Based at Rhodes University, the CSD is a self-funded institute which falls under the Faculty of Education. Its primary function is ensuring early childhood development of children from conception to the age of about nine within their households, neighbourhoods and ECD programmes and schools.

The Centre for Social Development celebrated the astonishing achievements of two colleagues, Ms Johanna Muroa who serves as a BEd Coordinator, and Ms Tabisa Booi, the Funda Wande () and Coordinator for the Advanced Certificate programme.

WELCOME & OPENING Kwanda Ndoda (Innovation Manager, DG Murray Trust) Kanda Ndoda welcomed the audience and began by discussing a critical study released by Datadrive2030 on positive deviance. He recommended this as essential reading for anyone interested in achieving quality ECD. The study resulted from years of work, during which data was collected using the Early Learning Outcomes Measure (ELOM). The ELOM assessed children's school readiness across five key learning domains. The concept of positive deviance arose from outliers in the ELOM data. These children had significantly outperformed their peers within the same socio-economic quintiles. Ndoda challenged the audience to close their eyes and reflect on the ECD services they supported or were associated with. As he described the attributes of the outliers, he encouraged the audience to think about which characteristics were present in their own ECD centres. He suggested that these attributes might explain why the outliers excelled compared to their peers.

2nd Annual Spelling Bee Invitation.

The Centre for Social Development (CSD), situated at Rhodes University, hosted a graduation ceremony at the 1820 Settlers’ Monument on 10 October, for 93 candidates who were awarded a National Diploma in Early Childhood Education (ECD).

As part of the president’s efforts to curb the youth unemployment rate in South Africa, he implemented the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI) across the country’s Universities. Rhodes University is amongst these institutions of higher learning that are participating in this initiative and it has eagerly welcomed 61 unemployed graduates from the Eastern Cape. This initiative was implemented to give unemployed new graduates an opportunity to work as interns and gain meaningful work experience as this is often a requirement in the job market in South Africa.

The CSD is excited to welcome back, on campus, its part-time, in-service BEd FP students for the first time since January 2020!

The 2nd cohort of ACEFL students finally graduated after 2 years of hard work amid all the challenges of the pandemic brought about by Covid-19.

Takalani Sesame Play to Learn Certification Ceremony

The FINAL deadline for B.Ed applications in approaching! (26/11/2021)

The Centre for Social Development in the Faculty of Education at Rhodes University is looking to appoint lecturers to contribute towards its highly acclaimed Advanced Certificate in Foundation Phase Literacy Teaching, as well as it’s well respected part-time BEd in Foundation Phase courses. The requirements are as follows:

As the first accredited course in South Africa focusing specifically on the knowledge and skills to teach early literacy, Rhodes University’s new Advanced Certificate in Foundation Phase Literacy Teaching has received high ratings from external examiners.

From 26 - 29 August 2021, CSD launched the Makhanda BookDashX project in collaboration with Amazwi South African Museum of Literature.

The Book Sharing Award Ceremony was held on Monday 30 August 2021 at B B Zondani Hall.

The Right to Read and Write Campaign

CSD invites you to share local books.

HCI Funder

CSD 40 Year Anniversary Save the Date

Due to the national Alert Level 4 lockdown restrictions, CSD had to change the 10-day July training for the BEd students from face-to-face to online teaching.

Congratulations to CSD's Dean's List Students

The HCI Foundation project aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education

Read Lucy's full Blog Post here: https://centreforsocialdevelopment.wordpress.com/2021/05/12/how-covid-opened-our-eyes-to-the-role-of-parents-as-primary-educators/?fbclid=IwAR0lyoxD094_cRS8yN0KTCjz7wMwoLGOaPNU72xqJPQzbOR6CqiaEKsycnw

CSD would like to say a big congratulations

The Takalani Male Care-givers project is a pilot

CSD Welcomes two new staff members to our team in 2021

At The Centre for Social Development (CSD) we managed to reach approximately 600 children for World Read Aloud Day this year.

CSD encourages all ECD practioners to urgently register for the President's Stimulus Relief Fund regardless of whether you are in a fully registered centre or not.

Level 5 Diploma 2021

Co-ordinator of Community Centred Programmes

Nicci and Nolly at VG for International Book Day

We invite you to take action to help every child in South Africa to reach their dreams with a solid foundation of through access to Early Childhoood Development Services.

Nicci Hayes from the Centre for Social Development talks ECD to eNCA's Tumelo Mothotoane

Join in NECDA's Campaign for real reform for ECD at www.ecdreform.org.za

Literacy progress amidst the pandemic

Fantastic news for the ECD sector as court rules this week that full subsidies and grants must be paid! Read the full judgement here:

After months of ECD centers sitting empty, ECD practitioners remaining unpaid and the full responsibility of learning having to be taken by parents and care-givers at home, the Makhanda community decided that enough was enough.

CSD Would like to say a warm welcome to our new staff members based in Uitenhage, Eastern Cape.

CSD is involved in International Literacy Day and National Book Week.

Join CSD for their: "Reopening your ECD Centre Workshop".

Grocott's Mail Opening Doors

• Decontaminate: Removal of pathogens from objects so they are safe to handle, use, or discard. “Umbrella” term for pre-cleaning followed by sanitizing, sterilizing or disinfecting

Over the past two weeks CSD staff members, Nolly Shelle, Boniwe Msimango and Vati Shelle have been distributing a total of 1000 DUPLO 6-bricks packs through 25 early childhood development (ECD) centres to more than 600 families.

Is lockdown preventing you from getting out do your usual Mandela Day service?

Over the past two weeks, the CSD Community Team has delivered 1000 packs of 6 bricks Duplo blocks along with booklets of how to use these for joyful play in the home.

The CSD team is devastated to report the passing of Mr Thuso Moss, friend, colleague and father to our staff and many many of our students.

Last week CSD delivered 846 Grocery Packs to Grahamstown residents.

CSD staff delivered 520 food parcels today sponsored by HCI and Lunchbox.

In addition to the challenges of keeping in touch with our students and continuing our courses from a distance, the CSD has been innovative, flexible and fast moving in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.

"Msifundisan'eMakhanda" In response to the Covid-19 crisis, CSD staff considered what part we could best play. Realising that there is a multitude of educational matter on the internet but that many in our communities don't have access to such material, we reached out to Sue McClennan at Grocotts' Mail and through her to Shepi Mati in the journalism department.

Masifundisan’eMakhanda: On the 25th of March the CSD community team: Nolly Shelle, Thuso Moss, and Vati Joni joined hands with Shepi Mati, audio lecturer from Rhodes Jouranalism and level 5 student Ziyanda to produce radio content in the form of stories

Part-time Lecturer Bachelor of Education (Part-time) Degree (Foundation Phase Teaching)

Congratulations to Thuso Moss

The CSD has taken a leading role in the VW Legacy Literacy Project in Uitenhage this year.

Eastern Province – Grahamstown (Makhanda)

Celebrate World Read Aloud Day 2020

A R200 000 fund, raised by staff and clients of Standard Bank. will ensure that approximately 1 200 local children up to the age of five will have ready access to water in their early childhood development centres (ECDs).

The Education Faculty was well represented at the Volkswagen Community Trust’s (VWCT) 4th Annual Literacy Conference which took place in KwaNobuhle, Uitenhage this month. Volkswagen SA has a long history of Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programmes in education. The VW Legacy Literacy Programme Project (VLLP) is an ambitious school-based literacy intervention focused on Foundation Phase of schooling in five KwaNobuhle primary schools.

The Rhodes University community is deeply saddened by the passing of Dr Allan William Buchanan Gray. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his wife, Gill, daughter Jennifer, and his two sons, William and Trevor.

CSD is also working with other amazing organizations as well! Please take a look at what they are doing and also what they offer.

The 2018 academic year started off on a positive note. The first contact session for the Eastern Cape cohort who are in their second year, was held from Monday, 8th to Friday, 12th January 2018 in the RU Education Department

Eyethu is CSD’s recycling depot and is used to inspire our teachers to make resources for their classrooms and to do exciting activities with their learners.

Monday 23 January 2017 the installation of the Wendy House Toy Library at St Mary’s started.

At the beginning of February I had an opportunity of visiting three schools in and around Grahamstown as part of the ECD Level 4 qualification.

In this report, I am going to report briefly about the activities and experience that have took place during the term of 14 to 29 June 2017. This will include successes and challenges of the workshops, training and everything that I have been doing during this period.

The BEd Co-ordinator, Ms Jenny Hodgskiss, and the School Support Facilitator (SSF), Mrs Johanna Muroa, undertook a fieldtrip to the Northern Cape from 29th to 4th June 2017. The purpose of the trip was to observe and assess teaching practice, provide support and guidance in the classroom and present a district workshop to twenty-eight funded teachers who are registered for the third year of a Bachelor of Education (Part-time) Foundation Phase Degree at Rhodes University.

Eyethu is the recycling depot at the Centre for Social Development. We recycle waste such as toilet paper rolls, yoghurt containers etc.

During the last week of the term, two schools visited the Toy Library.

On the 12th May 2017 we launched our second Toy library which is attached to St Mary’s in Grahamstown.

"Best ECD trainer of 2016"

The third year part-time students from The Northern Cape came to Rhodes University, Grahamstown, on Sunday 2 April 2017 for a contact session that lasted a week.

The third- year students from the Northern Cape attended a district workshop on Saturday, 28 January 2017 at Moffat Mission, Kuruman. Despite the long distances some students had to travel, they were all punctual and there was 100% attendance.

On Friday afternoon, 21 April 2017, CSD, celebrated the graduation of 36 students at The Monument, Grahamstown.

The first contact session of the BEd (Part-time) Foundation Phase Degree took place from 4 -7 January 2017 at the Rhodes University Education Department.

As part of the legacy of making sure that all learners in Uitenhage are functionally literate by the end of Grade 3, the Volkswagen Community Trust opened the first Literacy Centre in Uitenhage.

On the 25th of January as her lecturer, I visited Asanda Klaas in her learning site which is at Thylulwazi Pre-School.

On the week of the 30th January 2017 CSD had a contact/training session on political and socio-economic factors that impact on community development.

The Course Coordinator required the Eastern Cape Students to each write an official letter to Biblionef