OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2024-04-30-accounts

CharChar Literacy

(A registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation in England and Wales)

Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements For the Year Ended 30 April 2024

Charity Number: 1192510

CharChar Literacy Contents

Contents

Reference and administrative details ............................................................................................................... 3 Report of the Trustees ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Independent Examiner's report…………………………………………….…………………………………………….……………..…….13 Statement of Financial Activity for the year ended 30 April 2024 ................................................................. 14 Balance Sheet as at 30 April 2024 .................................................................................................................. 15 Notes forming part of the Financial Statements for the year ended 30 April 2024………………………….…..16-21

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

2

CharChar Literacy Reference and administrative details

Charity Registration Number: 1192510
Trustees Victoria Williamson
Nicola Mary Robertson
Andrew David White
Registered Office Ashley
Mortehoe Station Road
Woolacombe
Devon
EX34 7EZ
Independent examiner Haines Watts
Old Station House
Station Approach
Newport Street
Swindon
SN1 3DU

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

3

CharChar Literacy Trustees Report

Chair's Introduction: Building Educational Foundations Through Literacy Excellence

1UNICEF 2022 data on Malawi's primary education provides a sobering reality: “... only 12% of children who complete Grade 3 have expected reading skills for that grade, while just 19% of children aged 7-14 have foundational reading skills. Children from the bottom 60% of the wealth distribution are overrepresented in those who are not learning, making up around two-thirds of children who lack foundational reading or numeracy skills .”

CharChar Literacy’s board members, volunteers and professional staff in both the UK and Malawi, support the Ministry of Education's efforts to enhance literacy teaching and learning. CharChar focuses on strengthening foundational literacy in primary education.

While our focus is currently in Malawi, the barriers and challenges to successful literacy teaching and learning are not exclusive to Malawi. Research and experience in literacy instruction across Sub-Saharan Africa indicates common challenges in early grade reading achievement. CharChar’s lessons learned from implementing evidence-based literacy programs in Malawi could inform similar initiatives in comparable contexts, particularly regarding sustainable approaches to teacher professional development and systematic phonics instruction - which is often overlooked.

Our Strategy

Our strategy is two fold: demonstrating low-cost, high-impact literacy outcomes in the first four years of government primary schools, and using this experience to inform and support the development of national primary teacher training and government structures.

CharChar implements evidence-based foundational literacy programs in Malawi's primary education sector. Working closely with the Ministry of Education, CharChar has demonstrated effective interventions in government primary schools through systematic teacher development and targeted classroom support. The model emphasises cost-effective, sustainable approaches in a highly resource constrained sector.

Building on successful outcomes in primary schools, CharChar has expanded its impact through the Strengthening Teacher Education and Practice consortium by supporting all 22 Teacher Training Colleges to strengthen pre-service teacher preparation in foundational literacy instruction. This dual approach - supporting both in-service teachers and pre-service training - creates sustainable pathways for improving literacy outcomes across the education system.

1 https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022Malawi_Factsheet_InDesign-FINAL-2.pdf

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

4

CharChar Literacy Trustees Report

As part of our strategy we develop supplementary foundational literacy instruction materials, including

training videos to bridge theory and practice in the classroom, offering cost-effective, accessible continuous professional development (CPD) materials.

Fundraising

CharChar maintains a strong financial position as of April 2024, with charitable income reaching £120,554. We have ongoing support from two distinguished UK trusts and foundations, supplemented by public fundraising, and continued to be a valuable member of the Malawi based Strengthening Teacher Education and Practice (STEP) consortium, led by a globally renowned US University which has continued to increase our exposure and funding.

Safeguarding

During the year we trained, and retrained new staff in our safeguarding policy. In this reporting period we are pleased to confirm that CharChar has encountered no safeguarding issues. Our unwavering commitment to ensuring a safe and secure environment for all children and adults we work with remains paramount.

CharChar Literacy CIO

CharChar Literacy, a CIO, supported all aspects of the field work. Trustees have been involved in all decision making, finance, reporting etc.

During the year we have had three funding streams which supported organisational impacts. We recruited professional UK volunteers to enhance the Malawi Education Field Officer’s practical training sessions for student teachers, in-service teachers and teacher educators utilising a Demonstration School and its connected Teacher Training Institution, Emmanuel University.

CharChar Literacy now needs to consider how to manage the high turn-over of UK volunteers. New funding will need to be accompanied with paid-for positions in the UK to achieve continuity and less pressure on Trustees. The existing volunteers and Trustees managed the workload adequately, during the year and we continue to use a reputable company of outsourced accountants with significant experience in Africa.

Objectives and Activities

The charity's primary purpose at the current time is improving literacy levels of underprivileged children in Malawi by improving teaching. Our approaches include:

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

5

CharChar Literacy Trustees Report

CharChar confirms its trustees have considered and taken into account the guidance provided by the Charity Commission regarding public benefit aspects, demonstrating clear and tangible benefits to the public through our charitable activities.

Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity's work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.

Highlights and impacts

Working in Malawi through a small local team we have:

At the Demonstration school

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

6

CharChar Literacy Trustees Report

Nationally with the STEP consortium[2] CharChar

Figure 1. Preview of end of the academic year 2023-2024 Demonstration School Gender Disaggregated Learner Results

2 Strengthening Teacher Education and Practice

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

7

CharChar Literacy Trustees Report

Analysis of the gender disaggregated data from the end of the 2023-2024 academic year shows girls’ and boys’ progress is in line with expectations. Across a large data set we would expect to see girls outperform boys in the early stages of their education journey, as we see here in the graph above for Standards 1 and 2 where girls out-performed boys in every test.

The purpose of foundational literacy is to commence and develop fluency in reading, with comprehension.

For the non-specialist reader, foundational literacy development follows a systematic progression, beginning with phonological awareness - the ability to recognise and manipulate sounds in spoken words. This provides the foundation for introducing letter-sound, letter-name relationships (phoneme-grapheme correspondence), where children learn individual letter sounds and how these combine to make words.

Through phonics instruction these skills are developed where children learn to blend and segment sounds to read (decode) simple words, typically starting with CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words such as ‘cat’. Simultaneously, they develop phonemic awareness, I.e. learning to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds in words. Children also learn high-frequency words, both decodable (E.g. 'it', 'and', 'on') and those requiring sight recognition, such as 'the', 'was'.

The CharChar model supports the development of these components, with fun demonstrations using songs, actions, games and real objects to build reading fluency and comprehension.

Writing development occurs alongside reading, with children learning to write (encode) sounds into written words. All these elements are taught through systematic, explicit instruction with opportunities for practice in meaningful contexts.

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

8

CharChar Literacy Trustees Report

This progression ensures children develop the technical and broader language comprehension skills needed for effective reading and writing.

The assessment data demonstrates exceptionally positive outcomes in the preliminary steps.

Figure 2. Comparative (non-intervention) Results.

In Figure 2 we examine the data for letter sounds and letter names. Teaching the letter sounds, as mentioned above, is critical for literacy development. Comparing data from the Demonstration School literacy intervention with national data we can see a high average score of 90% for letter sounds was achieved in Standard 1 in 2023 with the literacy intervention. These children are learning to read and write with confidence. Children at the Demonstration School who had not received the literacy intervention, who were in Standard 4 ([1] except during whole school assemblies) achieved a much lower score of 31%, although this is higher than the national test data scores for Standards 2 and 4, of 13% and 24% respectively.

The children who received this project intervention benefitted from a solid introduction to foundational literacy that has the potential to change the course of their education. English is the language of instruction from Standard 5 onwards, commonly this is when large numbers of children drop out of school due to the English language barrier. Longitudinal research on educational attainment and life outcomes is recommended to demonstrate actual long-term impacts.

Financial Review

Results for the period

CharChar Literacy maintains a strong financial position at the conclusion of the financial period in April 2024 holding net assets of £56,082 (2023 £71,319).

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

9

CharChar Literacy Trustees Report

Restricted funds amounted to £17,417 (2023 £32,732) and unrestricted funds were £38,665 (2023 £38,587).

Reserves policy

The level of reserves is monitored and reviewed by the Trustees annually. The Trustees approved a 20% reserve policy against annual budget (income) which was achieved.

Going concern

The Trustees have assessed whether the use of the going concern assumption is appropriate in preparing these accounts. The Trustees have made this assessment in respect to a period of at least one period from the date of approval of these accounts.

The Trustees of the Charity have concluded that there are no material uncertainties related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the ability of the Charity to continue as a going concern. The Trustees are of the opinion that the Charity will have sufficient resources to meet its liabilities as they fall due.

Future Plans

Future plans include collaborative work with new partners both on the funding side and implementation.

We look to move away from an exclusive volunteer model to remunerated part or full time positions for sustainability.

We will continue our focus on foundational literacy as this is CharChar Literacy's unique contribution. CCL's demonstrated improvements in children's foundational literacy scores (e.g. 433% increase over baseline in one year) is based on the critical path to literacy and understanding of what works well in very low resourced, oversubscribed, government primary schools. Our approach is highly effective but hardly mentioned in mainstream literature as an effective solution to improving the unacceptable low literacy rates in the region.

We will continue our operations in Malawi and the region as opportunity for support arises.

Structure, Governance and Management

CharChar Literacy is constituted as a CIO. Each Trustee is either appointed from a pre-existing voluntary management position or directly in both cases by being voted onto the board by Trustees.

Trustees’ responsibilities statement

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England & Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

10

CharChar Literacy Trustees Report

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and financial information included on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

This report was approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by

Andrew White

Chair of the Board of Trustees

Date: 27th February 2025

The photographs in Annex 1 below represent CharChar Literacy’s work, embodying the vision, mission and values:

Vision

We envisage a world where literacy and numeracy provide individuals the opportunity to become socially engaged citizens who creatively and productively contribute to their communities and transform the countries in which they live.

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

11

CharChar Literacy Trustees Report

Mission

CharChar works collaboratively to strengthen the education systems that cultivate an environment of literacy and numeracy through child-centred teaching and learning, educational training and development, community connections and research.

Our Values

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

12

CharChar Literacy Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating income and expenditure) for the year ended 30 April 2024

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of CharChar Literacy

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the company for the year ended 30 April 2024 which are set out on pages 14 to 21.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your company’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

  3. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

  4. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

S Plumb ACA

ICAEW Haines Watts Old Station House Station Approach Newport Street Swindon SN1 3DU

Date: 5 March 2025

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

13

CharChar Literacy Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating income and expenditure) for the year ended 30 April 2024

Note
s
Income and endowments from:
Donations and legacies
2
Investments
3
Total income and endowments
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
4
Total expenditure
Net income/(expenditure)
Transfers between funds
9
Net movement of funds
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward
9
Total funds carried forward		 Unrestricte
d
Restricted
Total
Funds
Total
Funds
2024
2024
2024
2023
£
£
£
£
253
120,202
120,455
138,029
99
-
99
215
352
120,202
120,554
138,244
274
135,517
135,791
116,601
274
135,517
135,791
116,601
78
(15,315)
(15,237)
21,643
-
-
-
-
78
(15,315)
(15,237)
21,643
38,587
32,732
71,319
49,676
38,665
17,417
56,082
71,319

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses in the year. All incoming resources and resources expended derive from continuing activities.

The notes on pages 16 to 21 form part of the financial statements.

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

14

CharChar Literacy Balance Sheet as at 30 April 2024

Notes
Current Assets
Cash at bank and in hand
5
Debtors
6
Creditors: Amounts falling due with one year
7
Net current assets/(liabilities)
Net assets/(liabilities)
Funds
Restricted funds
9
Unrestricted funds
9
Total Funds		 2024
2023
£
£
54,574
36,763
17,721
48,174
72,295
84,937
16,213
13,618
56,082
71,319
56,082
71,319
17,417
32,732
38,665
38,587
56,082
71,319

The financial statements were approved by the Trustees on the 27th February 2025 and signed on their behalf by:

Andrew White Chair of the Board of Trustees

The notes on pages 16 to 21 form part of the financial statements.

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

15

CharChar Literacy

1) Accounting Policies

(a) General information and basis of preparation of financial statements

CharChar Literacy is a CIO registered under number 1192510 with the Charities Commission in England and Wales. It is a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102, it is domiciled in England and Wales and its registered address is at Ashley,Mortehoe Station Road, Woolacombe, Devon, EX34 7EZ.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006 and UK Generally Accepted Account Practice.

The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policies below or in the notes of the accounts.

The financial statements are presented in sterling which is the functional currency of the charity and rounded to the nearest £.

(b) Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

The preparation of financial statements in compliance with FRS102 requires the use of certain critical accounting estimates/ It also requires management to exercise judgement in applying the company’s accounting policies.

The following accounting policies have been applied:

(c) Assessment of going concern

The Trustees have assessed whether the use of the going concern assumption is appropriate in preparing these accounts. The Trustees have made this assessment in respect to a period of at least 12months from the date of approval of these accounts.

The Trustees of the Charity have concluded that there are no material uncertainties related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the ability of the Charity to continue as a going concern.

(d) Cash flow statement

The financial statements do not include a cash flow statement because the Charity, as a small reporting entity, is exempt from the requirement to produce a statement under Accounting and Reporting by charities Statement of Recommended Practice (Charites SORP (FRS 102)).

(e) Income

Income is recognised in the period in which the Charity is entitled to receipt, the amount can be measured reliably and it is probable that income will be received. Where income relates to future periods, this income will be deferred. Grants and donations received for the general purposes of the charitable company are included as unrestricted funds, grants and donations for activities restricted by the wishes of the donor are taken to restricted funds.

(f) Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the Charity to make payment to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in the settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

Expenditure is included in the accounts on an accrual basis and included attributable VAT, which cannot be recovered.

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

16

CharChar Literacy

(g) Debtors and prepayments

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discounts and less any provisions for non-recoverability. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any discounts.

(h) Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably.

(i) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value

(j) Tax

The charity is an exempt charity within the meaning of schedule 3 of the Charities Act 2011 and is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes.

The charity is not registered for VAT purposes.

2) Income from donations and grants

Donations
Grants
)Income from investments
Interest receivable		 Unrestricte
d
Restricte
d
2024
Total
Unrestricte
d
Restricte
d
2023
Total
£
£
£
£
£
£
253
-
253
5,844
-
5,844
-
120,202
120,202
-
132,185
132,185
253
120,202
120,455
5,844
132,185
138,029
Unrestricte
d
Restricte
d
2024
Total
Unrestricte
d
Restricte
d
2023
Total
£
£
£
£
£
£
99
-
99
215
-
215
99
-
99
215
-
215

3) Income from investments

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

17

CharChar Literacy

4) Expenditure analysis of charitable and support costs

Audit fees
IT costs
Office costs
Other costs
Other professional fees
Outsourced staff function and
consultancy costs
Travel, accommodation and
subsistence
Trustee expenses
Volunteer costs
Total		 Fundraisin
g
Charitabl
e Activity
Support
Costs
Governanc
e Costs
2024
Total
2023
Total
£
£
£
£
£
£
-
5,202
-
-
5,202
1,680
-
203
1
-
204
3,264
-
6,051
16
-
6,067
17,747
-
650
-
80
-
570
2,774
-
18,080
103
-
18,183
17,669
-
98,153
-
-
98,153
46,240
-
5,081
111
-
5,192
15,119
-
-
-
-
-
9,712
-
2,220
-
-
2,220
2,396
-
135,640
151
-
135,791
116,601

5) Employee and Trustees remuneration and expenses

No Trustees received any emoluments for their services as Trustees during the period. One Trustee was reimbursed for travel and related expenses incurred during 2022, during the establishment of the STEP Programme (reimbursed 2024: £9,748).

The charity did not employ anyone during the year (or prior year). Support was provided through partner organisations or consultants.

Key management personnel include all persons that have authority and responsibility for planning, directing and controlling the activities of the charity. The total compensation paid to key management personnel for services provided to the charity was £Nil (2023: £Nil).

6) Debtors and prepayments

Prepayments and accrued income
Other debtors		 2024
2023
£
£
17,721
43,174
-
5,000
17,721
48,174

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

18

CharChar Literacy

7) Creditors: Falling due within one year

Trade Creditors
Accruals and deferred income		 2024
2023
£
£
1,824
10,230
14,389
3,388
16,213
13,618

8) Taxation

As a charity, CharChar Literacy, is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or s256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects. No tax charges have arisen in the Charity.

9) Movement in Funds

Current Year:
Restricted Funds
UK Trust
USA State University
UK Foundation
Unrestricted Funds
Total Funds		 At 1 May
2023
Incoming
Resources
Outgoing
Resources
Transfers and
investment gains/
(losses)
At 30
April 2024
£
£
£
£
£
6,689
-
(6,454)
-
235
20,085
120,202
(126,527)
-
13,760
5,958
-
(2,536)
-
3,422
32,732
120,202
(135,517)
-
17,417
38,587
352
(274)
-
38,665
38,587
352
(274)
-
38,665
71,319
120,554
(135,791)
-
56,082

Purpose of Restricted Funds:

CharChar Literacy was registered as a CIO in 2020, and the objectives follow the original interests of The CharChar Trust UK, and commitment to education, peace, and reducing poverty in developing countries and helping to develop teaching practices.

The restricted funds CharChar Literacy has received from a UK Foundation, a UK Trust and a University in the United States receiving USAID funds have all been utilised for the purpose of CharChar Literacy’s charitable objectives.

The UK Trust and UK Foundation support provided primary teacher coaching and mentoring in foundational literacy teaching at the Demonstration School to Emmanuel University (EmUni). CharChar Literacy enhanced this work remotely by supporting with Volunteer Consultants who assisted the Senior Education Officer in lecturing at EmUni on foundational literacy topics.

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

19

CharChar Literacy

Under the USAID funding CCL supported training of Foundational Literacy in all teacher training colleges, and systems development support in government for improved literacy in the government primary teacher training sector. CCL also supported some programme staff with a professional coach, and other CharChar Volunteer support time provided a high level of in-kind support to the programme, including administration of the project.

Prior Year:
Restricted Funds
UK Trust
USA State University
UK Foundation
Unrestricted Funds
Total Funds		 At 1 May
2022
Incoming
Resources
Outgoing
Resources
Transfers and
investment gains/
(losses)
At 30
April 2023
£
£
£
£
£
10,000
(3,311)
-
6,689
122,185
(102,100)
-
20,085
10,000
-
(4,042)
-
5,958
10,000
132,185
(109,453)
-
32,732
39,676
6,059
(7,148)
-
38,587
39,676
6,059
(7,148)
-
38,587
49,676
138,244
(116,601)
-
71,319

10) Analysis of net assets between funds

Current Year:
Fund balances at30 April 2024are represented by:
Current assets
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Prior Year:
Fund balances at30 April 2023are represented by:
Current assets
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
Funds
£
£
£
54,878
17,417
72,295
(16,213)
-
(16,213)
38,665
17,417
56,082
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
Funds
£
£
£
52,205
32,732
84,937
(13,618)
(13,618)
38,587
32,732
71,319

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

20

CharChar Literacy

11) Related Party Transactions

There were no other related party transactions during the period that ended 30 April 2024.

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

21

Annex I

Photographs from the project

1. Integration with EmUni

Phunziro Mphwina, Head of Languages at EmUni together with CharChar Senior Education Officer Andrew Mchisa

Andrew oversees the loading of a truck of CharChar resources from EmUni storage for delivery to 20 rural government primary schools: the EmUni Teaching Practice Schools.

Prepared by ExcluServ LtdPage 22

CharChar Literacy

On delivery at a Teaching Practice Primary School, the flat-packs are constructed into bright, durable and lockable boxes. Each of the 20 teaching practice schools is now well-stocked with literacy resources in their boxes. These schools will need support for the regular government teaching staff to be able to fully utilise the resources. Teaching Practice student teachers will be able to use the resources to a greater extent.

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

23

CharChar Literacy

EmUni Student teachers prepare teaching and learning resources for phonics teaching, during the lectures provided by the Senior Education Officer

EmUni Student Teachers take notes during a lecture by the CharChar Senior Education Officer

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

24

CharChar Literacy

The Senior Education Officer, Andrew Mchisa, demonstrates a literacy lesson for Standard 4 in the Demonstration School, observed (and photographed by) Student Teachers from EmUni.

  1. Linking CharChar’s work with the Strengthening Teacher Education and Practice programme.

A CharChar training video from the Demonstration School used during the Foundational Literacy Course for all primary language teacher educators.

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

25

CharChar Literacy

3. A Selection of Activities at the Demonstration School

(i) Connecting the work at the Demonstration School with the wider community

An important component of the Demonstration School work was the engagement of the parents and guardians, and wider community. In June 2022, CharChar supported the school to hold a ‘Reading Fair’, an open day to showcase the children’s literacy progress to the community. In response to the children’s presentations, the parents and guardians, often with low literacy themselves, commented that they were astounded by their children’s progress.

A parent addresses other families from the community on an open day

“In our community we have appreciated the introduction of this project. We have witnessed for ourselves that our children are able to read and write even in Standard 1 and Standard 2 for the first time ." (Translated from a Parent Representative from the school community).

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

26

CharChar Literacy

Andrew explains the importance of foundational litearcy and how to support children with literacy activities at home. His message is tailored for parents and guardians with low literacy. Parents and guardians with low literacy lack the confidence to support their children, disadvantaging them further.

(ii) The Literacy Specialist Team, CPD, Resources

Pictured from left to right: Andrew, Senior Education Officer; Florence, Volunteer Literacy Specialist Teacher (Standard 3); Thandi, The Waterloo Foundation supported Volunteer Literacy Specialist Teacher (Standard 2); and Constance, Volunteer Literacy Specialist Teacher (Standard 1).

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

27

CharChar Literacy

Pictured from left to right: Thandi, Constance, Florence and Andrew during CPD on how to use the CharChar Literacy flash cards that are among the teaching and learning resources in CharChar boxes.

Celebrating the hand-over of foundational literacy teaching and learning resources at the Demonstration School.

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

28

CharChar Literacy

Thandi practices teaching short vowel sounds, initially to a small group of Standard 2 learners, as part of her continuous professional development

(iii) Whole School Assemblies on foundational literacy – an innovative way to reach additional learners

Andrew provides fun and memorable whole school assemblies on literacy topics, with songs, actions, and ‘marching on the spot’. This assembly was about short and long vowel sounds.

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

29

CharChar Literacy

Children in Malawi are familiar with stories of the hippopotamus. Andrew presents this decodable word in a wholeschool assembly.

Literacy Specialist Teacher, Thandi, uses CharChar books for a reading activity

Prepared by ExcluServ Ltd

30