Empowering educators.
Strengthening schools.
Protecting learners.
The Safe Schools Leadership Collaborative (SSLC) is Ilitha Labantu’s flagship school safety programme, working with schools and their wider communities to strengthen child protection, violence prevention and learner wellbeing.
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The programme recognises that safe schools are built through collective action. Learners, principals, educators, parents, School Governing Bodies, government departments, civil society organisations and community stakeholders all have an important role to play in creating learning environments where children feel protected, respected and supported.
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Working across participating schools in communities including Gugulethu, Nyanga, and Khayelitsha, the SSLC is made up of five pillars that strengthen leadership, build capacity, promote learner participation, support families and improve collaboration and referral pathways.
SSLC Pillars
The Safe Schools Leadership Collaborative is built around five interconnected pillars, bringing together school leaders, educators, learners, families and communities to strengthen protection, promote wellbeing and create safer, more inclusive learning environments.
Principal's Forum
The Principals' Forum together leaders from participating schools to provide direction, monitor progress and strengthen coordinated action across the programme.
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Through regular engagements, school leaders reflect on programme implementation, share lessons and experiences, identify emerging challenges and trends, and determine priorities for the way forward. The Forum provides an important opportunity for principals to collectively consider how the different pillars of the SSLC can respond to the evolving needs of learners, educators and families.
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The Forum also supports coordination across key programme activities, including the rollout of Safe Schools Clubs and Youth Ambassadors, educator training through the Educator Empowerment Hub, and Positive Parenting and Family Enrichment Workshops. By placing school leadership at the centre of the collaborative, the Principals' Forum helps drive a shared commitment to safer learning environments and improved learner wellbeing.
Educator Empowerment Hub
The Educator Empowerment Hub strengthens educators' knowledge, confidence and practical skills to identify and respond appropriately to learner vulnerability. As trusted adults who interact with learners every day, educators are often among the first to recognise signs that a child may be experiencing abuse, neglect, trauma or other challenges.
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The Hub's training series equips educators to understand the impact of trauma on learner behaviour, emotional wellbeing and academic performance, while strengthening their ability to create safe, inclusive and trauma-responsive classrooms. Training is practical and participatory, using discussions, case studies and exercises to explore issues such as gender sensitivity, adverse childhood experiences, unconscious bias, legal and ethical responsibilities, disclosures and referral pathways.
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The programme includes modules on Gender Sensitivity and Trauma-Informed Practice, Identifying Key Signs of Abuse, and Basic Counselling Skills.
Safe Schools Club
The Safe Schools Clubs and Youth Ambassadors Programme empowers learners to become confident leaders and active participants in creating safe, inclusive and violence-free school environments.
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Through learner-led activities and joint workshops, Youth Ambassadors are encouraged to champion positive values, strengthen peer support and raise awareness of gender-based violence and other social challenges affecting young people. The programme recognises that learners are not only beneficiaries of school safety initiatives, but also important voices and agents of positive change within their schools and communities.
Parents and School Governing Bodies
Parents, caregivers and School Governing Bodies play a critical role in supporting learner wellbeing and creating safer school communities. Through Positive Parenting and Family Enrichment Workshops, the Safe Schools Leadership Collaborative works to strengthen the relationship between families and schools while equipping parents and SGB members to play a more active role in safeguarding children.
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The workshops encourage greater parental involvement in children's education and create opportunities to address barriers between parents, learners and educators. They also explore the importance of positive family relationships, communication and responding constructively to challenges affecting children.
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SGB members and parents are further encouraged to take on an active leadership and oversight role within their school communities, helping to promote accountability and uphold the safety and wellbeing of learners.
Community Dialogues & Partnerships
The Community Dialogues & Partnerships pillar recognises that schools cannot respond to abuse, neglect, trauma and violence in isolation. It brings together social workers, child protection services, public health serives, NGOs, community leadership structures and other key stakeholders to strengthen coordinated responses to learner vulnerability.
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Through strategic engagements and community dialogues, partners work together to map referral pathways, clarify roles and responsibilities, and identify gaps within existing systems of support. Strengthening these connections is essential to ensuring that learners at risk receive timely, coordinated and effective interventions and do not fall through systemic gaps. By fostering stronger collaboration between schools and external service providers, this pillar contributes to greater coordination, accountability and collective action.