ACE – School Leadership

The Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE): School Leadership is a national training initiative aimed at developing current principals and preparing aspirant principals for the challenges faced and opportunities presented by their role as a school leaders. Unlike most existing principal training initiatives, the programme incorporates action orientated development and site-based assessment into principal development. The programme is owned and driven by the Department of Education and is currently in a three year field-testing period ahead of a wider national implementation strategy.

School principals are tasked with balancing a multitude of managerial and leadership responsibilities on a daily basis. These include taking care of the administration and organisation of the school as an entity, ensuring financial solvency, managing discipline, safety and security, providing curriculum leadership and engaging with parents and the broader community, all within the institutional guidelines of the Department of Education. The success or failure of a school depends on the principal and management team’s ability to effectively meet these responsibilities and more.

List of modules:

• Understanding school leadership and management in the SA context
• Managing teaching and learning
• Lead and manage people
• Manage organisational systems, physical and financial resources
• Lead and manage policy and planning
• Lead and manage a subject, learning area or phase
• Mentor schools leaders and manage mentoring programmes in schools
• Plan and conduct assessment
• Moderate assessment
• Develop a portfolio
• Language for leading and managing