Margot Long was appointed as the inaugural Executive Director of OISESA from 1 May 2022. An educator of global standing, Margot held the position Deputy Head – Academics & Staff Learning at St John’s Preparatory School for 17 years. In addition to leading the academic and staff professional learning programmes at St John’s, Margot headed up the Teacher-Intern Development Programme.
From 2007 until 2020, Margot also worked as a Research Advisor and then the Programme Co-Ordinator for the International Boys’ Schools Coalition (IBSC) Global Action Research Programme. This international schools’ coalition, comprised of approximately 300 schools in 28 countries, bestowed on Margot one of its highest recognitions for her service – the Hawley Jarvis Award. Due to her excellent stewardship of this programme, the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools (ICGS) turned to her to help establish their Global Action Research Programme (GARC).
Margot has taught in both primary and high schools, as well as at the tertiary level. She headed up the English Department at The Hill High School and at Queens High School, Johannesburg and then taught English and Social Sciences at St Katherine’s School, Johannesburg. She has also worked as an author and editor at Macmillan South Africa and at Wits University Press. An English, French, German, and Italian graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Languages, amongst other qualifications, Margot obtained her Higher Diploma in Education from the University of South Africa. She has also participated in courses at the Harvard Graduate School of Education – Making Thinking Visible and The Future of Learning. More recently, she completed a course in Mentorship at Northwest University.
Karabo Senamela was appointed as Executive Assistant to the Executive Director on 1 June 2022. She moved to OISESA from Future Nations School in Fleurhof, Johannesburg, where she held the position of School Administrator and Sports Administrator. She also worked as Finance Administrator and Executive Assistant at East Bank High School from 2019 – 2021. From 2014 – 2019, Karabo worked as Office Administrator at Pridwin Preparatory School.
Karabo has completed a wide variety of short courses ranging from HR Management, Marketing, Governance and Accounting Sciences to a Certificate in ECD development and a Diploma in Foundation Phase Teaching.
Karabo’s experience in Public School Education taught her that one needs to be a Jack of all trades, master of none. Her experience and her collaborative approach and positive attitude will be of tremendous benefit to OISESA in the years ahead.
Born and raised in Johannesburg, Anna has a corporate background, having worked for organisations such as Nedbank, Monitor (Strategy Consultants), Kaufman Levin Associates (KLA) and more recently the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS).
Anna has worked in various capacities: her experience includes a full PA function to CEOs and MDs, assisting strategy consultants with research, market research, hands-on office management and sourcing speakers for conferences. With a keen eye for detail, her strength lies in ensuring that the support she offers is professional with tremendous value-add.
Her role as Survey Co-Ordinator at OISESA ensures we are able to offer bespoke surveys to schools, to gather valuable information and guide the focus of the school visit.
Wendy Plumbley served as Deputy Principal and Head of Academics at Maris Stella from 2014 until the end of 2022. Maris Stella, which is a Holy Family School established in 1899, caters for girls from Grade 000 to Grade 12.
Wendy began her teaching career at Northlands Girls’ High School teaching English. Following that she spent some years running her own practice as an educational psychologist and then returned to the school sector and spent 10 years working at Danville Park Girls’ High where she served on the Management Team.
Wendy is a graduate of the University of Cape Town having completed a B.A. degree majoring in English and Psychology, an Honours degree in Psychology, and a Higher Diploma in Education. In 1998 Wendy completed a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology at the University of Natal (Durban).
Wendy is registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) as an educational psychologist.
Wendy joined OISESA as a mentor in 2023 and enjoyed working alongside a range of schools across Southern Africa. In 2024, in addition to continuing her work as a mentor, Wendy joined the OISESA team as part-time Senior Editor. Her eagle-eyed editing skills are most valuable in the report processing cycle.
