Girls’ College Celebrate Outstanding Matric Results

January 14, 2020 | Girls’ College

We recently celebrated another round of exceptional Matric Results from our Class of 2019.

In the words of Dr Sally James, Head of School:

The Class of 2019 at St Stithians Girls’ College can be best described as authentic women, offering a symbol of hope and courage for young girls across our country. Congratulations to the class on their fine Matriculation results. Achieving 100% pass rate is a huge accomplishment!

Here are some of the stories behind the numbers.

Full House for Drama Top Performers

The Girls’ College Matric Dramatic Arts subject class of 2019 certainly have reason to celebrate! These talented performers were rewarded with a full house of distinctions – all 15 candidates achieved over 80% for the subject, which includes both a practical element and a rigorous theory component. The class average was an impressive 87%. This is a true testament to hard work, skill and passion. The class comprised Jenna Arthur, Rae Attridge, Raquel Correia, Robyn Edwards, Rhea Gill, Jemma Jenkins-Ferrett, Ngoyi Kalisilira, Zoe-Blu Mottram, Thobile Mthimkhulu, Anesu Mugadza, Shana Naidu, Yumika Naidu, Emma Schipholt, Alicia Shelembe, and Georgina Stanley, many of whom wish to pursue the performing arts at university. Special mention must be made of Rhea Gill, who placed in the top 1% for the subject nationally.

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Front Row: Rhea Gill. Georgina Stanley. Thobile Mthimkulu. 
Back row: Yumika Naidu. Taryn Henning. Jenna Arthur. Rae Attridge. Zoe-blu Mottram. Alicia Shelembe. 
 

With them to share in their excitement was their teacher, Taryn Henning, who praised the class for their consistent effort. She notes that the encouragement was reciprocal – not only did she motivate her students, but they would also give her a boost when she felt burdened or challenged. It is her empassioned opinion that, in addition to preparing their students academically, teachers should engage with them authentically on an emotional level and with the genuine belief that every student has a unique potential. These factors surely contributed greatly to this class making magic!

Girls’ College Students Break the Maths and Science Glass Ceiling

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Kamryn Norton and Megan Swallow being interviewed by eNCA.

We are extremely proud of three of our students who made the IEB’s top achievers lists, most notably in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects, breaking the glass ceiling for women in these traditionally male-dominated fields.

Kundra Oosthuizen, who received distinctions for all nine of her subjects, placed in the top 1% of IEB candidates for both Mathematics and Physical Sciences, as well as Afrikaans First Additional Language and Life Orientation. She is naturally the school’s top achiever in these subjects, as well as Advanced Programme Mathematics, Accounting, French Second Additional Language and Advanced Programme English. Kundra’s ninth distinction was for English First Language. These achievements also earned her a place on the IEB’s Outstanding list for candidates who achieved within the top 5% in six or more subjects and 80% or above for Life Orientation. She is one of only 73 candidates nationwide who achieved this remarkable feat! 

Both with distinctions in all 7 of their NSC subjects, Kamryn Norton and Megan Swallow were placed on the IEB’s Commendable list for having achieved within the top 5% in five subjects and over 80% for Life Orientation. Kamryn and Megan share this honour with 79 other candidates in South Africa. Kamryn additionally scored in the top 1% of all IEB candidates for Mathematics, while Megan boasts this achievement for Geography and Life Sciences.

All three of these keen minds have ambitions to study STEM further: Kundra wishes to study mechanical engineering at Stellenbosch University (where her twin sister Anouk will pursue chemical engineering); Kamryn will be studying mechatronics at UCT; and Megan lists as one of her options an engineering degree at UCT.

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Kundra & Anouk Oosthuizen (who were still on holiday and unable to join the results celebration at school. They sent us this photo from the beach instead!)

Head Girls “Recreating the Dream in 2019”

Zanele Nzau (Head Girl 2019) and her deputies, Daniela Martini and Hillary Wanjohi, have certainly led by example in respect of their Matric results. Their vision for the school in 2019 was “Recreating the Dream” and they have certainly set an extremely high standard for future Girls’ College students and leaders – a dream that they may chase in 2020 and beyond! The trio amassed an impressive 17 distinctions collectively, with 6 for Zanele, 7 for Daniela, and 4 for Hillary. Additionally, Daniela made the IEB’s list for the Top 1% of Geography candidates. We are confident that these young adults will continue to be leaders and role models as they enter the next phase of their lives.

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Dr Sally James (Head of School), Daniela Martini (Deputy Head Girl 2019), Zanele Nzau (Head Girl 2019), Hillary Wanjohi (Deputy Head Girl 2019).

Subject Excellence / Scorecard – Inspiring Excellence

Our Matrics of 2019 have received their results and now we use these to generate our Girls’ College 2019 Report Card! With a few more subjects than your average school report, we think we aced this one! Congratulations and thanks to our top achievers for these fine results.

Subject Top Mark Top Achiever
Afrikaans First Additional Language 97% Kundra Oosthuizen
Accounting 92% Kundra Oosthuizen
Business Studies 92% Leigh Hudson
Computer Applications Technology 78% Bianca Ferreira
Dramatic Arts 97% Rhea Gill
English Home Language 89% Rhea Gill
French 2nd Language 94% Kundra Oosthuizen
Geography 92% Megan Swallow & Daniela Martini
History 91% Rhea Gill
Information Technology 93% Kamryn Norton
isiZulu 92%  Asanda Khumalo
Life Orientation 95% Kundra Oosthuizen
Life Sciences 90% Megan Swallow
Mathematics 98% Kundra Oosthuizen
Music 83% Rhea Gill
Physical Sciences 98% Kundra Oosthuizen
Sesotho 79% Thato Moluoane
Visual Arts 88% Jessie Olivier
Advanced Programme English 81%  Kundra Oosthuizen
Advanced Programme Mathematics 91% Kundra Oosthuizen

 

Kundra Oosthuizen

Kundra Oosthuizen

(Afrikaans, Accounting, French, Life Orientation, Maths, Physical Sciences, AP English, AP Maths)

Rhea Gill

Rhea Gill

(Drama, English, History, Music)

Megan Swallow

Megan Swallow

(Geography and Life Sciences)

Jessie Olivier with her dad, Gavin

Jessie Olivier with her dad, Gavin

(Visual Arts)

Daniela Martini

Daniela Martini

(Geography)

Kamryn Norton

Kamryn Norton

(Information Technology)

Thato Moluoane

Thato Moluoane

(Sesotho)

Asanda Khumalo

Asanda Khumalo

(isiZulu)

Leigh Hudson

Leigh Hudson

(Business Studies)

Bianca Ferreira

Bianca Ferreira

(Computer Applications Technology)

Best Foot Forward – 70% Average

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After analysis of our 2019 IEB Matric results, we are pleased to announce that 71% of our 2019 Matrics (65 out of 91 candidates) achieved an aggregate of 70% or above.

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Represented visually, that’s every red cap out of the total number shown!

Congratulations to our students on setting the bar high and thanks to our teachers for their guidance and expertise.