Ms Nozipho Mvubu is a new qualified teacher (ECD) teaching grade R at Bhongo Primary. She is passionate about her work, hardworking, calm and her heart is a hundred percent committed to what she does. She is creative, a critical thinker and organized – her classroom environment speaks for itself. The principal at Bhongo Primary highly commends Ms Mvubu’s positive attitude but mostly her humility. The principal mentioned how lucky she is to have Ms Mvubu as a teacher, noting that even parents prefer their children to enrol in her class having seen the impact on learner achievement under her care. “Give her any task, she’ll excel at it,” says the principal.
Ms Mvubu’s exemplary teaching skills became evident when Ms Hlengiwe Mfeka visited her class as part of a professional development and support programme being rolled out by SchoolNet and funded by the Pinetown Rotary Club. Hlengiwe noticed that the lesson included all aspects of a great lesson:
• A pleasant class environment
• Learner discipline wrapped with love and care
• Free-spirited learners participating actively in all given tasks and with determination
• Learner-centred approach
• Learners comfortable working in teams and sharing (which is uncommon with young kids)
• Good use of digital tools, relevant and age appropriate apps
• Good teaching strategies which remained inclusive
The principal reported that after Ms Mvubu had attended the ‘Using Digital Resources in the Classroom’ professional development session she had given a moving presentation to all her colleagues on the staff sharing some of what she had learnt. It had not ended there; Ms Mvubu began to use the knowledge and skills from the course – and has not looked back. She continues to develop herself by searching the internet, continuously referring to the training materials provided. She brings her family’s old and new cell phones to school to be used by her learners. She has created a WhatsApp group for her the parents of her learners’ so that she can communicate with them and share learners artifacts and activities.
It was impressive to see young children in grade R working confidently, efficiently and effectively with cell phones and a laptop and above all enjoying themselves yet learning! Well done to Ms Nozipho Mvubu.
