Welcome to the online home of the UCT Schools Development Unit! The SDU is passionately committed to work with educators to improve South African schools. Take a look around our site and learn more about how we are changing schools for good.
Helping the Struggling Adolescent Reader
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Statistics SA Presents Seminar for Teachers at UCT
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SDU Impresses at SA Basic Education Conference
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Teacher Enrichment Initiative Event on Wednesday, February 15
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Rosaline Makan wins the 2011 Western Cape Lifetime Achievement Teacher Award
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Teachers Doing Science in Practical Short Courses
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MSEP Learners Reach for the Stars
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Schools Development Unit's 10th Anniversary
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Jonathan Jansen sexes up education leadership
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On Saturday 21 April, Marlene Esau, Language Education Specialist at SDU, presented this short course for teachers on how to assist their learners who can be identified as reluctant and struggling readers. 
On 18 April, 2012 Desiree Timmet, Maths4stats Western Cape Co-ordinator at Statistics SA, presented a seminar for primary and secondary educators highlighting the importance and methodology of using statistics for meaningful decision making. This presentation was a collaboration of the Teacher Enrichment Initiative at the Schools Development Unit, Stats SA and the Association for Mathematics Educators in South Africa (AMESA). 
The South African Basic Education Conference took place from 2-4 April, 2012 at the ICC in Durban and was attended by seven SDU staff members, several of whom presented papers and posters about the unit's professional development projects.
Dr. Lori Assaf, Director of the Central Texas (USA) Writing Project, will present a seminar titled Using "Quick Writes" to Help Learners Discover Topics that Matter. Dr. Assaf will discuss strategies to help all learners develop the habit of writing and revision.
George teacher Mrs. Rosaline Makan, a former SDU student and programme participant, has been given the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Western Cape Education Department. 
Saturdays in October, saw science teachers from across Cape Town participate in short courses designed to prepare them to implement the new Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS). These courses aim to build competency in the design, implementation, and assessment of effective practical work. 
On Tuesday evening, October 4th, learners from the unit’s Mathematics and Science Education Project (MSEP) attended a live presentation by American astronauts. 
Professor Brahm Fleisch from the Education Leadership and Policy Studies at Wits University, addressed a packed hall of educators celebrating the Schools Development Unit’s 10th Anniversary. Professor Fleisch spoke about primary education in crisis, his analysis of existing classroom practice, and the significance of a shift in the teaching of literacy, parental involvement and also the future of professional development. 
Controversial rector and vice-chancellor of the University of the Free State, Professor Jonathan Jansen, is not one to shy away from raising a few eyebrows. Even the title of his lecture on 2 February for UCT's Schools Development Unit was designed to turn heads.