Walmer Secondary School has proved to be one of the success stories in the matric exams, jumping to a 96.2% pass rate from 78.1% the year before.

Anton Steyn, who took over as principal last year after 30 years at the school, says he is “chuffed” that they overshot their 85% target by more than 10 percentage points.

“Initially I was stressed though I was confident that we could achieve more than what we targeted,” he says.

“As the year was progressing, we noticed that we over-exceeded our target for each term of March, June and September with over 90 % pass rates.”

The school caters to pupils from Walmer Estate and Woodstock, but many come from Khayelitsha, Langa and Philippi, and there are even some from the Eastern Cape.

Teamwork, says Mr Steyn, was crucial in achieving the latest set of results, and there were extra classes for matrics from 8.30am to 12.30pm on Saturdays, holiday classes supported by the provincial education department and an extra 50-minute period for matrics after school.

Looking at the year ahead, Mr Steyn says he is concerned that he has lost two of the 17 teachers he had last year for 500 pupils, one through retirement and one due to the provincial education department’s plans to cut teacher posts in response to national government budget cuts.

Mr Steyn says the school will also work on pupil punctuality and attendance this year.

“Most of their public transport drops them near Woodstock station so many of them have to walk to the school, and if it rains, the attendance will be low.”

He urged parents to play a more active role in the school and ensure that they pay school fees.

Geography and tourism teacher Damian Mills, who started at the school during Covid in 2020, says the past five years have been as much of a learning experience for him as they have been for the pupils.

“It is a heart-warming feeling as I grew with these pupils, and this also with upholding the core values of this school where we are driven to get good results.”

History teacher Zoleka Valanti adds, “It was not an easy journey, and we took extra tasks like Saturday classes, afternoon classes and interventions like communicating with the parents and making sure that those pupils who need help will receive it.”

The school’s top matriculant, Hlumelo Diba, from Crossroads, received a Bachelor’s pass and two distinctions. “I want to thank my teachers. They really helped me a lot,” he says.

Buhle Madikane, left, and Kwakhanya Ngxekwa are among the 96.2% of Walmer Secondary School matriculants who passed their final exams.

Top performing Walmer Secondary matric pupil Hlumelo Diba.

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Walmer Secondary shines in matric exams