1. A shared journey
to sustainable
transformation
Symphonia Partners for
Possibility programme

2. Contents
The journey begins ... 01
Plotting the course 03
Identifying the challenges and
putting the plan into action 04
Making a lasting impact 07
Looking forward 09

3. When Anthony Naidoo and
Annah Lebethe became involved
with the Symphonia Partners for
Possibility programme, neither
realised just what an impact
their partnership would have –
on each other, on the school,
and on an entire community.
Theirs is a story that illustrates
the immense power of partnership
and the transformational
impact that can be delivered
through a shared vision of
quality education for all of
South Africa’s children.
‘It felt like I was going back to school. I saw it as a great
opportunity to give back to something I am so passionate
about, namely education.’
Anthony Naidoo
‘I was ecstatic about the potential of the programme and
the thought of meeting Anthony Naidoo, who I had come
to hear a lot about.’
Annah Lebethe
Anthony Naidoo, Senior Manager of Internal Communications
at Nedbank, has always believed in the power of education as a
mechanism to transform South Africa’s future.
Annah Lebethe, the Principal of Masakhane-Tswelelopele
Primary School in Zandspruit, Johannesburg, has long
recognised the value of incorporating proven business principles
into the effective operation and governance of schools.
So, when these two passionate and driven individuals were
given the opportunity to work together through the Symphonia
Partners for Possibility programme, both jumped at the chance.
Little did they realise what an impact their journey would
have – not just on the school and its learners, but also on the
educators, the community, and even on each other, both as people
and as professionals.
The journey
begins …
A shared journey to sustainable transformation 01
About Symphonia Partners for Possibility
Symphonia for South Africa (SSA) is a non-profit organisation
based in Bellville, Cape Town. It has the bold vision to deliver
quality education for all children in South Africa by 2022, and
one of the key vehicles through which it is working to achieve
this vision is the Partners for Possibility (PfP) programme.
Founded in 2010, PfP was established on the understanding
that enhancing the quality of education, improving the
school environment and facilitating engagement between
parents, teachers and communities will generate an upward
spiral of real change in South African society as a whole.
The programme seeks to place participating schools
at the very centre of their communities to drive radical
transformation for all stakeholders.
By creating such a co-action, co-learning partnership between
school principals and business leaders, PfP not only offers
a creative solution for South Africa’s education crisis, but it
also enables greater social cohesion and empowers educators
to become change leaders.

4. The PfP programme
establishes a
partnership between
a business leader and
a school principal
from an under-
resourced school.
Symphonia seeks
to mobilise citizens
and communities
to reclaim the
responsibility for
educating South
Africa’s children.
Left: The children of Masakhane-Tswelelopele Primary School were
thrilled to receive brand new school uniforms, including shoes, shirts,
trousers, dresses and jerseys. The uniforms were donated by Nedbank
Private Wealth Trust.
Above from left to right: Savannah Steinberg, PfP Coach; Anthony Naidoo,
Senior Manager of Internal Communications at Nedbank; and Annah
Lebethe, Principal of Masakhane-Tswelelopele Primary School.
A shared journey to sustainable transformation 02
The Symphonia Partners for
Possibility programme brought
together two people’s passion for
quality education, in the process
transforming a school and community.

5. The first step in this exciting new partnership between Anthony
and Annah was to set out precisely what they hoped to achieve.
Given the massive proven potential of the PfP programme to
completely transform schools and their stakeholders, this was
no small undertaking. In fact, it took Anthony and Annah a full
three months of head scratching, deliberation, and intensive
stakeholder discussions to fully explore their options, set out
their goals and plot their strategy as partners for possibility.
During informal meetings over coffee, the two individuals from
very different walks of life quickly discovered that they shared
the same passion and vision for education and the same desire
for personal and professional growth.
These informal meetings quickly evolved into indepth
strategic planning sessions. Under the watchful eye of their
programme coach, Savannah Steinberg, they successfully
detailed their objectives and unpacked the opportunities
and challenges that lay ahead.
At the end of this intensive mapping process, the two partners
established the following main goals for themselves and their
partnership:
Annah’s goals
• To share her experience and be open to learning in order to
maximise positive education outcomes for the learners.
• To become a more competent and assertive leader.
• To evolve into an assertive and quick decisionmaker.
Anthony’s goals
• To share his business knowledge and experience to
help deliver on the partnership goals for the school.
• To gain a deep understanding of the plight of
underprivileged children and use this knowledge to
impact their lives in a meaningful way.
• To become more people-centred and aware of the
impact of his thoughts and actions on others.
• To become more engaged with those around him,
particularly the community and learners.
Shared goals
• To learn as much as possible and apply these lessons
to their respective workplaces, thereby improving their
effectiveness and outcomes.
Goals for the school
• To improve the general experience of learners at the school.
• To raise the results and education outcomes of the learners.
• The enhance enthusiasm and self-esteem levels and
encourage pupil participation at all levels.
• To improve teacher morale and offer real opportunities for
them to contribute to the school’s improvement.
• To create opportunities for parents and the broader
community to take more responsibility for educating the
learners at the school.
Plotting the
course
A shared journey to sustainable transformation 03
A practical example of the true
power of Partners for Possibility

6. From the outset, Anthony and Annah recognised that achieving
the transformation they envisaged for the school and all its
stakeholders was not going to be easy. They did, however,
agree that identifying and quantifying the main challenges
would be the first step in addressing and overcoming them.
These challenges included the following:
• Criminal activity – The school suffered regular break-ins and
theft of equipment and cables which constantly thwarted
its attempts at delivering good outcomes.
• Poverty – Like so many schools in South Africa, Masakhane-
Tswelelopele attempts to meet the education needs of
some of the country’s poorest citizens. This presents real
challenges in terms of hunger at school, lack of resources
and even low self-esteem and a lack of confidence
among learners.
• Poor educator morale – The many challenges teachers
face at the school on a daily basis had a profoundly negative
effect on their motivation and passion for their work.
This resulted in high attrition rates which in turn impacted
negatively on education outcomes due to uncertainty
among learners.
• Lack of maintenance – Given the many other challenges
and priorities, combined with a complete lack of budget, it
was understandable that the school suffered from a lack of
general maintenance. Litter was particularly a problem.
• Admission challenges – The location of Masakhane-
Tswelelopele meant that the school received numerous
applications for learners from outside the borders of South
Africa. These applications were typically received outside of
the accepted admissions period and resulted in disruptions of
classes and challenges for educators in terms of acclimatising
the children while still giving sufficient attention to the other
learners in the classes. Other challenges included the below
par English abilities of these learners as well as their lack of
books and stationery.
The PfP programme is based on a commitment of at least one
year. During that time the partners not only work closely with
each other to deliver on the objectives and outcomes they have
agreed on, but they also commit to participating in extensive
leadership development training, most of which is facilitated by
their programme coach.
In addition to undertaking these commitments, which are at the
heart of the success of the PfP programme, Anthony and Annah
agreed that achieving their goals required the continued and
dedicated rollout of a clear partnership strategy, built on the
following main pillars:
Ongoing engagement with the school management team
Together, Annah and Anthony made it a priority to engage
with the school management team throughout 2014. Besides
ongoing informal conversations, their engagement comprised a
series of formal meetings and discussions at which they agreed
on various ways to improve educator morale and commitment
as well as to work with learners to raise the levels of literacy,
numeracy and overall involvement in the school.
Increased community engagement
As a direct result of the decisions taken by the partners and the
school management team, the level of community engagement
with the school increased significantly. More parent-teacher
meetings were hosted in an effort to gain a clearer understanding
of the home and community life of the learners and their families
so that steps could be taken to address specific learning challenges.
Initiatives were also undertaken to raise community awareness
around ensuring the safety of the children, helping them to improve
their literacy, and encouraging overall community understanding
of, and commitment to, environmental care and sustainability.
Headline events undertaken to entrench this awareness
included Arbour Day tree planting and a school readathon.
Identifying the
challenges and
putting the plan
into action
A shared journey to sustainable transformation 04

7. Improvement of the school’s general surroundings
As a core pillar of the vision to significantly enhance the
experience of learners at the school, it was recognised that
learners needed to develop a sense of pride in their school.
To achieve this Anthony and Annah launched Operation
Masakhane Cleanup, a holistic environmental improvement
initiative that involved:
• raising the children’s awareness of their responsibility
to keep their environment clean; and
• ongoing efforts to improve the school grounds and
surrounding community areas through cleanup initiatives
that involved all the learners and volunteers from the
community.
Specific initiatives included regular litter cleanups known as
‘pikitup’ as well as talks by community organisations on the
value and importance of keeping the school and community
clean and the environmental value of reusing and recycling.
A shared journey to sustainable transformation 05
Readathon celebrations mark an
exciting new chapter
On 5 September 2014 Masakhane-Tswelelopele Primary
School took part in the National Readathon. Learners
jumped at the opportunity to show off the progress they
had made throughout the year, proudly displaying their
art and demonstrating their literacy competency.
The school came alive with songs, rhymes, choral verses,
speeches and drama. It would have been hard for anyone
new to the school to believe that, just a few months
ago, these were learners who lacked confidence
because their literacy and numeracy skills were not of a
high enough standard. The success of the readathon
was tangible proof of the positive outcomes being
achieved as a direct result of the school’s involvement
in the PfP programme.
Arbour Day: Working together to make
Masakhane-Tswelelopele Primary School
greener
As part of their efforts to beautify Masakhane and
encourage the learners and community members
to take more pride in their school, Anthony and
Annah organised the Arbour Day. Given that the
underprivileged circumstances of most of the learners
and their families meant that little, or no, consideration
was placed on environmental matters, the Arbour Day
initiative was a way of encouraging all stakeholders to
take a moment to think about the value of improving
the school and community by planting trees.
Anthony consulted with Annah and then set out to
gather support and donations from caring businesses in
the area. A total of 100 trees were planted and the event
proved to be a huge success, with a tangible sense of
pride and camaraderie among everyone who attended
and got involved.
The day also included a strong education component with
talks by Pikitup representatives. Each class in the school
was tasked with preparing for the day by producing
poems, charts, drawings or posters that outlined what
Arbour Day meant to them. Members of the community
were also invited to join in the day’s events.
Arbour Day: Working together to make Masakhane-Tswelelopele Primary School greener.

8. The PfP programme
has given learners
many benefits that
are not directly
education-based, but
have an undeniable
impact on their ability
to learn and develop.
Working together to
make Masakhane-
Tswelelopele Primary
School greener:
100 trees were planted
on Arbour Day.
A shared journey to sustainable transformation 06
Above: Anthony Naidoo, Senior Manager of
Internal Communications at Nedbank; Annah
Lebethe, Principal of Masakhane-Tswelelopele
Primary School; and Sarah Mautjana, Internal
Communications Coordinator at Nedbank
Integrated Channels: Communications planting
a tree in celebration of Arbour Day.

9. In just one year the partnership between Annah and Anthony
has delivered positive results beyond what either of them
imagined possible. A few of them are listed below.
Enhanced educator effectiveness
As Annah’s leadership skills, confidence and assertiveness
have increased, she has set an exceptional example for all
her educators. A direct result of this has been an all-round
improvement in drive, passion and leadership ability among
her staff, all of whom report that they appreciate the increased
engagement and teamwork, and feel a greater sense of
belonging, involvement and responsibility for the success
of the school and its learners.
‘Our principal is a hard-working, dedicated and
humble leader. She always leads by example and is
punctual and very hands-on in the way she guides the
educators and learners at the school. Since she has been
involved in the Partners for Possibility programme she has
become an even better leader and her professionalism and
passion is even stronger. She is always willing to help out
wherever she is needed and her communication, support
and leadership skills are very good now. She has a great
vision for our school and the changes she has made have
helped us all to share that vision and be more motivated
to make it a reality.’
Ms Moteane, educator at Masakhane-Tswelelopele Primary School
Improved school results
One of the primary objectives of the PfP programme is
sustainably improved education outcomes. While this will
ultimately be evidenced as a long-term improvement of overall
learner results and increasing pass rates, the positive impact
is already evident across the school. Teacher morale and passion
are vastly improved and will undoubtedly translate into better
outcomes for learners. The learners are also demonstrating
significantly increased levels of enthusiasm and dedication to
their classwork.
Developing motivated and confident learners
One of the most obvious consequences of the transformation
is the much higher levels of confidence that the learners now
have in themselves and their abilities. A prime example of this
was little Katlego, who was the star of the day at the readathon
organised by Anthony and Annah when she showed herself
to be an accomplished public speaker. In fact, her confidence
inspired the school to enter her in a regional speech contest,
which she won, and then went on to represent Masakhane at
provincial level in the competition finals in Pretoria.
Making a
lasting impact
A shared journey to sustainable transformation 07
Nedbank uniform donations give all
learners a reason to be proud
In January 2015, just in time for the start of the new
school year, the children of Masakhane-Tswelelopele
Primary School were thrilled to receive brand new school
uniforms, including shoes, shirts, trousers, dresses and
jerseys. The uniforms were donated by Nedbank Private
Wealth Trust and handed out by Anthony and Annah as
part of their PfP programme.
The young recipients of the uniforms are all from
disadvantaged backgrounds and few, if any, of
the learners’ parents would have been able to buy
uniforms. In addition to ensuring that the children
have warm clothes to come to school in, the uniforms –
which are all emblazoned with the school’s crest – help
to remove any perceived class or financial distinctions
between learners while filling them all with a sense of
pride in their school.

10. A school the learners are proud of
Masakhane has undergone a significant aesthetic transformation
over the past year. The trees planted as part of Arbour Day now
also stand as strong reminders of the importance of looking after
the environment to enjoy a happier place of learning.
More professional PfP partners
‘Anthony is a powerful communicator, an absolute
professional and an excellent leader. I and my fellow
educators and heads of department have learned a great
deal from him and we can see the positive influence that his
partnership with our principal is having on our school and
the wider community. Between them, these two leaders have
inspired and motivated all of us to become more involved
and more passionate about our school and the potential it
has to change the lives of our learners and their families.
Anthony’s drive is especially motivating. In the time he
has been with us, he has done so much – from organising
our arbour day to acquiring donations of wonderful new
school uniforms. Partnering with him, and Nedbank, has
been transformational for our school and we will always
be grateful for the change he has brought about.’
Mr Maponyane, Deputy Principal, Masakhane-Tswelelopele
Primary School
It wasn’t just Masakhane-Tswelelopele Primary School that
benefited from the PfP programme – the two partners were
also transformed by their professional Leadership Development
Journey. They had the opportunity to attend a variety of
targeted development course, including Time to Think, Flawless
Consulting, Community of Practise and the Art of Possibility.
These have equipped them with the theoretical understanding
and practical tools to raise their status as professional
leaders in their respective fields and continue to deliver
transformational change in their respective environments.
‘The courses and coaching played an instrumental role in my
leadership and personal development. I feel more confident
now and believe that I can make a difference in any situation.’
Annah
‘I learnt insightful, inspiring and practical lessons that
I can implement immediately back in my professional
corporate environment.’
Anthony
In addition to ensuring individual professional development,
PfP helped Annah to become part of an extensive network
of like-minded principals in schools much like her own. This
network has already proved invaluable in terms of passing on
lessons and guidance to one another, while building a united
front in order to tackle their challenges head-on and come out
the other side victorious.
‘I have not just grown as a person and a leader, but by
connecting with other principals who face challenges
similar to those of Masakhane, I have realised that I can
achieve more. Blaming and complaining will not change the
situation; what South African education needs most is like-
minded people who are willing to work as a team to get the
desired results.’
Annah
A shared journey to sustainable transformation 08
Savannah’s journey
Savannah Steinberg is a PfP programme coach and was
an integral part of the success achieved by Annah and
Anthony in their partnership. She shares her story:
Being part of this partnership was a real privilege.
Annah happened to be the first principal I approached
for this programme. I instantly loved her. She was so
positive and excited about the opportunity.
When meeting Anthony, the first thing that struck me
was his passion, which he has maintained throughout
the programme. After meeting them both I was
confident that these two professionals were the perfect
fit, and given the success they have achieved, it appears
I was right.
For a process like this to work, in fact for any process
to work, it requires the input and drive of everyone
involved. What made this particular partnership so
effective was the fact that neither Annah nor Anthony
were ever scared to take the initiative or shy to give
their input and ideas. Annah is very powerful in her
own right, a real team player and a leader who makes
things happen. For me the real test of a leader is their
willingness to be lead, and Annah was so receptive
and open to this. I was always impressed by how
professional she looked every time I met with her. She
is a real inspiration and a role model in her community.
Anthony consistently brought structure and
commitment to the partnership. The things he
managed to achieve through the time and energy
he put into everything made a massive difference.
The Arbour Day was pretty much his idea, and the
results of his initiative and hard work will be there
for many years to come.
This partnership was such a beautiful reflection
of what is possible when two powerful individuals
collaborate in service of the community and the
whole. To bring about a real shift in our country
we need more people like these two.

11. While the partnership required a minimum commitment of one
year from Anthony and Annah, they both agree that theirs is now
a partnership for life. Not only have they become good friends,
but the personal and professional growth that each enjoyed has
also enabled them to completely transform the way they think,
act and work.
Given everything that they were able to achieve in the space of
a year, they are excited about the opportunities that they still
have to not just keep on transforming Masakhane-Tswelelopele
Primary School, but also to have a positive impact on the way in
which South Africa approaches education in the future.
‘It’s been a hugely empowering journey both personally
and professionally. Today, thanks to this programme, I see
my pupils, teachers and the community as my clients, and
I am ready to serve them so that they can achieve their
desired results.’
Annah
‘I feel uplifted on so many levels. Most significantly, my
eyes are now open to the challenges our school system
faces and I have been reminded just how much we all need
to pull together in order to contribute to its improvement.
For me, the journey has just begun!’
Anthony
Looking
forward
A shared journey to sustainable transformation 09
Annah Lebethe presenting Anthony Naidoo with a photo collage commemorating
their finest moments together on their PfP journey at the school.

12. Nedbank 135 Rivonia Campus
135 Rivonia Road Sandown Sandton 2196
PO Box 1144 Johannesburg 2000 South Africa
nedbank.co.za
Nedbank Limited Reg No 1951/000009/06. Authorised financial services and registered credit provider (NCRCP16).
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