Lizelle R

SACSSA Regional Athletics Day – Cape Town

Registration for SACSSA’s regional athletics day in Cape Town is open!
A new event on the program is 100m relay for ages 12 and up. We need 4 athletes per age group to be able to enter a team. If we do not have sufficient entries in an age group we will unfortunately not be able to enter a team for that age group.
Dates: 10 February 2024
Venue: Curro Durbanville High School
Time: 08h00 – 16h30
Costs: R200 per athlete (R210 for entries after 30 January, no entry after 1 February)
Entries close: 1 February 2024
Dress code: Plain white T-shirt with dark blue or black shorts. CHE will provide a CHE sticker for your t-shirt.
List of events per age group are available at https://www.capehomeed.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/ATHLETICS-EVENTS-LIST-2024-CT.pdf
Program: SACSSA-regionals-Durbanville-program
– if you’d like to volunteer as an official please let me know
Children born in 2005-2018 may enter.
Please complete the online registration at https://forms.gle/h339sY5NsyeKNRa56
You need to send proof of payment to athletics.che@gmail.com within 24 hours to complete your registration.

EFT payments can be made to:

• Bank: ABSA
• Account name: Cape Home Educators
• Account number: 4089098115
• Type of account: Cheque account
• Branch code: 632005
• Reference: your email address
Entries close: 1 February 2024. Proof of payment needs to reach us no later than 2 February 2024.
No late entries will be accepted!!!!
General info:
1. Please ensure that you are at the venue 30 minutes before your child’s first event as you need to get the CHE sticker and the children need to be lined-up before being taken onto the field.
2. The CHE will have an area to all sit together. Look out for our CHE gazebos
3. Athletes only compete once (no finals are run at the regional meet)
4. The top 6 athletes from each event progress to the Provincial Meet (on 9 March 2024 at Curro Durbanvill High School). You need to enter and pay for this separately. We will send out results once it is available.
5. No medals are awarded at the Regional Meet as this is only a qualifier for the Provincial meet.
Dress code and stickers
– White shirt with dark blue or black shorts
– CHE sticker on left of chest (please collect your sticker at the CHE gazebos)
– Event stickers. Please note you need to provide your own event stickers. A separate sticker is needed for each event as the officials take these at the end of the event to determine placings.
Parents please ensure that athletes have their stickers on when they report for their events. Book name label stickers work well.

Please remember to bring a sticker/label for each event your child(ren) will be taking part in. If you forget we will be selling stickers/labels at R5 each.
Please note the stickers for each child also needs to show their school (in our case Cape Home Educators). Example:
John Doe 10 years
Cape Home Educators
Long jump
Age is their age on 31 December 2024 eg for children born in 2014 it will be 10. If the student is 9 turning 10 this year, he/she is 10 years old! AGE GROUP 16 AND 17 ARE ENTERED AS 17 (Youth). AGE GROUP 18 AND 19 ARE ENTERED AS 19 (Junior).
Officials
We need to provide an official for every 6 athletes entered. We have added a R50 officials fee to the entry fee to rent officials. Please help us by volunteering as an official (you will then be paid for the day’s work).
Officials please wear a white shirt and white/navy/black pants.
By Lizelle R, ago

AGM Invitation to Members

Dear CHE Members

Notice of AGM for members of Cape Home Educators

You are invited to CHE’s Annual General Meeting to be held on:
16 September 2023
10:00
Digteby Estate Clubhouse, Vlottenburg Road, Stellenbosch
RSVP by 9 September 2023 to capehomeed@gmail.com

Please note that we will meet in person and that you must please RSVP If you are going to attend, we need the numbers to make arrangements for catering.

CHE is experiencing problems with sending out newsletters via our website. While trying to find a solution for this, please help us by sharing this invitation to Western Cape based home education groups and friends.

CHE members are welcome to come to the AGM.

Upon receiving your RSVP to join the AGM, you will receive confirmation of attendance and the agenda for the meeting.

Looking forward to seeing you at the AGM!
Marietjie Ueckermann
Chairperson
Cape Home Educators

By Lizelle R, ago

Feedback on parliamentary deliberations

Dear fellow Home educators

We are receiving so many questions and comments after yesterday’s parliamentary deliberations.

Uncertainty of what the process going forward entails and some just seeking assurance, being
overwhelmed by fear.

What happens next?

  1. The clauses will be rewritten to incorporate the changes decided upon. When this is finalised, the document (A-list) will be sent to the PCBE.
  2. The PCBE will meet to vote on the A-list on 1 September.
  3. Thereafter it will proceed to the National Council and from there to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).
  4. The public has another chance to participate (details to follow but it will either be by public hearings or by written submissions).
  5. If approved, it is sent to the president to sign.

    On public participation:
    Cape Home Educators wrote to the Secretariat of the PCBE asking permission that participants be allowed to add written comments to our oral submissions at the public hearings, because 3 minutes was insufficient to deal with the complexities of the bill. We were refused on the grounds that participants all ready had the chance to make written submissions.

    If those written submissions, 9 501 emails, have not been processed/included into the report, how can this process be deemed to be giving justice to the constitutional requirement of public participation? Then parliament is not facilitating public participation by considering EVERY submission.

    We are awaiting the outcome regarding the unprocessed 9 501written submissions that had to be taken into account before the PCBE should have started their deliberations.

    Clause 37 accepted as is:
    Although it was decided to accept clause 37 “as is”, it will be reworded/rephrased to give clarity on certain details. It was decided that:
  • the independent assessor can be any professionally accredited person appointed by the parent, including an educational psychologist.
  • We have Mr. Ndlebe on record admitting that the DBE doesn’t know how to assess home educators.
  • Home visits don’t have to be at home, it can be in a public place and will only be performed in exceptional circumstances.
  • We have Mr. Ndlebe on record that the DBE don’t have the capacity to visit each home.
  • In the definitions, the definition of Basic education will be changed to include freedom of curriculum choice.
  • After each phase it must be demonstrated that learning took place in accordance with the curriculum followed. The curriculum must not be at a lower standard than CAPS.

    Thank you to each home educator warrior who are still fighting with us. Don’t loose faith or hope!

    I want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Mrs.Sukers from the ACDP, Mr. Nodada and Ms. Van Zyl from the DA and to Dr. Boshof from the Freedom Front+ for their ferocity in representing our concerns amidst very hostile deliberations.

    Should we be fearful?
    I’m reminded of the story of David and Goliath, in 1 Samuel 17. The similarities are evident.

    The armies of Saul was defeated by fear, but David was indignant that Goliath dared to mock God. Be like David.

    Go rest, be replenished in prayer, and then clothed with the armour of God, lets go forth bravely to honour God and defeat this giant.

    Marietjie Ueckermann
    Chairperson
    Cape Home Educators
    18 August 2023
By Lizelle R, ago

SACSSA Regional Athletics Day 2023

Dates: 11 March2023
Venue: Jan Kriel School, Kuilsriver
Time: 08h30 – 16h00
Costs: R210 per athlete
Entries close: 28 February 2023
Dress code: Plain white T-shirt with dark blue or black shorts (athletes will be given a CHE team sticker to wear on their shirts on the day.)
List of events per age group can be downloaded at: https://www.capehomeed.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/ATHLETICS-EVENTS-LIST-2023.pdf

– if you’d like to volunteer as an official please let us know at athletics.che@gmail.com

Children born in 2004-2017 may enter.

Please complete the online registration at https://forms.gle/HwcZ3CDEedGSTGSq9
You need to send proof of payment to athletics.che@gmail.com within 48 hours to complete your registration.

We still have some CHE caps (R130 each) available. Please email athletics.che@gmail.com if you would like to buy some.
There is also a regional meeting on 25 February in Mosselbay. If you would like to enter for that meeting please contact Jannie Nel at jannie-nel@hotmail.com for more info.
EFT payments can be made to:
• Bank: ABSA
• Account name: Cape Home Educators
• Account number: 4089098115
• Type of account: Cheque account
• Branch code: 632005
• Reference: your e-mail address
Entries close: 28 February. Proof of payment needs to reach us no later than 2 March 2023
No late entries will be accepted!!!!

Google Map = https://goo.gl/maps/u5EcAEZ4YCvnAyGK7
General info:
1. Please ensure that you are at the venue 30 minutes before your child’s first event as you need to get the CHE sticker and the children need to be lined-up before being taken onto the field.
2. The CHE will have an area to all sit together. Look out for our CHE gazebos
3. The final program will only be sent out once SACSSA has received all entries. We will e-mail this to all the athletes once we’ve received it.
4. Athletes only compete once (no finals are run at the regional meet)
5. The top 8 athletes from each event progress to the Provincial Meet at Van Riebeek Sport Complex, Mossel Bay on 15 April 2023. You need to enter and pay for this separately. We will send out results once it is available.
6. No medals are awarded at the Regional Meet as this is only a qualifier for the Provincial meet.
Dress code and stickers
– White shirt with dark blue or black shorts
– CHE sticker on left of chest (please collect your sticker at the CHE gazebo)
– Event stickers. Please note you need to provide your own event stickers. A separate sticker is needed for each event as the officials take these at the end of the event to determine placings.
Parents please ensure that athletes have their stickers on when they report for their events. Book name label stickers work well.

Please remember to bring a sticker/label for each event your child(ren) will be taking part in. If you forget we will be selling stickers/labels at R5 each.
Please note the stickers for each child also needs to show their school (in our case Cape Home Educators). Example:
John Doe 10 years
Cape Home Educators
High jump

Age is their age on 31 December 2023 eg for children born in 2013 it will be 10. If the student is 9 turning 10 this year, he/she is 10 years old! AGE GROUP 16 AND 17 ARE ENTERED AS 17 (Youth). AGE GROUP 18 AND 19 ARE ENTERED AS 19 (Junior).

If you are unsure about the stickers, simply ensure that your child brings empty ones along. We will have a list with the age groups and events for all our athletes at the CHE table. And can help them on the day.
Officials
We need to provide an official for every 6 athletes entered. We have added a R50 officials fee to the entry fee to rent officials. Please help us by volunteering as an official (you will then be paid for the day’s work).

Officials please wear a white shirt and white/navy/black pants.
By Lizelle R, ago

SACSSA Regional Athletics Day

Our annual athletics day is back! Join the CHE team that will be taking part at this meeting. The regional meeting is a great opportunity to get the athletics feel without the pressure of a competitive meeting. Only heats are run, with the top 8 athletes from each event progressing to the Provincial Meet on 12 March, where medals will be awarded.

Date: 19 February 2022
Venue: Jan Kriel School, Kuilsriver
Time: 08h30 – 16h00
Costs:  R180 per athlete (R190 for entries after 4 February, no entry after 10 February)
Entries close: 10 February 2022
Dress code: Plain white T-shirt with dark blue or black shorts (athletes will be given a CHE team sticker to wear on their shirts on the day.)

List of events per age group: https://www.capehomeed.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ATHLETICS-EVENTS-LIST-2022.pdf

– if you’d like to volunteer as an official please let me know

Children born in 2003-2016 may enter.

Please complete the online registration at https://forms.gle/DZzkVemN8D3Hxz8P9

You need to send proof of payment to athletics.che@gmail.com within 48 hours to complete your registration. If you still have credit from 2020’s event please confirm the amount due.

There is also a regional meeting on 26 February in Mosselbay (Entries close on 18 February). If you would like to enter for that meeting please contact Jannie Nel at jannie-nel@hotmail.com for more info.

We have CHE caps and hats available to order that can be collected at the athletics meeting. Orders close 28 January. To order please complete https://forms.gle/VAsQy99jpENy7y4T6

EFT payments can be made to:

• Bank: ABSA
• Account name: Cape Home Educators
• Account number: 4089098115
• Type of account: Cheque account
• Branch code: 632005
• Reference: your e-mail address

Entries close: 10 February.  Proof of payment needs to reach us no later than 11 February 2022

No late entries will be accepted!!!!


General info:

1. Please ensure that you are at the venue 30 minutes before your child’s first event as you need to get the CHE sticker and the children need to be lined-up before being taken onto the field.
2. The CHE will have an area to all sit together. Look out for our CHE gazebos
3. The final program will only be sent out once SACSSA has received all entries. We will e-mail this to all the athletes once we’ve received it.
4. Athletes only compete once (no finals are run at the regional meet)
5. The top 8 athletes from each event progress to the Provincial Meet on 12 March, again at Jan Kriel School, Kuilsriver. You need to enter and pay for this separately. We will send out results once it is available. 
6. No medals are awarded at the Regional Meet as this is only a qualifier for the Provincial meet.

Dress code and stickers

– White shirt with dark blue or black shorts
– CHE sticker on left of chest (please collect your sticker at the CHE gazebo)
– Event stickers. Please note you need to provide your own event stickers. A separate sticker is needed for each event as the officials take these at the end of the event to determine placings.
Parents please ensure that athletes have their stickers on when they report for their events. Book name label stickers work well.

Please remember to bring a sticker/label for each event your child(ren) will be taking part in. If you forget we will be selling stickers/labels at R5 each.

Please note the stickers for each child also needs to show their school (in our case Cape Home Educators). Example:

John Doe            10 years
Cape Home Educators
High jump

Age is their age on 31 December 2021 eg for children born in 2012 it will be 10. If the student is 9 turning 10 this year, he/she is 10 years old! AGE GROUP 16 AND 17 ARE ENTERED AS 17 (Youth). AGE GROUP 18 AND 19 ARE ENTERED AS 19 (Junior).

If you are unsure about the stickers, simply ensure that your child brings empty ones along. We will have a list with the age groups and events for all our athletes at the CHE table. And can help them on the day.

Officials
We need to provide an official for every 6 athletes entered. We have added a R50 officials fee to the entry fee to rent officials. Please help us by volunteering as an official (you will then be paid for the day’s work).

Officials please wear a white shirt and white/navy/black pants.

By Lizelle R, ago

SACSSA Regional / National Athletics 2 October 2021 Oudtshoorn

The Oudtshoorn Regional Meeting event times/distances can be used to enter SACSSA’s Virtual National Athletics


Please note that the venue had to be moved to Oudtshoorn for the 2nd October 2021 SACSSA Regional/National Athletics. Due to the new level 2 rules WPCSSA will have a full normal Athletics Meeting. This means more officials and events available for athletes to enter.

VENUE: De Jager Sport Complex, Oudtshoorn
DATE: Saturday, 2 October 2021 
REGIONAL ENTRY FEE: R155 + R50 officials fee (R205 Total)
NATIONALS ENTRY FEE: Regional Entry fee plus R30 extra per event entered for the SACSSA Nationals Meeting
CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES: 21 September 2021

List of events available per age group (Age of athlete on 31 December 2021). More info regarding entry for the SACSSA National Meeting available at https://www.capehomeed.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Competition-Rules-1.doc

To enter please send the athletes name and surname, Date of birth and events they want to enter for the regional as well as national athletics along with proof of payment to athletics.che@gmail.com no later than 21 September.

EFT payments can be made to:

• Bank: ABSA

• Account name: Cape Home Educators

• Account number: 4089098115

• Type of account: Cheque account

• Branch code: 632005

• Reference: your e-mail address

By Lizelle R, ago

FEEDBACK OF CAPE HOME EDUCATORS (CHE) MEETINGS WITH THE WESTERN CAPE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT (WCED) IN THE SECOND AND THIRD QUARTER OF 2021

From our first meeting with Minister Schäfer, we set out to establish a working consultative relationship built on mutual trust between CHE and the WCED. We wanted to understand the concerns the WCED, and the DBE have regarding home education and repeatedly asked for a list of the concerns that the department officials and the BELA Bill task team are trying to address through legislation. We unfortunately never received this list. This made it difficult to discuss alternative solutions in the following meetings, but we used the opportunities to raise our concerns with the BELA bill.

Our engagement with the WCED was not to give any form of legitimacy to any regulations pertaining to home education, but to alert them to the fact that current legislation should be retracted, and the proposed legislation should be redrafted to not only fairly reflect the practice of home education, but to also be implementable.

Our view is that the DBE should consider more than a total revision of Section 51 of the BELA Bill. It is not only Section 51 that is the problem. The fact that home education, a system that is totally different from school education, is regulated in the South African Schools Act (SASA) creates a situation that is like regulating bicycle transport in the trains act. We asked for a total review of the entire education regulatory framework so that it makes ample provision for education that is outside of the school system.

Research findings obtained from the Impact of the BELA Bill survey were shared with delegates from the WCED and we gave evidence why the requirements set out in the BELA Bill do not touch base with the practice of home education. We pointed out that the proposed regulations are in direct conflict with the philosophy and pedagogy of home education and highlighted that the bill creates serious misgivings and raises reasonable doubt about whether Section 51 will be practically implementable.

We presented research on alternative education in the hopes that it will be easier for learning centres, cottage schools and alternative education centres to register with the WCED. Small schools and centres are not home education, but they offer a service to the home education community, especially in providing learning assistance (tutors) and as a way to transition from home education to the school system.

Adv. Sarah Pudifin-Jones presented a legal opinion on home visits as we questioned how this requirement would infringe upon the constitutional right to privacy.

In our meetings, we asked that instead of using a legal solution to solve an educational problem we jointly craft an educational solution based on thorough research. Together we should work on a policy that is research led.

Throughout, our goal was to encourage the department to realise that Section 51 of the BELA Bill cannot be fixed with small amendments, as it is fundamentally flawed because it was not based upon research on home education. It is our opinion that SASA is not the appropriate act within which to regulate home education and that all regulations pertaining to home education should be disregarded and an alternative regulatory framework be drafted after thorough research and in consultation with home educators.

The Liberty in Learning Coalition and several other home educators have already workshopped alternative regulatory frameworks and would be very happy to work with the department should this become an option they are willing to investigate.

The education landscape changed fundamentally since 2020. Covid-19 brought disruption and uncertainty, but it also brought a new perspective and opportunity for change. The traditional school system could not realise the right to a basic education. Some schools scrambled to devise ways in which to continue to provide a basic education and Zoom classes, online schools, educational YouTube channels, and tutoring apps came to the fore. Others had to close their doors and hope to be able to catch up when the situation improves. Home education on the other hand, with its flexible curricula and approaches could weather the storm and with a few quick adaptations, continued to provide learners with a basic education.

It was the innovations tried and tested for distance education and home education that became solutions to the problems of the mainstream system. Therefore, home education, as an incubator for innovation and improvement should not be tied and restricted to fit into the traditional school system, merely for the convenience of administrators!

We hope that our engagement with the WCED will have an impact on the education sector. And we trust that this series of meetings will have a positive effect on legislation pertaining to home education. If engagement does not lead to change it is not engagement at all.

By Lizelle R, ago

Cape Home Educators Meeting with Western Cape Education Department (WCED): Minister Debbie Schäfer

On the 4th May 2021, Cape Home Educators attended a formal meeting with the WCED in Cape Town.

     The meeting was requested by the WCED in response to Cape Home Educators letter written to Debbie Schäfer outlining urgent concerns regarding the section 51 on Home Education in the BELA Bill, as it currently stands would severely restrict the freedom of home educators. In the letter, CHE also requested that the WCED meet with CHE representatives to discuss these concerns. CHE also asked for representation on the Education Council of the Western Cape.

     CHE invited the Pestalozzi Trust to the meeting. Pestalozzi Trust recently compiled a document, ‘The Impact of the BELA Bill’, which is based on research. Christopher Cordeiro, representing LearnFree, presented the research. He joined the meeting online from Johannesburg. Cape Home Educators gave a brief introduction of both it’s history and members, and introduced the Liberty in Learning Coalition.

     In our meeting we asked for WCED to engage home education representatives in an atmosphere of mutual trust, as this would be a pre-requisite for a successful collaborative relationship for future meetings. Pestalozzi Trust representative, Bouwe van der Eems made mention of home educators’ concerns regarding the BELA Bill. These concerns include: The application process of registration for home education, Curriculum choice, Monitoring and assessments, and Home visits. An alternative regulatory framework was proposed to address these concerns.

     Many home educators are concerned with the current Home Education section in the BELA Bill and how this will infringe on both their constitutional rights, as well as limiting their freedom to choose in the best interest of their children. Any section in the Bill that directs the methods and limitations of home education should be formulated in co-operation with home education representatives and those with expert knowledge of home education.

     Minister of Education in the Western Cape, Debbie Schäfer, has agreed to a follow up meeting with CHE. We hope that together, we can formulate a policy that will best support home educators while allowing government to work within the parameters of their basic requirements. The details of how these are practically catered for are of utmost importance.

      Minister Schäfer has agreed that CHE will have representation on the Education Council for the Western Cape which will enable us to determine these co-operatively. There has also been agreement to present our concerns at the Council of Education Ministers (CEM).

     We are excited about this positive step moving forward for all Home Educators.

     If you have not yet done so, we encourage you to join and support the associations in your region, such as Cape Home Educators (CHE) and special interest groups in the Liberty in Learning Coalition.

To join Cape Home Educators: https://www.capehomeed.co.za/join-che/

To find out more about Liberty in Learning: https://www.liberty-in-learning.org/


In the photo (left to right):
Advocate Lynn Coleridge-Zils (WCED)
Mr. Deon Louw (WCED)
Mr. Ian De Vega (WCED)
Liete van der Eems (Home Education Alumni Association, invited by CHE)
Marietjie Ueckermann (CHE Chairperson)
Bouwe van der Eems (Pestalozzi Trust, invited by CHE)
Tess Simmonds (CHE Secretary).
Western Cape Education Minister Debbie Schäfer

Christopher Cordeiro from LearnFree joined us online from JHB.


By Lizelle R, ago