Speaker: Keith Richardson
Chief Executive Officer of the Principals Academy Trust
This week we were privileged to have Keith Richardson share with us information on the Principals Academy Trust (PAT) who believe that the school principal and leadership team in every school are the lever for change. “By empowering these key roleplayers, we strive to create conducive learning environments that promote continuous improvement.”
Richard shared that the programme consists of three components:
1. Academic support
Each year 25 to 35 principals are selected to complete the Principals Management Development Programme (PMDP) offered at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business. This part-time short course programme allows the school principals to complete the training while applying the principles learnt to real problems in their specific schools.2. Coaching/mentoring
Eighteen retired school principals — with a track record of success as heads of high-performing schools – offer individual support to the school principals in the programme. School principals are coached for a minimum of three years.3. Teacher support
Teachers are assisted through an after-school teacher-support programme with a focus on mathematics and English. The focus is on fostering leaders who:
- develop a sense of confidence in the school principles of good education, which enable them to lead effectively.
- put teaching and learning first and who have the ability to rally the entire school community around this goal.
- will drive change where this is needed; will address shortcomings and therefore ensure that quality teaching and learning become the school’s number one priority.
- will have the courage to focus on the needs of all children.
To summarise:
The Principals Academic Trust supports the principals by offering mentoring / coaching from retired school principals to assist with knowledge and expertise. Keith was warmly thanked by Janet Kriseman for his interesting talk.
