Marguerite Hull of All Copy Publishers facilitated the Circles of Empowerment Workshop for the Rhodes High School Management Team on Saturday, 22 February 2014, at the River Club, Observatory, Cape Town.

Prior to the workshop, each member of the School Management Team was asked to complete two questionnaires online, which essentially identified their leadership style and the strengths that each person contributes to the team. This preparatory work helped bring the workshop to life, and provided part of the framework for the facilitator to work through the material presented.

Marguerite’s expertise and the openness of each participant enabled a successful morning of sharing, and gaining understanding of one another. The workshop brought fresh insights, and these will enable the team to function even more successfully in the future.

The workshop proved to be enlightening, interesting, and fruitful for the team. This process will enable both personal growth, and more effective management of Rhodes High School.

The school looks forward to the rolling out of this programme to other members of the Rhodes High School community. The Circles of Empowerment Workshop is highly recommended by Rhodes High School.

As per usual teachers are sometimes very reluctant to attend a staff development programme that will be stretched over more than an hour. But the eight staff members at Abbotts who attended the ‘Circles of Empowerment for Academic Leadership’ training programme were astounded by the manner in which the workshop was conducted.

The teachers were actively involved in the pre-work until and during the actual 4 hour seminar. It gave them great insights into their strengths and behaviours. It taught them how to function successfully in a team consisting of multiple personalities and strengths and how one team member’s strengths can compensate for another’s weakness. The seminar tickled the interest of every participant to such an extent that there was no time for boredom to creep in.

Through all the laughter and fun experienced during the seminar derives a sense of understanding and how to tread softly on the personalities and emotions of others.

We were fortunate to be part of the ‘Circles of Empowerment for Academic Leadership’ training programme and I would encourage other schools to get involved.

MIND ACTION MENTORS WORKSHOP

I am sure that you, like me, receive a number of unsolicited flyer-type e-mails offering all kinds of staff development courses and the like. Many of them deserve no more than a cursory glance. From time to time, however, there are products that are certainly well put together and genuinely beneficial to staff. One such offering is the Effective Communication for Teachers (Circles of Empowerment) workshop presented by Mind Action Mentors, in association with Allcopy Publishers.

Sandy Geyer ran a pilot workshop for the Executive team at Bridge House in August this year, and the shift in relationships within the team was almost instant, but lasting.

The workshop was non-threatening, enlightening, highly informative and helpful, and also a lot of fun. We gained real insights into what makes each one of us tick, and how to understand and get the very best out of our colleagues in the team.

Perhaps the greatest benefit that came from this learning was the acquisition of a safe language which now allows us to be frank with each other, but without that frankness becoming personal.

We were an effective team before the workshop; we are far more effective and at ease with each other now.

It is therefore a real pleasure not only to recommend Effective Communication for Teachers (Circles of Empowerment) to you, but also to commend Sandy as a knowledgeable, professional and sensitive facilitator.

Our entire management undertook the Circles of Empowerment session. The pre-work from each member was undertaken smoothly, efficiently and easily from AllCopy publishers. The team was not subjected to endless forms and faxes, instead the use of technology contributed to a painless process.

The results from the pre-workshop questionnaires were absolutely spot-on. Each and every team member shared how their personal reports were “exactly me” or “that is so me”. This paved the way for a workshop that was completely relevant, based on our specific team and a good foundation for further Strategic Planning as a team.

The workshop itself was informative, structured and simply invaluable in terms of our team building. One of the few workshops we thoroughly enjoyed as a Management Team.

Marguerite Hull was a more than competent, intuitive and accommodating facilitator. A lady who keenly shared her knowledge and brought her experience to create a safe and constructive space within which team members could share, explore and learn É Both about themselves and other team members.

NHHS would highly recommend AllCopy Publishers’ Circles of Empowerment workshop to all school leaders and managers and we are looking forward to completing Stage 2 of the Circles of Empowerment Training programme.

Want your team to work together more closely? Want to structure your system toward staff strengths? Want staff members who have a better understanding of themselves in terms of their career development? Give AllCopy Publishers a call!

My staff recently completed stage 1 of the Circles of Empowerment training programme as ‘me/us’ time. We certainly were not disappointed – the interactive workshop kept us fully involved as we learnt more about ourselves as individuals and how this affects our functioning as a team.

The course was facilitated in a sensitive, caring manner and as a staff we are reaping the benefits of having participated in this excellent training programme. I would not hesitate to recommend it to other schools.