Despite knowing he would become a teacher from his days as a primary school pupil, Stuart Hayward could not anticipate the profound impact he would have on hundreds of pupils during his 41 years of service in education.
The 64-year-old, who has been at the helm of Westering High School for the past 23 years, will be hanging up his hat on an illustrious teaching career in September.
And while he still has a few weeks to cherish as principal, his legacy has already been cemented with the recent launch of the newly built Stuart Hayward wing that houses six additional classrooms.
While the English teacher has worked at several schools including Pearson, Framesby and Kimberley Boys’ High, he said the more than two decades spent at Westering High would remain the highlight.
“I tried to run and lead a happy school and create a competitive product where pupils could excel in sports, culture and academics.
“This shared vision we had with the team saw us work and achieve that to become an inclusive, multicultural school where pupils can grow, dream and blossom.”
Hayward said since his days as a pupil at Stulting Primary and later Muir College Boys’ High School, he knew he wanted to become a teacher.
“I knew from a young age that I wanted to teach, I had very good examples growing up like Mr Paul Ellis from Muir and realised that I too wanted to influence the youth,” he said.
“During my time at Westering, we manage to have a positive impact on the school by building an AstroTurf and, more importantly, limiting classes to no more than 30 pupils per teacher which drives the success of the pupils who benefit from individual attention.
“Most recently we unveiled our newly built wing with six new classrooms that came at a cost of about R13m.
“The addition will allow each teacher to have their own classroom and to cater for the growing number of pupils which has increased from about 850 pupils when I started to around 1,200 pupils currently.”
Hayward described the teaching profession as both a humble and rewarding career.
“It is a very rewarding job. But if you do not have a passion for teaching, do not bother pursuing it as this is a multifaceted job that does not stop.
“There are challenges in education such as the financial side but if you keep your head down and focus on delivering a quality product and facilities it can be rewarding.
“Teaching is a 24/7 type of profession and while people in SA complain that teachers should receive more money it is a stable job in which one can succeed if you are dedicated to doing so and in the process one is able to help kids develop their full potential.”
Hayward said while he would be retiring from teaching, he would be starting a new venture as a life coach and going into business with his daughter, who is a professional social worker.
The Herald
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