Project Summary: Co-construction of a sustainable Physical Science, Life Sciences, English and Mathematics (PLEM) support programme for High Schools
 
Project Contact Person: Jabu Bam
Contact Numbers: 041 504 4025
Email Address: Jabu.Bam@mandela.ac.za
 
What is the project about?
 
The Centre for the Community School (CCS) and Nedbank have collaborated with three high schools offering Physical Science, Life Science, English and Mathematics (PLEM). 
An inclusive, participatory approach was proposed to conceptualise a programme of support in Physical Science, Life Sciences, English and Mathematics (PLEM), for grades 10, 11, 12, which includes a thorough consultation with all relevant stakeholders during the initial phase. This approach is a collaborative and all-inclusive process, which explores the co-construction of a more sustainable program of support that will produce the desired co-constructed outcomes at the end of the project.
 
Aim of the project
 
The primary objective of this partnership is to create a stakeholder community of practice, within urban township, semi-rural and rural contexts, that will engage and co-create coherent, sustainable Physical Science, Life Sciences, English and Mathematics (PLEM) programmes for their various schools. The PLEM programme is owned by the school and supported by the multi-stakeholder partnerships.
The three schools identified formed part of a cluster of schools supported by the CCS and Nedbank in 2016 and 2017. The objective of the collaboration is to co-construct a support programme which focuses on PLEM across grades 10, 11, 12. The primary objective of the programme is to:
Allow schools to identify the type of support they need to develop a sustainable model of support for PLEM subjects within the school.
Ensure that all stakeholders commit to actively develop and support the sustainability of the programme.
Co-construct programmes that would support this development.
Co-create a mutual understanding and learning in the partnership, with the goal of informing scholarship which will support creating sustainable models of support for schools within these specific contexts.
 
Stakeholders of the project
 
The following stakeholders, from each school, who will form part of the engagement:
  • Principal
  • Educators (one educator per learning area/ per school)
  • Learners (one learner per school from grades 10,11,12 doing PLEM)
  • A representative from the School Governing Body
  • Faculty of Education staff involved with PLEM
  • Organisations involved with PLEM
  • Department of Basic Education
  • A Project Team is constituted from the above stakeholders to oversee and manage the programme.
  • The programme team comprises of:
  • The Director of the CCS and the CCS project co-ordinator
  • A principal, a parent, an educator and a member of the SGB from among the participating schools
  • Representative of the Faculty of Education (FoE), Nelson Mandela University
  • Representative of Organisations involved with PLEM
  • Representative of the Department of Basic Education