2010 Budget Presentation

In this, my last letter for the year, I would like to first of all welcome the 2010 Grade 8s and their parents who will be joining us next year. We know that your time at Rustenburg is going to be special and that you will emerge from Rustenburg deeply enriched from your experience of being involved in a school of academic and all round excellence.

Academic Performance
Earlier this year we heard that we had been placed in the top 3 schools in the province in terms of academic performance and we were all suitably proud of this achievement. A few weeks ago Ms Bekker and I started receiving phone calls from the press about our school and I must admit we feared the worst. What new angle were they going to pursue to ensure eye catching headlines? We were thrilled to discover that the reason for the interest was that Rustenburg had been placed in the top 5 schools in the country and the journalists were exploring our recipe for success.

In addition there was a great deal of interest in how we had achieved this success whilst also achieving a large degree of transformation in the diversity of our school. The prejudice that excellence and transformation are mutually exclusive still persists out there but I am pleased to say that schools like Rustenburg are beginning to turn this thinking around. So what is the recipe to Rustenburg’s success?

Girls who want to learn
Parents who want the best for their girls
A Governing Body that is innovative and committed and determined to provide the best possible environment in which the girls can thrive.
Admin and support staff who are efficient and care about what they do
Educators who are passionate about education, knowledgeable about their subjects , professional in their conduct and genuinely care for the girls.
The school leadership team. In Ms Bekker and Mrs Schnetler we have a formidable combination. We have a principal who is visionary and consultative in her approach and a deputy who knows how to get the job done. Like their colleagues, they work long hours but what characterizes their leadership is a deep care for everyone who forms part of the Rustenburg family.

Our Facilities – a legacy for our girls to enjoy and to pass on to future generations

The facilities at Rustenburg have also contributed to our achievements over the years. We do not (at this stage) have the benefit of large endowments and bequeathals from wealthy donors. For at least the past 15 years we have received no support from the state to maintain or improve our facilities. This places a heavy burden on the parent body to ensure that we have excellent facilities to ensure excellent academic, cultural and sporting results. In the past 5 years we have taken this responsibility seriously and whilst this has resulted in increased school fees, we have much to show for our efforts:

The swimming pool built in 1946 has finally been upgraded, converted to a 25 meter pool and heated
The swimming pool change rooms are in the process of being renovated with one complete and the other to be completed in January 2010
Charlie’s Hope has been enlarged and improved to accommodate the music department and other activities of the school. The tuck shop was renovated at the same time and I am told that the ablution facilities are better than Cavendish.
The main entrance and administration block has been completely revamped to make Rustenburg a more welcoming place
New telephone and intercom systems have improved the communication in the school
Our consumer studies rooms have been upgraded with state of the art equipment
Erinville is slowly being transformed and Pam van Dyk and her sub committee are to be commended on all they have been able to achieve on a slim budget
The new school shop has just been completed and we have made the first adjustments to the courtyard outside the shop that will link the classrooms with the rest of the campus
Next year the science labs will be substantially upgraded

All of this takes time and resources. We are grateful to the parent body for their support of above inflation fee increases each year that have enabled us to address the maintenance backlog as well as provide additional new facilities.

Finances
Attached to this letter is information regarding the school fees for next year. (See related News story) Although the increase is above inflation, it needs to be borne in mind that it is largely driven by increases in salaries for our staff. We made a decision some years ago to, as far as possible, match the salaries paid to our SGB appointed staff to those paid by the WCED. With increases of between 11 and 13% granted to state educators and with more than half our staff complement employed by the SGB, we were always going to have an increase in the double figures. I trust that as parents compare the quality of education at Rustenburg with those of other schools, they will see that this still represents outstanding value for money.

An increasing burden on our budget has been the number of parents applying for partial or full exemption from school fees. Whilst we are sympathetic to parents who enroll their daughters at Rustenburg, fully intending to pay the school fees but subsequently fall on hard times, we are becoming increasingly impatient with parents who enroll their daughters at Rustenburg knowing that they cannot afford the fees and who have no intention of paying them. This is blatantly dishonest and unfair on the rest of the parent body. The state provides no funds to the school to provide such assistance and the full cost of this is borne by the rest of the parent body. We have a proud tradition of parents who have made sacrifices to enable their daughters to be at Rustenburg and despite modest incomes have prioritised their daughters’ education. In honour of this tradition, the SGB has become far tougher on parents attempting to exploit the system and on those who default on their school fees. In 2010 we will step up our efforts in this regard.
At the same time, we do make provision for those who have outstanding ability but not the means to afford Rustenburg. Over the past few years we have developed relationships with business and with educational trusts and are now able to provide a number of scholarships and bursaries to some of these girls. If you or your company would like to support this project then please contact myself or the principal and we will let you know how you can get involved.

In Conclusion
Rustenburg has produced a short DVD outlining who and what Rustenburg is. It is our intention to update this each year and to use it as a marketing tool in primary schools and with potential donors. As I watched it, I was struck by the confidence and passion of the girls who feature in it. It was not a nostalgic trip into the past but rather an expression of what Rustenburg has become – a model for what can be in our society. To quote Premier Helen Zille in her letter of congratulation to Rustenburg “Our work will be done when every child in the public school system receives the education that is offered by Rustenburg Girls High”

I truly hope that you will find ways to get involved in Rustenburg so that together we can realize our vision – Rustenburg - a school of excellence where girls are leading fearlessly, exploring their unique potential confidently and serving the world compassionately.

DAVID NEWBY
Chairperson of the School Governing Body