Abacus, December 2009,
staff newspaper for the Absa Group
Recent studies at universities across
South Africa have revealed concerning statistics on
academic literacy. According to a draft report produced
for the vice-chancellors' association, Higher Education
South Africa (HESA) by the National Benchmark Tests
Project, low literacy levels are responsible for the
alarming high school and university drop out rates
currently experienced in South Africa.
Literacy at Primary School level is vital
in ensuring a sustainable future for the country,
because primary school lays the foundation for all
future academic and life skills.
That is why Absa’s corporate
sponsorship of the THRASS Absa TalkTogether
Project with THRASS (Teaching Handwriting Reading And
Spelling Skills) project is so fundamental in striving
to deliver a better tomorrow for our Nation’s children.
In 2007 Nicholas Young, Chief Operating
Officer: Unsecured Lending, became familiar with the
THRASS programme whilst helping his son with his
homework. He was so impressed with the programme and
thought it would be brilliant if every child in South
Africa learnt to read and write using THRASS synthetic
phonics literacy capability, and so approached THRASS to
see if they would be interested in entering into a
Corporate sponsorship with Absa on a sustainable basis.
The Unsecured Lending Executive Committee
loved the idea, and after proceeding through appropriate
governance within Absa and engaging in formal
contractual negotiations and project design with THRASS,
the project was launched at Roseneath Primary School,
Parktown in association with Wits University in
Johannesburg. Today, Absa also sponsors
the
project
at5 other TalkTogether School model centres including
Sunlands Primary School and the Cape Peninsula
University of Technology in Cape Town; Eendracht Primary
School and the University of Pretoria; George Randell
Primary School and the University of Fort Hare in East
London; Clairwood Boys Preparatory School and the
University of KwaZulu-Natal Pinetown; Greenhill Primary
School and Varsity College Pietermaritzburg.
The model centre Schools benefit from the
project through the training of the Foundation Phase
teachers, installation of all relevant THRASS resources
for up to 500 students, an Interactive whiteboard/SMARTBoard,
digital projector, USB speakers and dedicated laptop to
operate the SMART Board, as well as the training of the
student teachers from the associated University. This
latter aspect is a critical component of the model as it
ensures that a pipeline of THRASS qualified teachers
graduate every year with both theoretical and practical
THRASS teaching experience, and provides the
TalkTogether School with access to student teachers on a
regular or weekly basis. The TalkTogether Project has
trained over 1,100 teachers/student teachers to date,
roughly 20% of the total trained in South Africa!
The strong link between Primary School,
University and Corporate Sponsor Absa has attracted a
lot of attention both locally and internationally, with
the model being commended in Barbados, Swaziland,
Nigeria,Zimbabwe and also the UK.
In addition to the 6 TalkTogether School
model centres, to further broaden the impact of THRASS
and increase literacy nationwide, THRASS SING-A- LONG
resources have been installed at over 800 schools; model
centres has been established with the Penreach Trust at
the Penryn College in White River, and the Holy Rosary
Mission School in Malamulele in Limpopo.
Unsecured Lending has also sponsored two
Wits Graduate teachers at farm schools in the Kwena
Basin, Mpumalanga for the previous two years, as these
deep rural farm schools have been supported by Wits
Education Department and are in desperate need of new
learning techniques to help enable the learners and
teachers become the best they can be.
“As a responsible corporate citizen,
Absa, in this case through the Unsecured Lending
Cluster, will continue to seek ways of contributing
positively in the development of our country with a view
to securing a better future for South Africa,” says
Nicholas Young.
About THRASS
THRASS is a unique concept aimed at
increasing literacy in South Africa through the improved
teaching and learning of English.
The brainchild of British educational
psychologist, Alan Davies, the
programme helps learners develop sound literacy skills
from an early stage and creates a strong foundation for
English skills using the 26 letters of the alphabet and
44 phonemes (sounds), as well as graphemes to explain
sounds and words.
THRASS methodology uses the Phoneme
Machine – a groundbreaking computer programme. It makes
use of the International Phonetic Alphabet and moving
human lips to demonstrate the pronunciation of sounds in
a variety of frequently used English words.
In South Africa, the programme has
established model centres at selected schools with the
support of University Education faculties.
It has been implemented in a significant
number of government schools, including farm schools in
Kwena Basin, Mpumalanga, and township schools, in Orange
Farm, and also in private schools, in several provinces.
Help your children with THRASS
Employees who wish to know more about
THRASS can view
www.thrass.co.uk and click on the Absa Talk Together
link. Here they will find information on THRASS as well
as free, helpful programmes they can use at home,
helping their children secure a better tomorrow.
In South Africa, the THRASS resources are
distributed by PWS www.pws.co.za
Source: Abacus
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