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Monday 07:00 - 16:00 Tuesday 07:00 - 16:00 Wednesday 07:00 - 16:00 Thursday 07:00 - 16:00 Friday 07:00 - 16:00

St. Mary's DCC

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St. Mary's DCC

As a community-based organization, St. Mary's Development and Care Centre seeks to build strong links

17/03/2026

🛡️✨ Building Safe Spaces for Children! ✨🛡️

St. Mary's DCC recently hosted a Protective Behaviours Workshop with our SEF participants. 💛

The training focused on two very important messages:
🌟 We all have the right to feel safe
🗣️ Keep speaking up until someone listens

Through this workshop, participants were equipped with tools to:
✔️ Help children recognise safe and unsafe situations
✔️ Understand their right to feel safe at all times
✔️ Build strong safety networks with trusted adults 🤝

Together, we are empowering children and creating communities where every child is heard, supported, and protected. 🌱💫

17/03/2026

📚✨ Our First Teacher Development Workshop! ✨📚

We were excited to kick off our Teacher Development Workshop Series! 🎉

Our first workshop focused on “GGR (Guided Group Reading)”, equipping teachers with practical tools to support reading in the classroom. 📖💡

A big thank you to Ntsikohlanga Kitsili, Lecturer in Multilingualism in the Foundation Phase at Rhodes University, for leading such an insightful and impactful session. 👏🏽

Together, we are strengthening teaching practices and creating better learning experiences for our children. 🌱

📌 See the attached poster for more upcoming workshops!

https://grocotts.ru.ac.za/2026/03/04/teachers-gain-fresh-classroom-strategies/

17/03/2026

🌟 Our Young Upstanders in Action! 🌟

Our amazing learners have been busy creating a Child-Friendly Child Protection Poster! 🖍️✨

First, they learned all about Child Protection Policy 📚 – how to stay safe and help others. Now, they’re not just keeping this knowledge to themselves… they will teach other children about staying safe throughout the year! 💪💛

This is all part of our Child Protection Programme, guided by our awesome Upstanders and Child Protection Coordinator. Together, we’re building a community where children’s voices are heard and every child is safe. 🛡️💫

03/03/2026

🌟 Afternoon Extra-Mural Fun with Aunt Kokkie 🧵✨

This afternoon was extra special at our centre! As part of our new extra-mural programme, our amazing kitchen staff member, Aunt Kokkie, introduced our Grade 4 learners to the art of sewing.

With so much patience and kindness, Aunt Kokkie showed the learners how to thread a needle, make a knot, and sew neat stitches. There were lots of giggles, a few “Oops!” moments, and big smiles as everyone tried something new.

What makes this even more exciting is that sewing will now be one of our extra-mural activities! 🎉 This skill not only teaches creativity, but also builds concentration, confidence, and perseverance.

Our learners were so proud of their work and couldn’t wait to show off their first stitches. It was beautiful to see learning happening in such a practical and hands-on way.

Thank you, Aunt Kokkie, for sharing your talent and heart with our children. 💛

26/02/2026

🧪🥛 Science Comes Alive!
During Serve Science Week, St Mary’s learners had an amazing hands-on experience thanks to our partner GADRA Whistle Stop School!
They explored a fascinating experiment: turning milk into plastic using hot milk and vinegar. Learners observed how the milk separated into curds and whey, then shaped the curds to create a simple form of natural plastic.
Through this fun activity, learners discovered:
✨ How chemical reactions happen in everyday life
✨ The properties of different materials
✨ The power of curiosity, creativity, and experimentation
A big thank you to GADRA Whistle Stop School for helping make science interactive, exciting, and accessible for our young learners. Today, science wasn’t just in books it was in action! 🔬💡

26/02/2026

What an exciting and inspiring day in Makhanda! 🎉

Led by Singamadoda Men Empowerment Space in partnership with the Makhanda Children’s Rights Coalition, children from across the community including Children from the DCC came together for a powerful and engaging anti-bullying dialogue.

Through meaningful and interactive conversations, children explored:
✨ Identifying bullying
✨ Building confidence
✨ Practising empathy and respect
✨ Accessing support and resources

The session created a safe and empowering space for young voices to be heard, encouraging children to stand up for themselves and for one another. We are proud to celebrate each child who received a certificate and is now recognised as an Anti-Bullying Champion 🏅

We extend our heartfelt appreciation to Singamadoda for leading this impactful initiative and for their continued commitment to creating safer, more supportive environments for children in our community 💙

A special thank you to Kingswood Collegefor generously providing transport, helping ensure that children could attend and benefit from this important programme. Your support makes a real difference in expanding access and opportunities .

25/02/2026

🎉 Celebrating Growth and Opportunity at the DCC!

One of our staff members has been selected as a Fellow on the Tenako Fellowship. This fellowship is aimed at building leadership, community development, and programme management skills, equipping participants to strengthen impact within the communities they serve. We look forward to seeing how these skills create new opportunities at the Centre and further support the young people and families we work with.

Hear what Olwethu has about South Africa's

23/02/2026

On the 19th in Makhanda, government and community stakeholders came together for a powerful Socio-Economic Rights Dialogue centred on strengthening the realisation of children’s rights in everyday life.

Representatives from the Department of Health, Department of Education, and Department of Social Development engaged in a collective reflection on how coordinated action can advance children’s access to essential services and create environments where they can thrive with dignity.

Discussions focused on the socio-economic conditions shaping children’s lives, highlighting key challenges:
▪️ Gender-Based Violence (GBV) affecting the nurturing and safety of children at home
▪️ Barriers within the education system
▪️ Inclusion and support for children with disabilities
▪️ Poverty and health inequities

Participants emphasised how these realities are interconnected and often reinforce one another — limiting opportunities, affecting learning outcomes, and undermining children’s overall wellbeing. The dialogue reinforced that socio-economic rights are not abstract principles but lived realities that require sustained commitment, resources, and accountability.

A shared call emerged for stronger collaboration across sectors, ensuring that services reach children and families in a holistic way and that communities remain central in shaping solutions.

Proposed pathways forward included:
✨ Community dialogues to deepen awareness of rights and responsibilities
🎭 School-based creative engagement to help children understand and claim their rights
🤝 Strengthening partnerships with learner support structures for early intervention

The dialogue served as a reminder that advancing socio-economic rights means addressing the root causes of inequality — and that lasting change happens when communities, government, and civil society work together to turn rights into lived experiences.

10/02/2026

🎉🌈 YOU’RE INVITED! A POWERFUL COMMUNITY GATHERING FOR OUR CHILDREN 🌈🎉

The Makhanda Children’s Rights Coalition (MCRC) is excited to invite parents, community members, partners and stakeholders to an engaging and impactful event you don’t want to miss!

✨ SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS ACTIVATION DIALOGUE FOR CHILDREN ✨

This is more than a meeting — it’s a space to connect, speak up, learn, and take action for the wellbeing and future of our children 💛

📅 19 February 2026
⏰ 13h00 – 15h00
📍 Nompumelelo Pre-School, Joza

🔥 Why you should come:
✅ Fun & interactive dialogue
✅ Real conversations on education, health & child protection
✅ Building strong partnerships
✅ Community-led solutions for children
✅ Shared commitments that matter

👨🏽‍👩🏽‍👧🏽‍👦 Parents, caregivers, community members & all stakeholders are warmly welcome!
Your voice. Your ideas. Your power. 💥

📞 Info: 078 958 2448
📧 Email: olwethu@stmarysdcc.com

💫 Let’s come together, stand for children’s rights, and build a brighter future — TOGETHER!
✨💛🔥

04/02/2026

📚🌍 World Read Aloud Day 2026 🌍📚
In partnership with Nal’ibali and Libone Centre, St Mary’s Development and Care Centre proudly hosted two Read Aloud Day sessions to celebrate the joy of reading 📖✨
The sessions took place at St Mary’s Primary School and Grahamstown Primary School, where children enjoyed the story “A New Friend” 🧡📘 read aloud in two languages — English and Afrikaans. This helped children understand the story better, build confidence, and enjoy learning through language 🌈📚
World Read Aloud Day reminds us that reading together helps children learn, dream, and grow 🌱🧠
Thank you to our partners, teachers, and learners for making these moments so special 🙏🏾💫
Let’s keep reading, sharing stories, and nurturing young readers one story at a time 📖❤️

02/02/2026

📚💻✨ Learning, One Click at a Time! ✨💻📚

Our children are enjoying their homework even more as we’ve introduced computer literacy sessions 💡🖥️ to help them do their own research 🔍 and learn new skills 🌱📖.

The computers used in these sessions were kindly donated by RUCE: Rhodes University Community Engagement 🤝💛, and we are very thankful for their support in helping our children learn and grow 🌟✨.

During computer time, children are supported and closely supervised by our facilitators 👩🏽‍🏫👨🏽‍🏫, making sure they stay safe 🔒, focused 🎯, and confident 💪🏽 while learning how to use technology in a positive way 🌈.

It’s beautiful to see our children curious 🤩, excited 😃, and proud 🙌🏽 of what they can do! 💛
This is how we build skills 🧠, confidence 💬, and brighter futures 🌞✨.

💻 📘 👧🏽👦🏽 🤝 🌱

21/01/2026

🌟 YOU’RE INVITED! | MCRC 2026 STAKEHOLDERS MEETING 🌟

The Makhanda Children’s Rights Coalition (MCRC), together with DCC, warmly invites all stakeholders to join us as we kick off our 2026 journey of collaboration, action, and impact for children in Makhanda.

📅 Date: 23 January 2026
⏰ Time: 13h00 – 14h00
📍 Venue: Rhodes Community Engagement – Knowledge 4 Change Hub (K4C Hub)

This gathering provides a space to connect, reflect, and strengthen partnerships, amplify community voices, and build stronger, more coordinated responses as we continue working together to promote and protect children’s rights in our community. Guided by the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, we reaffirm our shared commitment to ensuring that every child’s right to protection, participation, development, and survival is respected, upheld, and advanced in Makhanda.

✨ Your voice matters. Your presence counts.
We look forward to engaging with you!

Address

Corner Of Albany And Fitchet Street
Grahamstown
6140

Opening Hours

Monday	07:00 - 16:00
Tuesday	07:00 - 16:00
Wednesday	07:00 - 16:00
Thursday	07:00 - 16:00
Friday	07:00 - 16:00

Website

https://stmarydcc.netlify.app/

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