Bridget Margaret Painter was appointed principal of Hamilton Preparatory School in May last year as a successor to Mr Richard Pringle and immediately made an impact at the school.
She was born in Durban but moved to Zimbabwe as a child, where she completed her schooling at the Dominican Convent in Harare. She returned to South Africa to attend university.
From a young age, Bridget had designs on a career as an educator. In fact, her heart was set on that noble profession.
Bridget taught at different schools such as Emmarentia Primary School, Woodmead School in Johannesburg (the only multi-racial school in apartheid South Africa), Stanford Lake College in Limpopo (where she was deputy head for many years) and she even owned her own Montessori school in Johannesburg; all of which honed her skills as an educator.
Bridget has always been passionate about the ways in which children think and is forever exploring the best ways to reach out to them. She has always taught mind mapping, thinking skills and study skills no matter what subject she was teaching at the time. The wide variety of grades and subjects she has taught widened her horizon of experience and knowledge, which she graciously passes on to her learners.
Ms Painter is a people’s person and displays great empathy for those around her. She adopts an open-door policy to lend an ear to parents, staff and learners.
At Hamilton Preparatory, the teachers are constantly adding to their skills to make learning in their classrooms dynamic. Bridget has been very pleased with how readily they have taken on new ideas and run with them.
She has encouraged the teachers to know every child as an individual, and every teacher to know each and every pupil.
“I really enjoy being involved in the education of young people and my aim is to have the children be conscious and active participants in the process,” says Miss Painter.
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