The Cape Town Science Centre is alive and kicking… and filled with GRATITUDE for the year that was!
With deep gratitude to our supporters and partners, our collaborators, funders, our team and the guidance of our Board… this year offered us the opportunity to expand our offerings to be more relevant in theses changing times…
LIVE AND ONLINE…
We learnt that the core ethos of the CTSC, which is to provide stimulating, fun, interactive and live opportunities for learning can still take place virtually and we are grateful to have had the opportunity to ‘dive-right-in’, develop material and provide a wide range of learning opportunities for our virtual visitors that support our ethos. Astron Energy and the Western Cape Education Department were both instrumental in many of the virtual offerings we were able to deliver. Thank you also to Homebrew Films for your support in teaching us ‘the ropes’ as we started out and with their incredible professional crew producing our first video lesson of the year. Please see highlight of these activities below.
WHAT ELSE HAVE WE BEEN UP TO…
– We welcomed a new tenant, the famous Wizards Boards and Games (established 1965), now open for business (on the ground floor) providing the perfect family stay-at-home gifts (online shopping facilities available).
– The building works to refurbish parts of our building have begun and will continue in the New Year, with thanks to the Western Cape Department of Public Works.
– We have been working on our exhibition floor and a new AR/VR exhibit titled “AstroTrek” will open shortly.
– We have collaborated with Dr Adriana Marais of Proudly Human (www. proudlyhuman.com) to work on experiments (in real time), experiments that perfect technologies or explore new technologies to make life possible in extreme environments (Yes, MARS!).
– We continue our work on digital literacy for the youth across Africa and the Global South, working on programmes on behalf of Google and the EQUALS Digital Skills Fund for girls and women on behalf of The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) & GIZ. Thanks also to Microsoft for their continued support.
– We are thankful to have the opportunity to work towards the sustainability of our future through education in Africa, working on the very important Africa-centric initiative EduConservation for Sabine Plattner African Charities (SPAC) and Leadership for Conservation in Africa (LCA).
– While we have been closed to the public this year, we did run specialised in-centre groups in coding for various programmes including ASSET and we thank the HCI Foundation for their support through their Community Transport Programme to transport the learners to the centre.
– We are also working with the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) on many levels beyond virtual live lessons and online content and we are currently developing a robotics programme for schools, Mathematics content for the FET band and a programme for Project Based Learning.
There are so many partners and collaborators to acknowledge and thank… the above is a taste of our efforts this year.
OPENING SOON…
We have been exceptionally productive, but we have really been missing seeing YOU!
We intend to open the Cape Town Science Centre in the New Year, to both schools and the general public, and will be guided by what will be the safest in terms of a date to re-open and how to re-open, as well as with guidance from the Western Cape Education Department for our visiting school groups. We will continue offering virtual experiences for all and the WCED Mobile Science Centre is active to support schools (make your bookings ASAP for next year to avoid disappointment). Please follow our social media posts and subscribe to our newsletter for updates.
AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR OUR MEMBERS…
To all our CTSC members, your memberships were frozen on the day we closed in March this year, and will be re-activated when we open again in 2021. We can’t wait to see you all again!
Most importantly, we wish you peace, good health and quality time with your loved ones (if possible), over this holiday season. Wear your mask, sanitise and wash your hands regularly and practise social distancing!