The Holiday Program at ACJ

The school holidays are usually some down time for students, teachers and volunteers alike. Not so this July, when volunteers from Thomas Rotherham College came to Gordon’s Bay to run a holiday club with GVI for some of the children of ACJ and the Nceduluntu Educare.

Their enthusiasm and energy meant that the children that came to the school each day for two weeks had a wide variety of fun, creative activities to do during their holidays.

The students spent some of their time teaching literacy and numeracy in many creative ways which the children loved. Some of my personal favourites were a detective hunt for ‘the one who done it’ – a madcap hunt for clues to track to down a bank robber; the creation of a national dance for a made-up country which had to include moves such as the ‘can can’, ‘walk like an Egyptian’ and the dance floor classic - ‘the diver’; and finally- a great way to teach multiplication- the zerosaurus- watch out for your zeros!

For three days of the two weeks, all volunteers spent time teaching nursery and Grade R children. 30 four and five year olds came across to ACJ, a brand new environment for them. Initially quietened by this and the huge amount of space they were surrounded by, they soon lost all reserve and reverted to their usual boisterous selves and ran the volunteers ragged! 200 or so games of ‘Duck Duck Goose‘ and renditions of ‘The Crocodile Song’ later and it was time to walk back over to Nceduluntu, with 30 children and accompanying volunteers singing their hearts out to ‘Everywhere we go...’

Volunteers also spent time teaching sports and rushing around in the hot winter South African sun, bringing out the competitive spirit in both the children and the volunteers. Sports culminated in a group game of ‘Around the world’ with the older students and the younger nursery children joining together in a hugely energetic mass race around the playground, a great way to end the two weeks.

GVI would like to say a huge thank you to all the volunteers and students alike that joined in with hard work and gusto and made our first ever holiday club at ACJ a huge success.

Melanie Welfare – Senior Coordinator, Gordon’s Bay

The Holiday Program at ACJ