First-time principal Vanessa Gool has been an educator for 35 years, but never expected this opportunity would present itself.

“I feel privileged to be able to teach at my alma mater. Even though I have always only worked at William Pescod, I’ve had many opportunities to work with learners across the Northern Cape,” she told OFM News.

One of the challenges Gool mentioned is the overstimulation due to social media use. She believes that once addressed, academic results could improve.

“Although negatives are far more apparent, there are many advantages for learning, like tutorials and easily accessible online resources that learners can benefit from,” she said.

She stood in as acting principal for the past year and has taken the challenges as a learning curve that she grew both professionally and personally.

‘To motivate learners to make use of the opportunities available to them’

One of her short-term goals as principal is to motivate learners to become more focused on their school work and make use of the opportunities available to them by creating a healthy learning environment.

“One where learners are valued as both individuals and part of the school community.”

A long-term goal she wants to achieve is fostering relationships with external stakeholders who are able to offer support to both learners and staff as well as more involvement from the alumni.

OFM News/Casey-Lee Anthony mvh