World Teachers' Day

Dear Parents

A Special Tribute to Special Men and Women – St Stithians Boys’ Prep Teachers

‘The duties of a teacher are neither few nor small, but they elevate the mind and give energy to the character’. – Dorothea Dix

This morning I woke up to a dark house due to Eskom loadshedding which affects us in so many ways. I had planned to do my usual morning run but my conscience told me to ‘do what is right’ and that is to honour these men and women I work with daily, St Stithians Boys’ Prep teachers.

In my teaching career I have come across and worked with so many great teachers, but St Stithians teachers are a ‘special breed’ of teachers which is hard to find these days.

Every morning, I see these men and women coming to work, giving their all to our boys whether in class, at breaktime or singing and praying with the boys at the chapel; presenting dynamic and interesting lessons, running dance and music lessons, giving additional support to the boys and being there to support boys in good and bad times.

However, in the afternoon, the very same men and women are on the sport field, coaching sport and running extra murals with the boys. Late in the afternoon, I see these men and women walking away from those sport fields or extra mural venues exhausted but still giving a happy smile to whoever they come across.

I see our teachers giving it all from Monday to Friday and still being on those same sport fields on a Saturday morning, coaching our boys during matches, shouting instructions from the side-line, cheering up the boys, being excited when their teams are doing well but also disappointed when the outcomes of the matches are not what they were hoping for.

As I was reflecting about these men and women this morning, a very daunting question was sitting in my head: when do these men and women see their own families, be there for their own children, families and spouses or partners? I could not find the answer to that question.

As a school community, we are blessed to have such dedicated and committed teachers and must take care of them, support them where they need us, have constructive and meaningful contributions when they have made mistakes as we all do, but above all be A Happy School Community.

On behalf of the St Stithians Boys’ Prep community, I would like to wish our teachers a HAPPY WORLD TEACHERS’ DAY and may God bless them.

Sanele Majola

Head of School

St Stithians Boys’ Preparatory