By Jenny Taylor with Samantha Phiri | Edu Fun Tutors
Strengthening Literacy. Empowering Youth. Transforming Communities.
Edu Fun continues its mission to improve English literacy for young learners in Diepsloot and neighbouring township and rural communities. Our focus remains on Grade 2 and 3 learners, ensuring they receive structured, evidencebased reading instruction through the PhonoGraphix method while being supported by a growing cohort of trained youth tutors.
Highlights From April to June 2026
World Book Day – 23 April
We celebrated World Book Day with creativity, imagination, and joyful learning. Learners designed their own book covers using minibooks created by our tutors, gaining insight into the work of authors and illustrators. They also reimagined their favourite storybook characters, expressing personality and originality through art. Our tutors played a key role in preparing materials and guiding activities, ensuring a meaningful and memorable experience for every child. The day reinforced that reading is not only about decoding words but also about expression, identity, and discovering new worlds through stories.
Winter Buddy Reader Enrichment Programme – 23 to 25 June 2026
Our preholiday Enrichment Week brought three days of highenergy learning at the Edu Fun Hub. Learners rotated through Reading Rooms, preliteracy stations, creative art, sports, and dance, strengthening foundational reading skills while building confidence, coordination, and creativity. Preliteracy groups explored sounds, rhyming, letter tracing, symmetry, and finemotor activities, while Grade 2 literacy groups worked through stories, new vocabulary, and decoding tasks — celebrating every “Aha” moment. Movement and rhythm sessions boosted confidence, and art activities encouraged imagination and selfexpression.
The atmosphere was electric throughout the week. Learners participated enthusiastically, embraced new challenges, and collaborated with peers. Our tutors led every activity, demonstrating growing professionalism, leadership, and ownership. Their ability to guide small groups, support individual learners, and maintain joyful learning spaces reflects the ongoing impact of our tutor programme. Learners left the programme more confident, more skilled, and genuinely excited about sounds, letters, stories, and learning.
Continuing to Grow Young Leaders Who Teach Thousands of Children
Edu Fun continues to strengthen a pipeline of youth leaders who are transforming literacy outcomes across Diepsloot and beyond. Through the Edu Fun Hub at Diepsloot Combined School, tutors receive ongoing training, observe model lessons, practise the PhonoGraphix method, and prepare to replicate structured literacy programmes in their own schools and communities.
Many tutors are advancing academically while teaching — several are enrolled in Bachelor of Education degrees, and others are pursuing tertiary studies such as IT. The hub provides essential support including internet access, printing facilities, academic mentorship, and accountability coaching, ensuring tutors succeed both as learners and educators. Each new tutor we train enables 30–40 additional children to receive weekly reading instruction, strengthening the foundation for meaningful reading by Grade 4.
Sustaining the Work That Changes Lives – ONE TUTOR and 40 children at a time
Our largest ongoing cost is the monthly stipend that supports our youth tutors’ basic living needs and, for some, their tuition toward careers in education. Sustaining and expanding this programme directly increases the number of children who receive weekly reading instruction.
How You Can Continue to Support the work that we do in 2026
Links:
By Jenny Taylor | Chairperson - Edu Fun
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
