The Old Diocesan Issue 13 - Magazine - Page 18
Q&A: LESTER LALLA
Meet the new Prep headmaster, fresh from Johannesburg
As of Term 2,
Lester Lalla
has made the
move from Joburg
to fill the considerable shoes of Greg
Brown as the new Prep headmaster.
At age 43, Lester has an ideal
background for the role. Having
begun his career at Briardene
Primary, his alma mater in Durban,
he has served as deputy headmaster
of St Stithians (2016–2020) and then
headmaster of St John’s prep school
(2020–2026). He has two children,
Abigail and Sam, who will join him
in Cape Town next year. Sam will
be in Grade 10 at Bishops.
How has the move been?
I’m feeling more settled. It’s the
second term, and things are more
familiar. Schools are quite cyclical;
you have to go through a full year to
understand the rhythm – but so far,
so good. It’s also a new city for me,
so it’s a double whammy. Where
do you go for a haircut? Where
are the good coffee shops?
Very important question: have
you found your coffee shop?
I have, very close to the College
campus. Plato – really good coffee!
Tell us about your running.
The really wonderful opportunity
for me in Cape Town is that I enjoy
the outdoors, and being able to run
and get into a bit of trail running is
great. I’ve done Two Oceans five
times. Getting my blue number
– 10 races – is the big goal.
What was your favourite subject as a
pupil, and will you do any teaching?
I enjoyed sciences at school. When
I taught in high school, I taught
14 | THE OLD DIOCESAN
what’s now called Life Sciences –
back then, Biology. Next year I intend
to pick up a Grade 6 Natural Science
class. I think doing some teaching
is a critical thing – and one class
seems manageable.
You’ve moved from St John’s
to Bishops. What are some of
the characteristics they share?
I really feel privileged to have
been able to lead both of these
schools. I think the values that
derive from Anglicanism centre
both communities. It doesn’t mean
everybody has to believe in the
same way to belong, but the values
everyone in a community subscribes
to provide a real grounding. Within
the life of the school, they provide
quite a predictable ritual, which
works really well for boys – that
sense of morning prayer, of chapel,
of assembly. Boys get a real depth
of experience, which many of them
may underestimate the value of in
the moment, but will later look back
on and realise what it was adding to
their lives. It really gives definition
to character education.
You follow tech trends closely.
What are your thoughts on how AI
is changing teaching at Prep level?
There’s no doubt that AI has already
upended education, and will continue
to do so. Within the prep school
context, we have to safeguard
against the concept of cognitive
outsourcing, where boys hand
over their thinking capacity to
a bot. That’s the risk. The ability
to solve real-world problems comes
from being able to connect the dots
and seeing the bigger picture – and
you can only do that if you have
substantial background knowledge.
By simply getting a bot to give you
information, you’re not acquiring that
for yourself, and your mental schema
is quite limited.
What does the purpose of AI
become, then, in the classroom?
Reteaching, providing personalised
tuition, creating individualised
pathways – I think those are the
opportunities. A goal of any good
teacher is what we call differentiation
– catering to the different needs
and ability groups in one classroom
– and that often requires more
human resources. I think AI
can neatly help solve that.
Describe your approach to
leadership, and what you hope
to bring to your new role.
I’d consider my leadership style to be
decentralised and quite empowering.
I like to convey something compelling
that people can rally around, support
and see as their own, while providing
the guardrails within which they can
operate. I would like to enhance the
goodness that’s here at the Prep –
a very strong music programme,
an aspirational sports programme,
a good academic programme. I’d
probably want our boys to engage
more in some contextual, real-world
experiences. I think we live in a
wonderful bubble, and that’s lovely,
but there’s a lot of life outside of this
bubble. How do we expose our boys
to that a bit earlier? Not just for the
enriching experience, but for them to
understand what opportunities await
them. Boys who attend schools like
Bishops will occupy significant roles
in society. How do we plant ideas in
their hearts and minds that form the
bedrock of their character in the long
term so they understand that they
have incredible privilege?
