Shine Literacy

Youth Day, 16 June: A day dedicated to honoring the past, celebrating the present, and empowering the future of our nation.

On this special day, we come together to pay tribute to the courageous young individuals who have shaped our history and ignited the limitless potential of the youth in shaping our future.

It is a time to acknowledge the unwavering commitment of young individuals in our local communities who are rewriting the narrative, breaking barriers, and shaping a future filled with hope and opportunity.

One crucial aspect we recognize on this day is the role of young change-makers in bridging the literacy gap and promoting education. Many youth-led initiatives and organizations are dedicated to addressing the challenges of illiteracy and limited access to education. Through their passion, creativity, and use of technology, they develop innovative programs and initiatives that empower communities and create learning opportunities.

Let us celebrate South Africa's youth's courage, resilience, and achievements. Let us recognize their contributions and commitment to creating an enabling environment that nurtures their talents, amplifies their voices, and supports their aspirations.

“Accelerating collaborations and opportunities to improve the lives of the youth.”

Happy

Otto Foundation South Africa
The loxion mobile library.

Did you know that a former Miss South Africa (2020) has written a children's book!

Miss South Africa, Shudufhadzo Musida has written Shudu Finds Her Magic, based on Musida's own experience with childhood bullying after moving from a small Venda village to Mpumalanga. The book is available in six languages.

Shudu Finds Her Magic is part of Shudu's campaign to address mental health which was one of five winners of the Miss World Pageant's Beauty with a Purpose segment of the pageant.

Find out more about Shudu on:
Facebook: Shudufhadzo Musida
Instagram:
Twitter: abigailmusida

Today, we continue with our African author's feature as part of our Africa Month celebration.

Sihle-isipho Nontshokweni is the author of Wanda the Brave, the host and head of production of The Ultimate Book Show, a PHD candidate and a Mail & Guardian (2022) 200 Young South Africans in the film and Media category.

Wanda the Brave has become a serialized storybook that has won international awards and honors including the Skipping Stones Honor Awards and The Best Children's Books of the Year. Sihle-isipho also wrote the Nal'ibali 2021 World Read Aloud Day story Fly, Everyone, Fly, which was read to nearly 3 million children in South Africa.

Find out more about Sihle-isipho on:
Facebook: Sihle-isipho Nontshokweni
Instagram:
Twitter: Ceehl

Shine Literacy is celebrating Africa Month by highlighting prominent children's authors from Africa.

We start with Michelle Nkamankeng, the youngest author in South Africa and one of the top 10 world's youngest authors. Michelle is from Johannesburg and wrote her first book Waiting for the Waves , at age 7.

According to an IOL article published in June 2021, Michelle decided she wanted to write books when she realised most children's books are written by adults. “Children have beautiful tales and thoughts. Surely we could write about our own adventures and share that with the world."

Over the years, Michelle has written three more books as part of her four part series:
1. Waiting in the Waves, 2. The little girl who believes in herself, 3. The little mouse and 4. The Golden Ring. Today, Michelle is a motivational and keynote speaker, a winner of several awards, a child activist and a high school student.

Find out more about Michelle on:
Facebook: Michelle Nkamankeng
Instagram:
Twitter:

In celebration of Africa Day, Shine Literacy invites your school to participate in the Africa Day Celebration Competition!

The challenge…
The three schools which share videos, photos or written submissions of their Africa Day Celebration activities (which should fall into one of the following categories: visual art, song, dance, poetry, creative writing or drama)

The Prize…
A literacy prize which consists of 36 full colour Shine Games and a selection of story books.

Does your school have what it takes for this Africa Month challenge?

Share your videos, written submissions or photographs.

Email: [email protected] by 26 May 2023.

A performance to remember! 🎭

The loxion mobile library. , a youth founded initiative that supports children’s reading and literacy skills in Vrygrond and the surrounding communities, partnered with Shine Literacy to bring stories to life through an energetic and vibrant acting performance by the team of the book “Yes Yanga.” (Written by and illustrated by )

Photo credit:

World Book Day. - All for the love of reading and books!💫

Shine Literacy, in collaboration with Otto Foundation South Africa and The loxion mobile library., and The Little Issue SA , ends the month of April on a high note.

In celebration of World Book Day, Shine Literacy hosted an event filled with stories, books, and story acting that sparked imaginations.

Learners experienced the joy of reading through online platforms, creating their own stories, being read aloud to, and watching stories come alive and acted out by the Loxion Mobile Library Team.

The Otto Foundation's Sunflower Library is another world where books and joy meet. At the heart of the library is the tree of life, surrounded by books and stories for children to become lost in. A truly magical space where learners were read to by the librarian who manages the beautiful space.

It’s through collaborations that we can inspire and equip South African schools, homes, and communities to promote and model positive reading cultures.

A special thank you to our proud event sponsor of the gift bags for the learners, Santam Insurance

Shine Literacy held a Family Literacy Workshop on Saturday, 22 April, at Ottery Road Methodist Primary School.

Forty-three parents attended the event. The programme showed parents how to support literacy learning at home. Parents were filled with appreciation for the support that they had received.

One parent commented: "We had a wonderful time, and we did learn a lot. Now I can read the right way with my kids, and the time I thought I didn't have, it was right in front of me. I only lacked knowledge. Thank you so much. I am looking forward to another meeting."

World Book Day is all about celebrating the love of reading and books!

Shine Literacy, the Otto Foundation South Africa and The loxion mobile library. are joining forces to host a special World Book Day for the Grade 1s, 2s and 3s from Zonnebloem Boys and Zonnebloem Girls Schools.

A special day lined up with books, dramatized stories, reading, and online story sites.

The children will also be treated to a gift bag with a book, crayons, a Nal'ibali reading supplement, The Little Issue SA and a list of the websites and resources introduced to learners. Santam Insurance is an event sponsor and the gift bags wouldn’t have been possible without their generosity.

This event is part of our Creating a Culture of Reading (CCR) Programme, which seeks to inspire and equip South African schools, homes, and communities to promote and model positive reading cultures in order to improve literacy outcomes for young children from low-income communities.

At the end of last year, Shine partnered with Slingshot Media to create new Paired and Shared Reading videos in three languages: English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa.

These videos show parents and caregivers, teacher assistants and other interested parties how to conduct a picture walk before a paired reading session, how to read the text together during a paired reading session and how to conduct a shared reading or read-aloud session.

These reading methods, when practiced regularly, support learner comprehension, vocabulary development, reading fluency, and reading accuracy.

Thank you to the Otto Foundation South Africa for the use of the Sunflower Library for these videos. The videos are available on our Shine Literacy YouTube page and can be used and shared freely.

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/

Doing Good Feels Good!

Doing a good deed should be as easy as breathing, smiling or simply taking that first step.

Sunday, the 16th of April, we celebrate a day to beam out a smile and open our hearts. Let’s do it together 😊

Making a difference every day is a good deed indeed! 🌈

Don’t have a MySchool card? You can easily join:
🖍️ Online https://www.myschool.co.za/portal/register
🖍️ Download the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet App
🖍️ SMS ‘JOIN’ to 31231
🖍️ Email [email protected] to link your Woolworths card to MySchool

Shine Literacy thanks all our MySchool supporters. As we celebrate Good Deeds Day, help us to combat illiteracy in South Africa.

Make every swipe count! 🌈

Last week Shine Literacy trainers spent the day with the Loxion Mobile Library team taking them through two components of the Shine Literacy Hour: Shine Literacy games and 'Have a go Writing'.

The .mobi_npc team was trained in the other components of Paired Reading and Shared Reading, last month and now they are equipped to provide holistic, balanced literacy support. Loxion uses the Shine Literacy Hour activities with its after-school enrichment programme. They visit creches, playgrounds, and community spaces to reach children.

We believe that Loxion's hands-on approach to literacy development in their community is helping children from Vryground to read and write at age-appropriate levels and creating a culture of reading in the community.

Shine Literacy is proud to be associated with this exciting initiative!

Education is not a privilege. It is a human right

This Human Rights month, we celebrate and raise awareness of the Human Rights of Children.

We take a moment to reflect on all those who struggled, fought, and sacrificed for our liberation and the rights we have in our country today.

21 March 1960, 69 people died and 180 were wounded when police fired on a peaceful crowd that had gathered in protest against the Pass law at Sharpville. Human Rights Day is important to us as South Africa’s as it reminds us to keep heroes’ memories alive, urges us to fight for better futures and it challenges us to do better.

“Every human being has the right to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities”- UNESCO

Shine Literacy launched a new Chapter in Reiger Park, Boksburg, specifically at Lakeside Primary School.

Shine in Boksburg, a Chapter partner organisation of Shine Literacy, opened its second Chapter in the Reiger Park community, where their first Chapter at Goede Hoop Primary is also located.

“ We are super excited to be opening our second literacy Chapter at Lakeside Primary School in 2023. We will launch helping 100 learners at Lakeside Primary School, which is a great start!

Our long-term goal for the Reiger Park community is to have a literacy programme in all four of the primary schools. This would mean that we would be able to help 1000 learners each year with their reading and writing skills.

We are grateful for the support and guidance we continue to receive from Shine Literacy. It is fantastic to partner with an organisation that shares the same passion as we do! "-Michael Zietsman, Chapter Manager, Lakeside Primary School.

International Mother Language Day is an annual event celebrated around the world on 21st February to promote linguistic and cultural diversity. The day was first proclaimed by the UNESCO in November 1999 and celebrated in 2000.

The purpose of the celebration is to promote solidarity between people who speak different languages and celebrate linguistic diversity. The day aims to focus attention on linguistic human rights and the promotion of linguistic and cultural diversity around the world. It's also a time to remember those who have lost their lives fighting for their language.

Our Story-time with Shine Mobi-Site has provided all children access to books in mother-tongue languages. The Mobi-Site helps children to hear books being read in their mother tongue and can then read the same book in English; which has helped tremendously with comprehension. Www.shineliteracy.org.za/read

The site allows children to listen to or read storybooks in a choice of seven languages. There are currently more than 35 different titles available with more stories being added regularly.

Research has shown that the benefits of learning in one’s mother tongue early in school help reduce dropouts, making learning more engaging, meaningful, and fun for children. Not only do they benefit from mother tongue instructions but also in performing better in their secondary language.

Everyone is encouraged to celebrate the day in as many languages as possible as well as a reminder that linguistic diversity and multilingualism are essential for sustainable development.

The Western Cape Literacy Association of South Africa (LITASA) held its AGM on Thursday, 16 February.

After the usual AGM report on activities, financial report and information about LITASA's national conference and membership. Dr. Emmanuel Taban, a prominent pulmonologist, author, former refugee, and winner of the Africa Person of the year 2021 award spoke about overcoming challenges and his personal journey to becoming a published author.

Thereafter, Haroon Mahomed, the Deputy Director General of WCED Curriculum and Assessment shared the WC Reading Strategy, which led to a robust discussion, questions and answers. Xolisa Guzula was nominated and awarded the position of Vice-Chair of the WC LITASA Branch while Thando Mkoyi will continue in his role as the Chair and Ben Rycroft continues in his role as treasurer.

We are hiring!

Shine Literacy is a non-profit organisation with the vision to create a culture of reading in order to build a nation of readers.

The board is looking for an inspirational leader to take over from the founding director who is retiring after more than 20 years. The successful candidate will ensure the organisation continues to grow and make a positive impact on the education of South African children.

Follow the link below to apply!

https://ngopulse.net/opportunity/executive-director-5/

Love is the only thing you get more of by giving it away!

February is also known as the month of love, and not only do we get to celebrate the 14th of Valentine’s day, but we can also celebrate love, friendship, and happiness.

There are so many things to do and ways to celebrate!

Give back this Valentine’s Month by signing up for a Blue card and proudly swipe with your heart at any Myschool partners nationwide with Shine Literacy as your beneficiary and continue making a difference without costing you anything extra.

Sign Up:
Online https://www.myschool.co.za/portal/register
Download the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet App
SMS ‘JOIN’ to 31231
SMS ‘LINK’ to 31231 to link your Woolworths card to MySchool

Swipe your MySchool card at 👇 for Valentine’s Day gift ideas
https://www.woolworths.co.za/dept/Valentine-s-Day/_/N-19cmn64
https://www.loot.co.za/browse/vpt

Shine Literacy thanks all our MySchool supporters. As we spread the love, also spread the word to others to help us to combat illiteracy in South Africa.

The Literacy Association of South Africa WC AGM is seeking to join hands with individuals and organisations with a shared vision.

LITASA is a volunteer-run member body with the primary purpose of promoting literacy. The Western Cape branch is committed to growing our reach and impact by growing our membership, reach and offerings.

Come along to the Annual General Meeting to learn more about LITASA and the WC Conference being held in 2024 and how you can benefit from the membership.

Date: Thursday 16 February 2023

Time: 15h30 to 17h00

Venue: Bertha House, 67-69 Main Road, Mowbray,7705, Cape Town, SA

RSVP to [email protected]

DEIB stands for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.

It is an extensive concept, but we define it as being intentional about making spaces representative. To make sure all voices feel included in these spaces, and that people are treated not equally, but equitably taking into consideration their diverse identities and lived experiences, and lastly that there is a sense of belonging for all.

For Shine Literacy, DEIB entails intentionally diversifying our team, stakeholders, and service providers, bringing an equitable lens to our decision-making, ensuring that our programmes, policies and priorities are inclusive and cultivating a sense of belonging within the Shine Literacy community.

World Read Aloud Day is celebrated on the first Wednesday in February and takes place on the 1st of February this year.

We celebrate the joy and the power of reading aloud and focus on raising awareness of the importance of sharing stories and reading aloud as well as advocating for literacy.

Everyone is encouraged to celebrate the day by grabbing a book, magazine, or newspaper, finding an audience, and reading aloud. It also encourages parents, teachers, and caregivers to take time away from screens so they can sit down with their kids and share stories together.

Here are FIVE benefits of reading aloud:

-Reading aloud builds vocabulary.
-It increased information processing skills.
-It strengthens fluency.
-It improves comprehension and active listening.
-Reading aloud can improve working memory.

Happy Holidays!!

Thank you for believing and sharing in our vision of creating a nation of readers. We would also like to share a few highlights and stories of what you have helped us achieve this year. We hope you enjoy reading and listening as much as we enjoyed listening and compiling them from our programme implementers and participants.

We wish you a joyful, restorative and restful holiday. May you and your families have a blessed time together, and may 2023 be a fruitful and peaceful new year.

Please take note that our office is closed from the 15th of December 2022 we open on the 9th of January 2023.

Regards,
The Shine Literacy team.

We hosted our Youth4Literacy End of Year Event celebrating our Reading Partners reflecting back on the journey of taking part in our Youth4Literacy Programme. We are truly delighted to see how this programme has impacted them positively.

We wish our youth all the best as we say our goodbyes. As our in-house trainer Nosipho Waqu put it - “May they make use of every opportunity that will advance them and make the right choices on their journey ahead”.

We were also privileged to have Litha from The loxion mobile library. as our MC for the day, with his amazing energy uplifting and encouraging our youth. While also sharing some wisdom as well as all the opportunities he grabbed along the way to get him where he is today. Truly an inspiration to us all.

Our Youth 4 Literacy (Y4L) Programme operated in 21 schools with 94 Reading Partners in our partner schools, we are proud to have conducted a whopping 87 639 paired reading sessions and 2 314 shared reading sessions with children in Grades 2 and 3. A total number of 460 Reading Partners & Teacher Assistants trained in paired and shared reading were placed in schools across the Western Cape.

We thank all of our schools, amazing teachers, youth, YearBeyond , and our funding partners for making all of this possible.