The MCO involves the implementation of a blended (online and classroom learning) Maths Curriculum in the school, with weekly online, curriculum-aligned exercises and standardised, termly assessments.
An award-winning maths programme, that is supporting over 150 000 pupils across South Africa, has been implemented at Loeriesfontein Primary School.
The Maths Curriculum Online (MCO) programme was implemented across Grade 4 to Grade 7 during the first term and will continue when the school resumes, following the national lockdown. It is part of Khobab Wind Farm’s socio-economic development programme and is aimed at improving maths achievement and outcomes in the primary school.
The MCO involves the implementation of a blended (online and classroom learning) Maths Curriculum in the school, with weekly online, curriculum-aligned exercises and standardised, termly assessments. Training and development of the Maths teachers took place during January 2020, enabling the programme to kick off during the first term already.
The school management team will also receive support to ensure that maths teachers can implement the curriculum progress data produced by the programme, all of which is to be shared with the Namakwa District and the Northern Cape Department of Education Officials.
“Teachers in the school have been trained and undertaken site visits to schools in the Western Cape that have implemented the programme. The Loeriesfontein maths teachers have been encouraged to integrate the programme into the schools’ Maths Curriculum, which is something they have taken on-board and are very excited about. The Namakwa District and Hantam Circuit managers for Education have also approved the implementation of the programme. Ongoing support and monitoring of the implementation of the MCO and integration in the primary school takes place on a regular basis,” explained Vanessa Fredericks, Economic Development Manager for Loeriesfontein Wind Farm and Khobab Wind Farm.
Fredericks added that during the first year, the focus would be on the implementation of the weekly exercises, with the standardised assessments being introduced on a timetable agreed with the school principal and the Northern Cape Department of Education.
“Pupils have individual login’s to MCO to be able to access the weekly online exercises. This means that both pupils and teachers then receive immediate feedback in real-time, whilst standardised data is provided through termly assessments that benchmark pupil progress,” Fredericks said.
“Furthermore, data from the weekly activities and termly assessments are aggregated, and online visualisations of pupil data is provided to teachers, school managements and education officials. Pupils can track their own progress through the immediate feedback.”
She stated that Khobab Wind Farm was proud to be able to do something pro-active to address this educational challenge in order to help future generations be better prepared to contribute to the demands of the local and global economy.
