Excite ECD Conference Oct 2008

I am very happy to report on a successful 2008 conference. I was feeling quite stressed before and during the conference, because as usual I did not delegate enough of the tasks to others and felt quite overwhelmed –message to self “DELEGATE!” I was also very disappointed by the low turnout from our Khayelitsha community. We did advertise long in advance of the conference, but I hear from Mdebuka that there was another Grade R training session happening in Cape Town, and that some teachers were not able to come as they were needed at their Educares. This poses the question of whether we need to have the next Conference on a weekend or in the school holidays.
I felt that the program was well put together, but quite full and that we did not have enough time for practical exercises and small group work. I also know that the Xhosa speaking delegates struggled with so much English- next year we will have more Xhosa presentations and a translator available.

We were very excited that a group of primary school children were able to join us and act out a play that they wrote themselves on Child Abuse.

The cost of the Conference was approximately R4,500.
I have included some of the comments from the conference, which were very helpful.
• What was the best moment of the conference?
o The DVD Movie
o Learning more things
o The conference was very special to me and I learn a lot
o The DVD shown me how to treat children and at home, I want to tell my community that we must protect children
o I am excited to use the Persona Doll approach with my children
o The story of Ishaan on the movie was very special
o The best session was on Child Protection, and I am excited about the Child Protection Policy
o The conference was very special
o We were encouraged to do our best for educating young children
o The Persona Doll workshop was best
o The movie of the boy with dyslexia
o Everything!
Did the whole Excite conference meet you expectations and was it relevant to your needs?
o Yes, very much so
o Yes, I was given tools to be sensitive towards all people, especially children
o I am going back to my centre full of pride and I am going to make a difference
o Yes, especially the movie
o Yes, it was well presented and understandable
o I would like more practical experience with the Persona Dolls
o The Children’s act session could be improved.
o It made me more aware of children’s’ needs
o Keep us up to date with what is happening in ECD
Do you feel the need for another conference in future? If yes, what suggestions would you give?
o I would suggest the conference be in September because October and November are very busy
o It would be great to have a certificate of attendance
o I would like more info on opening and operating an Educare
o We need more practical sessions and exercises to keep alert and awake
o You must invite parents and community leaders
o Please have an interpreter available on all the sessions
o Please include more videos
o Please have more practical activities