Taylor bids farewell to Saheti School

At the end of September, Saheti School will bid farewell to its executive head of nine years, Warwick Taylor.

He will go on to take up the position of rector and college headmaster at St Dunstan’s College.

Taylor has spent his life nurturing and moulding young minds after discovering his love for teaching at a young age.

Since then, as a dedicated science teacher, he has taught at a number of schools including a 13-year stint at St Johns College, six years at King David School and another four at Parktown Boys High.

He told the NEWS that St Dunstan’s was a school which appealed to him.

“The school is the same size and is strongly values based, much the same as Saheti.”

He maintains that despite taking up leadership roles in schools, teaching is still his passion.

“I really enjoyed my time at Saheti. There was plenty of opportunity for growth and an amazing team of teachers and administrative staff. It’s easy to get things done when you have good people around you and great support.”

Among his achievements at the school was his decisive leadership through a global pandemic.

Also Read: 2020 laid the foundation

“There are different sides to leadership. Sometimes you have to take a consultative approach and other times you need to be more decisive.

“On the Sunday before the country went into lockdown we were informed of school closures and by the Wednesday we were fully online,” he said.

Taylor added that for both the learners and staff it was a sink or swim time.

“We had just over a week of online schooling before the holidays. During the holidays the staff could reflect on the processes and be ready for the new term.”

He said the decision was made to keep to routine whenever possible.

“When we had assembly or prize giving it was online. Whatever we could do online we did, even staff meetings,” he said.

Taylor said the staff and learners grew through the process.

Also read: Sundial a new feature at Saheti School

In the last nine years, Taylor was instrumental in introducing drama as a high school subject.

“We also ran interesting academic projects. For Grade 10s we implemented a project-based learning programme which replaced the June exams.

“This was before Covid and we decided that things needed to change up. In Afrikaans, learners made a 10-minute movie and the science class completed a full forensics project,” Taylor said.

But, it wasn’t just the big projects that made a difference to Saheti.

“All the small changes we made added up. Things such as a well-run school timetable and structured calendar all fed into creating a healthy school.”

Taylor also ensured that it was made compulsory for every child to take part in a cultural activity and a sport.

“This made a tremendous difference and we have seen significant achievements in sports in the last few years.”

Also Read: Top award for Saheti young entrepreneur

He added that the school’s academic results year on year were another achievement he was proud of.

“Last year there wasn’t a school that could touch us. We had just over four distinctions per candidate.”

He said he was proud of the Saheti teachers who went out of their way to try new things and experiment in the class.

“You don’t get the results that we have without dedicated staff,” Taylor said.

His advice to the children at Saheti is: “Hold fast to your motto, know thy self, and continue growing into the people God created you to be.”

Also read: Saheti pays tribute to Bizos

Taylor said that one of his personal highlights from his time at Saheti was that he was there when Advocate George Bizos still served on the board until 2019.

“He was always full of energy and wisdom. George Bizos often quoted a poem by Nobel literature laureate George Seferis, ‘Just a little higher’ and we should all aim just a little higher.”

“He was an amazing man and it was a privilege to be here when he was involved. George Bizos was a role model worth emulating for learners,” Taylor said.