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Ravensmead Secondary
Ravensmead Secondary School has established itself as one that strives for excellence in academic, sport and cultural activities. They had become increasingly dissatisfied with their learners' performance in Mathematics and therefore approached the Khanya Project for assistance - they were searching for an approach that would improve their results dramatically. They subscribe to the Khanya Project's goal to increase the number of learners choosing to take Mathematics as a subject and they believe that a partnership between them and Khanya would result in just this.A full Khanya laboratory was therefore established and the school community is dedicated to maintaining the beauty and effectiveness of their computer laboratory and media centre. This process is so high on their list of priorities that they have organised an annual carnival to generate funds for the sustainability of curriculum delivery through Information and Communications Technology. Initial fears among educators that problems with the technology or software would make them appear inadequate to their learners were quickly dispelled as educators discovered the value the technology held for them. Their new found skills, developed with the assistance of the Khanya facilitator, were useful and sessions were practical. Educators have been trained in the MicroSoft suite as well as in a host of educational software packages and the use of the Interactive Electronic Whiteboard. Planning for lessons, the delivery of lessons and all administrative work have taken on a new look at Ravensmead Secondary as everything is now done through this medium. Technology has enhanced the teaching approach at the school. Educators are able to communicate with colleagues at other schools and in other countries; they are able to do work at home and transfer it to the network either by flashdisk or by email. An important positive spin off of the developments in technology at the school has been the positive impact it has had on the self-image of the educators. This new approach to the learning experience has also resulted in a far more committed learner body. They are more involved in lessons and they have developed skills that not only enrich them but will enable them to gain meaningful employment in the job market. They are able to use the resources available to them in their Khanya laboratory for research and they do a great deal of revision in the laboratory with the aim of dramatically improving their results. The organised and disciplined work ethic that has been created in the laboratory has permeated into other areas of school life too resulting in a more disciplined learner body who ‘buy in’ to the educational process they find themselves in. Ravensmead Secondary is using the technology to exchange information, particularly in mathematics and science, with other schools both locally and internationally. They have regular video conferencing with Plecgate High in England and Hottentots Holland in the Strand and mathematics learners have been afforded the opportunity of ‘attending’ lectures in Statistics from England via the Internet. Ravensmead Secondary has become a training centre for teachers from other Dinaledi schools and a local building company, seeing the positive developments at the school, has committed itself to tutoring mathematics and science learners, with an eye to providing them with skills in different jobs in the building industry and, ultimately sponsoring them through further education.
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