WE ARE LOOKING FOR MENTORS IN BLOEMFONTEIN & CAPE TOWN TO SUPPORT SCHOOL ENRICHMENT PROGRAMMES IN THE AFTERNOONS (suitable for senior teachers already working in other schools)
Background:
PEP Academy after school centres offer additional tuition to intermediate phase children in literacy, numeracy and life orientation. The intention is to help with the transition from Grade 3 (mother tongue tuition) to Grade 4 (English language tuition).
This is a part time position suited to a senior teacher who wants to deepen his/her educational experience. Mentors are typically teachers from other schools. Their principals have encouraged them to take on this part time role to deepen their educational experience. It is also suited to a retired teacher/principal requiring flexibility on a part time basis. Each centre is visited eight times a year by the mentor, and schools are allocated based on his/her availability. The following is expected from the Mentor:
Site visits:
- Monitoring to track that classrooms are being managed according to PEP Academy standard.
- Classroom observation and advising on best practice teaching and classroom management.
- Acting as an advisor and mentor to the Academy Manager
- Compiling a report after each visit using the site visit report template.
Attending Training:
Attending occasional training in literacy, numeracy and LO to be up to date with the curriculum being delivered in the classrooms.
Management conference:
To attend and play an active role in the annual weekend management conference.
Requirements
- B.Ed. qualification
- Recent or current experience as an Intermediate Phase English and/or Intermediate Phase Maths teacher with a deep understanding of the Intermediate Phase CAPS curriculum is an advantage.
- At least three years’ experience as an HOD, deputy principal or principal.
- An ability to demonstrate best practice in classroom management based on recent experience and a willingness to step in and demonstrate during the visits to the after-school centres.
- A formal qualification in mentoring or experience in having offered formal mentoring / coaching support at schools an advantage.
- Own office with internet connectivity and an ability to complete and submit reports online.
- Own vehicle for Academy visits. These take place from 14h30 – 17h00 Monday, Tuesday or Thursday.
Compensation:
This is a contract position which requires a few afternoons work per month and compensation will be discussed with short listed candidates.
Dates:
The position is for the 2023 School Year from Feb – Nov.
Contact:
For more information or to send a CV and letter of motivation contact Kimon Phitidis kimon@socialinnovations.co.za
For more information about the after school centres visit www.socialinnovations.co.za.
PROGRAMME COORDINATOR VACANCY – Cape Town based
Contract period:
Probation period 3 months, this is an initial 1-year contract with the likelihood to renew based on the suitability of the candidate.
Organisation background:
Social Innovations develops and manages programmes that complement core public schooling. It does this primarily by operating after-school centres in no-fee public schools across four provinces. These programmes aim to help learners build stronger foundations in literacy and numeracy at points of transition such as from the foundation phase to intermediate phase or from Grade R to Grade 1.
Role Purpose:
Overall coordination of the after-school programmes on a day-to-day basis.
Responsibilities:
1. Set up of projects each year: After school centres run on a year-to-year basis in line with donor funding commitments. The PC ensures that all contracts are set up, materials have been delivered and everything is in place ahead of the new school year. This includes:
- Liaising with schools, ensuring they are still on board for the new year, ensuring contracts are in place with participating schools.
- Ensuring all teaching and mentorship posts are filled for the new year. Cross checking all salaries for the year based on annual increases etc. Receiving all personal information and ensuring all employment contracts are in place.
- Liaising with academic partners ahead of the new year. Ensuring that academic programmes are ready for the new year and that all academic and other materials are delivered to schools ahead of the start of the programme.
- Working closely with participating schools. Motivating them to ensure 100% learner registration of learners ahead of the start of the programmes for the year.
- Develop and manage the programme calendar to include all required items such as training, coaching visits, delivery dates etc at each school and each cluster.
2. Project day-to-day management and administration: There are processes that happened daily, weekly, monthly that the PC drives. These systems have been set up for the PC to follow, but the PC will be asked to contribute to improving how processes are structured and documented. Processes include:
- Manage the weekly and monthly operations of the project in-line with the programme calendar e.g. ensuring deliveries of materials, confirming training and support visits, functions and events, ensure reports are received etc.
- Manage monthly data collection and reporting and log monthly activities and queries from schools and partners. Run weekly progress meetings and monthly report back meetings.
- HR and payroll management. Maintain records of managers, teachers and teacher assistants and track attendance and participation using the dashboard. Prepare a monthly payroll report.
- Prepare weekly schedules of payments and deliveries and a monthly schedule of payments to be loaded to caterers to the after-school programmes.
- Some of our programmes offer incentives to learners for good attendance. Manage the attendance trackers, receive lists from schools and manage the voucher process from the order of voucher to the delivery into the hands of learners.
3. Data management and reporting
- Manage the programme dashboard, ensure that each of the parties captures required data timeously, ensure reports are received on time.
- Engage with this data weekly/monthly. Identify issues, problems as well as areas where colleagues should be commended for good work.
- Track the programme against key deliverables and respond to delays or problems.
4. Relationship management and support
- The PC is the human heart of the project. It is up to him/her to maintain good relationship with all parties to the project, to support where needed and to timeously respond to queries and problems. While this role includes only one bullet point in this description, it is a massively important requirement of this position.
Person profile:
While the PC need not be qualified as a teacher, they are required to have at least five years experience as a coordinator of programmes in no-fee South African primary schools. This should come with an intuitive sense of assessing functional vs dysfunctional schools and knowledge of the social structures within schools
An Honours degree in a related field such as development studies or education is not required but will be an advantage. Ideally we would like to appoint a person with a long term career plan in the education sector. The PC should understand the importance of early grade literacy and numeracy as the foundation of a child’s education and should have a broad understanding of the challenges facing the public schooling sector.
The person should have had experience in project management software and systems and be able to work with Social Innovations to potentially improve project management systems. Excellent working knowledge of MS software including Word, PowerPoint, Excel.
Strong verbal and written communications skills. The PC will be required to write reports that are both technical and narrative. The person should have an excellent command of written and spoken English and conversational knowledge of at least one African language will be an advantage.
Are you this person?
Angry: Yes, you read that right. Angry. 81% of South African Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning in any language. Most get to Grade 4 without a basic understanding of Gr 1-3 number. This is a massive injustice. While we can’t fix the system, through our work we can help right this wrong for the thousands of learners who pass through our programmes.
Curious: We would love to work with someone who asks the questions and seeks the answers. Why is our education system performing so poorly? How can we respond within our programmes? What does our data tell us and how can we respond? How can we improve our systems and processes to ultimately benefit the children in our programmes?
Determined: to find the answers and to make things work, so that our projects can be proven and additional donor funds can be raised to expand our reach.
Dependable: Understanding that while we are driven to change the big picture, projects need to run according to processes which are sometimes repetitive and boring and these need to be done timeously and meticulously.
Personable: This position requires someone who is personable yet firm and who both encourages and compels each party to the programme to meet their obligations. In short, it requires someone who will smile while not taking no for an answer.
Purposeful: This is purpose driven work. Even every dull administrative task serves that purpose. You need to feel it.
Application process:
We want to understand and hear why you are the candidate for this job. In your motivation letter, please include the following: (no applications will be considered without this).
- What is your experience working in no-fee public schools in SA? What learnings about the sector will you bring with you to this new role?
- Why are you the ideal person for this job?
- How will this job serve your ambitions? You might want to tell us about your purpose, or about your medium-term career aspirations.
All applications must include an updated CV with contact details of three work-related referees to MaraisButton & Associates.
Email: annelie@maraisbutton.co.za
Closing date: 4 July 2023
Contact will only be made with shortlisted candidates.