A Positive Impact From Simple Techniques
October 4, 2022
A letter from our outgoing CEO – Taryn Casey
November 4, 2022
It is vital to our Edufundi Support Programme to have buy-in from School Management Teams (SMTs) and principals. SMTs and principals are taken through an in-depth three year process, which looks at how to manage the school through instructional leadership techniques.
As this is Eskhululiwe Primary’s first year with Edufundi, the Lead Like a Champion aspect of the programme focuses on developing SMTs as effective instructional leaders – bringing their attention to their vision, mission and values being a part of their daily interactions.
Mrs Mncwabe, Eskhululiwe Primary’s principal, reflects that she has seen great improvement with regards to respect and commitment since Edufundi stepped into the school. ““I respect the educators and they respect me. The educators respect the learners and the learners respect them. Respect has improved as well as other values too. They [the teachers] are more committed than before in the sense of teaching and learning.”
Building trusting relationships
In the first year of the support programme, along with instructional leadership, the programme also focuses on building trusting relationships and collaborative teamwork in the schools. The foundation to building this is communication – helping schools to achieve their educational goals. Mrs Mncwabe says that communication has improved in her school already,
“I attended a workshop which was dealing with how to communicate with educators. Now I communicate better than before”, says Mrs Mncwabe. Better communication has helped instill a more positive mindset at Eskhululiwe Primary.
All school management teams also receive training on a process of effective reflection through the use of peer support groups in their school. These groups create a safe and supportive environment for growth and learning to take place. Mrs Mncwabe shared how these groups have helped the school develop a more supportive environment. “We are more like peers now. We support each other in things. We share ideas with SMTs which improve the level of performance in the schools. The educators are reflecting in such a way that if somebody has done something wrong, they are able to reflect on and correct what they have done wrong.”
Turning planning into action
Another highlight that has had a positive impact on the school was the implementation of action planning. “Now we are able to plan our activities and follow that action plan. We are able to manage time and do things that we planned for. Before, we were just doing things, but with our ‘action plan, we need to have a date, a person responsible, and a time frame. We have improved a lot because of this action plan.”
A supportive coach
In order for schools to be supported and to turn theory into practice for their unique challenges, Edufundi has Leadership Support coaches that visit schools regularly to support and address the SMT’s individual challenges through one-on-one coaching. Mr Bheki Ngidi is our KwaZulu-Natal support coach and has been supporting Mrs Mncwabe.
“My leadership coach is very good. He has been in teaching before, and he has been in leadership as a principal before. So he is able to sit with us and advise. He goes an extra mile. He encouraged me to apply to companies for donations, now we have Edulution and our learners are using tablets in mathematics. He doesn't just look at me as an individual, but he looks at the whole school and how I can improve the outlook of the schools. I’m very proud of him.”
Eskhuliliwe Primary School joined Edufundi in January 2022. They are being mentored by Edufundi mentors Devandra Naidu and Thembeka Veldman. Their leadership support coach is Mr Bheki Ngidi
