2021-04-05-accounts

TYUME VALLEY SCHOOLS DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION

Registered Charity Number 1103909

ANNUAL REPORT April 2020 – March 2021

Objects

The objects of Tyume Valley Schools Development Association (TVSDA), as set out in its governing document, are to enhance educational opportunities and improve the life chances of children in the remote and impoverished Tyume Valley, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. TVSDA furthers its charitable purposes for the public benefit, by working closely with primary and secondary schools in Tyume Valley to provide additional resources, teaching and other learning opportunities, with a focus on:

• Improving children’s ability to read, write, speak and understand English language

• Introducing children to basic IT skills and vocabulary

• Involving local teachers, school principals and community members

• Promoting links between Tyume Valley schools and the wider world.

The Trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant.

Achievements and Performance

As set out in the accompanying financial report, almost all TVS’ budget is spent directly on activities to benefit children in Tyume Valley. However, as reported at the end of the last Annual Report, lockdown in South Africa was introduced on March 26[th] , 2020. This had an enormous impact on what we were able to achieve over the year. Our planned programmes came to a halt, and we had to implement new strategies and respond to the challenges of a global pandemic. With schools closed for many weeks and lockdowns in place, children were not able to meet for reading clubs or after school programmes.

Covid 19

The TVS Covid-19 Roadshow was born out of the necessity for TVS to continue with its pledge to support education in the Tyume Valley. The plan grew organically as various options were explored and considered as to how we could operate within the restrictions and regulations of the Covid-19 lockdown and subsequent closure of schools.

While most urban and private schools moved swiftly to online and blended learning platforms, these options were not viable nor conducive to the limitations of the schools in the Tyume valley.

Acutely aware that the rural learners were being left further behind from the academic opportunities of their counterparts, as they wandered aimlessly through the villages with no school to attend, TVS began to explore ways and means to reach and teach them whilst still under the restrictions of lockdown.

The objective of the TVS covid-19 roadshow was to reach and teach the learners of the Tyume valley in a fun, interactive format, aimed at easing their fears and anxieties surrounding the covid-19 pandemic together with the shortening of the academic school year, by empowering them with practical knowledge and by allowing them a safe and nurturing platform from which to express themselves in an additional language.

Initially, the eight schools, totaling 103 learners, who had been identified and prepared for this year’s Starting English programme, were presented with the Roadshow.

However, once the success of the Roadshow was established, the TVS committee decided that it would be worthwhile to reach more schools and learners within the limited time left of the 2020 school year.

Another 4 schools were identified and approached to commence the third round of the TVS Roadshow during the month of November. The total number of learners for these four schools is 122, which is more than the first two rounds of eight schools, combined.

The programme was designed to work with and reinforce lessons from the Starting English programme. so, once the schools were reopened in 2021, these learners were ready for the next step. However, the Starting English Programme was unable to restart until May 2021 (which will be covered in the next Annual Report). But in the meantime, we decided to recruit and employ young people to work alongside teachers in schools, focusing on catch-up in English.

Learning Support Assistants (LSAs)

As a result of the pandemic, many young people in SA were unemployed and TVS aimed not only to help the teachers and learners in schools, but also to provide work and training for suitable post-graduate students and others. It was important to have trainees with good English skills for speaking, reading and writing. They also needed enthusiasm and an interest in children and learning. Working with Harambee (a SA recruitment NGO) we

were able to interview and appoint ten new LSAs (though two dropped out at an early stage). The initial two-day training was written by TVS and delivered by staff in SA. This took place in January 2021 at the start of the school year.

The LSAs were deployed for two days a week in their schools for the rest of the term and the plan was to also begin providing afternoon support for the Starting English programme and reading clubs as soon as possible. They were initially paid a stipend of R225 per day and their contracts were for three months.

Despite some initial problems in schools with a lack of support from the teachers, the new recruits grew into their roles and discovered new strengths and skills. The schools had struggled considerably with post lockdown teaching. The timetables were affected, and social distancing and staff shortages had a huge impact. As a result, the teaching of English was low down on the list of priorities for most schools. The LSAs were left with large groups of different ages and abilities to teach but support was readily available from TVS staff in SA and also trustees in the UK. Communication was set up via WhatsApp and further training sessions were organised. Much of their work has continued throughout 2021, but this will be covered in the next Annual Report.

Some of the new LSAs were of a high calibre and offer potential for future TVS staff and, indeed, careers in education. TVS has given them an initial step up the ladder and without their hard work at the start of the year, the learners of Tyume Valley would not have gained as much confidence in English as their first additional language.

Reading Clubs

Due to Covid, the work of the reading clubs was unable to take place throughout much of the year. Some books were collected and cleaned and redistributed to children in the villages. But this had to be done individually as gatherings were not permitted under lockdown rules. TVS staff used some of the time to sort and collate suitable books at the Dymala library. There was also a successful application for books from Biblionef. The beginning of the school year (January 2021) saw a renewed effort to develop and grow the village Reading Clubs. The new LSAs were trained using the Nali’Bali online course. This gave them the skills and knowledge to help in villages but also to promote reading and a love of books within schools. By February/March 2021 the initial four Reading Clubs were up and running again.

Study Camps

We were unable to hold any study camps during this reporting period due to Covid restrictions.

Proposed Learning Centre

The difficulties encountered during the Covid outbreak highlighted the need for the use of ICT in teaching and learning. None of the schools in the area have access to functioning computers for use by learners and internet connectivity is extremely poor. The Trustees have been working on developing a proposal for the setting up of digitally enabled Learning Centre as a base for the introduction of blended learning programmes for teacher training and the teaching of ICT, English and Maths. Fundraising and Stakeholder engagement on this proposal has been hindered and delayed by Covid regulations but this is continuing and will be reported on in the next reporting year (2021 – 2022)

Local Partnerships

Local partnerships were severely impacted on by Covid as it was not possible to meet in person and individuals were not equipped to meet using Zoom. TVS lost a key member of its local team with the death of Nomonde Nelana, and she is much missed.

Financial Review

TVS finances took a blow from the inability of trustees and volunteers to visit South Africa and the preoccupation of funders with domestic, Covid-related, causes. We were unable to participate in The Big Give, previously one of our largest sources of income, and failed to replace the money from other sources. In the circumstances we were extremely grateful to receive grants from the Solon Foundation, South Africa, and the Chalk Cliff Trust in East Sussex and donations raised by Frankie Crouch, our runner in the Virtual London Marathon and Andrew Pledger who completed a sponsored bike ride. These, together with regular monthly giving by our supporters, enabled us to continue to pay our volunteer staff in South Africa and to deliver our very much scaled down activities.

Structure Governance and Management

Governance and Trustees

TVSDA’s governance framework is set out in its Constitution dated 02.01.2004.

During the reporting period Tim Gallier, the TVSDA joint treasurer resigned from the Board. We are grateful to him for his hard work. Claire Davies took over as Treasurer. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Trustees have met mainly online to review activities against anticipated income and expenditure. Trustees have also reviewed TVSDA’s Safeguarding, Data Protection, Equality and Diversity, Complaints and Reserves policies. Following a recruitment drive, five new Trustees have been appointed and we are extremely grateful for their expertise and support.

Volunteers

TVS relies very heavily on volunteers, both in the UK and South Africa; without their significant input, we would be unable to carry out much of our programme.

Unfortunately, due to Covid, none of our volunteers or Trustees have been able to visit South Africa this year. This has created much difficulty in communication; however, we have been fortunate to have Lydene Naylor continuing as the coordinator of TVS in SA and Vuvu Tomi as IT and Reading Club supervisor. Both also support teaching English and facilitate training sessions for teachers and LSAs.

With the help of fortnightly video calls to SA and regular reports, the work of our staff and volunteers has managed to continue successfully.

In the UK we are very grateful to Seema Naz Inamdar, who redesigned the TVS website, to Kai-Nneka Townsend, who acted as the initial project manager for the Learning Centre project, and to Mandy Caruana, who has given invaluable help in sorting out our social media accounts.

Reference and administrative Details

Charity name: Tyume Valley Schools Development Association

Registered charity number: 1103909

Charity’s principal address: 2 Old Blackfriars, Marley Lane, Battle TN33 0DQ

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity:

Maxwell Ayamba Stephanie Gallier Liz Hanks Margaret Kiloh Jim Lewis

Margaret Woodward Gaynor Cobb Stephen Muggeridge Claire Davies Wendy Hodgkinson John Hagestadt

Declaration

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

S Gallier

Margaret Kiloh Chair Date: 01/11/2021

Stephanie Gallier Secretary

Tyume Valley Schools Development Association Receipts & Payments Accounts

6th April 2020 to 5th April 2021

Receipts Donations Grants Bank interest Gift Aid Repayment Payments SA programme costs: TechLearn co-ordinator IT co-ordinator IT facilitator TechLearn programme Staff Costs Study camps School fees Vehicle expenses Donation (Kwezana) Monitoring & programme visits by UK trustees & volunteers SA administration costs UK fundraising costs UK administration costs Bank charges Total payments Net receipts Analysis of cash funds UK bank account SA bank account & petty cash Cash in transit

2020-2021

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