The School Corridor Tatler

I know, I know... this blog has been in hibernation for a loooong while. I finally found a new way of reaching out to you. The School Corridor Tatler is really a super communication channel, but I have upped my game. I have taken the plunge and now I am the proud creator of... Drum roll please... The School Corridor Youtube Channel! I hope you enjoy this very first video of the School Corridor Channel. I am super excited to have you there as well. Let's learn and have fun together! The School Corridor Channel is here to grow, inspire and empower you as leaders at schools or anywhere else. School Corridor Youtube Channel Focus The content will cover three streams: Talks and presentations on leadership research, qualities of great leadership and how you can help yourself grow to become a great leader. Personal well-being will also be a focus. The second stream will focus on Q&As, interviews and book reviews. The third stream will focus on instructional vi...

 This Human Rights Day, I want to add a special celebration rainbow for schools that are increasing the number of books that all their children are reading. You may know that I serve primary schools in the poverty-stricken areas of Lavender Hill, Steenberg and Retreat. We are not here to lament the odds that are stacked against such schools. We are here to celebrate these primary schools that are becoming active Reading schools. Growing Reading Schools This is the third year that we are passionately driving our Reading Books Flywheel with our Primary schools. Our goal is that each learner should read a minimum of 40 books per school year. That means one book per school week. As part of our support to schools, we tailored specific activities to discuss research on reading with SMTs. We studied the literacy challenges in South African schools and created peer learning networking like the Reading symposium that  Colleen Diedericks, our Foundation phase subject advisor co...

Do you need to sharpen your job application skills or do you just want to update that old curriculum vitae that has lost its edge?  Well, you are at the right place to help you lift your career search. I have written a blog series on JOB APPLICATION SMARTS . These guidelines will  help you to create your web-based curriculum vitae and be ultra ready to face that job interview. The themes of the Job Applications smarts are as follows: Reflecting on the type of school leaders we need to transform schools. This post explores the need for transformational school leaders. Far too many Heads of school are still driven by rules and regulations. When aspiring teachers apply for senior management positions at schools, it is critical that they understand the critical role they need to play as social change agents.  Creating and uploading your web-based curriculum vitae on the WCEDs e-recruitment website. You are given step-by-step guidelines on how ...

Why are we not tackling our reading proficiency crisis as a nation? Why is there such crippling pressure only on the education sector to fix a national priority? We need to revisit our approach to the literacy problem in our country and the reading interventions we are investing in. According to the most recent studies, we are not progressing despite our efforts. We have to acknowledge that the multiple, well- meaning but uncoordinated literacy interventions are not having the desired impact on our low literacy levels. We need a far more ambitious, coordinated, national reading campaign to have deep, long lasting effects. Cuba understood this fact when in 1961, this country successfully helped more than 100,000 rural people become literate in one year. The Cuban government and the literacy campaign leaders knew that mass education cannot be achieved without mass participation. We too,  have the manpower and other resources to action a sustainable, integrated national readin...

Ordinary teachers do extraordinary things at CAPS Orientation Sessions: Viva to our Heroes! I know the IP CAPS Training or Orientation Session is geared towards teachers because all teachers must be ready to teach the CAPS syllabus by 2013.  We flooded the teacher fraternity with reminders of the 'invitation' to attend the sessions. Yet, strangely, this flurry of activity excluded to a large extent the very leaders - the school principals and district officials - who have the responsibility to build on the foundation laid by the CAPS orientation sessions. Let me explain my soul-searching journey that is causing me to interrogate my role in our changing education landscape... I was part of the CAPS 3-day Teachers’ Orientation Programme for Intermediate Phase hosted at Muizenberg Junior School. There were about 250 attendees who attended presentations facilitated by 24 Lead Teachers, the colleagues of these teachers. The Lead Teachers who facilitated the CAPS Orientation ...