MEET THE STAFF - Part One - Commerce Department

June 03, 2018 | Girls’ College | Author: Martin Perold - HOD

MARTIN PEROLD

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Martin is the Head of the Accounting Department and the Grade 11 Director at St Stithians. He is passionate about Accounting and about the skills in logic, accuracy and precision that this subject teaches his students, as well as the life skill of financial literacy that is acquired in this learning area. Martin has a long-standing connection with St Stithians and is a proud alumnus of the Boys College, where he matriculated as the Dux Scholar of his year. Originally Martin wanted to become a translator, but while studying a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in French and German he was approached by St Stithians to stand in for the French teacher who was on maternity leave. Martin enjoyed his time in teaching so much that he decided to make this a career. After discovering his love for Accounting and completing a Bachelor of Commerce, Martin joined the permanent staff of St Stithians in 2004, teaching French and Economic and Management Sciences. Later he started up the Accounting Department in 2006, teaching the first St Stithians Grade 12 Accounting class in 2008 before moving to St Mary’s School (Waverley) in 2009. Martin missed the excitement and energy of the St Stithians campus, however, and returned as a permanent staff member in 2013. As a passionate academic and lifelong learner, Martin has continued studying throughout his adult life. He completed a Master of Commerce degree and his dissertation on the viability of adopting a flat tax system in South Africa was awarded the Economic Society of South Africa’s award for the best Master’s dissertation of the year. In addition, Martin has a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and a Master of Arts in Philosophy. He greatly values critical thinking and reasoning. Apart from Accounting, his academic interests include taxation, ethics and international trade and he aims to commence doctoral studies in Education early next year. He has a passionate love of travelling and of foreign languages, is an accomplished drummer and enjoys spending time with his two Boston terriers. Martin’s philosophy of life is that there are only two things one can buy that make one richer – travelling and education – and he strives to live out his values by building meaningful relationships with his students.


RENE GROBLER

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René is the inspirational teacher in charge of our dynamic Business Studies Department. This exciting subject teaches our students the basics of business analysis and entrepreneurship and is a recent addition to our commercial subject offering. St Stithians began offering Business Studies as an academic subject in 2016, to give our students exposure to the exciting world of commerce. René joined our team in January 2017 after 6 years working at the Boys’ College and has already made an enormous difference to her students with her open, approachable teaching style and her thorough subject knowledge. Born in Sandton, René studied her Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) degree at the University of Potchefstroom (which is now North West University), followed by a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from UNISA. She is a talented, determined and dedicated educator with 12 years of experience. This year, she is teaching Grade 10-12 Business Studies and is responsible for developing and implementing the curriculum in this subject. She also teaches two Grade 8 classes in Economic and Management Sciences. Her love and passion for young people is also demonstrated in her role as the Grade 8 Director and the staff representative for the Student Representative Council. She is married and has two children in the junior schools. René has always been passionate about teaching and empowering young women through the skills of financial literacy. She believes that education is the key to a better future and feels inspired by the energy and enthusiasm of the young people she works with. As South Africa has a shortage of entrepreneurs – especially female ones – René really believes that she makes a valuable difference to the lives of her students and to the South African economy as a whole!


KATE ROWLEY

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Kate Rowley is a recent addition to our Commerce Department and teaches Grade 10 Accounting as well as Grade 9 Economic and Management Sciences. Although she is primarily employed as the Head of Subject for Mathematical Literacy, Kate has willingly offered her expertise and teaching skill in order to assist our rapidly growing department! Kate studied Accounting Honours at Stellenbosch University, specialising in Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Auditing and Taxation. She is extremely knowledgeable about all areas of finance, but decided to change career paths and studied a PGCE, specializing in Mathematical Literacy education. Kate is passionate about Accounting and sharing her love for the subject. In particular, she loves seeing her students understand and appreciate the beauty of Accounting and passing on the many life skills this subject gives. She is a passionate, driven, dynamic educator who is highly skilled at incorporating technology into her lessons, and she often livens up a class by utilising an online game to enhance teaching and learning. Kate is also exceptional at building relationships with the students in her classes and has developed a reputation as an extremely caring and approachable educator. When she is not teaching, her free time is spent on dressmaking and more recently, wedding planning!


NTHABISENG DIAMAN

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Nthabiseng Diaman was born in Diepsloot in 1997. From an early age, she demonstrated extraordinary academic ability and won a bursary to attend Leap Maths and Science Academy, where she matriculated, winning several academic awards during her high school career. She is currently studying a Bachelor of Education (Senior and FET Phase) and is doing an internship in the Accounting department this year, observing Grade 8 and 9 EMS as well as Grade 10 to 12 Accounting, assisting in classes and providing support. Her second teaching subject is Mathematics and she will move to the Mathematics department in 2019.
Because of her academic achievements at school, Nthabiseng was under a lot pressure from all areas to study Commerce and not to become a teacher. Consequently she enrolled at the University of Johannesburg to study a Bachelor of Accounting in 2015; however, she was constantly reminded that her true passion lay in education. She therefore had the courage to follow her dreams and applied for a teacher internship, and we are delighted that she has made this choice.
The reason why Nthabiseng wants to become a teacher is mainly because she loves teaching. From when she was in high school, she would always help out her peers and learners in the grades below her. She has true passion for teaching and wants to change lives. To her it is extremely important to have a connection with her learners. She wants to make a difference in many children’s lives and she realised that she can do that through teaching.
The second reason why Nthabiseng wants to become a teacher is because she wants to give back to her community. She comes from a disadvantaged community that lacks a lot of young teachers and she believes that becoming a teacher would be the best thing that she could do for her community. Her passion is to be an inspiration to others and to motivate young people to become better human beings and to fulfil their potential.