in turn will distribute them to the affected areas.”

“This is in line with the objectives of the institution’s social responsibility programme, whose main aim is to help out the underprivileged and the poor,” he said.

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

With the government working towards eradicating the country’s sanitation backlog, the CPUT Community Water Supply and Sanitation Unit (CWSS) has been appointed to evaluate a pilot project in Cape Town.

MobiSan Technology, a dry sanitation and urine diversion stand-alone unit, which does not affect groundwater, is currently being implemented at Pooke se Bos informal settlement.

CWSS’s primary role is to evaluate the user acceptance and functioning of mobile communal sanitation facilities, using Cape Town as a case study.

The initiative was as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between CWSS and Partnership Group, which includes Dutch-Consortium and the City of Cape Town that was signed on 28 July 2009.

The Dutch Consortium is made up of Lettinga Associates Foundation and Viitens Evides companies that invented the MobiSan Technology.

According to Muanda, a principal researcher at CWSS, the MobiSan is an ecological sanitation system and it does not require the use of water for flushing.

“In South Africa, as a water-scarce country, the application of MobiSan Technology may result in reduction of the use of portable water for flushing and save substantial amounts of water,” said Muanda.

Under the MoU, it was agreed that the CWSS Unit should cover the evaluation and analysis of the MobiSan pilot project and operationalise it through monitoring and the development of comprehensive guidelines for operation and maintenance.

CWSS is also responsible for research funding and management.

As from 1 April 2010, the team is going to formally start working on the project, but background research had already been completed.

“We understand that decent sanitation service is a human right, it doesn’t matter where you stay, so we’ll base our evaluation on that,” said Muanda.

Prof Alvin Lagardien, CWSS’s director, is heading a team of researchers, which comprise of Muanda, an official from the City of Cape Town and CPUT postgraduate students from the Civil and Mechanical Engineering Departments. CPUT staff members also form part of the team.

According to Muanda the government has been trying to come up with a plan on what kind of sanitation people want.

“Most of the times, people want full flush toilets but not all of them have the infrastructure, so the government has to find a way to meet them half-way,” said Muanda.

The MobiSan idea was sold by the two Dutch companies to the City of Cape Town.

The City of Cape Town was keen on the idea and allowed the two companies to pilot the project. Part of the requirements was to involve local researchers in order to determine the project’s effectiveness in a South African context.

CPUT’s CWSS Unit had to come on board and in its research findings, it will advise in favour or against the MobiSan Technology.

The Water Research Commission is funding the continuation of the project.

Muanda said: “We will also look at other technologies that were implemented and see if MobiSan meets the requirements. It’s important for us also to find out if they have a remedial plan.”

By Andiswa Dantile

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Marketing and Communication Department of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology takes pleasure in inviting your Grade 11 and Grade 12 learners to the Open Day, to be held as follows:

Dates: Thursday, 14 May – 16 May 2009
Times: 09:00 – 16:00 (Thursday and Friday)
09:00 – 14:00 (Saturday)
Venue: Major Sports Hall, Bellville Campus
RSVP: See contact details below

This interactive exhibition will afford prospective students with first-hand information on our courses and degree programmes as well as the student support services offered by the University.

We can accommodate 100 - 200 Grade 11 / 12 learners at 10-minute intervals. Please note that it would take approximately an hour for your learners to view the exhibition stalls.

To arrange for your school to visit the Open Day contact:

Grant Barends
021 959 6087
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Patsy Samuels
021 959 6286
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Raa-iqah Isaacs
021959 6609
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For more information contact:
Marilyn Cloete
021 959 6228
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Grant Barends
021 959 6087
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The CPUT HIV/Aids Unit has taken community engagement to another level by assembling a soccer team to play against prisoners at the Malmesbury Correctional Service.

The unit has been running successful community outreach programs at the centre since 2004. Following a request for a friendly soccer match by the inmates, Head of the HIV/Aids Unit, Prof Ashraf Mohammed, facilitated the formation of a team with the view of strengthening the connection between the prison and the Unit.

“At the same time, we innovatively used soccer as a medium to convey to the inmates the message of HIV/Aids/STI and TB,” says Mohammed.

The team comprised of students, Peer Educators as well as CPUT staff from different departments. The event was also used to recruit new Peer Educators for the 2013 academic year.

The match ended in a stalemate as the teams scored a goal apiece in the second half, with the host being the first ones to score. The HIV/Aids Unit’s team later drew level after it was awarded a penalty kick, which was converted successfully by Excy Mgaba much to the delight of the unit’s supporters.

Because of the overwhelming success of the day, Mohammed declared that it would now become an annual event at the prison.

By Kwanele Butana

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Third-year students in the Tourism Department took time out of their studies to bring and serve lunch to children at Fikelela Orphanage in Mandela Park, Khayelitsha.

Started in the year 2000 by Anglican Diocesan Rachel Mash, Fikelela Orphanage is home to 38 children. The children, aged between one month and eight years, are vulnerable to HIV/Aids.

The students raised money to buy food, snacks and juice, which they served to the children. They also played several fun games with the children, which included face painting.

Student Thobile Nzima told the orphanage’s caregivers that at CPUT students learnt that sustainable and responsible tourism should have an impact on disadvantaged communities.

“Tourism is about preserving the culture and heritage of South Africa, ideals which in turn promote caring” says Thobile.

The orphanage’s supervisor Terry Galeni says they are grateful for the visit, which had made a huge impact on the children.

Head of the Tourism Department, Mandisa Silo says the visit was humbling and fulfilling and its greatest value was seeing how the students interacted with the children and the impact it had on the latter.

By Kwanele Butana

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A group of first-year Industrial Design students reached out to those less fortunate recently when they took part in the Santa Shoebox Project.

The project is a community initiative that oversees the donation, collection and distribution of Christmas gifts to underprivileged children in South Africa and Namibia. Contributors to the project select children from the Santa Shoebox website to send personalised shoeboxes to.

Inspired by the cause, the group of Industrial Design students made several boxes, the contents of which included educational supplies, a toy, clothing, sweets, toothbrush and toothpaste, facecloth and soap.

Aiming to put a smile on as many faces as possible, the project hopes to deliver 100 000 gift boxes to children in Cape Town this Christmas, and many more to children across the country.

For more information about Santa’s Shoebox visit www.santashoebox.co.za

By: Nurahn Ryklief

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A group of senior citizens showed-off their sporting skills during an outreach event organised by the third-year Sport Management class.

The event, which took place at the Greenpoint Urban Park, saw members of the Cape Peninsula Organisation for the Aged partake in various activities under the theme “Amazing Race”.

Based on the concept of the popular reality television show, the seniors completed various tasks in a bid to cross the finish line first.

The event also aimed at introducing and educating senior citizens on the importance of recreation and urban parks.

One of the participants of the day, 95-year-old Diane Meyer would put most of today’s youth to shame with her veering energy and determination.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the activities. I find it very important to keep fit, and the event offered the perfect opportunity to get moving,” says Meyer.

The teamwork between the students was undeniable and their enthusiasm and cooperation allowed the day to be a great success.

“The students did an amazing job. They responded brilliantly, and conducted and presented an event that the participants will always remember,” says CPUT Sports Coordinator, Quinton Summers.

The event was run in conjunction with the Service Learning Unit.

By Nurahn Ryklief

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The final phase of a CPUT outreach project was concluded on 16 October 2008 at the Cape Winelands District Education Office when learners from 15 rural schools across the Breederiver/Overberg region took part in a science and technology competition.

These learners represented science clubs and/or groups developed at each of the participating schools and demonstrated the skills that were practiced and developed under the auspices of the schools’ science teachers.

Learners showed their knowledge and understanding of curriculum-related experiments and practical work by conducting experiments on stage and exhibited their presentation skills by explaining their work at each step. The learners presented their work in an informative, entertaining and creative manner in an attempt show the adjudicators what they have learnt.

The project is an outreach initiative by the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (CEMSTE) at CPUT and was developed in partnership with the Cape Winelands Education District.

As Dr Shaheed Hartley, Director of CEMSTE explains, the project had three phases.

Phase 1 consisted of a workshop conducted by subject experts and was directed at providing skills, expertise and subject knowledge to the science and technology teachers of the participating schools.

During the second phase the teachers implemented the knowledge gained in the workshops and set up the schools’ science clubs with the assistance of the curriculum advisors and the CEMSTE team.

The final phase was the competition between the science clubs from the various schools. This provided an opportunity to measure the impact of the teacher workshop through outcomes achieved in learners’ activities and participation in the science clubs.

The competition was opened by Dr Brian Wilson, Chief Curriculum Advisor, who encouraged the learners to continue in science and mathematics and to grab all opportunities presented to them as important learning steps in life.

Edgar Johannes, Science Curriculum Advisor, applauded the teachers for their hard work in building the science clubs. The science and technology competition is divided into primary and secondary school divisions with six primary – Suurbraak, Skurweberg, Masakheke, Vergesig, H Venter, Rawsonville – and nine high schools – Ashton, Bella Vista, Emil Weder, Hawston, Langeberg, Masakheke Combined, Villiersdorp, Vusisizwe and Qhayiya – participating in 2008.

Dr Hartley pointed out that this year’s competition was especially difficult to adjudicate as the level and the quality of the experiments and presentations were exceptionally high.

To this end joint winners were announced in the secondary division, namely Ashton and Qhayiya, while Vergesig walked away with the laurels of the primary division for the second year running.

Dr Hartley thanks the participating learners, teachers and curriculum advisors for all their efforts as well as the sponsors who continue to make this project possible.

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Education students at the Mowbray Campus are teaching large numbers of primary school learners from various communities to swim.

Over a six-week period, more than 80 learners from Observatory Primary School will visit the campus once a week, in order to participate in free swimming lessons.

Human Movement lecturer, Mel Muller, said the swimming lessons have been taking place at the campus for several years and forms part of third year Foundation Phase Students’ Human Movement module.

Muller said all third year students must complete a swimming module, which requires them to master the skill of teaching a child to swim.

Instead of sending the students out to schools to complete this module, Ms Muller said they opted to bring learners to the campus and incorporate them into the Human Movement classes.

This move is proving to be a huge success, both for students and learners.

Muller said students are not only developing their teaching skills through the swimming lessons, but also providing the community with a valuable service.

“The students are experiencing working with children in water. What they have learnt in their first two years, they are now putting into practice,” she said.

Each student is allocated a learner and over the six week period must teach them how to swim.

“They also have to write a progress report on their child,” she said.

Muller said incorporating learners into lessons has also had a major impact on the community over the past few years.

“It is benefiting the community. Every year we teach so many children to swim,” she said.

Learners also have the opportunity to play various balls games with students when at the campus. Muller said this also assist students with how to go about giving lessons at schools.

As a result of the interaction with learners on campus, many CPUT Foundation Phase students hit the ground running when they start their experiential teaching at schools.

By Candes Keating

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Eight B Ed students from the Mowbray campus recently took the Grade 7 class of the Christian David Moravian school in Retreat to the Crags outside Plettenberg Bay.

The five-day trip was planned and organised by the students who secured sponsorship of clothing and food from various community organisations.

Each student mentored four to five children through an experiential learning week. Students prepared a workbook for the children to use as a resource book and also as a journal.

The aim of the trip was to Make Art Grow in Children (MAGIC TOUR), where both students and the children learn from one another. A map gave the children insight of the route they were taking and the environmental questions that they were asked, focused on their thinking. During the tour the children walked in the Tsitsikama forest with elephants and had the unique experience of touching and interacting with the elephants before feeding them.

The children made clay elephants, exploring form and texture and they went on to explore this activity at the beach where they worked in groups to make vast sand sculptures. They also went to the Lawnwood Snake Sanctuary, the Eden Bird Sanctuary, Monkey-land and the Rhino base camp.

In the evenings the students worked with the children to complete activities and to reflect on the day’s learning. When the children were sleeping, the students and the teacher worked together to reflect on their own process of learning and would then discuss activities for the following day.

According to the group, the trip offered a unique learning experience for the facilitators, students and children.

Written by CPUT News
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.