Published Article / Psychosocial support has been defined as an ongoing process of meeting emotional, social, mental and spiritual needs, all of which are considered essential elements of meaningful and positive human development. It goes beyond simply meeting the learners' physical needs, placing greater emphasis on learners' psychological and emotional development and their need for social interaction. The Free State Department of Basic Education defines vulnerable learners as orphans, heads of child-headed households, neglected learners and all learners who do not have access to a basic set of school uniforms. The department states that there are currently 70 000 of these learners in the province. This article presents a theoretical critique, within a social justice paradigm, of efforts aimed at supporting vulnerable learners psychosocially in the rural areas of South Africa. It describes attempts to afford vulnerable learners education and addresses their marginalisation and inherent powerlessness (social justice). It argues that psychosocial support (meeting their needs) for vulnerable learners will improve their access to education.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of support provided to learners from child headed homes (CHH) by the Institutional Level Support Teams ILST). This was a two-phased study involving a literature study and empirical research. The study employed a qualitative research method to elicit information from participants by means of individual interviews. The literature revealed that learners from CHH are part of our school systems even though the phenomenon of CHH is not increasing. These learners experience many challenges such as role adjustment, stress and grief and school drop outs. Due to lack of various needs it would be difficult for them to reach a level of self-actualisation unless schools provide support. Poverty, HIV/AIDS and the breakdown of appropriate alternative care were revealed as contextual factors leading to CHH. There are also policies and reports guiding the support of learners in schools. There are national programmes that are provided from national level to support needy learners included, namely NSNP, school based crime prevention programmes, the child support grant, the sanitary pads project, exemption from paying school fees and the food garden project. A qualitative method was used and data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews and documents. Five sites were purposefully selected and fifteen ILST members participated. The research sites comprised of five secondary schools. Data were collected from three strata, namely the principal, ILST coordinator and the teacher with the highest number of learners from CHH in his/her class. The study revealed that national programmes were more constant than school-based which were ad-hoc and disjointed. Factors hampering the provision of support included problems with identification of learners from CHH, lack of policies guiding the provision of support to learners from CHH, lack of leadership and the ILST members not being committed enough. Factors enhancing the provision of support included good leadership, availability of programmes at national and the involvement of external stakeholders.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of support provided to learners from child headed homes (CHH) by the Institutional Level Support Teams ILST). This was a two-phased study involving a literature study and empirical research. The study employed a qualitative research method to elicit information from participants by means of individual interviews. The literature revealed that learners from CHH are part of our school systems even though the phenomenon of CHH is not increasing. These learners experience many challenges such as role adjustment, stress and grief and school drop outs. Due to lack of various needs it would be difficult for them to reach a level of self-actualisation unless schools provide support. Poverty, HIV/AIDS and the breakdown of appropriate alternative care were revealed as contextual factors leading to CHH. There are also policies and reports guiding the support of learners in schools. There are national programmes that are provided from national level to support needy learners included, namely NSNP, school based crime prevention programmes, the child support grant, the sanitary pads project, exemption from paying school fees and the food garden project. A qualitative method was used and data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews and documents. Five sites were purposefully selected and fifteen ILST members participated. The research sites comprised of five secondary schools. Data were collected from three strata, namely the principal, ILST coordinator and the teacher with the highest number of learners from CHH in his/her class. The study revealed that national programmes were more constant than school-based which were ad-hoc and disjointed. Factors hampering the provision of support included problems with identification of learners from CHH, lack of policies guiding the provision of support to learners from CHH, lack of leadership and the ILST members not being committed enough. Factors enhancing the provision of support included good leadership, availability of programmes at national and the involvement of external stakeholders.

The main aim of this study was to investigate how effective School Management Teams were in the management of healthy school environments in the Gert Sibande District. This was a qualitative study which employed two data collection strategies: face to face interviews and photographs. A literature review on this study revealed vital aspects, that a healthy school environment: can directly improve children’s health and effective learning; the school is strategically positioned to reach large numbers of the population to teach them to understand the importance of investing in health. Literature indicated collaboration and synergy as essential aspects, and policies as cornerstones that underpin the health promotion initiatives. Selection of sites was purposefully done as three of the four schools in this study were part of the Eco Schools programme. The study revealed that there was disconnect between the SMTs and committees that were involved in health promotion: in coordinating plans; and monitoring and evaluating the implementation of programmes. This therefore, means that there was no support for the committees from the SMT. It was also found that there were committees that: did not have plans; did not sit for meetings and the reluctance of the SMT to address these challenges compounded the situation and contributed to some committees being dysfunctional. The failure of the SMT to guide and provide leadership in their engagement with community members who provided assistance in terms of basic needs to learners indicated a need for the development of a cadre of leaders that are capable of working beyond the borders of schools. In all the committees that were interviewed, the Environmental Committee came up to be more effective and organized than others in three schools. The health committee was lacking in the area of training especially in the prevention of communicable diseases. The study provided recommendations to assist the SMT in their endeavors to promote healthy environments in their schools. / MEd, Education Management, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012

The main aim of this study was to investigate how effective School Management Teams were in the management of healthy school environments in the Gert Sibande District. This was a qualitative study which employed two data collection strategies: face to face interviews and photographs. A literature review on this study revealed vital aspects, that a healthy school environment: can directly improve children’s health and effective learning; the school is strategically positioned to reach large numbers of the population to teach them to understand the importance of investing in health. Literature indicated collaboration and synergy as essential aspects, and policies as cornerstones that underpin the health promotion initiatives. Selection of sites was purposefully done as three of the four schools in this study were part of the Eco Schools programme. The study revealed that there was disconnect between the SMTs and committees that were involved in health promotion: in coordinating plans; and monitoring and evaluating the implementation of programmes. This therefore, means that there was no support for the committees from the SMT. It was also found that there were committees that: did not have plans; did not sit for meetings and the reluctance of the SMT to address these challenges compounded the situation and contributed to some committees being dysfunctional. The failure of the SMT to guide and provide leadership in their engagement with community members who provided assistance in terms of basic needs to learners indicated a need for the development of a cadre of leaders that are capable of working beyond the borders of schools. In all the committees that were interviewed, the Environmental Committee came up to be more effective and organized than others in three schools. The health committee was lacking in the area of training especially in the prevention of communicable diseases. The study provided recommendations to assist the SMT in their endeavors to promote healthy environments in their schools. / MEd, Education Management, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2012