What began as an adoption has grown into a transformation. Seraleng Primary School in Rustenburg has undergone a remarkable shift in culture, confidence and community and the catalyst has been a two-legged leadership training programme delivered by the Adopt-a-School Foundation in partnership with Merafe Resources. Hosted from 5 to 8 March 2026 and the second leg being on the 20th of June 2026, the workshops brought together 37 educators, School Governing Body (SGB) representatives, parents and community members for interactive learning that has already begun to reshape the way the school operates.
Facilitated by a dedicated team from Adopt-a-School Foundation Ms Regina Murerwa, Ms Rethabaile Belle, Ms Zibusiso Ntini and Mr Maboko Ndlovu, the programme covered five core modules: the concept of leadership, differentiating leadership from management, understanding leadership theories and techniques, frameworks for leading, and evaluating one’s leadership approach. Participants engaged in group discussions, reflective activities, situational leadership role-plays, and a particularly memorable paper-plane challenge that drove home the message that there is always a creative solution to every problem.
For Principal Thabo Modutwane, the programme arrived at exactly the right moment. Leading a school staffed largely by young teachers, he had been searching for ways to build leadership capacity from within. The results have already been tangible. “We no longer experience a lot of late coming and absenteeism from both teachers and learners. Even the results have improved, and it shows that there is a level of self-development especially within our curriculum activities,” he said. He added that educators have stopped depending solely on him and are now taking accountability head on: “The educators no longer rely on the principal they are taking accountability head on, and we are moving as a team.”
That shift in self-perception was echoed powerfully by teacher Katlego Modibedi, who described a personal breakthrough during the training. “Personally, I regained my personal confidence. I no longer see myself as a teacher, but as a leader because I can address issues that I thought were beyond my capabilities,” he reflected. Modibedi believes that the programme dismantled the assumption that the school was already performing optimally. “Before the training sessions, we thought we were perfect and we realised that there is a lot of improvement we needed to make,” he said.