By VIDAMBU Sam.
'The Board chair, The Board members present, the PA chair, PA members present, all the invited guests, teachers, our amazing parents and students, I greet you, Good morning.
Its another great day that the Lord God has helped us to meet and see each other again after a long time. I am happy that we all made it to be here on time and hopefully we finish on time so that we can reach home in good time.
What defines a school? A school is defined by three things namely: Results, population and infrastructure. Parents, before you brought your child in this school you considered the results, population and infrastructure of this school. After going back to your home today, if someone asks you to say something about this school, you will use the parameters of results, population and infrastructure.
But parents, between results, population and infrastructure, which one is the most important? The most important thing in a school is results. You left your business to come here today to discuss about the results of your boy or girl. You asked for off from work today to come and check the performance of your child.
To you parents, results of your child will give you respect, prestige and voice in the village. When your child gets that A or that A- in KCSE, the neighbours will always come to consult from you on how their kids can do well like yours did. When your kid does well, your walking style will automatically change. When your kid does well and goes to pursue a good course, your name will change, those who were calling you 'mchawi' will now call you 'baba ya daktari' or 'baba ya mwalimu' or 'baba ya wakili'.
To you colleague teachers, results will give you career progression. When we go for interviews we are always asked to provide the KCSE results in our subjects and the school for the last three years. Today, I am in D5, Chief Principal, courtesy of results.
To you students, results will give you many friends. After you have an A in KCSE, all the uncles and aunts will want to stay with you as you wait to join University. Students, results will make people to forget all your past mistakes.
As a school, results will brand us. Results will put us on the map.
Surely and truly, results is the most important thing in any secondary school. As a matter of fact, results brings population in a school. When our school improves, the demand increases due to attractiveness and that brings population. In turn, population brings infrastructure. When we get more students we must build a bigger dining hall, more classrooms and even better administration block.
How do we achieve these results?
It requires sacrifice. Sacrifice is not just about money. It might be time, energy, human resources or presence. Each of us has to play their role, the teachers, the administration, the board, the PA, the parents and the students.
The role of the students is to master content, retain content and deliver content. Successful students do not focus on KCPE marks, they focus on KCSE marks so you students have to forget about entry behaviour and start thinking about exit behaviour.
Students can not work on their own, they need teachers. Syllabus has to be covered early and to achieve that, we need more time for teaching outside the normal 8 to 4. Our teachers are in school as early as 6AM and leave as late as 9PM for more contact hours. For them to be here the whole day, it means they have hired someone to wash their clothes, take their kids to school, pick their kids from school and take care of the home the whole day. That person who is hired will need to be paid. It will be unfair for teachers to dig into their pockets. Surely, parents have to chip in.
Students should have an academic mindset, teachers should have an academic skillset and the whole school will get an academic culture. Parents, a school is all about cultures. Remember, cultures take time to be built. It starts with you, it starts with me. I will not be a principal here forever. You will not be a parent here forever, but your son might be the principal of this school thirty years from now. What kind of school cultures will he find here? Those cultures need to start being inculcated into the school today. The culture of hardwork, the culture of being a supportive parent, the culture of dedication, the culture of results, the culture of not giving up, the culture of prayers and supplication to God.
My 25 year experience as a principal has taught me something. We have four kinds of parents in any school:
>Those who are willing and able.
>Those who are willing but unable.
>Whose who are unwilling and unable.
>Those who are unwilling but able.
Parents, don't get me wrong but most of you fall under the last category, unwilling but able.
How supportive are we to the school programs? Parents, the way you view your child determines how you will support the school programs. If you see him being a doctor in the next ten years, you will pay fees well and on time. If you see him being a 'makanga' two years from today, you will be a careless parent.
When the child is still in the womb of a woman, the woman is always very careful in terms of what she eats, how she sleeps and even the duration of sleep. Why would you now be careless after the child has been born?
Parenting has no manual. Good parents have raised drunkards. Drunkards have raised pastors. Pastors have raised weed users. Weed users have raised lawyers. Lawyers have raised academic dwarfs. Academic dwarfs have raised Engineers. Engineers have raised peasant farmers. Peasant farmers have raised doctors. Doctors have raised boda boda riders. Boda boda riders have raised teachers. Teachers have raised drug addicts. Drug addicts have raised CEOs.
Parents, a poor present parent is better than a rich absent parent. Students, you might be born in poverty but that doesn't mean that poverty is born in you. Teachers, do your best and let God do the rest.
To God Be The Glory'.
This is an extract of speech which was written by Mr Vidambu Sam, he talks to high school parents during academic clinics and AGMs, reach him on 0743480435.
By Sam VIDAMBU.
Vidambu is an Academic Mentor with over 3,300 high schools in Kenya running his academic programs.
His Academic Mentorship Programs revolve around Syllabus Coverage, Syllabus Understanding Strategies, Content Mastery, Content Retention, Content Delivery, Proper Revision Techniques, Time Management Strategies, Working Timetable, Study Book, Classroom/Staffroom Intercordination, Academic Cultures, Study Habits, among other great topics.
He is a Trainer of Principals during KESSHA conferences and teachers.
He is the President of Global Student Mentorship Center, He is an author, and a Tutor.
To Have Vidambu launch their Candidates Academic Mentorship Programs in your school and be a Class Mentor kindly call/text/whatsapp 0743480435 (Sam Vidambu).
To have Mr Vidambu mentor your son/daughter call/text/whatsapp 0743480435 (Vidambu).
If you’re not happy with your child’s results whatsapp Mr Vidambu to help them.
He has Catch Up programs for Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology and also Languages.
Kindly Forward This Article To Whatsapp Groups of the Teachers, Parents and All The Principals you know.
To Be Added To His Whatsapp Group Full of Principals and Teachers To Receive His Mentorship First Before Anyone Else Kindly Whatsapp His Number (0743480435).
You Are Blessed.