๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐
A new face joins the Union staffroom this morning, although we have a feeling it wonโt be long before ๐ ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ feels very much at home.
Today marks her first official day as ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ of Union High School’s Primary Department, as she steps into the role previously held by Mrs Yvette Cloete, who retired earlier this year.
๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. With nearly two decades in education behind her, two young children and a house already bought in Graaff-Reinet, she and her family are putting down roots here – ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
An English specialist by training, she holds a B.Ed in Senior and Further Education and Training, as well as an Honours B.Ed in Teaching and Learning from North-West University, with English and Remedial Studies among her areas of specialisation.
๐ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐น๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐น๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ก๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น, where her responsibilities stretched well beyond the English classroom to include Grade 12 leadership, staff matters, discipline, QMS coordination, moderation and examination work.
๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ ๐ณ๐๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ. Before returning to South Africa, she taught in Kent in the United Kingdom and in South Korea, experiences which have added another dimension to an already varied career in education.
๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐บ. Tennis and netball have long featured prominently. Mrs Gerrand represented Eastern Province in tennis and has continued to coach both sports during her teaching career. She has also been one of those teachers who becomes involved in the broader rhythm of school life – from productions and dances to learner activities and school functions.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ง๐ข๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด.
Taking over a department from someone who has invested many years in it is no small thing. Mrs Cloete left behind a department she cared deeply about and Mrs Gerrand now has the opportunity to build on those foundations while gradually making the role her own.
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ-๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ and, particularly, to Union. We hope that today is the beginning of a long and very happy association with our school.
Welcome to Union, Mrs Gerrand
