Smiles, fun and games – its Shine’s Early Years leaving party !
UK and New Zealand trustees Lynley and Deborah had the pleasure of helping out with the presentation. Each child received their very own tooth brush, toothpaste, and a pencil. Agnes helped demonstrate to the children how to use a tooth brush before the balloons were released and the excited group danced across the room in great delight, with big beautiful smiles!!
The Mothers attending the ceremony numbered 30 and of those gathered only eight had finished their primary education. Shine Early Years is doing a wonderful job as it encourages more and more families to start early with their children’s education, giving them the head start they need.
The trustees saw for themselves how difficult it is for the children during their visit to the local primary schools, where Standard One classes sizes reach over 150 children.
18 children received certificates celebrating their big move to primary school.
Anthony who heads up the Student Bursary which supports students through Secondary School and onto DAPP College in Blantyre, has been with Shine Relief for 7 years and recently set up the Shine After Schools program which takes place every day from 2-4pm and has been a great source of encouragement to many children across our area. Currently, it has between 40-50 children attending each day for 2 hours. We believe such groups will make a big difference to the children’s education as they are so eager to learn and love coming!
Beatrice, who is one of our Early Years teachers, is now also helping the After School children at Shine Village. She has been with Shine for nearly six years – starting as a student on Shine’s Bursary scheme in 2011 Beatrice has such a love for reading and takes books from shine library to read with her own children who attend the local primary school! Beatrice is such fun to be around -always smiling and a natural with the children.
