This morning, T4 Education announced its Top 10 shortlists for the World’s Best School prize. And not one, but two Cape Town schools, have been nominated in the Top Ten shortlist for the category: Overcoming Adversity.
Pinelands North Primary School and West End Primary School have been nominated and will now compete with eight other schools in their category from Australia, Malaysia, India, Uganda, Brazil, Jamaica, Kenya and Nigeria, for the $50 000 prize for their category.
They will also have the opportunity to showcase, on a global platform, their best practices and innovative approaches on how to overcome adversity. Here’s how they are changing the education game…
Pinelands North Primary School:
The ethos of Pinelands North centres on building relationships within the school’s community and breaking down barriers. Creating an inclusive environment allows for a sense of belonging for families who don’t fit a traditional and normative family structure.
All pupils, male or female, wear the same uniforms – shorts and t-shirts, which are designed to be less traditional and more comfortable. The school has brought in gender-neutral bathrooms and everyone, including teachers, is addressed by their first name. From Grade 2, students are taught sign language. When the school accepted its first transgender pupil, it provided guidance for families about gender identities and trained staff through workshops on how to guide parents to adapt to the school’s new policies.
This philosophy extends to animal welfare: students are encouraged to take care of animals and view them as part of the family. A programme was set up for pupils to volunteer to be “animal monitors” and help coach each other on how best to handle the animals under their care.
In the wake of the pandemic, Pinelands North’s governing body quickly implemented a fund to assist families who were struggling financially, had all staff participate in bereavement and trauma training to better support pupils and parents during COVID and opened an online school for students who could no longer attend classes in person.
West End Primary School:
Having opened its doors in 1981, West End Primary has taught students of colour throughout its history and has felt the weight of the country’s struggle against the legacy of Apartheid.
Most of its students come from families that were directly impacted by the policies imposed during Apartheid and to this day the legacy of Apartheid has continued to affect the community that the school is serving.”
The school has initiated the “Box of Hope” project, by having parents, staff and community members donate much-needed items to impoverished learners and families. This was done to support the learners by making sure they were taken care of not only at school, but by having a meal when they go home as well. Teachers also bought clothes, toys, toiletries and money for learners to go on educational excursions.
The range of initiatives the school launched has sought to challenge students to dream beyond their individual circumstances and become passionate in their endeavours. The staff noted they could do this through the power of extra-curricular and extra mural activities.
The school has produced a number of learners who have excelled in sport (receiving provincial and national colours) and academic achievements, become published authors and gained leadership skills. Over time, the bonds created helped improve learners’ attitudes towards themselves and their studies, allowing them to build their self-confidence.
Premier Alan Winde and Provincial Minister of Education, David Maynier, visited both schools to announce the wonderful news.
“This is a proud day for our province and our country. To have two of our province’s schools shortlisted among the top 10 schools in the world in the category of ‘overcoming adversity’ is a massive achievement – setting a benchmark not only for our province but indeed the world over,” said Premier Alan Winde.
The next steps:
The Top 3 finalists for each of the five World’s Best School Prizes – for Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives – will be announced later this year.
After a public advisory vote, the winner of each prize will be chosen based on rigorous criteria by a Judging Academy comprising distinguished leaders all across the globe including academics, educators, NGOs, social entrepreneurs, government, civil society, and the private sector.
The winners will be announced in October 2022 at World Education Week. A prize of US$250,000 will be equally shared among the winners of the five Prizes, with each receiving an award of US$50,000 (nearly R800 000).
Playing it forward:
All 50 shortlisted schools across the five prizes will share their best practices through toolkits that showcase their “secret sauce” to innovative approaches and step-by-step instructions on how others can replicate their methods to help improve education everywhere.
Cape {town} Etc family, let’s give it up for Pinelands North Primary and West End Primary! We couldn’t be prouder to celebrate alongside these incredible schools.
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Picture: Pinelands North Primary School / Facebook