Stephen Lowry on being a father-figure to learners at Mitchell House

POLOKWANE – Despite being a father of four to his own children, Mitchell House’s principal Stephen Lowry is also a friend and a father-figure to the learners.

Stephen took on the roll of principal in 2021 and said working in education affords him the opportunity to help build a new nation.

Friendly greetings to him can be heard through the corridors of the school and Stephen believes having a good relationship with a learner depends on the age group.

“When the ‘littlies’ (junior prep) see me, they rush towards me to get a hug, a fist bump or a high five. As they get older, hugs are not considered cool anymore so I might get a fist bump or high five. By the time they are teenagers, it will be a short and almost inaudible ‘Morning, Sir’ from the boys and a more lighthearted, friendlier ‘Hi Sir’ from the girls,” he remarked.

Stephen told the Polokwane Observer that he is passionate about children’s education and that being at the helm of 840 children who come from different families and backgrounds provide variety.

“I often think that we as teachers should treat the learners as our own and I live by the precept; ‘love them and love them all equally’, which practically means being available, having an open door policy to all the learners and to engage with them honestly and fairly at all times.”

He added that teaching and leading a school is a vocation, not simply a career. “School leaders can have a significant impact on the lives of the teachers, learners and connected families in quite profound ways. How a leader behaves during the day can impact how another person enjoys their day, what sort of mood they go home to their families in and so on. I suppose that is true for all of us,” he said.

Stephen added that it is imperative to remember that leaders should spend more of their time monitoring their own behaviour, than the behaviour of those around them.

“School leaders should look in the mirror for the causes of problems. The danger for school leaders is the ego-trap in a society which puts leaders on pedestals, thinking they have some sort of God-given right to lead. As school leaders we have a sacred duty to carry the baton of leadership carefully to the next runner in the relay race of the life of the school without dropping it.”

He concluded that the role of a school leader is to be a servant leader, a person who washes the feet of those they work with, to take the biblical example of Jesus.

“As school leaders we will be most effective if we make the working day of those around us as pleasant as possible because then we will get the best out of our community.

We should love all those around us and especially the children, and we should love them all equally. We will be great school leaders if we listen and respond to the individual needs of all we connect with, without fear and most importantly without favour.”