Last Friday, the second Intensive Training Workshop for kindergarten teachers, headteachers and Ghana Education Service officers came to a successful end. The participants particularly enjoyed the practical, activity-based nature of this workshop. They also enjoyed learning new songs, rhymes and poems related to the new theme introduced at the workshop, ‘All About Me’.

Phonics, along with the new theme and general development of children’s literacy skills, was a key focus of the four-day workshop. By the end of the four days the teachers said that they felt ready to start introducing phonics to their children. The participants learnt how to make and use a wide variety of resources that will help them to teach phonics in their classrooms, such as talk walls, talk tables and alphabet friezes (featuring pictures for each letter of the alphabet).

The trainers from Holy Child College of Education have come on in leaps and bounds since the beginning of term. Many participants commended the trainers for their effective facilitation of the workshop and for establishing good relations between themselves and the participants.

On the final afternoon of the workshop, while teachers were busy making resources for the new theme, Sabre team members held a short forum with the Circuit Supervisors and Headteachers to share ideas and best practices. This also provided a platform to address emerging issues related to programme implementation in the schools. Here is some of the excellent feedback gathered:

‘Children from fishing communities who in previous terms were absenting themselves during the fishing season don’t want to absent themselves any longer due to the exciting and stimulating activities in their classrooms.’(Headteacher of Essawa MA, Sekondi-Takoradi Metro)

‘Teachers who were not doing well in my circuit in terms of creating a child-friendly environment have changed because they now know what to do each day.’ (Circuit Supervisor of Old Daboase, Shama District)

‘I have a child in my school who is a special needs child and I always wondered why her parents didn’t send her to a school for children with special needs, but now that we are on the Fast-track Transformational Teacher Training programme, that child can write her own name and is always beaming with smiles in the class.’ (Headteacher of Yabiw Methodist Kindergarten, Shama District)

These comments were all very encouraging to hear and show that everyone’s hard work is yielding results in the classrooms. It is clear that the participants want to implement the programme to the best of their ability in order to provide brighter futures for the children.

Even the Holy Child College of Education mentee teachers (student teachers), who were not part of the Intensive Training Workshop, have shown their readiness to implement the new theme ‘All About Me’ alongside their mentor teachers. Some of them were spotted making their way to school this week, laden with empty cardboard boxes for making resources to implement ‘All About Me’.

Well done to all participants for your continued hard work and enthusiasm!