Greenside High deputy principal chuffed to see childhood aspirations mature

The deputy principal at Greenside High School is on a mission to change the education narrative. Sibusiso Masombuka started teaching in 2015 straight after graduating from the University of Johannesburg.

The deputy principal said on top of teaching being a passion, he has always wanted to change the narrative of how a young South African learner views school. He also believes that as a millennial teacher, he has to find ways to get through to learners.
“For me, I define the term as a 21st-century school teacher who empathises with learners and wants to reach out to them in unconventional ways. I need to become relatable and build relationships with learners.”

Before this, Masombuka had worked in a fashion retail outlet part-time in 2011 and gained a managerial role in 2014 at the outlet. After interning as a teacher at his old high school in Benoni from 2015 – 2018, Masombuka got the opportunity to come and work at Greenside in 2019. He taught life orientation, isiZulu, and was a sports administrator and at the end of the year, he took on a new role of becoming the deputy.

Masombuka in 2020 started his own YouTube channel called the Swaggy School Teacher which was inspired by his love of fashion and his current role. On the platform, he offered lessons for life orientation, business studies and economic and management sciences.

At the beginning of 2021, he was awarded the MTN Local Hero award. This was recognition for the millions of learners reached through his and the network’s platform. “In 2021, I got an opportunity to go teach at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. That has always been a childhood dream of mine. I believe so much in what the school’s role in society is. I aspire to philanthropic work, have the same passions she (Oprah) shares with Nelson Mandela in changing the educational realm,” said Masombuka.

When an opportunity for a deputy principal became available in Greenside last year, Masombuka applied and when he received the call in November he didn’t think twice. “We have hosted our first sports clinic, which is our way to get our children to get back into it and get involved in sports because of the gap created by Covid-19 and also because I believe in the value of sports. We recently had our first spring sports festival on September 9,” he said.

To Masombuka, a school’s legacy is very important; teachers and principals come and go but what is important is to continue giving the school relevance; to create a safe space for learners and to let them live the best versions of themselves, he concluded.

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