Silikamva High, a no-fee school in Imizamo Yethu, Cape Town, had a matric pass rate of just 40% in 2019. By 2021, it had doubled its matric pass rate to 80%. The school rapidly turned things around through a concerted effort to improve school culture. Here’s how.

2019 was a profoundly difficult year for Silikamva. Staff unity and morale were low, learner disengagement levels were high and disciplinary issues frequent, and there were tensions with the surrounding community. It was, overall, an environment that undermined the pursuit of academic success.

Today, on entering the school, the grounds are clean and well-maintained. Educators and learners are punctual and in class. Classrooms are ordered teaching and learning environments that promote learners’ engagement and respectful interactions. In 2025, it achieved a remarkable 100% NSC pass rate and a 76% bachelor pass rate, which is indicative of the school’s focus on improving the quality of passes and opening up further future opportunities for learners. 

How did Silikamva High improve school culture?

Prioritising school culture is a foundation for improving learner results. Research shows that schools with a weak culture — characterised by poor discipline, low expectations and disengagement — are more likely to underperform. Silikamva’s 2019 matric results were a low point that reflected this, and it was clear that Silikamva High’s school culture had to change. 

The school leadership team invited all educators to participate in a strategic planning workshop and contribute to a strategy for whole school improvement. This workshop was a significant initial step in changing the culture of the school, one that was accompanied by a critical expression of intent and humility on the part of the leadership — the principal in particular — to give the change traction, to learn and move forward from the past.

School culture is not just about policies or mission statements; it is about the values and beliefs that underlie the surface rules. These values are seen in the school’s daily routines and practices that shape the experience of teaching and learning. The leadership team, educators and learners embarked on a challenging journey to transform the school culture to one where respect, accountability and achieving excellence were central to all practices. Here’s how they did that.

Sustained, deliberate improvement

Silikamva’s leadership understood that lasting change required a deliberate effort. The school management team and educators were actively involved in crafting a school improvement plan that focused on strengthening school culture and setting ambitious goals for the future. These goals were broken down into achievable, bite-sized pieces that mapped the path to the big ambitious goal. In practice this means setting goals for each term that add up to a larger achievement by the end of the year.

This school improvement plan, which is formulated annually, is now central to day-to-day operations. It is displayed in the staffroom and principal’s office so educators all know what they are collectively working towards. The content of the improvement plan is the subject of ongoing implementation and review — it meaningfully guides the week-by-week work of leaders and teachers. As a result, the principal and deputies are able to give regular, accurate feedback to staff on successes and areas for development.

All staff take ownership

The school embraced a model of distributed leadership. Rather than relying on a single leader, this model recognises and draws on the skills of senior staff. 

At Silikamva, the principal has two deputy principals, one who is head of academics and one who is head of culture. The principal and the two deputies carefully delegate roles and responsibilities to educators with relevant expertise. Where the expertise is lacking, the school’s development partner Common Good and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) help develop the skills the staff needs.

This has built trust among the staff body and encouraged the school management team and  educators to take ownership of the ambitious development plans and the academic results they are aiming for at the end of the year.

Clear communication to build trust, unity & motivation

All members of the school community need to be invested in the school’s long-term success. Change cannot happen without creating an environment where everyone — staff, learners and parents — feels heard, valued and supported. 

Transparent communication and a focus on team-building helped rebuild trust among staff members, creating a united and motivated team. The management team encourages dialogue amongst staff in the regular staff meetings and shares progress reports with the governors at regular SGB meetings and parents at parent meetings.

The principal makes sure staff and learners receive public acknowledgement for their efforts in the form of “shout-outs” in staff meetings and termly awards ceremonies.

The school also improved communication and interaction with parents. Frequent WhatsApp messages, following up on absent learners, regular feedback sessions, and increased attendance at parent meetings have strengthened relationships. The result is a more engaged parent body, which is crucial to improving school culture and learner results. 

Clear expectations & consistent routines

Driven by the deputy principal who is Silikamva’s head of culture, the school prioritised ensuring educators and learners are in class on time and that when class is in session, teaching and learning happen without time wasted. When you link punctuality to teaching and learning, staff and learners see why it’s important.

To model the behaviour that the school leadership are expecting, members of the school management team led by the principal were (and still are) at the school gate every morning to encourage punctuality, check in with and greet learners. This, alongside increased communication with parents, improved late-coming and absenteeism. On average 87% of Silikamva learners are at school every day. Learners also grew more confident because they felt seen when they were greeted by management at the start of the school day. This positively enhanced their sense of self worth.

To build a consistent morning routine that aimed to increase learners’ self-esteem while also involving them in building and maintaining the school’s culture, Silikamva’s head of culture introduced a morning “mentor period” during class registration. This centred on the school’s values, giving learners the opportunity to present their own takes on what these values and living them look like.

Starting with conversations around respect and how it contributes to a positive learning environment, these sessions have contributed to instilling a sense of responsibility in learners for their behaviour and achievements. It also means learners understand what is expected of them and, importantly, the reasons for these expectations. The result has been increased engagement and motivation among learners, with a constant focus on improving their results. 

To ensure teaching and learning time is used effectively, the school focused on creating consistent routines at the start and end of every lesson. This involves a formal start and end to the lesson, and the teacher writing up the lesson focus on the board at the start of the lesson.

All of this contributed to the creation of a structured environment conducive to teaching and learning. 

Schools can draw on external support to catalyse change

While Silikamva High’s success is a testament to the school’s hard work, it is important to acknowledge that as part of the WCED’s Collaboration Schools pilot programme, Silikamva has access to support from its nonprofit partner Common Good. This contributed to how the school was able to transform its culture. Some of the support included leadership and instructional coaching, assistance with human resources and administrative tasks, hiring more educators, professional development sessions, and access to additional learning and psychosocial resources for learners. 

The reduced administrative burden and hiring of additional staff opened up time for the principal and management team to improve and act as instructional leaders, observe classes, and guide their educators’ improvements as teachers.      

Crucially, however, it was the school’s commitment to ensuring that every resource was strategically used to improve school culture that made the real difference. External support can be a catalyst, but it is how effectively schools utilise the resources and opportunities available to them that ultimately shapes positive change. 

Silikamva’s success is a powerful reminder of what can be achieved when a school community comes together with purpose and determination. Improving school culture requires whole school change and is not an easy process. 

The results speak for themselves: better academic outcomes, a motivated staff body, and learners equipped with the skills and confidence to succeed. Silikamva’s story reminds us that when we get school culture right, the results will follow.

* Murray Gibbon is the Common Good Education Programme Director. He was previously the principal of Claremont High School.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. 

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