Despite the deeply entrenched belief in and practice of corporal punishment to maintain learner control in schools, a secondary school in Namibia has for a number of years proven to be an exception to this practice. This is an interpretive account of the teachers’ and learners’ experiences and perceptions of the influence of their school principal’s leadership on learner behaviour. In-depth individual and group interviews were held with teachers and learners. Onsite observation was conducted for 14 consecutive school days and school documents were analysed. The data reveal an engaged school leadership that has created a school culture characterized by respect, care, trust, edifying relationships, a sense of belonging, praise, acknowledgement and recognition, and collaboration. By creating a collaborative school culture the school’s leadership is not located in the principal alone but in a ‘web of relationships’. In the view of both teachers and learners these features of the school’s leadership and culture are largely responsible for the positive learner behaviour in the school. This research reaffirms the central role played by school principals in establishing and maintaining their school’s culture. It also illustrates the mediating role of school culture in learner behaviour. It is significant that this occurs in a socio-economically deprived context in a developing nation.