The School Corridor Tatler

I always look forward to the reflection meeting with the four primary school principals - Lavinia Davis (Square Hill), Cassy Dick (Steenberg), Noel Isaacs (Floreat) and Lameez Rabbaney (Prince George). This foursome has been partners in this mentoring network that was established about three years ago. They have showed that professional learning networks can be a deep support network, IF you are prepared to invest in the partnership. In short, when you work with your peers, you have a pool of resources a phone call away. And, if you have a Cassy in the network, be forewarned: you will be phoned, e-mailed or picked up so that you know the group cares and cannot function well without you and your gifts. The comraderie that prevails and the mix of diverse personalities are part of the success of this professional learning network. Humour and sharp wit are also present in bucket loads here. Even I become the target of many a flippant comment. Like yesterday. "When I infor

Adrian in the foyer at the school, Floreat Primary School, where he has been teaching for the past two years You will agree that even though you love your job, there are days when you wonder whether you are in the right place, don't you? Then there are those days - and hopefully they are the norm - when you ask yourself whether it is really possible to have so much joy; so much pleasure, when those with whom you work make you feel like a mentee on steroids? You know that feeling, right?   Now, today I had one of those "mentee on steroids" days. I was merely going to pay two short courtesy visits to Floreat and Capricorn Primary schools in the heartland of the broader Lavender Hill-Steenberg area. However, each session became a reflective session on the quality education agenda driven at these two schools. I must add that I had not engineered any of the sort. My focus was just going to be on "basic functionality" - checking on textbooks, time tabling, staffing