- Encouragingly, the outflows have been matched by inflows, mainly in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, while in the socio-political confrontation arena, the very approaches that have caused disaffection amongst some have been precisely the ones that have attracted others. The attractiveness of GBF membership for Western Cape schools is enhanced by the continuation of the decision of the Education Department in that province to subsidise membership by its schools of governing body associations, and this has, in particular, allowed for stronger recruitment in economically challenged areas.
- We continue to have sufficient members to maintain our viability as an organisation, and, together with the accessibility of our services, the knowledge and experience of our officials and trustees, and the high levels of service provision generally linked to our brand, we are comfortable (though not complacent) with where we sit in the membership stakes.
- 3.2 Personnel

The Foundation has continued to enjoy significant stability on this front in 2016, with no changes in personnel in the period under review. I wish to place on record my appreciation for the manner in which roles have been filled, tasks undertaken and service levels maintained, all with an air of professionalism that reflects very positively, both on the employees concerned and on the Foundation as a whole.

- 3.3 Strategic partnerships
- These have matured and been strengthened where they have proven to be valuable and viable, and allowed to dissipate where not. More detail will be found in the section on special actions.
- 3.4 Trustees

On the retirement in March of long-serving chair of the National Board, Diane Gammie, advocate Mala Naidoo was elected into the position. She has filled it very effectively, bringing with her a strongly consultative approach. She has been well backed by the Foundation's trustees at both national and provincial level. These people provide invaluable professional inputs and expertise in their different niche fields on a voluntary basis, and both compliments and thanks are expressed to them all.

- 4. SERVICES

The most popular services provided by the Foundation are:

- 4.1 An immediate-response hotline, accessed either telephonically or per e-mail, for use when schools have queries or difficulties which need to be resolved;
- 4.2 Additional guidance provided by means of an information sheet under the title Undercurrent s. Over and above the standard editions, there were five special editions covering particular developments: viz. on the Constitutional Court admissions judgement; post-provisioning in the Eastern Cape; the selling of posts; and two on electronic admissions in Gauteng. During the year, Undercurrents in standard format was published 34 times - i.e. on average, once a week throughout the school year, except in the last week of term. Examples of the topics covered in 2016 included subjects as diverse as governing body appraisal, changes to the pensions law, e-learning, mathematics teaching in schools, budgeting and the budget meeting, a human rights approach to discipline, the Competition Commission and school uniform shops, and responses to the code of conduct and grooming issues, amongst others.
- 4.3 By means of seminars or workshops we have taken governing bodies through a variety of aspects of their roles - mindset changes, policies, finances, appointments, salaries, matters to do with facilities, best practice in governance, laws relating to education, human resources and human rights, the running of meetings and disciplinary hearings, social media and schools, and even the management of low income schools.
- 4.4 Detailed written guidance under the broad heading of 'Stratagems' has also been provided to schools: e.g. on the collection of school fees; procurement and stock control; making section 38A applications to the Education Department; the selection and appointment of staff; compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act; staff dress codes; and cost saving ideas for schools.
- 4.5 We have also produced exemplar school policies on some 45 different topics; exemplar employment contracts for the full range of posts occurring in schools; exemplar job descriptions for these posts; guidance on the application of human rights during disciplinary proceedings; schools and sponsorship; dealing with pupil pregnancies; and the supervision of children before and after-school hours.
- 4.6 One of the pages on our website is dedicated to keeping members and other site-visitors up-to-date on newsworthy developments in the world of education.