Educational Excellence

Annual Principals Conference

Thinking through where your school should be heading, and how, followed by checking on success, has become widespread good practice for principals. School management bodies demand it and and learners deserve it. But too often the plans stay on paper and not a lot changes.

The HSRP hosts an annual conference for the principals and deputy principals of the pilot schools and provides a platform for them to share their best practices and challenges. Consultants and facilitators set the experiences into perspective and offer support and suggestions on planning and implementation techniques.

Left to right: Dr Tim Nuttall (Facilitator), Mr Peter Nemaheni (Principal, Lemana) and Mr Mkuseli Gquma (Principal, St Matthews) at the 2012 annual conference held in Somerset West, Western Cape

In 2012 the principals conference was held at the Somerset College in Somerset West. Key focus areas were:

• Making schools places of welcome
• Striving to achieve Bachelors passes in Grade 12
• The importance of active alumni
• Creating educational development plans

‘It takes a village to raise a child’ is the theme for the next conference. It is the quality of our connections with the leaders of the historic schools – and our connectedness to the lived realities of the learners and the educational resources that shape them, that has enabled the HSRP to extend its footprint and thereby host the biggest conference thus far with thirty delegates representing fifteen historically significant schools which are situated in seven of South Africa’s provinces.

The Healdtown Science and Technology Educational Resource Centre (STERC)

The official launch of STERC took place in April 2012 at Healdtown. The STERC project is aimed at creating an enabling environment to produce outstanding future scientists who have the potential to contribute to Africa’s transformation agenda in maths, science and technology related fields. Learners from Healdtown and six neighbouring schools participate in extra lessons in order to improve their academic results particularly in maths, science and technology.

The project is in partnership with the Eastern Cape Department of Education and the University of Fort Hare and receives financial and management support from the HSRP and the STERC Steering Committee.

Maths, Science and Technology

To contribute towards the upliftment of technical skills in disadvantaged communities and to create awareness in aviation careers amongst learners, Denel Aviation has made the promotion of Maths and Science education in schools a key focus of its corporate social investment programme.

Recognising that they need to increase the capacity of their training platforms, Denel entered into a partnership with two historic schools this year – Glen Cowie High School near Groblersdal in Limpopo and Moroka High School in Thaba Nchu, Free State. If successful, the programme model will be replicated at historic schools in other provinces.

The newly launched programme makes provision for extra lessons in Maths, Science, Technology and English. Glen Cowie and Moroka were recently selected as the host schools and learners from ten neighbouring high schools were recruited to participate in the programme. Denel appointed the best teachers in the district to facilitate the lessons which take place on Saturdays and during school holidays. Denel Aviation has fully equipped the science labs at Glen Cowie and Moroka High schools with state-of-the-art technology, equipment, and all the materials required to conduct interactive lessons and experiments as per the curriculum.

The learners are equipped with all the necessary materials required for best learning practices and their progress is strictly monitored. Learners who excel throughout the programme and who demonstrate exceptional skills in these disciplines will be offered bursaries and internships at Denel Aviation.

Columba Leadership Programme

Recognising the success of the Columba Leadership interventions in supporting the positive transition of young people through Grade 12 completion and into further education and training, the HSRP provided funding for three pilot schools to participate in the programme in the past year.

Whilst still a relatively new partnership, Healdtown Comprehensive, Inkamana and Ohlange High schools are benefiting from the Columba Leadership programmes. It is anticipated that the partnership will assist the HSRP with its school improvement aims by harnessing assets within the schools (namely the principal, educators and learners). School improvement from the inside out is Columba Leadership’s approach and thus the synergy between the partners.

Columba Leadership believes that young people have inner greatness to lead change in their own personal lives and in their local contexts. Experiential methods are used to engage participants in a process of selfdiscovery, personal and leadership development.

Leadership is understood first and foremost to be a process of leading one’s self and secondly as being a positive influence to others in the school and local community.

The Columba programme is a two-year engagement which includes three phases:

• Pre-residential school engagement
• Six-day residential academy
• Post-residential monitoring, evaluation and support.

The pre-residential phase prepares the school leadership for the intervention and ensures their active engagement with the selection of participants. The heart of the intervention is the six-day residential, where each day of the residential is structured according to a different value: Awareness, Creativity, Focus, Integrity, Perseverance and Service. Follow-up support and monitoring and evaluation take place for a period of two years after the residential academy.

“I am more aware of my potential now and I have a lot of confidence in myself, which I didn’t have much of before coming to the Columba Leadership.” ~ Learner

ZK Matthews Educational Trust

A sustainable organisation understands that long term success depends on, and contributes to a healthy economy, environment and society. Therefore the aim is to improve access to decent education and to this end the HSRP created an educational trust. The ZK Matthews Educational Trust’s primary goal is to provide financial resources to ensure that poor children are also able to enjoy an excellent education at the historic schools in an holistic environment. The ZK Matthews Scholars have an aptitude for academics and appreciate the privileges of being educated at a higher level.

Former Vryheid Comprehensive School learner Menzi Mkhize was the first ZK Matthews Scholar to graduate from high school in 2012 with no less than six distinctions in Grade 12. Menzi is currently studying at the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Medicine.

ZK Matthews was a product of the historic Lovedale College and went on to become the first African to obtain a BA at a South African institution, namely Fort Hare University. In 1925 he was appointed the first African head of Adams College and he became the president of the Natal Teachers Association. The name of the Trust was appropriately designed with ZK Matthews and his lifelong quest for knowledge in mind. The Trust receives regular updates from the teachers and learners on their progress and academic performance.

“Thank you for the scholarship that you have awarded to me. It has made such a huge difference to me and my parents. I’ve learnt to appreciate every moment of my class lessons because they get me where I am now. The school held the Academic Awards and I was awarded a certificate for Mathematics, Natural Sciences, English, Technology, History and Life Orientation. I was top in all Grade 9 classes. Hard work pays off.”
– P.D. Grade 9, 2013

Former Vryheid Comprehensive School learner Menzi Mkhize was the first ZK Matthews Scholar to graduate from high school in 2012 with no less than six distinctions in Grade 12. Menzi is currently studying at the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Medicine.