WATCH: ‘I will be remembered as Covid-19 headmaster’

IT has been two years since the 52-year-old Mr David van Wyk returned home from Germany to take up the post of heading the prestigious Falcon College in Esigodini.

Mr Van Wyk took over from Mr Reginald Querl who had served as headmaster at the elite private school from 2002, the year the former left teaching at the institution to embark on a journey that took him to Botswana, South Africa and eventually Germany.

Mr Van Wyk’s return has, however, not been rosy as his homecoming coincided with the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has changed the way schools operate the world over.

Sunday News Senior Reporter Mehluli Sibanda (MS) spoke to Mr Van Wyk (DVW) on his two-year journey and here is what he said.

MS: It has been two years since you assumed the role of Falcon College headmaster, how has been the journey in charge of the elite private school?

DVW: Let me begin by saying I do not, for one minute, regret the decision to come back to Falcon, and to Zimbabwe. In some ways, it has been almost exactly what I had imagined and hoped. In many ways, though, it has been a journey of discovery, of reinventing oneself and leading a team into situations that none of us could have foreseen.

Covid-19 arrived two months after I did. For most students, parents and staff, my headship has had Covid-19 as a parallel component, some maybe, associate me with Covid-19. That is not always a good thing! I won’t go as far as to say that they blame me for Covid-19, but sometimes it feels that way.

MS: You have a long history with Falcon College, having grown up here, done your high school here, taught here and now back as the headmaster, this must be a special place for you.

DVW: It is a very special place. This campus was, essentially, my home from when I was three until I was 33, and again for the past two years. I grew up here as a staff child — my grandfather taught here for 29 years, and my mother for 13 years. An uncle and an aunt have also taught at this college. I taught here throughout the 90s, up to 2002, and when we left (as a family of four at that stage), somehow, I felt we would be back one day, in some capacity. At that stage, I never imagined being in the position of headmaster. But life is a journey of discovery and development, and I hope that for all concerned, this will prove to have been a very good move.

MS: After more than a decade away, you decided to come home. It is usually unheard of for someone to leave a job in Germany to take up another in Zimbabwe, what was the biggest consideration for you?

DVW: If it had not been this job, at this school, we would not have considered coming back to Zimbabwe at this stage. Having lived in Botswana for two years, then South Africa for four, and latterly in Germany for 11 years, we were well settled. Our two eldest sons had left school before we returned to Zimbabwe, and our youngest came into Form 4 here at Falcon.

He was always excited by the prospect of attending Falcon, he is an all-rounder who had heard of and seen the opportunities open to someone of his character and abilities. My wife was the most sceptical of us all, having borne the brunt of many of our family’s frustrations as we moved schools and countries.

She had seen some wonderful headmasters’ wives in their roles, and knew how important her support would be, to me and to our community. Our middle son, who was only three when we left Falcon in 2002, had come to Quest, here on our campus, in 2018, which was an absolutely wonderful experience for him.

Our eldest son, who is now researching on reptiles in the South East of Zimbabwe, for his Masters, loves that African bush and the people here. They were all very supportive.

I know literally thousands of former Falcon students, and I am one myself. I have seen people thrive here, but also people battle. There are many for whom their time at Falcon was wonderfully positive, but there is a significant number for whom their memories are not positive; they battled.

I say this to whoever asks me, and I will reiterate it now: my single biggest reason for returning to Falcon was, and is, my desire to make this a happier place for more people. Injecting some of my experience and enthusiasm, and my ability to connect with young people especially, is a challenge I relish and aim to do well.

MS: Having taken over from someone like Reg Querl who for years was the face of Falcon College, has there been any pressure on you to follow in his footsteps or you are out to build your own legacy?

DVW: Firstly, I would like to record my great respect and admiration for Reg. I worked with him for a year when he first took over as headmaster here, and liked him immediately. He was head here for 18 years, and the fact that he was able to lead this school and this community through some of our country’s toughest times, and leave the college in such good standing when he left, is truly remarkable.

He and I are very different characters, and I know that the board appreciates and respects that. During my interviews, I was not asked to keep things as they were.

Reg’s strengths have been celebrated and appreciated, and I feel that my character is recognised and respected, by the board and by our community at large. No, there is no pressure, and very few times has anyone said, “Well, this is how Reg did it, and we want it to stay like that”.

So much of what he did, and the same is true of headmasters before him. They were good, solid, sound and honourable educational leaders. There is no need to reinvent some of these principles, nor our school’s mission, vision and values.

MS: Is there something that you want to be remembered for as the Falcon College headmaster?

DVW: I know that I will be remembered as the Covid-19 headmaster. The online learning headmaster. But if I am remembered for my empathy, and leave a legacy of kindness without compromising the standards for which we stand, that will be enough.

MS: What significant changes have taken place at Falcon College since you took over as the headmaster?

DVW: A need to reinvent ourselves as educators, the realisation that at the core, we are a learning institution, like hundreds of others in this country. Our glorious grounds, our campus, our proud sporting legacy and drive, all faded in the face of having to teach through the Covid-19 pandemic.

I have been astounded by my colleagues’ adaptability and perseverance: their ability to learn to use, and then teach with new tools.

We have had to develop inventive ways of entertaining and motivating our students, and staff, as sports fixtures were cancelled, we were unable to practice many of the sports for which we are well known; we could not stage any plays or musicals.

One development which I found tremendously fulfilling has been the relationship with our ministry, our DSI (district schools inspector) in Esigodini and the PED in Gwanda and even the Permanent Secretary who does hail from this province.

It’s been a pleasure getting to know and work with them, to understand their concerns, they have huge issues to deal with, even in a normal year, let alone in a Covid-19 year.

MS: How has Falcon College been affected by Covid-19, what changes have taken place at the school in trying to adjust to the new normal?

DVW: Pressure from parents, as they were relied upon to be active partners in their children’s learning. Sometimes this has been tough. And not all families have the same constellation, nor the same internet connectivity, nor financial means, nor proximity to assistance.

The last term has been the toughest from a boarding perspective — a 100 percent boarding school whose families were used to seeing each other every three weeks or so, had to endure over 13 weeks with no visits. This was exceptionally tough on families — the students as well as the parents.

We have learned how much wonderful free material is available out there. We have seen students thrive online who might have struggled in a normal classroom, and vice versa. We have seen the value of allowing students to learn at their own pace, which they could (to some extent) while online.

Last year, 2020 November, our teachers and students achieved the best public examination results in living memory. Despite the interruptions! That has made us sit up and think, and I feel that many of the tools on which we have relied on will persist once we are fully “back to normal”. So, it has been empowering.

MS: In 2017, Falcon College, which was a boys only school opened its doors to a small group of 12 girls. What are the figures for 2021, has there been an increase or decrease in enrolment for both boys and girls since you took over as headmaster?

DVW: Yes, we were at 115 girls this year, with 130 next year. Our final expansion, almost complete, will allow just over 150 girls. Boys’ enrolment has remained fairly static, or slightly up, with 350 boys enrolled for 2022.

What was seen as an interesting experiment has become a definite success. I was amused when discussing with some senior boys last year, the impact of having girls at Falcon… “We work harder in class, and our personal hygiene is much better,” was one comment!

Instead of being an addition, girls are now definitely part of the fabric of our school, and proudly so. I have great respect for those Pioneers — the first 12. Incidentally, though, they were not the first girls at Falcon.

There were a few in the early and late 70s, as well as in the 80s and even one or two in the 90s. Some of these were staff daughters, or daughters of neighbouring farmers. I would say, in total, though, no more than 20 in those 30 years.

There was a brief period in the mid-70s when three Sixth-Form girls did board here, and my mother, interestingly enough, was their “housemistress”.

MS: Besides academic excellence, Falcon College is also renowned for sporting excellence. The Falcon College fields were always buzzing with sporting activity especially on weekends, how has the Covid-19 pandemic affected sporting activity at the college?

DVW: We had to be creative! Only certain sporting codes were permitted, and we had 460 students to keep active, busy and fulfilled. We did a lot of running, but even the good athletes reach saturation point!

An imaginative and challenging sporting programme, with diverse offerings, as well as student accountability, was presented to students during the online learning phases. They were able to record, reflect, improve, and even compete, in a virtual environment.

Sport-specific exercises and practices were presented and well used. Each week, running totals of students’ involvement and achievement were communicated through the community.

When back on campus, we were still able to train and practice in all except the contact sports, and we had some wonderful inter-house competitions.

We have been able to develop our teachers and coaches, through programmes offered face-to-face, as well as online, throughout the past two years, and will continue to do that. There is a vast resource here, and nearby, or expertise and some very experiences coaches and trainers who are only too willing to develop other coaches and trainers.

MS: Talking about sport, we are aware that the former headmaster gave opportunities to talented youngsters from other schools to come and learn at Falcon College, are you a believer in such kind of arrangement?

DVW: Absolutely, I am. This college provides opportunities. For many of our students — past, present and future — their potential might not have been realised if they were not given the chance to come to Falcon.

We do not have a certain number of academic scholarships, music scholarships, sporting scholarships, et cetera, as some schools do. But we always invite applications, even if a family knows that they would battle to afford to come to this school.

Over many decades, we have seen win-win scenarios whereby individuals and teams are strengthened and, in some cases, give back to this community which launched them to where they are now. It is not an exact science, as you can understand, and we do have a committee which meets and informs me in this regard.