Khanya Maths and Science Club

Established in 2000, this club is co-ordinated and run by Mrs Joyce Sewry, with help from the staff and postgraduate students of the Chemistry Department, and Mr Humphrey Atebe, a PhD student in the Department of Education. The aim of the Club is to engender a love of Maths and Science amongst its members. The Club meets every Saturday morning from 09h00-11h00 at the Albany Museum, and lessons and workshops are presented by scientists and Chemistry students in an accessible and easy to understand manner.
Recruitment is done by staff of the Albany Museum, who invite primary schools to send two Grade 7 learners each. However, club members range from grades 6 to 12. The word is out in the community that the Club is not only fun, but helps learners with syllabus-related work. At the beginning of 2008 numbers were capped at 120. By May the numbers had decreased to a more manageable 50 learners. These learners are divided into three groups, grades 7-8, 9-10 ,and grades 11-12. The younger group is taught curriculum-based Maths and does “fun Science”, ranging from talks on a robotic dog to hands-on electricity workshops. The older group concentrates mainly on syllabus-related Maths.

In 2008 the learners went on an outing to Thomas Baines Reserve, where they walked through the reserve to a stream where they caught various insects and tadpoles and were shown how these were adapted to live in or near the water.At the end of the year a prize-giving was held at which learners who had attended regularly received a book prize and many other received certificates.