St Catherine’s Academics

At St Catherine’s Convent we acknowledge that a solid academic framework is an integral part of a successful future. We do, however, accept that not all learners are academically strong and we cater for, and understand, that each learner is unique in their own way. St Catherine’s Convent fosters the academically strong learner whilst ensuring that the creative learner is also encouraged and embraced.

IEB Matriculation Examination

St Catherine’s Convent prepares learners to write the Independent Examination Board (IEB) Matriculation Examination at the end of Grade 12. The IEB National Senior Certificate (NSC) is recognised in South Africa and is internationally benchmarked. For 40 years St Catherine’s Convent has had a flawless academic track record in the Grade 12 final exams. We have had 40 years with a 100% pass rate and many of our subjects achieve matric averages that are well above the national norm. Most of our matriculation candidates achieve exemption and we have a high number of students who are admitted to tertiary education.

International Benchmark examinations

In addition to the external Grade 12 examinations, learners in Grades 3, 6 and 9 write International Benchmark examinations to ensure that the standard of education offered to our girls is of an excellent standard throughout their schooling. Schools in countries such as Australia, China, Denmark, Britain and the USA write these International Benchmark examinations.

St Catherine’s Convent learners are regularly placed in the top percentile of learners who write these benchmark examinations, proving that our standard of education is equal to, if not better, than that of other countries.

CAPS

St Catherine’s Convent also fully complies with the CAPS (Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements) for each learning area, as set down by Umalusi, who are the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training.

Girls in the High school are encouraged to participate in various subject Olympiads. The purpose of these Olympiads is to reinforce, stretch and enrich the learning that takes place within the classroom.

Starting with the littlest learners

At St Catherine’s Convent we believe that the basis for successful learning is laid early on in a school career and we have dedicated and expert teachers who welcome and lead our littlest learners. The sense of fun and achievement in learning that is instilled in our Foundation Phase creates a confident and capable learner for whom school is an adventure to be embraced each day.

Educators

Educators regularly attend both regional and national subject conferences to ensure that their knowledge is up to date and to enable every educator to deliver quality education. St Catherine’s Convent also participates in the IEB Cluster groups, which are regular meetings where groups of educators from different schools come together to standardise their assessment levels and to share resources. This ensures that all the academic work done, particularly in Grade 12 is of the correct standard.

Olympiads

The English Olympiad is written in the first term and a large number of learners volunteer to write this Olympiad. We achieve excellent results and have had learners who have placed in the top 10, top 50 and top 100 out of nearly 4 000 candidates nationwide. The Mathematics Olympiad is written in three stages. Certain marks have to be obtained by learners in each stage to enable them to compete further. Learners are encouraged to work through past papers, as this will definitely help them improve their mathematical problem solving skills and strategies.

They can obtain papers with solutions on the following web site www.samf.ac.za . The World Knowledge Olympiad is a general knowledge Olympiad that tests a learner’s overall knowledge. Our learners achieve excellent results in this Olympiad and place highly in relation to other schools.

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