EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE
The two primary cornerstones of the Historic Schools
Restoration Project mandate remain the physical
restoration of buildings at the selected schools,
together with the provision of new buildings, should the
need arise and the enhancement of education and cultural
activities at these schools. While there is significant need
for buildings to be restored, the funding for these activities
is limited and to this end a good deal more focus has been
placed on mechanisms for improving the educational
component at the schools.
What has been noted in the year under review is that
reasonably well-resourced schools continue to underachieve
academically and the need for educator training
has been identified as a priority. As mentioned in last year’s
report, operational funding for the 2011/2012 financial year
was uncertain and much as we would have liked to have
had an Education Officer in place, this was not possible
purely from a job security point of view. The commitment
of funding from the Department of Basic Education for
a three-year period will enable the filling of this position
during the course of the 2012/2013 financial year. This will
enable implementation of some of the recommendations
contained in the Education Officer’s Road Map document
which was prepared by Dr Tim Nuttall.
Principals’ Conferences
Two workshops have been held since the publication of the
last Annual Report. The first was held in the Eastern Cape in
September 2011 for principals and deputy principals. The
programme included visits to Healdtown Comprehensive
High School and St Matthews High School. This was an
opportunity for the delegates to fully understand the
extent of the challenges encountered by the historic
schools in the Eastern Cape and to experience first hand
their attempts to provide quality education under difficult
circumstances.
In addition to the visits, presentations were given by the
Academic Practices and Reasoning Department, the
Teaching and Learning Centre, and the Life, Knowledge,
2011 Principals’ Conference delegates outside St Matthews Church during a visit to the campus.
Action Grounding Programme, all from the University
of Fort Hare. The feedback confirmed without a doubt
that the highlight of the conference was ‘Teach Like a
Champion – Teaching Techniques’ created by Doug Lemov
and presented by Judy Tate, Lynda Swinbourn and Sue
Frederick, all of Inanda Seminary.
The second workshop, for principals only, was held during
April 2012 at the Somerset College in Somerset West. This
workshop focussed on models of excellence and schools
with roots in the communities. Included in the programme
was an interactive session with a youth leadership
academy – Columba1400SA. The vision of this initiative is
to build a movement of responsible leadership amongst
South African youth by developing young people who
are socially and environmentally conscious and active and
who are willing to lead through service. Principals were
encouraged to submit applications to Columba1400SA in
order for their schools to participate in a six-day residential
academy, together with a follow-up programme.
Healdtown Comprehensive High School will be the first of
the historic schools to take advantage of this programme.
Left to right: Inanda colleagues Sue Frederick, Judy Tate and Lynda Swinbourn presented ‘Teach Like a Champion’. | 
Presenters from the University of Fort Hare’s Life, Knowledge Action programme. | 
Tracy Hackland and Innocent Muyanga from Columba1400SA, with HSRP board member Dr Nana Makaula. |
The SA Basic Education Conference
The purpose of the SA Basic Education Conference is to
mobilise educational institutions to become effectively
managed and to enable and enhance teaching and
learning in the classroom. The HSRP was invited to
participate for the duration of the conference and had a
stand in the exhibition arena.
The conference brought together a community of
committed and innovative educationists and service
providers, working in a wide range of contexts. It provided
opportunities to network, interact with service providers
and to show case the work being undertaken by the
Historic Schools Restoration Project.
More than ten thousand people registered for the
conference and visitors to the stand included government
officials, corporate representatives, service providers and
educationalists. Many delegates, on visiting the HSRP
stand, expressed their delight at recognising their school
and spoke animatedly about their alma mater and the long
term benefit their school had had on their lives.
Teacher enhancement
At the end of December 2011 the relationship with TEACH
SA came to an end, largely because of legal constraints, and
was not renewed for the 2012 academic year. This situation
was deeply regretted by the HSRP as the value added to the
schools by the TEACH SA Ambassadors had been significant.
TEACH SA have committed themselves to resolving the legal
issues and will contact the HSRP with a view to re-introducing
TEACH SA back into the historic schools.
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The Trust maintains regular contact with the
scholars and receives letters, photographs and
sometimes even creative work from them.
Lungile Lubanyana (pictured right), a member
of the poetry society at Inanda Seminary, sent
us this poem:
Decision
Life is like a motion.
Generations come, generations go
but they all live by decisions.
Because decision is the key to your destination.
Some people say education
is the key to every door.
But decision gives direction
to the paths of those doors.
It is still your decision
to let people make decisions for you.
Decision is like an action
and if you make wrong decisions
absolution, accusation, degradation
will be a reaction.
Decision is a direction to your destination
that leads to a path for education
to open doors for you.
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ZK Matthews Educational Trust
The first ten ZK Matthews scholarships were awarded in 2011
shortly after the establishment of the Trust and the 2012
academic year has seen a further ten scholarships awarded to
the value of R170,135. The scholarships are open to learners
who attend any of the schools presently forming part of
the HSRP, and principals of these schools are encouraged
to support scholarship applications submitted by diligent
and academically sound learners. The scholarships are valid
for one year and are renewable annually should the learners
adhere to the terms and conditions that apply to the awards
and achieve academically acceptable results.
As the number of scholarships awarded increases, so too
does the overall value of disbursements and to this end
the Trust decided in 2011 to embark upon an aggressive
fundraising drive in order to boost capital. More than 700
funding applications have been submitted to companies and
trusts nationally, seeking donations to the Trust and thereby
contributing towards education of the rural African child.
The awards have had a positive impact on the successful
applicants and their families. Most of the scholars come
from single-parent households and many of the parents
are unemployed. The scholarships have provided the
opportunity for these children, all with so much potential, to
achieve a promising future beyond the poverty and lack of
opportunities within their communities.
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