The School Corridor Tatler

Ernest Moore with the school choir on the stage Sullivan Primary School Hall Opening Ceremony On Saturday, I was as excited as a child having a birthday party. Sullivan Primary School celebrated the opening of their school hall, thanks to the generosity of the main sponsor, The Archway Foundation. Everything was fabulous, from the superb, engaging master of ceremonies, Aden Thomas, the highly engaging speeches, the entertainment, right to the food provided by local caterer, Jeremy. This is what I like about community celebrations: the collective joy to embrace and acknowledge your neighbour's achievement. Prior to the event, facebook was already buzzing with 'high fives' and 'vivas' to wish Ernest Moore and his community well. When Ernest posted that he had picked up someone else's" ball of nerves", he was probably spot on. That is just how the community DNA works - everybody feels your joy, pain or nerves! And the new school hall was worthy o...

The Good... Prefects Nasiphina, Zophuna, Chante and Belita with Faldiela Conlin, the cook and Jenny Doralingo, the security. On Thursday morning I met four beautiful young Grade 7 learners when I visited a school. The four learners - Nasiphina, Zophuna, Chante and Belita - had just completed their prefect duty of monitoring learner punctuality. Three of them passed me, greeting me politely with broad smiles and lilting voices. Their energy and enthusiasm so early in the morning were infectious. I struck up a conversation with the trio, enquiring about their health, school and the high schools they will be attending in 2015.   These youngsters showed no hesitation. Generally they agreed school was good, they were working hard, they were trying to improve their current grades that were already good and they were looking forward to high school the next year. They were full of life, highlighting only the empowering opportunities they see for themselves.   Our happy chat must ha...

Watch this interesting TED talk : The mysterious workings of the adolescent brain development. Neuroscience research is shedding light on how we can understand teenagers and their behaviour. The TED talk delivered by Prof. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore is a compact, informative talk. You may find that you need to watch the talk more than once to appreciate the content and its impact deeply. She is interested in the social brain, an area teachers in particular will find fascinating. Insights I have gained A few of the key takeaways are listed below and I look at the implications of this information for schools and social development in terms of educating, intervening or rehabilitating teenagers. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore presents her findings on two areas of the brain: the pre-frontal cortex and the limbic regions. The pre-frontal cortex involves our high level cognitive functions such as decision-making, problem-solving processes, planning and our self- awareness. This is also the ar...

The Southern Line Tourism route trip was awesome Our super duper train driver, Sisiwe Getting ready for our day trip On Saturday, Women's Day, Sasha and I, together with my sister, Levona and my niece, Letitia, spent the day on the Southern Line Tourism route. Our trip took us to Simonstown where we were going to visit two museums and do the boardwalk at Boulders.   I had no idea that Metrorail had an active tourism sector and that the #Southern Line Tourism route is one of three dedicated tourism rail routes! The other two rail tourism day trips are the Khayelitsha route and the Stellenbosch Winelands route. Now that this confession is out of the way, let me share our tourists-in-our own city- train adventure.   The tourism train surprises At the start of our journey to Simonstown, our Metrorail tour guide told us about the multiple personalities of our tourism train. During the week Tourism Train is an express commuter train on the Khayelitsha line and it then transforms i...

How often don't we work with people for years then we don't even know who they truly are? I am in the same boat. I often do not have time to bond with my colleagues from other sections in our district. Besides my being located at one of our satellite offices, I rarely make contact with many of them because we have so many different sections. Take for example, my colleagues in the corporate services component, the ones who help to ensure that our schools receive financial management support. Now and then we see one another and exchange pleasantries. On one occasion I arrived very early for a meeting with a colleague in the Corporate Services Department.. The other colleagues and I started chatting about all kinds of things - the weather, our children, life at the coalface and life in general. The mood was jovial and as time passed, we became more relaxed. Eventually I had to run out of their office to be on time for my meeting. That pleasant exchange we had changed the dynamics...

  Despite all the talk about breaking down those social,cultural and economic barriers that prevent women from top management and leadership positions, the reality is we are not making real inroads. Women are invisible -.this is a fact! At schools where we are engaging a curriculum that embodies the principles of inclusivity, the drivers are often the victims of marginalization in their own workplace.   Female teachers are invisible as key leaders at their own schools At schools where women are often the largest sector of the workforce, it is even more disturbing that the macho culture is deeply entrenched. Most female educators are not given the opportunity to develop their strategic leadership skills and many are not given the space to participate in strategic decision-making processes.   I was confronted with this reality while facilitating at a 'Women in and into leadership positions' training course.. The women in my group were mainly post level one educators. Many of th...

About a month ago, we celebrated Mothers's Day. Yesterday was Fathers's Day and today is Youth Day. In less than two months, on 09 August we will be celebrating Women's Day. In effect, all those who make up a family unit will be acknowledged and affirmed for the profound roles they play in their families and communities in this cycle of celebrations.   But alas, in most instances we are merely ceremonial, doing the talks and the shows. We don't really want to deal with the real issues of absent fathers, broken families and disenchanted youth. Cathy ( not her real name) and her family are a case in point.   Cathy's family typifies how deeply scarred we are. Cathy, a mother of five children, is a recovering abused victim. She has finally divorced her abusive husband, but she is still sharing a home with him because she depends on him financially. They are two strangers stuck together because of circumstances. The battle lines are drawn and all the family members are...