The principals of three top Grahamstown schools are thrilled with the success of their matrics, with award-winning Victoria Girls' High School maintaining its impressive 100% pass rate. Close on VG's heels are Hoerskool PJ Olivier and Graeme College, recording only one failure at each school.
The principals of three top Grahamstown schools are thrilled with the success of their matrics, with award-winning Victoria Girls' High School maintaining its impressive 100% pass rate. Close on VG's heels are Hoerskool PJ Olivier and Graeme College, recording only one failure at each school.
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“I'm absolutely amazed at the high level of passes,” said VG's acting principal Warren Schmidt. Not only did the school top-score with its pass rate, but 92% of its matriculants have gained university entrance marks – an improvement from last year's 90%.
Their A aggregates have increased from five to seven; 32% of pupils have scored averages higher than 70% and 115 subject A-symbols were achieved – a marked improvement on the previous year's 63, said Schmidt. He singled out the school's two top achievers, Nolene Dixon and Sinesipho Kwatsha.
Dixon achieved a remarkable eight A-symbols, including 100% for Mathematics Paper 3, an advanced exam geared towards preparing candidates for university level mathematics. Dixon has been invited to East London for an awards ceremony to honour the province's top achievers.
After a gap year, Nolene plans to do a B.Sc at Rhodes University. Fellow VG matriculant Sinesipho Kwatsha achieved six As. Overwhelmed but happy, she told Grocott's Mail she was pleased her hard work had paid off. "I feel like I have reached my goal," she said.
The secret to her success, she said, had been setting her priorities from the start, defining her own goals and doing her best at all times. Her biggest challenge? "People are always around you who want to hang out or play. When you are hard at work, they sometimes think you are trying to act better."
Kwatsha will be starting her studies in mining engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand this month. Last year Victoria Girls' High School was the overall winner in the Proudly South African/CFG Schools Governance awards.
Schools are judged on different aspects of school management, such as the school and hostel codes of conduct and the staff management of the school, as well as the leadership opportunities afforded to the Grade 12s. Hoerskool PJ Olivier and Graeme College each had a 99% pass rate.
Of the 21 candidates at PJ who wrote the 2011 matric exams, 20 passed, with 10 Bachelor Degree and 10 Diploma exemptions. Principal Piet Snyders said the results were, on the whole, better than last year's – "irrespective of the two As last year and the one failure this year". This year's top achiever was Veronica Crouse, followed by Gerhard Bosman.
Graeme College principal, Peter Reed, said, "Overall the results were as expected, with the highlight being an improvement in the 'merit' and 'bachelor' passes." Reed singled out for attention the school's top matriculant, Abongile Tanga, who achieved five distinctions.
The one pupil who had failed qualified for a supplementary examination, Reed said, and they were expecting him to pass. “We are pleased with the notable improvement on previous years in our physical science subject average,” Reed said.
