4 minute read
Headmaster’s Report
HEADMASTER’S
REPORT
This time of the year is all about endings and beginnings.
At the end of 2022, we take a moment to reflect on what has been a phenomenal year for Wynberg Boys’ Junior school. Most significantly, we have seen a return to normal schooling, i.e. pre-Covid schooling. To mention but a few instances, the boys could come to school without their masks; parents as well as guardians could attend school events and lend their support at sports events; school tours could take place again; cultural events could be attended; prize giving could be attended by boys and their very important people. In short, our boys have once again benefited from the full Wynberg experience.
Our boys have excelled in all four pillars: academic, culture, service and sport. Our teaching staff have excelled in adding to and developing new skills. This has all been achieved in true Supera Moras spirit.
However, we also have to look forward to new beginnings, challenges and developments in our ever-changing environment. The world is a different place to what it was pre-2020. As a society, we were required to demonstrate a degree of resilience we did not know we were capable of. Our capacity for resilience will constantly be tested with the challenges we face on a global level.
Your child will be a minority in the grander scheme of things in that he will be part of a global minority with access to a privileged and sound education. We fully appreciate that most children in South Africa – approximately 93% of children - do not attend schools such as WBJS. This is the harsh reality and cause for reflection on our part.
Increasing demands are being made as a result of the influx of people into the Western Cape. As a result, the number of applications have increased exponentially in all schools, including WBJS. We have, for example, been requested to increase our class sizes from 25 to 30 boys.
Post-COVID we have had to shift our pedagogies and our way of doing things in order to accommodate new realities and the needs of the families and learners who attend WBJS. For instance, the very relevance of formal schooling has been brought into question with homeschooling and online offerings becoming popular choices for many.
Furthermore, the relevance of single-sex schools have also been brought into question with gender issues amongst pre-teens becoming a topic that we are compelled to consider. Some questions include how we best educate boys from age 5 to 12 about the fundamentals of respectful relationships, from friendships to romance? Expectations on the standards for appropriate boundaries, jokes versus harassment, flirting versus hurting and consent versus exploitation vary. This is apparent in what is regarded as acceptable in different communities. Within a community as diverse as ours, we most often see the differences in these societal expectations manifest when issues present themselves. Teachers, parents and guardians are expected to serve as rolemodels for children. This is especially true when it comes to managing emotions and understanding feelings. However, we cannot teach what we do not know. For this reason, the Wynberg Campus of Schools employs counsellors as full-time staff to assist our children with the socio-emotional challenges they face. In addition, we are thrilled to be introducing conscious discipline into our school culture. Conscious discipline uses a self-regulation programme that integrates social emotional learning and discipline to cultivate emotional intelligence through everyday events. This initiative will be rolled out during 2023.
FOR CHILDREN. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE
WHEN IT COMES TO MANAGING EMOTIONS
AND UNDERSTANDING FEELINGS.
HOWEVER, WE CANNOT TEACH WHAT
WE DO NOT KNOW. ”
We must be mindful that we, as parents and teachers, are preparing our children for the Fourth Industrial Revolution – an age that will be marked by more digitisation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics and the like. The ability to function effectively during this time, we will have to develop the appropriate skills at school. Cognitive flexibility, resilience, originality, initiative and emotional intelligence, together with creative risk-taking, leadership growth and the art of negotiation, are all skills to actively develop within our boys. And as a school, I believe that we have demonstrated our commitment to doing exactly that.
WBJS is moving forward as a school where our boys’ holistic development is our primary objective. The school aims to find a positive balance between tradition and innovation in all its programmes and initiatives. The school strives to further the culture of reflective practices and transparency that has delivered success.
We will continue to uphold our standards of excellence and to value all the contributions to our Wynberg Family – those made in the past, those being made in the present and those that will be made in the future, hopefully for many generations to come. Accordingly, we will align our strategic intentions and plans with our operational needs.
I cannot emphasise enough that we cannot achieve these goals without the support and hard work of the School Governing Body, staff, parents, guardians and boys.
However, I have no doubt that, together, we will meet the challenges the future may hold in the true spirit of Supera Moras.
Mr C Poleman Headmaster: Wynberg Boys’ Junior School
