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His career as a teacher having spanned over four decades, one would imagine retirement from his wide-ranging impact in schools like Pinelands High, Athlone High, Hewat College, Heathfield High, Plumstead High, Wynberg Boys and Bergvliet High (a top performing school in the circuit), would be a nice change of pace.
But Stephen Price tells People’s Post “while my first month of retirement was good, the novelty wore off”. The moment the call came asking him to be the caretaker principal of Lotus High School until a replacement principal could be found, Price jumped at the chance: “I immediately said yes”.
Just as Bergvliet High’s former principal Stephen Price was settling into a restless retirement, venturing new ideas in educator recruitment systems, he was called upon by the Metro South Education District to breathe new life into Western Cape’s worst performing school.
His career as a teacher having spanned over four decades, one would imagine retirement from his wide-ranging impact in schools like Pinelands High, Athlone High, Hewat College, Heathfield High, Plumstead High, Wynberg Boys and Bergvliet High (a top performing school in the circuit), would be a nice change of pace.
But Price tells People’s Post “while my first month of retirement was good, the novelty wore off”. The moment the call came asking him to be the caretaker principal of Lotus High School until a replacement principal could be found, Price jumped at the chance: “I immediately said yes”.
“My period as principal of Bergvliet High was characterised by significant transformation of the learner and staff demographic, with many learners from primary schools in the Retreat, Heathfield, Grassy Park and Lotus River suburbs attending Bergvliet High.
“My journey is one of a teacher who was (and still is) available to teach children in any school environment without prejudice. Children are children wherever they attend school, and it is my professional responsibility, and personal privilege, to ensure that the learners in my classroom or school receive a quality education from me.”
He admits, however, stepping into Lotus High “my leadership and management skills have been tested to the limit. From the top performing school in the circuit to the worst performing school in the province...”
Price soon realised the morale of learners and staff was low.
“The school had no identity, the children had no hope or sense of belonging and the teachers, whilst doing their absolute best, were burnt out. The academic culture was extremely poor - late coming, absenteeism, bunking school and lessons, and poor academic work ethos. Now, we are working on all four aspects daily.”
He adds that the character of the school was not in evidence. “There was no unity or a common sense of pride. We were all individuals walking different paths. We are trying to create The Lotus Way, a collective way of doing things as a school, on the same path to the future.”
So, what made it feel like he was at his wits’ end?
“As I only had six months to stabilise the school, I tried to implement too many changes too quickly and, where previously these systems had worked, they failed at Lotus due to me not ‘reading the room’ properly. I, therefore, had to adapt, prioritise certain aspects, and adopt a more back-to-basics approach before introducing more complex systems.”
Price is pleased to report learners and staff are beginning to see the positive impact. “In the words of one of my [teachers]: ‘I must admit I am loving the new Lotus High’.”
He adds his adaptation to Lotus’ challenges being “a work in progress”.
“The substance abuse, the poor work ethic and lack of discipline was desperate. I was at my wits’ end very early on as previous systems I had employed simply didn’t work at Lotus. We are changing this very slowly.”
Slowly but surely, Price’s expert touch is proving fruitful. Within a single term the staff were able to increase the matric pass rate from 32% in June to 49% in September.
Additionally, in favour of building the school’s unique character, he introduced the school’s own song, saying: “I love music, all kinds of music. I love the passion of a national anthem, of any country, and the pride and unity it engenders. I wanted to bring that pride and unity to Lotus High. I believe a school that sings together, wins together.”
Together indeed, as Price also took to community groups on Facebook in the pursuit of giving the school a new lease on life. “I posted my recent experience of Lotus High on Facebook onto 4 community groups I belong to…Bergvliet, Kirstenhof, Constantia and The Village.”
Vanessa Raphaely, founder of the online community The Village for one, stepped up and offered to pay school fees on behalf of the group.
With The Village initially raising R44 000, the school is still receiving donations in the form of cash and goods from individuals, corporates and other schools which is especially gratifying.
“The total investment from the community is well over R100 000 in paid and pledged form. We have also, in conjunction with Back a Buddy launched a campaign to raise R350 000 which will basically fund the school fees of every single learner. The campaign is The Power of 720, with R720 being the proposed fee for 2024.
“I am incredibly grateful for the support.”
With more work to be done, the community is free to boost Price’s aim and can do so by sending an email lotushigh75@gmail.com.
In his spare time, he continues to innovate in leaving a living legacy in the teaching world by introducing shortlistED, a niche recruitment and employment platform, providing public and private schools with a premier digital market place to find qualified teachers and administrators.
“Which basically means I profile [teachers] looking for a post, rather than advertising jobs. The right [teacher] is the most difficult person to find, so shortlistED provides schools with a database of over 200 educators to shortlist for interviews. It is the only platform of its kind in the country.”
Principals and teachers can send an email to stephen@getshortlisted.co.za to find out more.
