Our first full day in East London started with a visit to the A.W. Barnes Primary School. (In South Africa, primary schools include grades K through 7). When we arrived, we were greeted by Geoff Gamiet, their smiling, but intense principal.
This was the first day back for students following a break, so we arrived while they were in the middle of a school-wide assembly. It was quite a sight to see hundreds of students smiling and engaged in this meeting. Their chorus teacher led them in an amazing song. I was so stunned by their voices, I listened to most of their song before I had the presence of mind to record the last piece of it:
After the assembly, we met with Geoff, who gave us some background on himself and the school. Geoff told us that he started here as a teacher in 1977 and rose to become principal. The Barnes School is known as an outstanding school by the local community. Its reputation has made it a very over-enrolled school, with over 100 students across eight grades.
Geoff commented that they are so over-enrolled they had to turn away over 200 applicants this year. He related how parents are resorting to innovative ways to get their children into the Barnes. One family, for example, simply dressed their child in the school uniform and had them show up for school and follow the other kids into the building!
Staffing has become an issue at the school, with Geoff explaining that retiring teachers are not always replaced when they leave. This was the case last year, when three teachers retired, but the school received no replacements. It will be an issue again this year, when three more staff will retire. These staffing shortfalls translate into big class sizes, with most classes containing at least 35 students.
Geoff’s staff arranged a very busy day for us, as each member of our group was placed in a range of classrooms to observe and lend a hand. We started with a tour of some areas in the school. We visited a room where women created the school uniforms by hand and made them available for students. We also visited their Art Room, where I was impressed with the unbelievable work generated by the students (such as the piece below, from a 6th grader):
Geoff commented that they are so over-enrolled they had to turn away over 200 applicants this year. He related how parents are resorting to innovative ways to get their children into the Barnes. One family, for example, simply dressed their child in the school uniform and had them show up for school and follow the other kids into the building!
Staffing has become an issue at the school, with Geoff explaining that retiring teachers are not always replaced when they leave. This was the case last year, when three teachers retired, but the school received no replacements. It will be an issue again this year, when three more staff will retire. These staffing shortfalls translate into big class sizes, with most classes containing at least 35 students.
Geoff’s staff arranged a very busy day for us, as each member of our group was placed in a range of classrooms to observe and lend a hand. We started with a tour of some areas in the school. We visited a room where women created the school uniforms by hand and made them available for students. We also visited their Art Room, where I was impressed with the unbelievable work generated by the students (such as the piece below, from a 6th grader):
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| An Expression of My Culture by David Mqgelo, Grade 6 |
By 10 am, we were on our way to our classroom visits. I began with a grade 7 class of 35 students:
Here, Mr. Benet conducted a nice Language Arts lesson, where students worked in groups to analyze a story about ‘Honey Queens’. They first had to figure out any unknown words, then there was a class review of the story. The students reminded me exactly of my class at home. Some students got right to work, some needed prompting… and a few spent a good five minutes searching for a pencil!
One thing that did NOT remind me of my class back home was the way students greeted visitors to their classroom. In my school, most visitors get a cursory intro by the teacher, students grunt or nod – then we go back to our lesson. Here, in each classroom I entered, the entire class stood up! The teacher introduced me (in my case, I was “Mr. John”), and every student – in unison – said “How are you today Mr. John? We are doing fine.” At this point, they wait, expecting an answer to their question! I must say, it caught me by surprise, but I was able to answer “I am doing fine. Thank You.”, at which point, they all sat down. It was unexpected, but I thought it was quite a bit more personal that the way we do things back home.
Following the Language Arts class, the Barnes staff had a 20-minute break where aids supervised the students while the entire staff met in the teachers’ room. This initially seemed odd to me (a mandatory break?), but Geoff explained that it was a way to have the staff interact with one another at least once a day – and it served as a time when school-wide information could be communicated to everyone at once. A simple, but great idea!
During this break, I asked Geoff about school fees at the Barnes. He told us that the Barnes asks for about 1000 Rand per year in school fees (or about $83/month). He put that into context, explaining that a typical school outside the township area might have fees as high as R1800 per MONTH! While he is aware that many families struggle to come up with the fee for his school, it doesn’t excuse them from all obligations. I heard one teacher tell a student to ‘bring taxi fare’ tomorrow, because he had to stay after school for misbehaving. (Because it gets dark early during this time of year, after-school students take transportation home). I asked what happened if a student failed to bring in this money, and was told that it was not a problem, as they usually did.
At 11am, I saw a lesson on reading skills, where students in a grade 5 class read a short passage on AIDS and constructed a ‘Fact/Fallacy’ chart, based on what they read. This class had 50 students in one room. The last class I observed was a grade 4 class containing 46 students:
One thing that did NOT remind me of my class back home was the way students greeted visitors to their classroom. In my school, most visitors get a cursory intro by the teacher, students grunt or nod – then we go back to our lesson. Here, in each classroom I entered, the entire class stood up! The teacher introduced me (in my case, I was “Mr. John”), and every student – in unison – said “How are you today Mr. John? We are doing fine.” At this point, they wait, expecting an answer to their question! I must say, it caught me by surprise, but I was able to answer “I am doing fine. Thank You.”, at which point, they all sat down. It was unexpected, but I thought it was quite a bit more personal that the way we do things back home.
Following the Language Arts class, the Barnes staff had a 20-minute break where aids supervised the students while the entire staff met in the teachers’ room. This initially seemed odd to me (a mandatory break?), but Geoff explained that it was a way to have the staff interact with one another at least once a day – and it served as a time when school-wide information could be communicated to everyone at once. A simple, but great idea!
During this break, I asked Geoff about school fees at the Barnes. He told us that the Barnes asks for about 1000 Rand per year in school fees (or about $83/month). He put that into context, explaining that a typical school outside the township area might have fees as high as R1800 per MONTH! While he is aware that many families struggle to come up with the fee for his school, it doesn’t excuse them from all obligations. I heard one teacher tell a student to ‘bring taxi fare’ tomorrow, because he had to stay after school for misbehaving. (Because it gets dark early during this time of year, after-school students take transportation home). I asked what happened if a student failed to bring in this money, and was told that it was not a problem, as they usually did.
At 11am, I saw a lesson on reading skills, where students in a grade 5 class read a short passage on AIDS and constructed a ‘Fact/Fallacy’ chart, based on what they read. This class had 50 students in one room. The last class I observed was a grade 4 class containing 46 students:
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| (Sorry for the double shot of the teacher – she moved in between my two pictures!) |
In this class, students filled out a chart on different types of animal names, whether male, female, or baby. The chart had a few of the boxes filled in, so students understood what was expected of them. They seemed to enjoy finding this information from a sheet they had in their notebooks and worked well together.
After these visits, we had an excellent lunch with Geoff and his staff and some board members. We spoke to a few young women from Germany who spent the last year at the school as volunteers, assisting wherever they might be needed. One of the women was so impressed with what she experienced that she convinced her brother to come from Germany and volunteer!
Over 5 hours later, it was time for us to be on our way. We thanked Geoff for his hospitality and for the opportunity to interact so much with the staff and students.
After these visits, we had an excellent lunch with Geoff and his staff and some board members. We spoke to a few young women from Germany who spent the last year at the school as volunteers, assisting wherever they might be needed. One of the women was so impressed with what she experienced that she convinced her brother to come from Germany and volunteer!
Over 5 hours later, it was time for us to be on our way. We thanked Geoff for his hospitality and for the opportunity to interact so much with the staff and students.
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Lou Ann Griswold, Diane Moore, Susan Merrill, A.W. Barnes Principal Geoff Gamiet, Debbie Chase, Susan Reynolds, John Padula |
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| Make sure I give credit to Fund For Teachers!! |
I really can’t say enough good things about the work going on at the Barnes School. They get the job done, day in and day out. This visit was, for me, another instance of how a dynamic leader with a vision and a dedicated staff can make all the difference. The Barnes School, like Kliptown and Ubuntu, are models of success!
Male primary teachers are desperately needed in primary schools. The job however, can be perceived as one not suitable for men. This perception is outdated and inaccurate and puts a lot of potentially great Male Primary Teachers off from joining the profession.
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