Speaker 1: We're going to be turning our attention to a pressing
Speaker 1: issue affecting one of Cape Town's most respected public schools.
Speaker 1: Claire Won High, known for its really strong academic focus
Speaker 1: and commitment to excellence in maths and physical sciences, facing
Speaker 1: a major challenge due to budget cuts by the Department
Speaker 1: of Education, and the cuts could see the school lose
Speaker 1: four out of its twenty teaching posts twenty percent of
Speaker 1: its academic staff, essentially threatening the exceptionally high quality of
Speaker 1: education that it's works so hard to provide, particularly to
Speaker 1: disadvantage students. In response, the school's governing body has stepped
Speaker 1: in determined to protect teaching quality by raising trying to
Speaker 1: raise one point eight million rand to cover teacher salaries,
Speaker 1: but they can't do it alone. To find out more,
Speaker 1: I'm delighted to welcome into studio this afternoon, Deputy Principal
Speaker 1: Alex Wilson and Acting Principle Natalie Nickerrritt. It's good to
Speaker 1: have you both with us. Thank you so much for
Speaker 1: joining us this morning. When I heard that this was
Speaker 1: the school that was you guys be coming in. I mean,
Speaker 1: you're renowned. The success of the school is renowned. In fact,
Speaker 1: somebody was mentioning to me at Christmas, did you see
Speaker 1: Clement Hi doing so well? Talk to us a little
Speaker 1: bit about the school, Alex. Maybe I can start with
Speaker 1: and start with you, tell us a little bit of
Speaker 1: the pedigree of the school, if.
Speaker 2: You will, well. We do our very best to offer
Speaker 2: opportunities to students who otherwise wouldn't have them, and we
Speaker 2: have in our school an amazing array of talent from
Speaker 2: all across Cape down. We have no catchment area, and
Speaker 2: we are aim as to target certain communities, not target
Speaker 2: certain communities, but to bring students in from communities that
Speaker 2: otherwise wouldn't have access to such quality education. We have
Speaker 2: produced over the last fifteen years fourteen years, some amazing results,
Speaker 2: consistently with pass rates ninety five percent and above, and
Speaker 2: most recently, as you alluded to, our results last year
Speaker 2: we came third in the province overall, and we came
Speaker 2: first in mathematics and physical sciences. It's also with an
Speaker 2: all female physical science department, which I think is quite
Speaker 2: significant in the context of our country. And we want
Speaker 2: to continue producing these results giving opportunities to young people
Speaker 2: who wouldn't have them to go to university to become
Speaker 2: doctors and engineers and lawyers and to give back to
Speaker 2: South Africa.
Speaker 1: Natalie, what do you put the success of the school
Speaker 1: down to those incredible results that Alex gave us just said.
Speaker 3: A variety of things. The first thing is that our
Speaker 3: school is small, five hundred and forty kids, so that' oups.
Speaker 3: So we have a very close knit sort of family environment.
Speaker 3: We have a very good pastoral care system where we
Speaker 3: hold our kids quite closely. We try that nobody falls
Speaker 3: through the cracks type of thing. We have a counseling
Speaker 3: facility at our school, so we have a school counselor
Speaker 3: on our staff as well, so that our kids who come,
Speaker 3: you know, they come from very challenging backgrounds and they're
Speaker 3: able to get the counseling that they need. We also
Speaker 3: have a very dynamic young staff as staff is actually
Speaker 3: the average ages around about thirty six years.
Speaker 1: Wow, that is young.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so astaff is quite young and that helps. And
Speaker 3: then also the quality of the learners that we get.
Speaker 3: You know, in order to do physical sciences and pure
Speaker 3: maths up to metric they have to be academically strong
Speaker 3: and our kids really work very hard, you know, they
Speaker 3: want to succeed and so those are the yes, those
Speaker 3: are the all marks of cremonie. And then of course
Speaker 3: our parents, you know, very involved, also want to watch
Speaker 3: best for their children. There was.
Speaker 1: An outcry, i suppose when we learned about these these
Speaker 1: counts that were coming, and more so for certain schools
Speaker 1: because we know, you know the nature of of education
Speaker 1: in South Africa being what it is, and the fear
Speaker 1: was that it was going to be schools like yours
Speaker 1: that were the hardest and that has obviously come to bear.
Speaker 1: Just talk to us exactly what is the position. It's
Speaker 1: four out of your twenty teaching posts. That's an awful lot.
Speaker 1: That's a big hit to have to do.
Speaker 3: It is it is. It was quite a surprise also
Speaker 3: in the light of the fact that they the Department
Speaker 3: of Education has always wanted to grow the school, so
Speaker 3: they want us to take in more learners, and we
Speaker 3: were quite surprised when we got the notification to say
Speaker 3: that for of our teachers would be losing their posts
Speaker 3: and it meant that the governing body of the school,
Speaker 3: the school governing body obviously then had to step in.
Speaker 3: But as you mentioned, you're now in order to keep
Speaker 3: the successes that the school as over the many years
Speaker 3: we've fat to we can't if we lose our teachers,
Speaker 3: it means our classes get bigger, and you know with
Speaker 3: with maths and physics, you need smaller classes. And so
Speaker 3: it meant that the governing body is at to, you know,
Speaker 3: come up with innovative ideas, and of course we've fair
Speaker 3: to go and try and source sponsorship. And that's why
Speaker 3: we here this morning.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know you're saying this morning as well, I'm
Speaker 1: so glad it's not just me, and you've got a
Speaker 1: lot more children to deal with it than I have.
Speaker 1: If you're just joining us this afternoon. We're talking to
Speaker 1: the deputy principal, sorry, acting principle at Claremont High, Natalie
Speaker 1: Nikkerkan also deputy Principal Alex Wilson in studio with us.
Speaker 1: They're facing a challenge and it's a challenge that other
Speaker 1: schools in Cape Telling the country are also facing. But
Speaker 1: it's as a result of these budget cuts by the
Speaker 1: Education Department. The impact on Claremont High will be that
Speaker 1: it needs it's going to have to lose twenty percent
Speaker 1: of its academics. Of this is a school that has
Speaker 1: done remarkably well consistently remarkably well. And the impact, as
Speaker 1: you say atale is that essentially class sizes are going
Speaker 1: to get bigger, which is exactly what the fear was.
Speaker 1: Can you just talk about that. I was listening to
Speaker 1: a fascinating conversation I think it was with John Maatham
Speaker 1: a few weeks ago about the impact of larger class
Speaker 1: sizes and while there are mechanisms that can be brought
Speaker 1: in to teach larger class sizes, why isn't it ideal,
Speaker 1: particularly when you are maybe alex you can also take
Speaker 1: this and particularly when you were dealing with the level
Speaker 1: of excellence that you were dealing with that At Claimont High, well, we.
Speaker 2: Have consistently tried to have class sizes of around twenty
Speaker 2: five students for in the f et phase grade ten,
Speaker 2: eleven and twelve, particularly that because that's where the subjects
Speaker 2: get a little bit more challenging. Where students choose their subjects.
Speaker 2: They only have limited choice at Claimont Geography, accounting, in
Speaker 2: life science they get to choose two of those and
Speaker 2: they have to do pure mats and they have to
Speaker 2: do physical science and English Home Language. Twenty five is
Speaker 2: a great number we have classrooms can have thirty five students.
Speaker 2: And this year we've had to go up in our
Speaker 2: grade ten classes in math, Science and English two thirty
Speaker 2: five students, and as a teacher of English, I found
Speaker 2: that challenge quite significant. Suddenly the marking load increases, so
Speaker 2: my time like I can give to my students is
Speaker 2: suddenly less. I'm a little bit more tired. And then
Speaker 2: when you're teaching literature, and the same goes for maths
Speaker 2: and science as well, that personal connection is so valuable
Speaker 2: and you lose it with an extra ten students in
Speaker 2: your class, there's no question. So with those cuts, that's
Speaker 2: the most significant thing. So we're hoping that in the
Speaker 2: next year and the following years we'll be able to
Speaker 2: gain the funding so we can reduce those class sizes
Speaker 2: and fut phase and then we can continue to have
Speaker 2: our amazing results.
Speaker 1: And looking at capping the classes, is it twenty five, Well.
Speaker 2: That's what we aim for, and it varies depending on
Speaker 2: subject choices and things, but that's generally what we aim for,
Speaker 2: particularly in those three core subjects, that core subjects at Claremont,
Speaker 2: Science and English.
Speaker 1: To I wonder to what extent are the learners aware
Speaker 1: of the current challenge, to what extent are they brought
Speaker 1: into the confidence I guess of the school in dealing
Speaker 1: with these things and the parents also, is this you
Speaker 1: spoke about that really sort of community element of the school.
Speaker 1: Does that extend on quite serious topics like this?
Speaker 3: Absolutely, So we always try and involve our learners so
Speaker 3: they are kept abreast of what's happening at the school.
Speaker 3: So when we got a notification to say, you know
Speaker 3: that the department is cutting forth our posts, the learners
Speaker 3: were informed about it as well as the parents. So
Speaker 3: they're always aware of what's happening because it's important for
Speaker 3: them also to know. You know, it is their school
Speaker 3: as well, so it's important for them to know. And
Speaker 3: so yes, we do definitely involve them in that.
Speaker 1: So what's the next step. You essentially want to raise
Speaker 1: one point eight million round to cover those salaries? How
Speaker 1: are you going to do it?
Speaker 3: So, and that's why we here today. So we really
Speaker 3: want businesses and companies out there to come to the party,
Speaker 3: you know, and we know that the businesses there are
Speaker 3: businesses out there and cleve Oni is a good investment.
Speaker 3: So the idea is for them to come on board
Speaker 3: and partner with the school. And you know, so that
Speaker 3: we are able to hold onto our teachers and to
Speaker 3: maintain the standards that we do have at Clymont.
Speaker 2: It's an investment in the students as much as anything else,
Speaker 2: and in the future, and we want to uplift lots
Speaker 2: of people, and particularly in our city that's so divided
Speaker 2: geographically and specially with our history. We want to give
Speaker 2: opportunities and it's an investment in the future young engineers,
Speaker 2: young doctors from families that otherwise wouldn't have graduates who
Speaker 2: are going to u c T and Stellenbosch and bits
Speaker 2: to go and study these things.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, if people would like to partner with the school,
Speaker 1: what what steps do they do they need to take?
Speaker 1: How do they how do they do it? How do
Speaker 1: they give you their money?
Speaker 3: So the we have a marketing person, the person who
Speaker 3: works in up here and her name is Zara do Mingo,
Speaker 3: So she would be the person that you would contact,
Speaker 3: so z do Mingo at clemant Ie dot co dot ceda,
Speaker 3: or you would contact as secretary Edmund at clemant I
Speaker 3: dot co dot seday, or you could found the school.
Speaker 3: We are on social media as well, so those sites
Speaker 3: are available. The school's numbers are two one, six seven
Speaker 3: one or six four five, but emails would probably work better.
Speaker 1: And have you managed to secure any partners yet, any
Speaker 1: funders yet?
Speaker 3: We have? We have, we have funders in the that
Speaker 3: we do have some long term funders because the school
Speaker 3: fee of the school is much lower for the area
Speaker 3: that it's in. So we in the Leafys hours were
Speaker 3: the more affluent schools, and our school fees is a
Speaker 3: lot less. And we do that so because we targets
Speaker 3: from the koflets and the townships, and so we want
Speaker 3: to make sure that the school feez is affordable.
Speaker 1: So the answer isn't for you. And again I'm going
Speaker 1: back to conversations that I heard when the budget cuts
Speaker 1: were first announced from people like Jonathan Jansen and talking
Speaker 1: about the impact is going to be that schools like
Speaker 1: yours face having to raise the fees and which isn't
Speaker 1: Which isn't possible exactly.
Speaker 2: We already we had to raise up. We had to
Speaker 2: raise our fees this year right from twelve thousand to
Speaker 2: fifteen that are just under sixteen thousand a year, which,
Speaker 2: as you know, is a lot less than schools that
Speaker 2: we are competing toe to toe with in the southern.
Speaker 1: Seven sure, sure, but then the direct impact on the
Speaker 1: pockets of the families that.
Speaker 2: You are of support, and the fear is that if
Speaker 2: we don't get the funding every year, that our fees
Speaker 2: are going to increase by more than inflation, and that's
Speaker 2: a big problem for our community, folks.
Speaker 1: We're joined in studio by Acting Principal Natalie Nickavi Kennels
Speaker 1: Deputy Principal Alex Wilson of Clermont High School. They are
Speaker 1: facing a it's a challenge, and it's a challenge that
Speaker 1: you may be able to help with and if you're
Speaker 1: in a position to do so, please do so. We
Speaker 1: started off the conversation really just hearing about the p
Speaker 1: pedigree of the school and the excellence. It seems so
Speaker 1: deeply unfair that this is a position. It seems remarkable,
Speaker 1: not to get too political about it, but that in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five head teachers principals are having to come
Speaker 1: and sort of sing for their supper, as it were.
Speaker 1: But here we find ourselves and this is about the
Speaker 1: future of brilliant young people with brilliant brains who run
Speaker 1: da will run a brilliant country and help and be
Speaker 1: really productive members and beneficial member of Society. If you
Speaker 1: are able to help, please do get in contact with
Speaker 1: Claim on High and let's see if we can't turn
Speaker 1: this story to the good.