IB College Achievements

The 2019-2020 school year was like no other which demanded of our teachers, parents and students the very upmost in resilience, positivity and commitment, and they did not disappoint.

Such was the turmoil associated with the cancelling of the official IB exams and the extra weight added to the Internal Assessment component. Our students were indeed very well prepared, which resulted in a very positive outcome for our grade 12 students. As it stands, the IB results for the Class of 2020 were comparable with the best on record with 17 students achieving 40 and above with a class average of 37. The results were celebrated during a specially arranged “drive thru” and students and parents came to collect the IB results amidst balloons, music and yellow roses; aptly symbolizing affection, joy, friendship and caring.

The year 2020 was also the year that the traditional “Graduation” in June became the Grade 12 Completion Ceremony in August. This was a condensed event with respect given to mask wearing and physical distancing but, maintaining many of the well-loved features much to the rapture of the graduates and their parents. Throughout this time the demand placed on the University Counselling Department to not only advise students on their best fit College, but to launch appeals and keep up with an evolving situation vis-à-vie the status of admissions, mode of delivery and the impact of increased deferrals, was immense. However, all 83 students achieved university places and are poised ready to embark on online learning from home or, where possible, travel abroad depending on the institution, visa restrictions and family concerns. Prior to the nationwide lockdown, the IB College had managed to engage students in a variety of activities focused on their physical and mental wellbeing. The most memorable was the IB College Sports Day, organised in collaboration with the PE Department and extremely successful in terms of 100% student attendance and enthusiastic staff involvement. The annual AMMUN conference reached new heights and in response to a perceived need to empower our girls we also ran a Female Empowerment Workshop delivered by one of our alumni who specialises in this area and organised by the IB College Counsellor. Project work in Business Management and Design Technology focused on innovation and involved experts in various fields from the local community in advising and judging students’ work.

The period of lockdown which followed put a halt to all other planned activities in the traditional sense and forced us all to reconsider our delivery of the curriculum and upskill in terms of our computer literacy in ways we are proud. It was a learning curve for many and not without its challenges but, one which was embraced wholeheartedly and redefined not only our relationships with each other but also with technology! Communication proved key to maintaining those relationships, despite our distancing, and gave rise to video messages to our students and wider community to express our concern for everyone’s emotional and physical welfare and show our appreciation for the support that we were shown.

Cathy Souob MA, BEd Head of the IB College