School A, documents 1 School A policies

The following school policies were submitted for analysis in both schools: ● Code of conduct for students,

81 ● Code of conduct for educators,

● Riso, photocopier and class register policy, ● Progressive disciplinary procedures,

● School assessment irregularities committee policy, ● Finance policy,

● Hiring of school premises policy, ● Safety and security policy, ● HIV& Aids policy, and

● School governing body constitution Discussion:

The researcher observed that School A had most of the school policies as required in the South African Schools’ Act No. 84 of 1996. The chairperson and secretary of the school governing body signed and dated all submitted policies in 2013. The signature of the school principal, as the departmental official, also appeared on the school policies (Department of Education, 1996). This was an indication that the current School Governing Body (SGB) reviewed the school policies in 2013. However, it was noticed that the parental involvement policy and homework policy were not submitted for analysis in School A. When the researcher requested the parental involvement and homework policy from the school principal, he was told that they do not have such policies in their school.

However, it was noticed that personnel in School A were planning to develop a homework policy including the homework timetable. This is the content in their School Improvement Plan (SIP) for 2014 (SIP documents in School A). The consequences of not having this very important policy were evident in this school. It was stated that most of parents were not actively involved in student homework. That they do not organise extra-learning resources at home nor help their children in homework tasks. Although some teachers give homework to students, there were no strong strategies to enforce students to do their homework because the majority of learners come to school without having done their homework. Furthermore, most parents did not monitor the students’ homework.

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“The school’s intervention regarding the problem of learners who always come to school without having done their homework because of home duties was to create or organise extra- time after school for students to do their homework” (Deputy Principal, in School A).

Although there was no homework policy in School A, it was mentioned in the School Improvement Plan (SIP) for 2014. Their vision and mission statement contains a clause on parental involvement, particularly on learners’ home work. It states that the school should encourage the involvement of parents, as they are the important stakeholders in their children’s education. This shows that parental involvement is acknowledged in School A. 4.5.1.2 Reading minutes book in School A

The content in the school governing body minutes book

The school governing body meeting, dated 29th April 2013 stated that the school governing body would review all the existing school policies and adopt them after consultation with all stakeholders in the school. On that note, the meeting agreed that the school principal should bring all the department of education policies, minute and circulars that are necessary in the development of the school policies. In addition to that, the South African Constitution Act 108 of 1996 was requested from the school principal in order to be used when reviewing the school policies. The agreed upon date to review school policies was the 20th June 2013 at10 am in the staffroom. It was evident in their minutes book that the school governing body in School A had reviewed the school policies on 20th June 2013, and adopted them in a parent- teacher meeting which was held on the 30th June 2013 at the school hall at 6:30pm. The school governing chairperson and school principal signed the school policies in the parent- teacher meeting.

The school principal reported the academic performance in Grade 9’s Annual National Assessment (ANA) and Grade 12 trial papers for 2012 in a meeting on the 23 August 2013. Based on the minutes, the principal’s report was unacceptable to the school governing body members because parents were complaining about the poor performance in the Grade 9 results. The researcher noticed that it was reported that at least 75 % of learners failed Mathematics and 65% of learners failed English as a first additional language. It was

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concluded in the meeting that the school principal should present the School Improvement Plan (SIP) to the school governing body before the end of that year. Lastly, in a meeting on 15th November 2013, the school finance committee presented the school budget to the school governing body.

4.5.1.3 The content in the minutes book of the parent–teacher meetings in School A The researcher noticed that the first meeting was orienting learners and parents about the school subjects offered. The teachers were introduced to parents. The different sporting activities were held, uniform and school fees amounts (voluntary contribution) were presented in the meeting. Then after the first meeting, all other meetings were held at the end of each school term. The purpose of these meetings is to report about what is happening at school and to issue learners’ reports. It was noticed that the chairperson and secretary signed and dated all the minutes in the parent-teacher meetings. Furthermore, the minutes book states that it was agreed upon to have one parent-teacher meeting in each school. Most of the items in the agenda were in the form of reports from the school governing body chairperson and principal.

4.5.2 School B, documents