Uplands teacher demands and receives respect

Honesty, mutual respect and a love and passion for children are the vital components to teaching.

This is the teaching philosophy of Heidi Rea, mathematics teacher and deputy head of the co-curricular activities at Uplands College.

Rea is Uplands College through and through having been involved at Uplands for 15 of the 17 years of the College’s existence.

“I am extremely proud of Uplands and the learners here are fantastic. There are no class differences; we have a tutor group system with grade 8’s to matric. In this way we foster respectful and confident children in a culturally diverse setting. The spirit in this school is really great.”

Rea did her B.Sc. degree in Mathematics at the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) and did a teaching diploma afterwards. Initially, teaching was not the first thing on her mind.

“I had no idea what I wanted to be and did fairly well at school. I did a career profiling exam and I was told to be become an architect.”

After enrolling for an architecture degree at WITS, Heidi quickly realised after two weeks that Architecture was not her thing.

“I only had one day left to change my course, as otherwise I would have to waste an entire year. So I decided to register for a B.Sc. Maths degree as I reckoned was good at Maths and science at school.

I was never a conscious decision to become a teacher, but its something I have never regretted since.”
Her first teaching post was a semi-private school and the conditions in which she had to teach in was enormously challenging.

“There was no black board as there was a lack of resources and he classes were cramped. I was one of the best experiences of my life and when I left, the students had composed their own song which they sang to me. It was really special,” she adds.

Rea also mentions that teaching has to come straight from the heart, and that the preconceived notions of teaching are chancing.

“Teaching as a career is sometimes frowned upon, but it is a phenomenal career, especially if you are raising a family, as you get so many opportunities. It is not about the little lady with a bun in her hair and glasses on the tip of her nose.”

Even though she has a lot on her plate in terms of the extracurricular duties at the school, she still wanted to teach two maths classes, as that is where her passion lies.

“I teach Gr. 9 and 11 maths, with the grade 9’s undoubtedly being the most challenging class,” she said.

She also proud of the school’s math results and achievements with one highlight being that a pupil that got 99% for her grade last year.

“It’s not about the subject it is about the children. When everything else gets me down in my job, I only have to walk into the classroom and the kids cheer me right back up again.”

Rea is also an avid mountain biker and races for the Valencia Mountain Bike team. She has completed in the three towers multistage race as well as competing in the Sabie to Barberton classic.

“With mountain biking, we challenge as many kids as we can to cycle as we have a world class track. A number of our children are ranked in the top 5 in the country in the cross country and marathon series,” she stated.

It is also during the extracurricular activities where Rea has experienced the most joy as a teacher.
“We went on a hockey tour and we had to move one of our matches as we could not play in the rain. There was no medical assistance at this venue and as Murphy’s Law would have it our players got injured.”

Luckily, two former Uplands College learners, one being a doctor and the other a biokineticist, were spectators at the match.

“I could just call on these boys that I had taught maths to years ago to assist. Their journey towards their professions started with my teachings. I felt very proud,” she said.

Rea has always been involved with children in the classroom and at home where she has raised four children, Keegan (19), Caitlyn (16), her twin brother Brandon (16) and Daniel (5) from her second marriage.

When I started my son was in grade 0 and the very same time he went to university my other son started in grade 00. So I have got another twenty years with Uplands if I want to educate my child here,” she said smiling.

One day Rea would like to become a head mistress and have a prominent role in the extracurricular activities at the schools as this is where her passion lies.
“Teaching has to become natural. I have a passion to teach children and the experiences out of the classroom are where you build a fantastic relationship with them.”