Fresh faces take up the mantle at EL schools

A passion for education and shaping young minds are the driving force behind the new principals of Clarendon Preparatory, Clarendon Primary and Stirling Primary schools in East London.

Lee-ann Wrede was recently appointed the new principal of Clarendon Prep and Jay Albasini takes up the mantle at Clarendon Primary. At Stirling Primary, Rod Harris steps into the position left vacant when Peter Johnson stepped down.

Wrede hails from the small town of Bedford and is a former pupil of Kingsridge High School for Girls in Qonce (formerly King William’s Town).

“I attended the Port Elizabeth Teachers’ College, where I trained as a foundation phase teacher. After graduating, I started my teaching career at Cambridge Prep, and went on to teach at Parsons Hill Primary and Summerwood Primary School in Gqeberha.”

Wrede returned to Cambridge Prep in 1994 and a decade later joined Clarendon Prep.

She said she knew at a young age that she wanted to pursue a career in education.

“In Grade 1 I wrote in my News Book that I wanted to teach Sub A [as Grade 1 was known then] when I grow up.

“I just always knew that I wanted to teach this age group,” she said.

With her new appointment, Wrede hopes to continue the school’s ethos of value-based schooling where they instil caring, honesty, respect and responsibility in their girls.

“By creating a happy, safe educational environment, our goal is to provide girls with every opportunity to reach their full potential where they can thrive and become the best they can be.”

Albasini joins the Clarendon family from Selborne Primary.

“Clarendon Primary School is thrilled to congratulate Mr Jay Albasini on his appointment as our new principal.

“We look forward to working together for many happy years,” the school said on a post welcoming Albasini.

Selborne, in a Facebook post, said: “Mr Albasini has been a part of this family for the past ten years and he will be sorely missed. We would like to thank Mr Albasini for his invaluable contributions over the years and wish him everything of the best in his new role.”

Harris, who was born in Mossel Bay and studied at the Port Elizabeth College of Education in 1988, started his teaching career at Stirling Primary as a Grade 4 teacher in 1994.

After that he taught Grade 6 for two years and in 1997 became the head of Grade 5, a position he held until he moved to the Mathematics Academy in 2009.

“In 2010 I accepted a deputy principal position at Voorpos Primary. In 2012, I returned to an HOD position and head of Grade 7 at Stirling Primary.

“In 2019 I was appointed the deputy principal.”

Harris said he had a way of connecting with children.

He had four brothers and had become an uncle at the age of nine.

“Throughout my life, from that young age, I have connected with younger children by pulling a face or some or other gesture that made them say and do something back to me and then the game was on. Nicknames are a big one for me as I call them by special names.

“Some pupils I taught now bring their own children back to Stirling, and you should see their child’s face when I call their parents by the nickname I gave them so many years ago. We still connect,” Harris said.

Harris said Stirling was about family and team spirit.

“The staff, along with the pupils and the parent support, is what makes Stirling Primary School amazing.

“The support we get from the Stirling community is mind blowing. Continuing to build the ‘Stirling Brand of Education’ that the school provides is going to be priority number one for me, and then supporting and serving the Stirling staff and community is a close second,” he said.

Some pupils I taught now bring their own children back to Stirling, and you should see their child’s face when I call them by their nickname