St Vincent School for the Deaf

The newly appointed Principal, Ingrid Parkin, took over from Sister Claudette Bogner at the beginning of 2010.

Ingrid Parkin became deaf following a car accident at the age of 7, and attended St Vincent for her primary school years, completing her schooling at Fulton School for the Deaf in Durban.  She went on to obtain a BA in Education and a Bachelor of Education Honours from Wits University.

She is the first deaf Principal of a school for the deaf in the whole developing world and Europe. She is passionate about her job and committed to her role in helping to offer deaf children all the opportunities afforded to hearing children and sums it up with these words, “I must and will persevere as I am fully aware of the life that awaits a deaf person who is not armed with a good education”.  Ingrid is married to Terence Parkin, well known in South Africa for being the first deaf person to win a silver medal for breaststroke at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.  They have two daughters.

Ingrid is assisted by a dedicated management team consisting of two Deputy Principals and eight Heads of Department.  Schools such as St Vincent require far higher levels of teachers and teacher support staff per pupil than schools for children without disabilities.  All the teachers are able to use Sign Language to varying degrees, with the five deaf teachers naturally being the most proficient.

The School Governing body meets quarterly and is made up of parents, teachers, administration staffs, as well as representatives from the community and the Dominican Sisters.