SA's top school principal from Paterson High is a 'relentless optimist' who ignites bright sparks

De Doncker,the principal of Paterson High School in Schauderville has been named SA's top secondary school educator.Grade 11 learners.Jayda Scholtz. 11 Ocktober 2024 (photo Deon Ferreira)

By Estelle Ellis

14 Oct 2024

South Africa’s best high school principal, Rose de Doncker, is an optimist who runs a tight ship and a safe haven in Gqeberha’s ganglands.

On Monday morning, when Paterson High School principal Rose de Doncker arrived at school, she was fetched by the head prefects, who were waving a South African flag. A child sang a song for her, and her learners cheered.

She had just won the Department of Basic Education’s national award for Excellence in Secondary School Leadership.

“I told my learners, your stories won this award. You are the inspiration. Not me. Go now and make more success stories.”

They already have awards for robotics, the international science fair and spelling competitions. But as De Doncker often writes on her school’s social media pages, the sky is the limit.

“I won’t lie,” she said. “I was shocked when I won this award.”

But nobody else is. The relentlessly positive maths teacher and principal has created a safe haven in her school in the heartland of Nelson Mandela Bay’s ganglands.

The vastly under-resourced, no-fee school is the alma mater of leading figures in South African history: the late anti-apartheid activist and director-general in the office of former president Nelson Mandela, Jakes Gerwel, and renowned artist George Pemba. Anti-apartheid activist, journalist and poet Dennis Brutus was a teacher at the school.

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But it is the late George Botha who is close to De Doncker’s heart. Botha was a teacher at the school, and a local leader in the Black Consciousness Movement. He was taken from his class by the Security Police in 1976. He died shortly afterwards in custody, with the police claiming he “fell down the stairs”.

Under De Doncker’s leadership, the computer lab in the school was named after him. She is the ninth principal at the school, which is celebrating its centenary next year.

“I came here in 2015 as a maths and science teacher. I came through the ranks,” she said. She has been teaching maths for 30 years. In 2019, she was appointed principal.

Paterson High is in Schauderville in Nelson Mandela Bay, an area beset by gang violence and socioeconomic challenges.

De Doncker assists pupil Jayda Scholtz. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)

“But also, there is so much talent and many possibilities here,” De Doncker said. “Of course, our learners have difficulty engaging because of the problems they are facing. They don’t participate. There are children here who do not want to go home. There is so much that distracts them.

“We have children with special needs who receive limited support because going to a mainstream school is the only possibility for them,” she said.

“But I am a relentless optimist. Any good leader must be able to motivate and inspire.”

Relentless optimist

When this relentless optimist met another relentless optimist, the founder of Gift of the Givers, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, a lot started happening at her school.

It was 2022, and the metro was in the grip of a debilitating drought. Gift of the Givers had sent out a message that it was looking for schools where it could drill boreholes so that the community would have a central point to collect water if the city was faced with a Day Zero scenario.

De Doncker was the first one to raise her hand. Sooliman was in Nelson Mandela Bay at the time and looking at sites for boreholes in the St Albans area.

“My first meeting with Rose was very unusual,” he recounted. “She sent Ali Sablay (who works with Sooliman) a message and said ‘Please, I won’t take much time, but Doc must come to the school.’

Any good leader must be able to motivate and inspire, says De Doncker. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)

“I had such a busy day with so many engagements, and her school was way in the other direction compared to St Albans,” he said. “But there was something about her that made me go there. When I met her, I found her to be a very spiritual person committed to her children, the parents, her staff, and the community around her.

“She reminded me of a time, like when I was at school, when principals took care of the children around them, irrespective of the circumstances. She was so proud of her school. She wanted a borehole, and we did that. But when I was there, I saw classrooms that had burned down. I asked what happened. I said we will fix them for you. She was so grateful. Then she told me about the learners who did well in the School Quiz competition. You get this kind of discipline only from a committed principal and teachers.

“Now, Gift of the Givers is very fussy. We don’t just get involved in any school or hospital, no matter the circumstances. If there is no commitment, we won’t get involved. But a school that works hard and is a role model for others, like Rose’s, is a good partner for us.”

Consistency

Sooliman said he admired De Doncker’s consistency and that she did not put on a show to impress him.

“We were so impressed that we said we would help with Astroturf. Then she said ‘now that you put down Astroturf, the kids have stopped smoking. They rather come in to play.’ She was so excited that they came to play and were moving away from their bad habits,” he added.

“Everything to do with goodness, with faith, with God Almighty, with the power of belief, Rose has got it,” Sooliman said. “I knew in my heart that she would win the national award. I was praying for her. If we can use her as a model, we can rebuild the education system,” he said.

“She is so meticulous and efficient. When you ask her something about the school, the email arrives in minutes. There is transparency, there is care, there is openness, and there is nothing to hide.

“I love her as a principal. It will be a great loss when she retires. But I will find a way to use her as a role model,” he said.

Sooliman was the second person she phoned (after her husband) to tell him about the award.

“He said ‘Well done. This is for all who you are.’ He is such a source of inspiration to me. I think a lot about how he tells everyone to build bridges, not walls,” De Doncker said.

“Teaching is a calling,” De Doncker said. “But it is also about community engagement. I want the community to own the school.”

She said there was plenty of room for the private sector to get involved in education, including boosting technology and computer resources and assisting with sports facilities.

A child on a court stays out of court

“I always say a child on a court stays out of court.”

She said the Schauderville community was invited to participate in school events.

“But I think every principal will tell you that we struggle with the teenagers, with drugs, with motivating them. Our kids lack motivation. But almost every day, I think of those who came before me. I say I am intimidated. These teachers were giants.

“But I do what I can. Everything is done with excellence, or not at all.” DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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