Head Thoughts

One of the constant struggles I experience in my leadership of our school is the constant stream of requests for school fee subsidy. More now than ever before families are experiencing financial pressure and are looking for ways to reduce monthly expenses.My colleagues in other schools report the same phenomenon.

Our school is an independent school and as such receives no subsidisation from national or provincial government. Our ability to pay our staff, provide resources for high quality education, pay for operational overheads and maintain our buildings is dependent on fundraising and school fees. Small schools such as ours need to ensure growing enrolment to ensure income is maintained to pay all the necessary monthly bills, including the salaries of staff who continue to give of their best despite their payment being lower than their counterparts in state schools.

Here then is the conundrum : If we close the door to fee subsidy requests we risk losing families who may be in a better position to pay in months to come – a case of having some money in rather than none at all. On the other hand, if we constantly meet subsidy requests based on proven need, we run the risk of compromising our cash flow which could have very serious consequences for operational requirements on an already tight budget.

I admit that I find this a particularly difficult part of my job. We have a subsidy application process and requests are dealt with within a subsidy policy framework. Despite this and the fact that our Board is very supportive of me in this process, I am the one who has to face these parents and their children. I remind myself that parents have a choice as to where to send their children and that this choice is not my responsbility. Sometime this is cold comfort!

I have come to realise that not every parent values education in the way I feel they should. For some the payment of school fees seems to be an optional extra, something they will pay should the disposable income allow it. Fortunately our payment policy soon puts an end to parents thinking they can leave school fee payments to chance. If parents have chosen to send their children to an independent school they must be willing and able to pay the required fees?

It is incredibly humbling to meet parents who are doing everything in their power to afford the required school fees and who are diligent about paying on time. It is also very frustrating, annoying and anger-inducing when parents who are obviously able to afford their children’s school fees choose to pay late or not at all and thereby compromise the financial stability of the school.

Another issue that raises its head is whether it is fair to offer subsidies at all! When fee reductions are given they effectively require the remaining full fee-paying parents to subsidise the reduced-fee pupils. This has an obvious implication when it comes to setting annual school fees as subsidised fees need to be taken into consideration. This can push up the school fees for everyone in the parent body. Is this fair?

Yet another issue is that of the suspension of children due to non-payment of school fees. My business intuition tells me that this is the right way to go while the educator in me pulls in the opposite direction believing that children should be in school and not have to sacrifice educational opportunities because of the irresponsibility of parents. This is a constant struggle in my heart and mind.

What happens in your school? Feel free to share your thoughts and best practice ideas in the comments.

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My wife came home recently clutching several catalogues from computer/gadget stores. As she passed them on to me to peruse she commented, “What in these do you need?”. Now I have to admit that a large part of me would love to spend several thousands on very intentionally adding to my gadget collection but my personal budget won’t stretch that far! I am also sure that any more gadgets in the house would leave me sleeping on the couch!

My response was simply this : “There’s lots I want, but nothing I need.” I didn’t think much of this until I began preparing myself for the start of the new school term. It occurred to me that the same sentiment applies to schools. I began to wonder what a list of needs and wants would look like for my school. I soon realised that those things that schools need are most often the intangibles, those things which are rooted in people and not bought with fundraising money and school fees.

Trust, empathy, creativity, entrepreneurship, parental engagement, camaraderie amongst staff, experiential learning opportunities, open-mindedness, clear vision, strong moral and ethical compass, an atmosphere of mutual respect and a well-defined accountability system are some of the needs of schools. In the race for larger buildings, more technology, fancier sport facilities and so on, many schools seem to have lost their focus on what is truly important.

Oh yes, there is lots I want for my school but the question is, “Do I need it?”.

I hope that I don’t fall into the trap of focusing too much on the wants of my school and thereby lose touch with the reality of those things we truly need.

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I am now on mid-year break and am finally catching up on all my outstanding admin – including this blog!

The previous post mentioned the talk that Tim Keller and I were giving at a workshop in Cape Town. Here is the presentation :

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My friend Tim Keller and I will be presenting a workshop for principals (South African Principals’ Association) entitled “Social Media and Your School” tomorrow at Norman Henshilwood High School.

Does your school use social media? Do you have a social media policy for pupils and/or staff? What role does social media play in your marketing plans? Is there someone on staff assigned to social media? Should you concern yourself with this “fad”?

These questions are extremely relevant to schools today and it is shocking to me to find that most schools have only given social media a cursory glance. In a world where interacting on social media has overtaken pornography as the number one online activity and where reputations (both personal and corporate) are made and broken through the power of collaborative discussion, schools cannot, dare not, think that they can shut themselves off from the power and omnipresence of social media.

Not only are parents and community members on social networks, pupils are as well. Are we teaching them the skills needed to be responsible and safe while using these tools or do we simply ban their use at school and blindly assume that they will be alright while accessing them at home?

Digital literacy and digital lifeskills should be compulsory components in school curricula. I don’t see that at present in many school and I believe one of the biggest reasons is the lack of a suitably interested or qualified teacher. I also believe that it many cases the school principal is also blissfully unaware of the need for education in this sphere.

With all this in mind, Tim and I are in the process of setting up a consultancy to work with schools in the fields of social media and helping teachers utilise the power of technology to teach in more effective and creative ways. There is more to Google than searching for information…

If you would like us to speak at your school or would simply like to know more, please drop us a line at edugeeks@headthoughts.co.za

We cannot afford to ignore this … what are you doing about social media in your school? Leave a comment and share your thoughts…

Update – see presentation here

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My friend Tim Keller pointed me towards this video from a TED conference. It sums up what for me is the essence of education, particularly at primary school level. There is no doubt that children learn through play. They learn to respect others’ ideas, study processes when they make mistakes, engage with each other when a solution needs to be found.

It occurs to me that in our very ordered school lives, there is precious little time left to play. That old-fashioned idea seems to be left on the sidelines so that we can finish curricula, keep education authorities happy and feel good about “preparing the children for high school”. What are we doing? I refuse to believe that education is simply the transfer of knowledge from one to another. Our pupils need to be learning by doing. They need to be actively engaged in activities that force them out of their comfort zones so that they can learn to think creatively not only about the problems they face but about who they are as individuals. It is never too young to begin this process.

Parents, concerned with grades to “get into the best high schools”, are also to blame. Unneccesary and frankly, short-sighted, pressure to conform to an outdated philosophy of education is hurting our children and will hurt our nation in the years to come. Schools need to be engaged in education our children beyond the textbook and the classroom.

I am not saying for one moment that it is necessary to throw out formal examinations and set curricula. I am calling for an open-minded approach to education. An approach that believes that all children have an amazing ability to learn and grow when left to their own devices. An approach that seeks to guide learning rather than force it. An approach in which teachers are also learners. An approach where children can become “complete” and not just have the ability to obtain good grades. An approach which allows children to make mistakes without fear. An approach that gives pupils an opportunity to reflect on their actions and doesn’t need them to write a story about it!

Come on teachers! Come on principals! Come on parents! Come on education authorities! Isn’t it time for a new day in education? We can have all the techno-wizardry in the world in our schools but that does not make a school progressive. The very essence of our school is our philosophy of education and in the way it is brought to life by our teachers.

Watch this and be inspired :

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One of my staff pinned this up in the staffroom last term. I did not give much notice to it until today as I was clearing things out busily preparing for the coming term. It really struck a chord with me as it pretty much sums up why I do what I do and why I am so passionate about leading others to do the same. Enjoy!

The Bridge

An old man going along a lone highway

Came at the evening cold and gray

To a chasm vast and deep and wide

Through which was flowing a swollen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim

That swollen stream held no fears for him

But he paused when safe on the other side

And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,

“You are wasting your strength with building here.

Your journey will end with the ending day;

You never again must pass this way.

You have crossed the chasm deep and wide;

Why build you the bridge at the eventide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head,

“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,

“There follows after me today

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This swollen stream which was naught to me

To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim.

Good friend, I am building the bridge for him.”

- Anonymous

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After much consideration I have decided to begin this blog to chronicle the trials, joys and day-to-day experiences of leading a small school in the Western Cape, South Africa.

I have now served as headmaster of my school for 27 months and it has been quite a journey thus far! No single day is the same as I deal with all manner of leadership issues as well as teach Grade 7 and 8 classes.

This site will be the place where I reflect on the activities of the day and share some of my thoughts with regard to education and educational leadership. It will be the space in which I can vent, share, learn, grown and find meaning to the many thoughts and ideas floating around my mind!

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