Bryanston High School’s acting principal for the past 29 months, Jerome Lawrence, was announced as the school’s new principal on February 5. Lawrence, who has been an educator for 34 years, and who has spent 21 of those years at Bryanston High, said that the position had been vacant since his predecessor vacated the role in 2021.
“I applied for the position earlier in 2023 when the post was finally advertised – interviewed in October, and I have been waiting to find out the answer to the outcome of that interview since then,” Lawrence said of the journey to becoming the new principal.
“I must be honest – I have an unbelievable senior executive team. This was not a one-man show.”
Lawrence said that even throughout the transitional phase of waiting for an appointment to be made, the aim has always been to put the school at the forefront of conversations about top schools in South Africa.
“We set ourselves a short-term goal which runs across 2023 to 2024, the intention behind that being to unite the staff in terms of our unity of purpose so that everybody understands what it is that we’re trying to achieve, and when we want to achieve it by.
“Long-term, there’s no doubt that we are a good school. The stats are there, you can compare. We’ve won the title of top school in the north repeatedly.
“We are a good school, but we’re not satisfied with good. Our intention is currently that we want to be spoken about in the conversation about the top 10 schools in this country, and that is our target for 2028.”
He added that the school’s vision can only be realised through the cooperation and collaboration of learners, their parents, the school and staff, as well as the collective effort of the Bryanston community.
“As much as we have a contribution to make for the community, we need the community.
“The school needs to fulfil its role; the learners need to play their part, and the parents and the community are critical. When learners leave school, they must go to a stable environment that allows them to pursue academic or sporting excellence.”
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