a day ago
Small ideas, big impact at St Benedict's 2025 Embrace Symposium
The 2025 St Benedict's Embrace Symposium highlighted how small, intentional actions can spark meaningful change in education. Under the theme 'Small ideas, big changes,' educators, learners, and changemakers gathered to explore how advocacy and innovation can reshape South African schools and communities.
Executive head André Oosthuysen said the symposium reflects the school's commitment to social justice and advocacy: 'The fight for advocacy and social justice demands relentless commitment, and it's inspiring to witness so many schools stepping up to lead these vital conversations year after year. Through events like our Embrace Symposium, we're building momentum for lasting change.'
The event began with a practical advocacy workshop led by Dr Lynn Edwards and Linda Greeff, who have collaborated on cancer advocacy since 1987. Participants learned hands-on strategies for driving change in their schools and communities, creating advocacy templates they could implement immediately.
Breakaway sessions allowed smaller groups to focus on specific areas of transformation. Delegates explored multimodality in education, sports policy in schools, refugee support programmes through Sacred Heart's Three2Six initiative, brave-thinking classrooms, and stress management techniques. These sessions underscored that incremental improvements in individual areas can create wider institutional change.
Dr Lynn Edwards, advocacy expert; Kass Naidoo, South Africa's first female cricket commentator and founder of Gsport4girls; Geraldine Pillay, co-chair of St Benedict's Transformation, Diversity and Inclusion Department; and David Edwards, co-chair of St Benedict's Transformation, Diversity and Inclusion Department, at the 2025 St Benedict's Embrace Symposium.
Image: Supplied
Kass Naidoo, South Africa's first female cricket commentator and founder of Gsport4girls, shared her journey from noticing the struggles of female athletes to building a national platform celebrating their achievements. 'Everyone has ideas. The challenge is having the courage to start. If you take small, consistent actions, you'll create incredible impact,' she said.
Political cartoonist Zapiro (Jonathan Shapiro) presented a retrospective of South Africa's democratic journey through his cartoons from 1994 to the present. His talk highlighted how visual advocacy can influence public discourse and engage young people in social issues.
Roundtable discussions provided delegates with opportunities to share challenges and solutions across schools, fostering collaboration and reinforcing that meaningful transformation is a collective effort.
