Helderberg School Leadership Conference 2019
This was the third annual conference, hosted by the Rupert Foundation and facilitated and planned by Camino Consulting, for the 13 schools’ principals and deputies. In 2019 a nominated Post Level 1 teacher also attended, as part of introducing a process of leadership sustainability within these schools. The Deputy Secretary-General of the Western Cape Education Department, Mr Brian Schreuder, was the key note speaker and many of the WCED circuit managers attended as well.
Just 8% of the 78,363 ‘progressed’ students who wrote matric over the last year passed their exams, the Sunday Times reports. Progressed learners are pupils who were pushed through to matric after failing grade 11 more than once.
These statistics are constantly reminding us of the very desperate situation of our Education system in South Africa and the disastrous effects of it on our children, the economy, business, poverty and our society in general. To adopt a wait and see approach to this is to perpetuate a victim mind set and we can simply not afford it.
Our main focus is on empowering the leadership of these schools to measure and manage the critical drivers of running schools that deliver results. Three years ago we introduced an annual leadership conference and our main objective is to expose the leaders to leadership models and thought which can inform and transform their mindsets about the role and responsibilities that come with their positions.
2019’s theme of ‘It Takes a Village to raise a Child’ focused on how the different schools can become a community of support to one another. The conference started with an opening session from Eagles Rising Leadership Academy and they brought the voice of the youth into the conference. They made the delegates aware of their desires and basic need for leaders in a school system and who can help them create a future of hope for themselves.
The conference also provided sessions where the school leaders could experience intentional conversations (Community of Practices) using one another’s experience and wisdom to solve the day to day problems they face as educational leaders in their own spheres of influence.
We are very excited about the outcome of this year’s conference and in the months to come, post more updates on the progress made in the different schools currently on the programme. With Strong Schools rallying corporate support for these schools, hopefully we can introduce our first Partnership School in the near future – a school that is ready to begin an intentional, focused, bespoke change management journey where we focus on organisational and human capital development and involve the surrounding Helderberg community to help realise the school’s strategic goals.
