Dot takes principal spot at WJPS

“I believe that we, the teachers, touch the lives of the children and do make a difference,” said Dot De Vries, the new principal at Westville Junior Primary School.

She was appointed as the principal of the school at the beginning of the fourth term and is looking forward to helping make it grow from strength to strength.

She started as a teacher at Aloe Ridge Primary School in Johannesburg in 1984 and then soon moved to a teaching post at New Germany Primary School, where she taught for 11 years. “I then taught at the remedial unit at Pinetown Senior Primary School for three years and was then Head of Department of the foundation phase at Atholl Heights Primary School for four years and three terms. Now I am here to stay, I feel like I have arrived,” said Dot.

Teaching is one of her many passions and choosing a career based on this was something she has never regretted. “Just to be part of seeing the children’s faces when you guide them and show them that they can achieve and can be independent is priceless and this is the reason why I enjoy my job,” said Dot. “I just love being with the kids as their passion and enthusiasm is infectious.”

She said that although she will not be teaching and interacting with the children on a daily basis, she is enjoying managing the broader side of school life. ” The school is phenomenal as everyone has just welcomed me here and there is so much love,” said Dot. Other than the short term and long term goals she has set out to achieve at the school, one thing remained clear during the interview with the new principal, building relationships between the staff, parents and pupils was essential in a school’s structure.

“I received my masters in education a few weeks ago and now I am aiming to be the best principal that I can be,” said Dot.