Abacus, October 2007,
staff newspaper for the Absa Group
After announcing the
exciting roll-out of the TalkTogether Project last
month, this educational programme will now be made
available to employees’ children.
It’s vital to give your
children a head start in life and Absa can help you do
that . . . free of charge!
All you need to do is
point your browser at
www.talktogether.co.za as well as
www.thrass.co.uk to download free, interactive
educational software and calendar charts that can be
used on computers, laptops and interactive whiteboards.
Do it for your children
and any other children you care about – it will have an
impact on the rest of their lives!
This initiative is all
part of an Absa joint initiative aimed at improving
literacy in South Africa.
If children are to develop
life-long learning skills, it is vital they are targeted
in the early foundation stages of their lives. Good
grounding in language skills is the platform on which
all other learning takes place.
“The simple fact is, if a
child fails to grasp the fundamentals of language, he or
she will always be at a huge disadvantage,” says
Nicholas Young, chief financial officer for Personal
Bank: New Business Cluster. “At Absa, we realised there
is an enormous literacy gap in South Africa and felt we
needed to do something about it.”
Educational partnership
It was with this in mind that the TalkTogether Project
was launched. The initiative is a unique educational
partnership between Absa and THRASS (TM) UK and SMART
and is guaranteed to revolutionise the teaching and
learning of language in South Africa.
The TalkTogether Project
is run in association with universities, primary schools
and other organisations across the country and was
recently showcased to over 1 000 school principals. Its
aim is to increase literacy in all areas and provide a
platform to celebrate South Africa’s 11 national
languages.
With the support of
selected university education faculties, TalkTogether
schools were established to help in the training of
foundation-level teachers, the teaching of children and
the promotion of research in education.
Underpinning the
initiative is THRASS (TM) the brainchild of educational
psychologist and innovator, Alan Davies. It is a unique,
ground-breaking teaching methodology designed to quickly
improve the learning and teaching of English and has
taken the education world by storm.
The method is currently
being taught in schools in Europe, Africa, Asia, the
Middle East, the Caribbean and the USA. It specifically
targets foundation-level learners and their teachers, as
this is a key stage for kids to grasp lifelong learning
skills.
Sounds and words
A strong foundation in English is created by using the
26 letters of the alphabet and 44 phonemes (sounds) as
well as graphemes to explain sounds and words. In
addition, the THRASS® Phoneme Machine is a
ground-breaking computer programme that uses the
International Phonetic Alphabet and moving human lips to
demonstrate the pronunciation of sounds and a variety of
frequently-used English words. Interactive flash-cards,
pictures and calendar charts are also used.
The system is currently
being adapted to be used to improve teaching and
learning techniques in other languages and is now
available in all 11 official South African languages.
Languages currently offered are Afrikaans, isiNdebele,
isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho Setswana, siSwati,
Tshivenda, Xitsonga and Swahili.
The TalkTogether Project
was launched as a pilot project at the Roseneath Primary
School in Johannesburg in July.
Its effectiveness and
impact on literacy training will be measured in a study
by the Wits School of Education. Dr Jean Place, head of
the Foundation Phase Programme at the University of
Witwatersrand, is at the forefront in introducing the
THRASS Programme to South African schools and
universities.
In fact, the university is
the first tertiary institution in the world to introduce
a two-day THRASS certificate course as part of its
curriculum for the Bachelor of Education degree.
Sunlands Primary School in
Cape Town was launched as the second TalkTogether School
on 6 September with four more schools to be set up by
early 2008.
School educators will not
be left out. The THRASS TalkTogether Project will, in
partnership with teacher organisations such as the
National Professional Teachers Organisation of South
Africa (Naptosa) and the South African Democratic
Teachers Union (Sadtu), run a number of teacher-training
events.
Download now!
“Our ultimate goal is to have primary schools in South
Africa become part of the TalkTogether project,” says
Nicholas. “Imagine the impact that would have on our
country. But we do not want parents and learners to have
to wait until their particular school comes on board. We
want them to have access to the unique training
materials and learning aids right now and they can do
that by visiting the
TalkTogether website.
“THRASS(TM) Calendar
Charts are available, free of charge, to help teachers,
assistants, parents and children with early language
learning. Hard copies of the charts are available in
English and several other European and African
languages,” comments Nicholas.
“Use the printed and
interactive THRASS(TM) calendar charts, in one or more
of the available languages, to develop speaking and
listening skills, reading and spelling skills, social
skills, general knowledge, memory and intellect by
playing Questions & Answers using the words, letters and
numbers.
“I urge all Absa employees
with young children, grand-children or even friends with
children to visit the website and download the free
material. It will make a huge difference in a child’s
life!”
Source: Abacus
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