Durban North organisation grows early childhood development
The workshop provided ongoing training in proficiency in the GROW app which has revolutionised the 64 ECD centres partnering with Domino since the app was rolled out in the centres last year.
THE Domino Foundation’s Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme’s field workers, together with Grow ECD, started the new year with a two-day Train the Trainers workshop.
Heading the workshop was Anele Chita, Community Development co-ordinator in the Durban Metropolitan area from Grow ECD.
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“We equip ECD businesses and organisations with the skills, support and resources to provide five-star early learning for every child in their care,” he explained.
Domino’s Education do-ordinator, Nicky Walton, described the progress since then: “The app has revolutionised the way education happens in these centres, gearing them up significantly on their journey from being merely childcare centres to being effective small businesses where critical preparation for school readiness is the order of the day.”
The app is used for daily updating of registers, for its resource centre and library and for a variety of ways of stimulating pupils more effectively as preschoolers in preparation for school readiness.
The multi-purpose app provides paperless administration and enables owners to improve their centres as small businesses, facilitating finance management, parent communication, teacher competency and pupil assessments.
Joining the field workers were Mdu Vato, Domino’s Nutrition programme team leader, who took part because the ECD owners’ progress in using the app is monitored for their centres to qualify to receive high-protein porridge and soup for their pupils’ lunches.
“We are very aware of how good nutrition helps children avoid stunting, wasting and obesity as well as being ‘food for thought’, aiding brain development, concentration in class and effective learning all round,” he said.
At the end of the workshop, Domino’s ECD team leader, Zanele Nzimande, said evidence shows that attendance at preschool establishes good foundational learning skills which will generally see pupils going further and finishing their school careers well.
“The GROW app is significantly impacting these centres, and we expect to see them attaining increasingly high standards in business and academic achievement,” she added.
Anyone interested in the GROW app can contact Anele on 067 758 2493.
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