Help educares give SA children the start they need

In South Africa, according to Thrive by Five Index, 62% of children experience multidimensional poverty. 21.3% aged 17 or less do not live with their parents, only 32% live with both parents, and 42% live with their mothers only. Given this scenario, in the early childhood sector, it is imperative to ensure positive life skill training is open to all caregivers.

This year, our theme "Building Bloacks for Life Skills" has been our driving goal and we have worked hard to impact Parents/caregivers, Practitioners and Principals. This has ensured 2791 children in the 46 schools we support are getting positive life skill support.

The third quarter of 2025 marked an important period for Starting Chance as we celebrated the Nelson Mandela legacy through our flagship July programmes. These activities provided opportunities for parents, practitioners, and children to engage meaningfully in activities that strengthen early childhood development.

As part of our annual flagship initiative, we hosted two high-impact workshops: the Parent Workshop (12 July) and the Practitioner/Principal Workshop (27 July), both led by Dr Wanga Zembe, Senior Specialist Scientist at the South African Medical Research Council. The sessions centered on life skills development and saw strong participation and engagement.

In addition, all 46 supported schools received school resource packs, which included outdoor play equipment and games designed for all age groups, with a special focus on children aged 0–3 years. Our field team emphasized the importance of outdoor play in the first 1,000 days, encouraging practitioners to integrate it as a key component of early learning.

These workshops laid the foundation for the Family Heritage Event on 27 September 2025, which drew over 500 families from Mfuleni and surrounding communities. Practitioners showcased creative, fun, and educational Life Skills-based activities for children and parents/caregivers to enjoy. Parents expressed their appreciation for the safe and stimulating environment, noting how rare it is to have such opportunities for young children in their community.

Recognising the central role of parental involvement in early childhood education, Starting Chance launched school-based parent workshops on 30 August 2025, beginning with our Hub and Hub Plus schools. These workshops were designed to strengthen engagement between schools and families, while empowering practitioners to take on greater roles as facilitators and community leaders. The successful launch sets the foundation for expansion in 2026, where TTinT and Alumni schools will also be included.

Building strong community partnerships remains a cornerstone of Starting Chance’s strategy. We continue to strengthen collaborations with key stakeholders, including the Mfuleni ECD Forums, Mfuleni Library, Mfuleni Primary School, Nalik'amva Primary School, and Tsitsa Primary School. These partnerships position Starting Chance as a thought leader in the developmental space, ensuring that our impact extends beyond individual schools to the wider Mfuleni community

Starting Chance would like to urge friends, partners, and associates to contribute towards strengthening our position as a thought leader and collaborative partner to the Mfuleni community. We aim for all schools under the Starting Chance umbrella to participate in the school-based parent workshops. As an organisation, we provide take-home packs for parents, containing practical resources they can use at home to stimulate their children’s learning and growth.

Your continued support is deeply appreciated as we mobilise the community to value the importance of early childhood education—ensuring that every child is given a starting chance.

Links:

• Training Programme

At Starting Chance, we remain deeply committed to empowering ECD Principals—many of whom are also the founders and managers of their centres. These individuals often began their journeys providing aftercare services or childcare from informal setups, driven by necessity rather than formal training. While many have since obtained Level 4 or Diploma qualifications from ECD colleges, these credentials alone are not sufficient to equip them with the full spectrum of skills needed to lead thriving schools. Gaps remain in key areas such as financial management, administrative capacity, leadership, and interpersonal communication.

Recognizing this, Starting Chance continues to address these challenges through our Professional Development Programme (PDP), which plays a vital role in shaping Principals into effective managers, visionary leaders, and capable communicators. We view the principal as the cornerstone of a school’s culture and performance.

Equally central to a child’s development at the ECD level are parents. Many caregivers in under-resourced communities lack access to the knowledge, tools and finance to support learning at home. Our Parent Support Programme (PSP) helps bridge this gap by empowering parents to use everyday materials—such as recyclables—to create stimulating learning environments at home.

During Q2 of 2025, Starting Chance strengthened its impact across both these critical focus areas. Our holistic model continues to empower key ECD stakeholders to provide nurturing, effective early learning experiences.

Strengthening Leadership through the Professional Development Programme (PDP)

As primary decision-makers, ECD Principals are pivotal to the success and sustainability of their centres. Our PDP continues to be a cornerstone in building their capacity as competent leaders and administrators.

Two PDP Workshops Delivered

1 March 2025 – Workshop on Team Management

This workshop focused on leadership styles—autocratic, collaborative, transformational, and servant leadership—encouraging Principals to reflect on their approaches through real-life scenarios. The session was highly interactive, sparking honest discussion and self-assessment.

 22 May 2025 – Workshop on Skilled Leadership

This session explored the essential qualities of effective leadership: vision, trust, empathy, clear communication, decisiveness, and courage. Principals left motivated to implement intentional, impactful leadership practices within their centres.

Launch of the Principals Toolkit Manual

A major milestone this quarter was the rollout of the Principals Toolkit, a comprehensive reference manual built around the S.M.A.R.T. framework:

S – Skilled Leadership and Interaction with Stakeholders

M – Management of Teams

A – Administration, Policies, Finances, and Planning

R – Resources and Infrastructure

T – Teaching Environment

 Principals welcomed this toolkit as a vital and practical resource that will guide their leadership and management practices moving forward.

During our site visits, we have witnessed meaningful change where Principals have implemented what they have learned at the workshops. There are three more workshops to follow this year.

Expanding Impact through the Parent Support Programme (PSP) through Parent Resource Workshops

Parents play a foundational role in the development of young children. To enhance their engagement and capacity, we continued to grow our Parent Support Programme (PSP) during Q2, building on the momentum of the quarterly parent workshops.

Designed as an extension of the quarterly workshops, we introduced hands-on support in  more intimate, weekday sessions aimed to equip parents with practical tools to create stimulating learning environments at home.

Despite initial concerns about attendance due to weekday scheduling, the turnout met expectations. This demonstrated a clear demand and commitment from parents to engage in their children’s learning journey. These workshops mark the beginning of a broader movement to build a Parent Community of Practice, providing a safe space for shared learning, peer support, and practical development.

The second quarter of 2025 represents a period of steady growth and meaningful expansion in Starting Chance’s programming. With increased reach and engagement among both Principals and Parents, the organisation continues to deliver on its mission to transform the quality of early childhood education through capacity building, community engagement, and strategic resource development. 

We cannot do it alone! Please consider joining us to help Parents and Principals change the lives of over 3000 children in the Mfuleni area, Cape Town.

Links:

• Training Programme