The International School of South Africa (ISSA) is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the historic town of Mahikeng, capital of the North West Province, and about 300 km from Johannesburg. It offers the full Primary and Secondary Cambridge International Curriculum from Grade 00 to A level.
In 2023 we will be rolling out the South African Independent Examinations Board (IEB) programme, which will run parallel to the Cambridge curriculum. As you walk onto the campus you can take in the beautiful architecture and the well-manicured gardens which provide a peaceful and tranquil learning environment for our students.
I arrived at the school in September 2019. I walked into a cauldron of deep schisms and unhappiness between the different stakeholders. My natural instinct was to fight or take flight. The board gave me a 100-day mandate to produce findings and develop a strategic plan that would take the school forward, with a particular focus on engaging all stakeholders to work together in keeping with our mission statement, which is:
- To provide a holistic and balanced education for every student within a broad and inclusive curriculum.
- To promote a stimulating and challenging learning environment founded on tolerance, mutual respect, caring relationships, moral accountability and personal integrity and professional commitment.
- To recognise the need to work closely and effectively with all stakeholders.
Bringing the stakeholders together
For the school to move forward, we needed to establish effective collaboration built on inclusivity. This required every member of the school community to be confident that they would both succeed and be able to participate in the turnaround strategy that would contribute to its success.
It required people to buy into the vision of the school and identify shared values. For this to be an authentic and durable collaboration, these values needed to be interrogated and sometimes clarified, sometimes contested.
As an outsider I could not come in and make my own assumptions and compromises if I wanted to develop a true partnership with the ISSA community. I had to spend a lot of time trying to understand the diverse experiences and expectations and how these could be integrated.
This was not always a smooth or comfortable process and it really tested my leadership – especially in the context of turbulence or uncertainty around governance or management changes, financial challenges or shocks like the pandemic.
It gave rise to or revealed conflict around issues such as who ‘owns’ the school – given its historical legacy – how decisions were made, and what was the difference between policy and practice.
As with all schools, the organisational culture was based on historical norms and habits, and any shift in a different direction could be perceived as disruption. I therefore had to navigate the proverbial ‘diplomatic tight rope’ at all times.
A new sense of togetherness
To plot the way forward we had to develop a new strategic plan that involved all role players. The board and senior management team were led by Craig Carolan, an independent consultant, and were tasked with developing the new strategic direction the school would follow.
This plan was shared with staff and students and parents, and it became the blueprint document to map the way forward for our community. It involved many consultations to ensure we were all on the same page. Additionally, the board of governors was taken through a governance workshop led by Sandy Sagar from ISASA.
We have many fine examples of successful collaboration between students, staff, parents and the community as a whole. Our overriding mantra: ‘If it matters to the child, it matters to us’, remains central to all our conversations and communications in our community.
We have a small teacher/pupil ratio enabling the teacher to get to know each student on a personal level. In addition, there is a vertical tutor system with an assigned weekly tutor meeting with a small group of about 10 tutees. Tutors are able to pick up any concerns and celebrate any achievements easily. These are passed on to relevant staff and parents.
We have regular six-week cycle academic meetings where the progress of each child is discussed. This makes timely interventions possible and also gives the staff as a collective an opportunity to get to know the students better in a more holistic way in their academic conversations.
Our weekly newsletter helps keep parents, particularly parents whose children are boarders, abreast of what is going on at the school. I endeavour to be as transparent as possible in my communication to parents and this has developed into a sound relationship of trust between us. We have an open door policy at ISSA and parents are welcome to call, write or make an appointment with me or my dedicated staff to discuss any issue they might have. I strongly support this.
We strive to make our comfortable and spacious boarding facilities a home away from home. Our hostel staff members are nurturing and always at hand to listen to concerns parents might have. Holistic wellness is of prime importance to ISSA. Our resident educational psychologist and school nurse are always on call for our students.
Our group therapy sessions, led by our educational psychologist, provide an excellent forum to promote student advocacy, facilitate peer-to-peer learning, and provide opportunities for self-awareness and personal growth.
Private consultations are conducted and there is regular communication between teachers and the psychologist. There is an opportunity for feedback between students, teachers and parents – we insist on adhering to confidentiality protocols.
Diversity makes collaboration richer
ISSA is a diverse community, drawing students from 15 different countries in the African diaspora and, on occasion, we draw students from beyond the continent. We are a melting pot of cultures and contestation of ideas, and students are given opportunities to share, celebrate their cultures and embrace their diversity on various platforms.As they develop and make mistakes along the way, they hone different skill sets through the experiential learning opportunities provided by student-led activities.
Our environmental portfolio group has led the charge on how we can further reduce our carbon footprint by launching a ‘green week’. We have installed solar panels in our hostels to mitigate the increasing loadshedding crisis facing our country. This has resulted in uninterrupted homework time.
I use the word ‘community’ in almost every piece of my communication because, in essence, the community is an integral part of our school. We try to instil the true meaning of ubuntu in all our students through service to others. I frequently tell the students that it is in ‘giving and serving others that we receive’.
We support a variety of community projects throughout the year with Chasing Red being our most successful where we have a constant supply of sanitary towels that are donated to our different partner communities to support the girl child.
Now, three years later, when I walk through the corridors of the high school or visit the classrooms of the primary school, or get my hugs from the little ones on the preprimary grounds, I am assured that this is a happy school, and will continue to thrive under leadership that wins the hearts and minds of the community that it serves.
I attribute this success to an understanding and supportive board of governors, a solid team of subject matter experts, a dedicated staff and the amazing students and parents of the ISSA family.