Durban - Glenwood High School this week announced the appointment of its first woman principal in a long line of male tradition at the 108-year-old school.
Andri Barnes has been at the top Durban school for 21 years as a history teacher, head of department and then deputy principal and acting principal. She has also played a prominent role in the leadership and management of the school’s boarding establishment.
Barnes grew up on a farm in Indwe, near Barkly East in the Eastern Cape and studied teaching at the University of the Free State. She taught history in the Eastern and Northern Cape before taking a post as deputy head at Forest High School in Johannesburg. She came to Glenwood in 1997.
“My husband was transferred and so we came to Durban. It was very much against my wishes. I had to start again at level 1. But I’ve been here for 21 years,” she said yesterday, after the announcement of her position.
“It was different coming from a co-ed environment. But I could never go back. The boys, especially Glenwood boys, are different. The way we cut our hair is different, the way we greet is different, the way we show respect is different. The boys treat women with total respect and you don’t find that everywhere. And we encourage them to be gentlemen,” she said.
Glenwood High School principal Andri Barnes shows a long list of male principals in the school's history. Picture: Tumi Pakkies
Regarding her vision for the school, it is a desire to get all role-players to recommit.
“In the past 21 years we have grown from strength to strength. But there is a danger of becoming complacent and taking things for granted. I would like to reignite and rekindle that passion from 108 years ago when we started,” said Barnes, “I’m asking all stakeholders to recommit. Like when you’ve been married for a long time, to renew your vows.”
Barnes is also keen to encourage diversity. “We’re a rainbow school population with children from India, Mauritius and even China and boys from all areas of South Africa. We would like to send our boys out to all parts of the world with something from Glenwood going with them. They go out as a green army ready to face the world.
“You’ve heard of chakalaka. It basically means unity. Here we have a school with a body of kids each bringing a unique flavour to give a very special Glenwood flavour,” she said of the school’s 1080 pupils.
Barnes is also in the final stages of her PhD, a study of teenage boys and masculinity.
“Basically boys should be left to be authentic. They should not be put in a box and told to be rough and tough. It’s unhealthy.”
She added: “If they are authentic, they will surprise you. There are many different ways to show their toughness and their tenderness, to show their strengths. There are many different ways of being a man.”
She tells a story about the school’s cricket director’s fiancée, a ballet teacher, who presented a fun programme which the first team boys enjoyed, “although they’re unlikely to take it up".
“But we do have a couple of boys who do ballroom dancing. I think they started to find girls and then they got hooked,” Barnes said.
She cautioned against creating a mould at school which the boys must fit into. “While most will fit in, you never know what they will do when they’re out of here.”
She was also adamant that children learn from example: “The influence of the boarder masters is crucial. Children learn from what they see. If the masters swear, you’ll swear. If they are harsh, you’ll be harsh.”
The school offers a range of academic programmes, including the Cambridge system and the Finnish Academy for Academics, and a range of academic enrichment programmes. It also offers sports science and is looking at hospitality studies as an eighth subject.
But when it comes to the traditional sports, Barnes is as proud as any that the first rugby team is undefeated this year. “They’re third in the country, but more importantly they’re good men. We’ve been focusing on that concept for five years and the boys come through the ranks with that.”
When it comes to discipline, she’s a firm believer there’s no need to shout.
“It goes against what I believe and perpetuates the notion you have to shout to get respect. I simply show my disappointment and they say ‘sorry, ma’am’. They treat me like their mom.”
And the message she takes with her on her appointment was an SMS from a former pupil. “Ma’am,” it read. “You don’t have to fill anybody else’s shoes. You have your own shoes.”