Cedar Primary School’s principal, Carlin Symonds, is retiring.
Cedar Primary School principal Carlin Symonds, 62, is retiring after 42 years in teaching.
Ms Symonds, who has been Bonteheuwel school’s principal since 2008, “captained the ship” until the end of this term.
Her aim was to retire two years ago, but when that time came, she felt she had so much more to offer, she said.
After a health scare in August though, Ms Symonds decided the time for retirement was right.
She plans to spend more time with her 5-year-old grandson, Reign, travel and “do what I like, when I want to, in my own time”.
“I am planning to visit family and friends in New Zealand. Then I’d also like to visit Venice in Italy, as well as The Alps. I am also going to have a lot of ‘me time’.”
She said she would miss the “whole Cedar community” - the pupils, her colleagues and the parents.
“It’s always a great joy to see a child excel despite the circumstances he or she comes from - whether in academics or sport.
“Many of the children just crept deep in my heart. I also had the most amazing team here. Our relationship and teamwork have been phenomenal.
“I’m going to miss the big buzz when we work on presentations and stay till late at the school.
“Although most of the parents acknowledge the importance of education, there are still a few of our parents who don’t see the bigger picture. I want to remind our parents that education is your ticket out of poverty. My appeal to them is that they care about their children’s education as much as we do.”
Ms Symonds is also passionate about sport and was involved with athletics, table tennis and kung fu. Some of Cedar Primary’s pupils had the opportunity to visit China because of kung fu.
Her colleague, Brandon Lewis, said he had met Ms Symonds in 2018, when he was “fresh from university”.
“From the very beginning, Ms Symonds made me feel comfortable - even during my job interview. She is a very inspirational person. She always had an inspirational word to share before our meetings started. She is also very loving, motivated, and unknowingly, Ms Symonds played the role of mother to me. She has great leadership qualities - a confident leader. Give her any challenge and she will rise to the occasion. God also put the right people on her path. Ms Symonds is also very family orientated and we all know how much she loves her grandson. She is a people’s person that the world needs more of,” Mr Lewis said.
Another colleague, Fathima Shaik, said: “I always said I’d like to be like Ms Symonds - open door policy, motivational and inspirational. She always pushed us to do our best. She is loving, caring, and a woman of strength, who is also a lifelong learner. We will surely miss her.”