Launched in April of this year, the Woolworths Making the Difference (MTD) competition, open to all schools across South Africa, challenged participants to drive registrations on the programme’s online portal. Over the four-month period West End Primary School registered an impressive 22 320 users making them clear winners.

“Congratulations to West End Primary school they showed exceptional dedication and determination and are a deserving recipient of the grand prize of R100,000 cash.  This achievement not only demonstrates West End’s innovative approach to education but also highlights its active role in fostering a collaborative and enriched learning environment,” says Pieter Twine, General Manager of the Woolworths Making a Difference programme & MySchool.

“Our school utilises a blended teaching and learning model, creating a collaborative environment for both learners and parents to engage with supplementary online resources to support learning activities at home.  Our active participation in Woolies’ MTD programme has enriched our educational approach by integrating its valuable content.  Excited by the recent competition and its substantial monetary reward, we proactively shared the online platform with all our parents encouraging them to take full advantage of this free educational resource,” confirmed Clive Arries, principal of West End Primary School

The Woolworths Making the Difference Learning programme, which has been successfully making a positive impact in over 3 000 schools across South Africa for more than a decade went digital. The digital learning platform https://mtd.woolworths.co.za/  was launched at the beginning of last year to extend the programme’s reach to all South African schools, educators and parents and hosts a suite of curriculum-based theoretical online learner resources for Grades 1- 6 on nutrition, physical activity, water conservation, sustainable living, ecosystems and food webs, and regenerative agriculture topics as well as interactive video lessons. The programme also provides educators with resources to support teaching and learning in the classroom and provides parents with information on how to reinforce health and well-being messages at home for themselves and their families.   Over 5 000 schools have already registered on the portal and educators use these resources at no cost for classroom lessons and project activities in the relevant Life Orientation, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences & Technology subject areas.

When asked about the plans for the R100 000 cash prize are, Mr Arries advised that West End Primary had recently been classified as a full-service school, so this money will be used for the construction of dedicated rooms for social workers and different therapists.  These purpose-built rooms will serve as hubs of support for the learners, especially those who encounter challenges in their learning journey.