Teaching In The Eye Of The Storm

Wendy Horn, a district director in the Western Cape Department of Education (WCED), describes how principals and teachers are tackling challenges head-on to ensure their learners make it to the top.

- Wendy Horn

If I am ever asked to describe myself, I will say: “I am a teacher.” Because that is how I define myself. For the past five years I have been a principal, and now I am a district director in the WCED, but fundamentally, I am a teacher. As a teacher, with every molecule in my body, I want to give the learners in my care the skills to grab the opportunities that come their way so that they can make a positive difference to their families, community and even the world.

As of 1 April 2020, I was appointed the director of Metropole North Education District (MNED). Where in the past I could directly impact my learners, those I tutored and my school, this new position would allow me to have a much wider impact. MNED comprises 206 schools from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds.

I stepped into this new role as lockdown began. Schools were suddenly closed. What do you do with yourself if schools are not open? I was about to find out. My resilience, ingenuity and people-management skills were about to be tested as never before.

The WCED decided we would continue the National Schools Nutrition Programme (NSNP) during the lockdown. And this is when I started to get the idea that there was much more to this job than just the curriculum, teaching and learning. The hall at the district office became a “warehouse” to receive delivery of some of the food because the service providers could not enter certain areas due to unrest and the contents of their trucks being stolen.