Academic Report by T.R. Mdletshe (Deputy Principal)

Our School like other schools has made concerted effort to ensure that our ultimate goal which is provision of quality education becomes a reality. Hence numerous activities and interventions comprising our own initiatives and the district directives have been implemented. Indeed we have to point out that numerous challenges cropped up now and then during the implementation process of our school programmes.

RECRUITMENT OF NEW STAFF MEMEBERS

After a long period of uncertainty and complexities our school was able to secure the services of the educators on the permanent basis. It is worth mentioning that our school had to come to terms with the fact that a number of vacancies could not be filled for the longest time due to process which was exclusively managed and implemented by the provincial department of education.

In spite of all the setbacks and frustrations concomitant with staling process of appointment of educators, we can only take solace in the fact that our school was finally joined by the following staff members full time.

Mpanza M.G (History and IsiZulu), Buthelezi B. (Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Life Sciences), Sithole N.G (Mathematics and Geography), Mbatha S. (Mathematics Engeneering, Graphics and Design and Electrical Technology), BHengu D.S ( Technology and EGD), Sibiya P.P (Life Orientation and English), Myeni S.S (Life Orientation and Sport Science), Mncube S.T ( Geography and IsiZulu), Mathenjwa N.S (Accounting and EMS) and Buthelezi T.N (Physical Sciences and Mathematics).

We hope that our new colleagues will undoubtedly add value to the life of the school. We further believe that on account of their young age they are presumably eager to make a name for themselves in the education sector.

ENHANCEMENT OF QUALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

A remarkable amount of work has been done to enhance the quality of teaching and learning. Our school has gone beyond what the Department of Education prescribes for schools to do to improve the quality of education for our learners. Hence and endeavour will be made to outline all the initiatives our school has taken. Firstly, we are conducting evening study starting at 18h00 and concluding at 20h00. The evening study in the question is supervised by educators. We further run evening classes mainly for Grade 12. These classes are conducted for remedial and curriculum coverage purposes.

Regular meetings are held to update the parents on the academic progress of the learners. These meetings have proved to be extremely important as they ensure that teachers are afforded opportunities to account for their work to the parents face to face. Moreover, the school management team conducts accountability sessions quarterly with the view to identifying the challenges and providing support to the educators whose subjects have poor showing.

Our understanding is that learner discipline is arguably indispensable to academic excellence. In the light of the latter statement, parents of ill-disciplined learners are invited to the school to address issues of learner ill-discipline. Our school also does referrals in respect to kids with acute learning problems such as slow writing, dyslexia etc.

We also ensure that our revision programmes are structured to cater for different learning abilities. Learners with learning challenges attend separate revision sessions which mainly focus on the written assessments.

STAFF MOTIVATION STRATEGIES

The notion that schools develop and progress only to the extent to which they succeed in motivating staff is fast gaining traction. Teaching is by no means a cushy job, there is a plethora of challenges from physical hurdles to those less tangible, such as the sense of defeat many learners have come to adopt or lack of discipline in the classrooms that gets teachers down. Some of the learners place little or no value on education. Obviously this makes the learning and teaching environment unbearable. It is critical to develop strategies that will boost the morale of educators and learners.

Our school holds end of the year event where non-teaching and teaching start are rewarded for excellent performance in their different roles. Furthermore, our school organises another event where educators (grade 12 educators) receive awards for excellent matric results. It is also worth pointing out that our school provides monetary incentives to the staff for the work done during the school holidays/vacation. The learners are recognized for outstanding work in their subjects. The token such as certificates, tags or trophies are handed over to learners who have distinguished themselves as top achievers.

We sincerely believe that these motivation strategies have certainly instilled the strong sense of duty among our educators. And learners alike. This is demonstrated by the high level of commitment shown by educators when performing their work in respect of teaching and learning.

Annually our school organises the school trips for educators. This initiative is extremely important because it tends to reinforce co-operation and bonds between educators. During these outings educators have rare opportunities where they can have informal but constructive engagements with their colleagues on matters of their professional work and life in general. Furthermore, these professional outings help diminish stress levels and work related fatigue. They also foster mutual respect, tolerance and empathy among educators. Undoubtedly all these values greatly enhace the relations in the work environment.