Lynedoch Youth Rooted in nature, growing towards the future…

SEPTEMBER 2014

We have made our way through an exciting

winter, with amazing rain, and some beautiful

sunny days in between. The time has also seen

many changes in our youth programmes:

We have said goodbye to Chantelle

Scott, who has lovingly held our junior

youth group in her hands for the last few

years.

We have done a huge clear-out and

renovation of the junior aftercare space,

and Thembisile Memela is now working

with the children and is making a huge

impression there.

Mandela Day saw us receiving an

incredibly generous gift from Meerlust

Farm, as well as a fun day for the

children by Power Construction.

We had a wonderful drama production,

with some singing thrown in.

Our July holiday programme was filled

with fun and adventure.

The young farmers are well into their

internship journey.

LYNEDOCH EARTH SCHOOL

Clubhouse transformed:

Old carpet removed

Floors sanded

Anything broken fixed or removed Then lovely spaces created:

A dining area

Book corner

A space to play pretend

Art and craft spaces

Nature explored:

The garden outside the main SI building is now in the children’s care

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

The future of our natural world is in these little hands. If they develop a strong connection to the natural world now, then they will fight to save it later. These young champions have hands on experience of growing their own vegetables in our vegetable - garden, also understand the seasons and cycles of nature as well as equipping themselves with vital life skills. If we want children to flourish, to become truly empowered, then let us allow them to the love the earth before we ask them to save it. Each day these children are walking into a nurturing, rich, child oriented environment that will reinforce their independence and intellectual development. We also encourage them to appreciate that there are many possibilities for honouring life and wonders that the world holds.

A word from Thembi…

The house without food is cold, so we make sure that we keep our club house warm by letting the children do some baking. Our children love baking. They did hot crossbuns this week, they did enjoy themselves, and proud too. What impress us is to see our children doing these activities with passion, it shows clearly it won’t end up here but they will take it back home and to the community.

Mandela Day this year had the Meerlust Wine farm

donating money so that we could get a whole wish

list of things for the clubhouses. This included

monopoly and carom which they love, often

choosing to make up their own rules as they go. It’s

so much fun to see them play all these games.

With some help they have now read the Afrikaans

instructions for monopoly and understand the

game properly. We also used the opportunity to

show them that rules are there to ensure that

everybody has fun and enjoys themselves.

We have a group of engineering students that

come and do extra maths and science tutoring for

our senior aftercare. This is a huge benefit to the

children, particularly as classrooms are

overcrowded and they can’t get individual

attention. The child-tutor ratio is 1:3 in the

Tuesday tutoring group.

Soccer…

Soccer practice is a lot more structured and goal

orientated, and it shows in the results. Last year

(2013) did not end very well in terms of the log

standings. However, this year round we have yet

again managed to beat the best that Stellenbosch

has to offer. A lot of this has to do with the fact

that we have divided the soccer boys according to

technical and tactical ability rather than age.

A word from Anton…

A word from Tania… On Wednesday afternoons we work with a group of girls are aged between 10 and 11 years, they are such a dynamic group of ladies and although they are so young they have robust personalities with a great passion to learn. Our session’s starts with a general ‘check in’ to catch up on each girl’s week. During these sessions we have tons of fun together through a variety of activities from reading, singing and some creative art work. Each exercise is structured to teach the girls how to work together as a team in harmony. At the start there was a lot of fighting and mocking and some of them had real problems with concentrating on tasks, but these days you can see that they have become a great little family standing up for one another and reprimanding a group member when something is done incorrectly. The general respect for one another’s feelings has changed and their openness and fear of trusting has diminished .I can just see more confidence growing within them each day. This experience is a great eye opener for me, working with children is no easy task and you learn new things every day.... I have never seen myself relishing just by being present and playing.

With the Lotto funding that we are receiving we

will be able to purchase more soccer balls which

will be of utmost importance in implementing the

new soccer practice format. After doing the

research we found that there needs to be a player

to soccer ball ratio: 6-8 year olds ratio is 1:1; 9-10

year olds is 2:1; 11-14 year olds is 4:1 and 15-17

year olds is 8:1.

We also want to start working on the hand-eye

and eye-foot coordination of the 5 to 7 year old

children in the junior aftercare.

Lee-Andrea Adams, Logan Mouton, Monique Plaaitjies, Cameron Beukes, Teshleigh van Niekerk, Abigail Brown and Jenay Gelant

Inspiration after a visit to Newberry House…

The next practical step will be to start introducing a

Montessori type aftercare programme. During our visit

I saw how enjoyable learning can be for children. I also

immediately recognized the challenges and dangers I

would have to overcome in taking a step towards a

Montessori type aftercare.

Learners at Newberry actually enjoyed school and

working on a project. On our arrival the 9-12 year old

class was busy working on a history assignment. They

worked in groups and had to build a model of a bunker.

What made it fun was that the teacher did not show

them a picture of one; they had to use their

imagination and be creative. When I stepped into the

13-16 year old class they were busy with a debate on

world news: part of their homework is to watch the

news every day. They then discuss it in class. I also

noticed a timetable against the wall. From this I almost

immediate had ideas for our “Montessori aftercare”.

The idea is to sooth the aftercare children into a

Montessori aftercare: seeing that they are used to

being in a main stream school. All the aftercare

activities and extra murals will continue but with a

slightly different approach.

Instead of sitting with each grade and discussing their

homework and working out answers for example, we’ll

be making material available for them where they can

go and do research for themselves.

2014 has been a great year so far for the children doing karate at Lynedoch Primary School. We started off the year with most of the students from last year returning to carry on with their progress, as well as a number of new beginners. Karate is a challenging discipline but those who continue with their practice, are always happy to have done so. The students will see how they begin to use their bodies' more confidently allowing them to apply themselves better in what they do. Learning the art karate is an on-going effort and the physical, mental and emotional improvements from practicing can be seen right from the time a student starts to practice. As each student develops and continues they will come up against challenges within themselves that they have to face. As they overcome these challenges so they become more effective in being able to defend themselves and in the way they apply themselves in their ordinary lives. Karate gradings are done so that the instructors (Black belts) can assess the student’s progress and award the next level on their belt. On the 21st June we had a grading in Cape Town where all the students were awarded their next stripe. At the next grading four of the students will be going for their orange belt, the first coloured belt for the children.

A word from Sensei Tony Edwards

The Young Farmers are now well into their internships, based on Eric Swarts’s farm. Here is what some of them have to say: “The second year of farming is more challenging because you have to cater for real clients, such as the Mount Nelson Hotel in town. Farming is the most important job in the world because if there are no farmers, who will look after the people. I like Angus Buchan: We have to respect food because there’s a lot of preparation that goes with it.” Ryno de Wee “Now that I am in my second year it’s more challenging because I have my own place, and I have to do it myself. I have to supply my clients, the more delays I have, they are also losing money because they are expecting the plants from me as I am in charge of the nursery. This year everything feels so real, but I have no problem managing my space. I just have a problem protecting my chickens from the Mongeese.” Xolelwa Dilla

A word from the young farmers…

SI staff visit the farmers…

“What a joyful experience we had at the farm this morning with the young farmers; what an inspiring energy that resonated from them! It was amazing hearing them articulate their daily working schedule & planning of their produce to suppliers such as the Mount Nelson Hotel… really impressive. The following question was posed to them: What did you know prior to this course about agriculture & what do you know now? Their answer: “Before we knew zero about farming, now we feel confident to one day grow produce on our own farm”

Rene Human

Thank you to all who make the youth programmes in the Lynedoch Community possible:

Flom Community Theatre

Learning for Sustainability (FET College)

The Lexi and her wandering baby brother The Nomad

Lynedoch Primary School

Meerlust Wine Estate

Sustainability Institute

CONTACT: www.sustainabilityinstitute.net tracyw@sustainabilityinstitute.net 021 881 3196 ext 208

HOLIDAY

PROGRAMME

6 – 10 October

Junior Soccer

Award Ceremony

4 October