Maritzburg College School Magazine Maritzburg College Magazine 2016 electronic | Page 36

S U B J E C T D E PA R T M E N T S
received and very informative for the Second Formers. This project serves
to equip the boys with both information and skills to deal with the various
pressures of the world in which they find themselves today.
The sessions reinforce topics from the mentor programme and cover issues
such as peer pressure, social media and the dangers of drugs. The informal
‘workshop’ style lessons have enabled the boys to not only become more
informed on these issues with which they have to deal but they have also
given reassurance that they have experts with whom they can speak frankly
and openly and share experiences within a safe environment. They are
able to develop coping strategies which they can put into practice in their
daily lives to assist them in dealing with any situation. We thank Mr Cronje
and his team for their continued efforts and commitment to this programme
and the valuable life skills with which they are equipping our boys.
Lastly, sincere thanks to all the members of the Life Orientation department
for their untiring enthusiasm, dedication and support throughout the year.
It has been a very successful and positive one. We look forward to 2017,
which promises to be another exciting year.
Mrs P Lowe
Life Sciences
Life Sciences is the study of living things, and this ranges from exploring
organisms at a molecular level, to their interactions with one another and
the environment in which they live. This year has been a busy but stimulating
and fulfilling one, with our department running smoothly and staffing being
stable. Our teachers are fully conversant with the CAPS requirements of the
syllabus, and generally, our boys perform well.
The Sixth Form class of 2016 manifested their dedication and hard work
with a superb set of results in Life Sciences, increasing the average by
3% from 2015. The most notable achievements were from M Essa who
achieved 92% as well as K Allopi, M Charfaray and M Jooma who all
achieved 91%. We are very proud of their efforts.
Planting seeds in sub-irrigated planter systems.
This year, mindful of the reading skills that are lacking in some of our boys,
we embarked on a reading project in which each boy was expected to
read a book or articles of biological interest. This serves not only to foster
a love for reading, but also to extend our boys beyond the classroom and
the curriculum.
My thanks go to the professional and dedicated staff-members that make
up the Life Sciences department.
Mrs J Finnie
Mathematics
What a privilege it has been to lead the Mathematics department this
year. The department consists of a group of highly qualified, passionate
and committed people. Some have been teaching for many years and
this experience and knowledge was shared among the younger, less
experienced teachers to ensure growth and confidence in their abilities.
Six new teachers joined the Mathematics team this year: Mr L Mdladla,
Mrs D Gademan, Mr W David, Mr D Kleinhans, Dr R Salmond, and Mrs L
Akerman. They have all added tremendous value to our department.
This has been the second year that we have had the support of Mrs Moffatt
as a remedial Mathematics teacher at College and we are confident that
this service has contributed positively towards improving the results of
under-achieving boys.
We are very grateful to the Epoch Optima Trust which once again granted a
generous sum of money to the Maritzburg College Mathematics Department.
This has assisted us in meeting the goals of improving participation in
higher mathematics, increasing the number of disadvantaged pupils who
have access to quality mathematics education and increasing the quality
of our results.
We entered 285 boys in the Harmony Mathematics Olympiad, with 157
making it through to the second round. We registered a group of 19 Sixth
Form boys with the IEB to write Advanced Programme Mathematics. Twenty-
seven Fifth Form pupils and 19 Fourth Form pupils committed themselves to
an internal Advanced Mathematics course.
Fifth Form Life Science boys recording and measuring plant growth.
To further enhance their understanding and enjoyment, our boys have
been involved in practical work in which they develop the skills necessary
to study and investigate living things. Through this process of learning
and doing, we hope that our boys have developed an interest and an
appreciation of the living things on earth as well as how to take care of our
planet. Fourth and Fifth Form practical examinations took place once again
this year just before the start of the November exams. I am truly grateful
to Mrs Sewmungal for her extremely competent running of the practical
components of our department.
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A total of 198 boys wrote Mathematics in the NSC Examinations with 42
attaining A-symbols and 36 B-symbols. The pass rate for Mathematics was
100% – undoubtedly results of which to be very proud.
Unfortunately we had to bid farewell to Mr A Maganbeharie, Mrs K Storm
and Mr A Leroy. We thank them for their many years of service in the
Mathematics Department and wish them all the best for the future.
On a personal note, I would like to thank my team for their tireless efforts
throughout the year. I appreciate all of your hard work, positive attitudes
and energy and I look forward to working with you again next year.
Mrs F Deyzel