Education & Skills Development News South Africa

Woolworths and WC Education Department team up to inspire school principals

School principals play a pivotal role as leaders who can bring about the upliftment of the standard of education in South Africa. For this reason, Woolworths teamed up with the Western Cape Education Department for the third Quality Management conference, which was held on 27 July 2013.
Woolworths and WC Education Department team up to inspire school principals

A part of Woolworths' Making the Difference educational programme, the conference allows the sharing of learnings with school principals, with the aim of equipping principals with further leadership skills to help them more successfully manage their schools.

This year, 340 deputy principals from across the Western Cape attended the conference. The day kicked off with an opening address by the MEC for Education in the Western Cape, Minister Donald Grant, followed by three dynamic speakers. Ian Moir, Woolworths CEO and key-note speaker at the event, gave the attendees insight into practical leadership principles and insights from implementing strong values like Woolworths, thereby inspiring them to run their schools like profitable businesses.

Said Moir, "Our values are the things we believe in; they're the foundation and cornerstone of our business. They give us direction and guide our behaviour and choices." Regional manager of Woolworths in the Western Cape, Mike Gardiner, spoke about operational excellence, followed by motivational speaker, former 50/50 presenter and MyPlanet ambassador Braam Malherbe, who closed with a few words of encouragement and left the deputy principals on a high as they ended the day.

The group of deputy principals walked away with a clear understanding of tools to change the way they manage their schools in order to ensure greater outputs and maximum impact on their communities.

For more information, go to www.woolworths.co.za.

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