The School Corridor Tatler

When I visited Lourier Primary School yesterday morning, the school was abuzz at 7h20. I was there to sign a few documents en route to the Circuit office. The documents became a side issue.  I walked straight into a random reflection of the amazing wellbeing programme for staff that Lourier Primary has introduced. "Meeting on a Wednesday before school starts is one of the changes we made when we came back from the SMT Leadership Conference," said Rashida. "We also went ten-pin bowling, said Venetia, the bubbly Foundation Phase Head, and shows me the picture of the staff at the ten pin bowling arena, mounted on the wall. Daniel and Abubaker arrived and the ten-pin bowling experience became the focus. I think the four SMT members were flooded with memories of their staff outing. The entire staff - teachers, administrative and support staff-  went by bus to spend an afternoon having fun and building relationships. "Another new development since the SMT con...

I am blessed to see many community-building practices at the schools that I visit. I wish school principals and teachers had this opportunity as well. You learn so much from having the experience yourself and from interacting with your peers in a real life setting. Such learning can never really be fully appreciated in a workshop setting. Let me share a five practices that I simply love AND believe others can benefit from. 1. The staff breakfast At a few schools the staff have a monthly breakfast where all staff members sit and enjoy communion. In most cases the staff members make the breakfast contributions and a rotating breakfast team coordinates the event. At one school staff members report about an hour earlier and at another school the first interval is extended to accommodate the breakfast. At Square Hill Primary school,where there is an extended interval, the principal, Lavinia Davis, with her support /ground staff takes over the playground duty. A programme is run for the lea...