Third Term Newsletter

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts"
Winston Churchill

It has been another brilliant term of rugby, soccer, a cycle challenge, market days, learning, sharing and growing. 

What gets us up in the morning is being able to give our children a safe and supportive environment to learn new skills and access new opportunities.

This term, we partnered with the fantastic team at Capitec. Volunteers from Capitec's retail, marketing and financial education divisions gave up their time to run entrepreneurial workshops with our U13s each Friday afternoon. They worked through a series of marketing-related modules, which included creating a business idea, identifying needs and target markets, financial literacy and marketing a business.

Skills required to be an entrepreneur include hard work, effective communication and resilience after disappointment. We tested these skills, hosting VUSA's first Market Day in conjunction with our first 7s tournament at the Langa Sports Grounds. Shoprite / Checkers, as always, invested generously in the children's small business, as did Nomu. Our first Market Day was launched on 3 September, a freezing, rainy, windy day. The children gave it their all and, most importantly, had a fantastic time selling their wares, from pot plants to pancakes. Thank you to everyone who supported this event. 

Mid-Year Newsletter

"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."
Frederick Douglass
 

Langa is a vibrant place; it is a community with talent and creativity in abundance, but it is also afflicted with poverty and all the stressors that go with it. Many of our VUSA children live in challenging social environments, and this environment shapes the way our children think, feel and behave.

In recent years we have worked closely with and learned a great deal from Waves for Change Founders Tim Conibear and Finlay Kettlewell, who use surfing as a therapy tool to address mental health challenges in the same way VUSA uses sport. They have helped us increase our understanding of mental health and the core pillars of our programmes that improve the emotional, psychological and physical well-being of our participants.

The key to our success has been in mobilising passionate coaches; men and women who our children trust and whose consistency and dependability make our children feel safe. Research has shown that supportive and caring relationships are vital in reshaping the brain and the responses to stress, resulting in improved self-regulation, decreased risky behaviour, and improved peer relations and academic performance.

A New Chapter

Education matters because it's the shortest way in which one can transcend social classes. Bonang Mohale

Langa is a Xhosa word meaning 'sun’. Langa was established in 1919 after the first wave of the Spanish Flu (1918) highlighted the terrible conditions in which some people were living near the N2. Forward to 2022 and another pandemic has hit the world and Langa residents are still experiencing hardship. Unemployment rates are at an all-time high, children are dropping out of school and those that are not, are experiencing over-crowded classrooms and learning in a second language, with minimal ECD intervention.

Team work makes the dreamwork

The first lesson we teach our young players when they join the VUSA programme is about the power of team-work. We all have a common goal and our chances of achieving it are far greater if we work together. This is one of the many life-skills taught in rugby that we know will benefit the children for life. If you glance through our newsletter below, you will see some wonderful work that has been carried out this quarter. This work has only been possible because of our partnerships with incredible people who have shared our vision and have joined the 'team' to create a bigger impact.

We are hiring

Opportunity closing date:

Friday, 26 November, 2021

Opportunity type:

Employment

We are a small NPO and wish to employ a qualified English as a second language (ESL) teacher to provide English language lessons to Grade 4 Students in the Langa community. The ESL teacher will be responsible for planning lessons and activities, adopting a creative approach, and encouraging and motivating students to transition from mother tongue learning to English.
This project will support 5 schools in Langa and lessons will take place on a mobile classroom (a bus which has been converted into an IT classroom fitted with 40 laptops and 2 teaching stations) and will run from Monday – Friday (1 day at each school) from 8-2.30.

ESL Teacher Job Description
We are a small NPO and wish to employ a qualified ESL teacher to provide English language lessons to Grade 4 Students in the Langa community. The ESL teacher will be responsible for planning lessons and activities, adopting a creative approach, and encouraging and motivating students to transition from mother tongue learning to English.
This project will support 5 schools in Langa and lessons will take place on a mobile classroom (a bus which has been converted into an IT classroom fitted with 40 laptops and 2 teaching stations) and will run from Monday – Friday (1 day at each school) from 8-2.30.
 
ESL Teacher Responsibilities:

  • Conducting activities and lessons based on ESL teaching methodologies.

  • Encouraging and engaging students to speak in English.

  • Motivating students and creating a pleasant learning environment.

  • Displaying excellent classroom management.

  • Keeping accurate records of student performance.

  • Communicating with the heads and staff at the schools you will be supporting as well as VUSA Management.

 
ESL Teacher Requirements:

  • A Bachelor's Teaching degree / relevant TEFL Certification.

  • Excellent command of the English language and Maths concepts

  • Speaking Xhosa an advantage

  • A good understanding of technology

  • Police Clearance certificate will be required along with contactable references

 
Please forward your CV to nmatthews@vusarugbyacademy.com

Location:

Cape Town

Another chapter

What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.

Nelson Mandela

It is the little things we see each day that truly demonstrate the impact our programmes have on our VUSA children. It is witnessing a child's sense of accomplishment when they work through a challenging Maths sum, or seeing a child walk a little more confidently after scoring his first try.

Bishops rugby.jpeg

And We're off

"OUT OF ADVERSITY, COMES OPPORTUNITY" BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

The day has finally arrived - the launch of the VUSA Mobile Library. A pipe dream that has finally become a reality.

Our little tuk-tuk library will visit 3 registered ECD centres each day filled with books and puzzles. The programme is driven by Lungile Moferi, the most wonderful man, and as a father himself, he has brought a special element to our reading programme. His interaction with the children is gentle and warm and his engagement with the children is a massive part of what this programme is all about - so much of doing this work is the ability to connect with the children.