December 2015
Time to reflect on our successes
It’s hard to believe how quickly this year has passed and come to an end. I would like to thank all of you for your work in educating our children and helping them get the most from their studies in 2015. We hope you enjoyed many successes over the year and that you have the opportunity to catch up on some rest over the festive season.
As for us, it’s certainly been an exciting time. We had over 550 000 users who downloaded our resources and our newsletter subscribers climbed to an astonishing 98 000! That is a massive achievement for us and we thank-you for your support.
During the last quarter of this year we also changed our website design after conducting a market research survey. Your feedback helped us create a site that simply looks better and works better.
Maths and Science revision papers launched
Our Grade 7-12 Maths and Science revision papers also launched this year, and they are available from our mobi-site (e-classroom.mobi) as well as the Google Play Store and AppStore. The papers were developed by top text book writers and teachers following the South African CAPS curriculum. They enable learners to do actual practice tests and receive instant feedback – a great way to prepare for any exams. Read more about the revision papers here.
E-Classroom not just for children – now we’re getting into teacher education too
Earlier this year a group of concerned teachers at Oval North Technical Secondary in Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town, asked us to help them improve their maths knowledge and classroom performance. We partnered with Dr Michael Rice from the PETS Foundation to implement a project that was piloted in Barrydale with much success. This was a course designed by teachers for teachers (teaching fractions and decimals), with all the course materials have been tested in the classroom and translated with the teachers into Afrikaans. As far as we know, it is the first of its kind in South Africa.
We have applied to the South African Council for Education (SACE) for recognition of this programme plus three other programmes for Professional Development (PD) points. Once we receive accreditation for all four of these programmes, all teachers attending our workshops will receive PD points in future. We are very excited about this new offering for our teachers.
Funky stationery
The following link sends you to the Faber-Castell back-to-school catalogue. There are lovely stationery items for you to look at and some new innovations. My daughter is a stationery geek and the first things on her wish list is for funky stationery! I am sure you will find the same here:
Competition
We have a lovely competition for our subscribers these holidays to win a year’s supply of vitamins! Click the banner below to enter…
Need help entertaining the kids?
With the kids on holiday, you may be wondering how to keep them entertained? Send them over to the NEW-LOOK Spur Secret Tribe website. It’s jam packed with things kids like – from awesome outdoor game ideas, to movie trailers and some educational tit-bits to keep their brains active. Parents, even you could get lost in the wonderful, kid-safe digital world of Buttercup, Buffalo Brave and Soaring Eagle.
Last, but not least, we would like to thank all our sponsors for their ongoing support. Without them, we would not be able to provide this platform free to you. If you would like to become a sponsor, please email me at [email protected] We extend our grateful thanks to Kyknet who have come on board as our official Afrikaans sponsor.
And finally thanks to you, our faithful users, who have given us so much constructive feedback to ensure the best learning platform and experience on e-Classroom.
We wish you and your loved ones a blessed holiday season and looking forward to sharing a wonderful and successful 2016 with you.
Yours in education
Natalie