**5.3 Period of staggered phasing**

**Table 4** shows the various ways taken by the 10 schools studied to accommodate phasing in grades 8–11 when they returned to school. A closer examination of the data reveals that there were additional teaching time losses as a result of the phasing in grades 8–11, as will be seen. The incident occurred as the principals attempted to use the juggling effect to fit the remaining grades into the available classrooms. The majority of schools preferred the alternate and bi-weekly approaches, while one school employed a mixed strategy. Due to a lack of classrooms, the grades used an alternate strategy in which they alternated days in terms of class attendance. The biweekly model means that some of these grades would go to school for 1 week and then not return until the following week.

## **5.4 Assessment and revision plans**

The principals reported that the abrupt closure of schools on the 16th March 2020, disturbed some of the Term 1 assessments. Normally secondary schools would conduct extra tuition for a week during the end of the first term as part of their catch up and recovery programmes. After the partial reopening on the 8th of June for grade 12, the principals managed to finalise the Term 1 assessments to have a record of the results for purposes of the Continuous Assessment programme (CASS). At the time of conducting the face to face interviews with the principals, all


**Table 4.** *Staggered phasing models.*

#### *Cases of Principal Leadership Responses in a Volatile, Uncertain and Complex School… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102852*

the secondary schools had just finished the Trial Examinations for grade 12 that were held in the last 2 weeks of September. It also meant that the principals were arranging the revision plans for grade 12 learners during the 1 week vacation as part of the catch-up and recovery programme. In all the 10 secondary schools the principals and Senior Management Teams were finalising the preplanning for both the internal and external assessments. By internal assessments we mean the final examinations for grades 8–11 and by external we mean the National Senior Examinations (NSC) for grade 12.

Social distancing had a knock-on effect on the types of examinations that schools required to prepare to fit the current grade, 12 students in 2020, into the available classrooms. The 2020 NSC examinations were unique in that due to the cancellation of the June Part-time NSC tests, part-time grade 12 learners and repeaters of grade 12 had to be accommodated at these adjacent schools for their examinations. According to all 10 principals, they were obligated to provide seats for three groups of students. The present grade 12 students, part-time students, and repeaters who required to write certain topics were divided into three groups. This created a lot of difficulties when it came to interpreting the schedule. Let alone the impact it had on an already tumultuous academic year caused by social isolation. The current NSC examinations were accommodated by principals for the final NSC tests.

The disruption led to some classes closing early to make room for these final exams. The early closure for grade 8–11 students also meant they were hardly getting enough time to be taught because they were either using the alternate or biweekly model. Five principals reported that they were bound to start grade 8–11 internal final examinations earlier than the requirements specified in the provincial circular. In other cases, the principals adopted the platoon technique due to adequate planning, which allowed some of these students to write in the afternoon sessions or alternately in the morning when the grade 12 NSC examinations were not seated according to the timetable. As a result, final internal evaluations for grades 8–11 were held in four secondary schools from early October to late October, before the start of the NSC final examinations on November 5th.

The disruptive effect it caused meant some of the classes needed to open the space for these final examinations, and therefore early closure for the grade 8–11 learners who hardly got enough time to be taught as they were either using the alternate or bi-weekly model. In the five secondary schools, the principals were bound to start early the internal final assessments for grades 8–11. In other instances due to proper planning, the principals used the platoon method, which meant some of these learners could write in the afternoon sessions or alternately in the morning when the grade 12 NSC examinations were not seated in terms of the timetable. As a result in four of the secondary schools, the final internal assessments for grades 8–11 were conducted early in October till late October before the commencement of the NSC final examinations on the 5th of November.

All 10 principals said they were juggling a lot of things and making a lot of adaptations to fit internal and external exams into the available learning spaces. Ulwezi school grade 11 students wrote the Isizulu and English Paper 1 and 2 earlier on the 7th and 8th of October to free up classroom space. As these were regarded to be language papers, this would allow teachers to complete their marking. The principle of Umbasa had written to the circuit manager, requesting that the grade 8 and 9 students be kept at home at the end of the third term to make room for grades 10–11 internal examinations. The principal at Umbasa wanted to make sure that grade 10–12 students shared lessons for both internal and external NSC exams.

At the time of some of the interviews, all 10 secondary schools had just completed the Trial Examination at the end of September, and teachers had just begun marking to provide feedback to students at the start of the fourth term. The input

and results of the trial exams for grade 12 students helped teachers plan and prepare focused areas that would impact revision plans for the 1 week of holiday. The grade 12 revision program, which began on October 26th and ended on October 30th, was designed by all 10 principals. This included attending Saturday courses as part of the final stretch of preparation for the final examinations, which began on the 5th of November and ended on the 15th of December. After grade 12 students had completed their exams, just nine secondary schools began a 3-week revision program.

As part of the ongoing catch-up programs, the principal of Uncwaba reported that two teachers were delivering Maths and Physical Science lessons at the Provincial Ukhozi Radio program. Uncwaba's principal was sure that the school would be able to make up for lost time and meet the goals set before the COVID-19 delays. The Undasa principal's grade 12 review technique was to divide students into groups based on their performance to prevent a one-size-fits-all approach that failed to address the risky students. The principals of Ulwezi and Uncwaba participated in networking, team teaching, and exchange programs to capitalise on the talents of the teachers, particularly in Math and Physical Science, respectively.

#### **5.5 Programs for a catch-up and recovery**

The principals only conducted the catch-up program as a final push before the final NSC examinations at nine schools. Because Zibandlela School did not have enough teachers for the other subjects, the grade 12 students were sent to Unhlaba School. The Mpumalanga Circuit's only rescue strategy was to keep the school open and avoid more problems with children who were unable to find teachers due to the PPN (**Table 5**).


**Table 5.** *School catch up programmes.*
