The School Corridor Tatler

I always look forward to the reflection meeting with the four primary school principals - Lavinia Davis (Square Hill), Cassy Dick (Steenberg), Noel Isaacs (Floreat) and Lameez Rabbaney (Prince George). This foursome has been partners in this mentoring network that was established about three years ago. They have showed that professional learning networks can be a deep support network, IF you are prepared to invest in the partnership. In short, when you work with your peers, you have a pool of resources a phone call away. And, if you have a Cassy in the network, be forewarned: you will be phoned, e-mailed or picked up so that you know the group cares and cannot function well without you and your gifts. The comraderie that prevails and the mix of diverse personalities are part of the success of this professional learning network. Humour and sharp wit are also present in bucket loads here. Even I become the target of many a flippant comment. Like yesterday. "When I infor...

Grade R Learners at Steenberg a Primary School #ElizabethPretorius (UNISA) wrote a research article on a South African literacy intervention programme that she conducted at a Gauteng township school in 2010. I found this fascinating research article on #NicSpaull's blog. The link for the article, "Supporting transition or playing catch-up in Grade 4? Implications for standards in education and training." is on Nick's blog. Do pop in there and download the article. I want to highlight FIVE key insights that I have gleaned from this research conducted by Elizabeth Pretorius. 1 . Schools can make a difference if the classroom is a literacy hub. I like the realistic spin that schools can help to bridge the gap of children's literacy deficits IF we have a highly-focused, sustained literacy approach at the foundation level. Other research has showed this, but we don't really have a large body of research on intervention case studies like this in Sout...

First, The journey of Maths teachers of three schools on the Cape Flats Aarnout Brombacher and the teachers reflecting on the term Three of our primary schools - Harmony Primary, Steenberg Primary and Prince George Primary - are in a sponsored Maths coaching programme with Brombacher and Associates. The focus is on Foundation Maths teaching. Learners are being taught number sense by learning to count, manipulate, problem-solve and practise. These schools meet once a term with Brombacher to reflect on the successes and challenges they are experiencing. Today was one of those reflection meetings. The teachers are excited because they are having more fun teaching and their learners are learning better and faster. The teachers were lyrical about the coaches linked to them. Muriel from Harmony Primary School raved about the phenomenal strides many of her learners have made in the past six months and expressed the ambivalence she experienced. " Many of my children have impro...

  Tonight was a glorious evening. South Africa was represented at the UNESCO Arts Education Week 2014 by two local Cape Town schools, Steenberg Primary School and Oaklands High school. This was made possible by CICLO Arts Educational exchange project that coordinated Arts Exhibitions and Performances in four cities: Cape Town, Copenhagen Rio and St. Petersburg. CICLO partnered with the Frank Joubert Art Centre where the Steenberg Primary learners receive lessons.   The performance, aptly named Into the Sun, tells the story of how young people try to find a solution for the problems of pollution and crime in their 'Hood'. The stage came alive as the young performers dazzled us with their music, dance and drama. The infusion of learner artwork evident in the props and costumes is a visual testimony of the creativity and genius of the youth. They are born to be expressive and to cross all boundaries of race, class and culture. The fact that the Grade 7s of Steenberg Primary schoo...

Cassy and her business partner, Louis We are sitting in the Santam auditorium in Tygervalley. Cassy invited a few of her peers, colleagues and her son, Lee, to her presentation. Cassy and her business partner, Louis, an actuary were going to share how their partnership benefitted themselves and especially the school community. They identified four issues to focus on: discipline, staff development, finance management support, actioning the vision and mission of the school and parent involvement at the school. Louis was the first speaker. He explained how he and Cassy had to developed their relationship and the amazing shifts that the two of them experienced. "As we worked together over a period of one year, the communication became more focused on the human being behind the generic labels of principal, actuary, learner and parent. " I gained far more than I expected," said Louis. "We have travelled together as a partnership. During this year, I met so many people w...