• Growsmart is a literacy competition for learners in Grades 4, 5 and 6.
• Forty two schools from each of the 4 Education Districts (Central, East, North and South) have been selected by the District office to participate in Growsmart – a total of 168 schools.
• Each school will provide a team mentor who will be the person responsible for coordinating the communication and activities at the school relating to Growsmart.
• One team of three learners from each school will compete in a literacy quiz and these learners can be selected from across any of the three Grades mentioned above.
• The quiz will be conducted in English over three levels:
  
  
  • Level 1 – One hundred and sixty eight schools (504 learners) compete and 7 from each District will advance to the next level (28 schools).
  • Level 2 – The 28 schools compete and 8 will advance to the next level.
  • Level 3 (the grand finale) – The final 8 schools compete to determine the ultimate winning school.
• Levels 1, 2 and 3 will feature a quiz master, a panel of judges (selected members of the Western Cape Education Department) and an audience of supporters.
• The quiz will be based on content from the National Curriculum Statement and will incorporate various aspects of literacy, such as spelling and comprehension.
• A 'newspaper' will be produced for each level and the majority of quiz questions will be drawn from this publication. The newspapers will be distributed to the schools prior to each competition level. The competition is not an "add-on" – it can be incorporated into the daily lesson and implemented during the compulsory reading ½ hour. In the main it promises to enhance expected teaching and learning of the curriculum outcomes. More than 60 000 copies of each Growsmart newspaper is printed, and enough newspapers are delivered to each of the participating schools for all learners in Grade 4, 5 & 6. Even if a school does not progress to the next round, all these learners will still continue receiving the newspapers until the end of the competition.
• In addition to other prizes and give-aways, the winning school will receive much-needed improvements and / or assistance to their school, the school team mentor receives a prize and the three learners in the school's team will receive assistance towards their education.

Timing

The Growsmart quiz will officially start during the 2nd school term of 2011 and end on International Literacy Day (8 September 2012).

Competitions will be run on weekends so as not to disrupt schooling. Provisional dates are as follows:

Level 1:	21 April - 9 June
Level 2:	4 & 18 August
Level 3:	8 September

Click here to view a diagram of how it all works.

Prizes

Fantastic prizes are up for grabs for the winning school, learners & mentor! Instead of having predetermined prizes, participating schools' principals completed a 'wish list' when registering for the competition, indicating their 'wishes' for their school, whether it is study materials, building renovations, equipment, furniture or any other improvements to the school. Each of the learners participating in the final round, will complete their own 'wish list' for assistance with their education, whether it is paying school fees, tutoring, school uniforms, textbooks or any other educational assistance.

Each of the 504 learners who participated in Level 1, receive certificates. The learners in Level 2 will receive medals and smaller prizes (such as winter jackets) and each team participating in the Final will receive a trophy as well as some smaller prizes (backpacks).

The winning school receives:

• Approved improvements to their premises up to R200 000. Growthpoint will oversee the improvements.

Winning team members receive:

• Assistance towards their future education worth R20 000 each, funded by Growthpoint.

The winning team's mentor receives:

• A R5 000 shopping centre gift voucher.

The school in 2nd place receives:

• Approved improvements to their premises up to R25 000.

The school in 3rd place receives:

• Approved improvements to their premises up to R15 000