Realogile High School, which produced the worst 2014 matric results among the five local schools in Alexandra, aims to achieve 90 percent pass rate this year.
A former shining star in the last couple of years has recently seen its fame fade with the acting principal, Joe Mashitoa, accepting responsibility despite being at the school for only six months. The Gauteng East District director, Raymond Martin, apportioned the poor results partly to the death of incumbent principal Dumisani Mbatha. The school was also visited by the quality assurance unit recently to assess the challenges and map a way forward.
Mashitoa said after looking back on the matric results with stakeholders, they resolved to effect a plan which will group pupils into three groups including the intelligent, the progressed and the high risk. Grouping them he said will enable teachers to apply suitable teaching strategies relative to their capability and assist them in grasping the work in advance of the preliminary and final examinations. “This is to ensure that pupils receive appropriate attention and are not slowed down while the lesser-gifted pupils are assisted to grasp the subject matter in assignments and tests. This method will ensure personalised attention to the advantage of the children.”
He said the strategy would complement the teaching methods which are currently struggling to improve the performance of pupils who have progressed from lower to upper grades with bad results. “One cannot expect them to do better at higher grades where the subjects and expectations are higher and harder.” He added that the teachers were motivated to apply the approach as they have the interest of the children and want to raise the school’s performance. He identified mathematics, physical science, accounting and economics as critical subjects. “They are gateway subjects to tertiary education, which require teachers to monitor students’ performances closely.”
Mashitoa added that four new teachers were recruited and are expected to help improve the overall performance of all 1780 pupils from Grade 8 to 12.
He urged for partnerships to help with the needs of pupils from poor backgrounds. “We have many from child-headed households whose social and economic circumstances have a major bearing on the school’s performance.”
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