Chronicle Editor
Nobukhosi Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter
St James High School has continued to prove its mattle as the school constantly produces impressive academic results. The school has been producing good results since its establishment in 1963.
St James High School is an Anglican Church-run boarding institution in Nyamandlovu, about 80km out of Bulawayo. The school has seen a significant increase in its pass rate with the 2023 Ordinary and Advanced level learners obtaining 91.27 percent and 97.8 percent pass rates respectively. St James High School head Ms Siminyeni Bafana said the good results are a product of hard work and determination by both teachers and learners.
“Learners have ample time to read and revise their work during study time in the evening,” she said.
Ms Siminyeni said teachers at the school contribute largely to the exceptional pass rate as they dedicate their free time to assist learners in areas where they lack.
“Teachers give students free extra lessons during their spare time. This assists the learners as they are able to engage one on one with the teacher so that their weak areas are strengthened.
“Remedial lessons also play a crucial part in helping those who need more time to grasp concepts so as to close the gap. There is also a big library for those who need quiet time to read. Students are able to research as there are computers connected to the internet for research purposes,” she said.
Ms Siminyeni said although learners were still recovering from the Covid-19 induced disruptions, teachers were able to ensure that the students were brought back up to speed.
“The 2023 O and A-Level learners were still exhibiting Covid-19 effects as some were displaying the anti-school attitude. Instead of allowing them to study quietly during evening study time, teachers had to handle lessons and revisit topics that were not done well. More seminars with students and teachers from other schools were done. To motivate and encourage good performance, monthly awards and certification of class top 10 were introduced and that way students were able to recover,” she said.
Ms Siminyeni said the school continues to work on providing guidance and counselling to its students.
“I don’t think there is more to do as we are already doing a lot to produce these good results, taking into consideration that the school is not 100 percent on screening when enrolling. What we can do is identify learners who are exhibiting signs of poor performance while it’s still early, investigate the causes of poor performance, counsel and guide them accordingly, as they could be battling problems quietly,” she said.
Ms Siminyeni said as a school, they do not screen children when enrolling, instead giving every student a chance to prove themselves as they do not believe that one student is better than the other.
“On enrolling, Grade Seven results are used. While the best results are needed, the school enrolls the best from six units up to the worst which is 35 units. This is an Anglican institution, we can say there is no screening, all students are welcome,” she said.
Ms Siminyeni said besides academic learning areas, the school offers a variety of technical and vocational subjects where learners graduate with life skills needed in the outside world.
“We also offer a variety of sporting activities including swimming. Christian education is also part of our learning areas and we strive to produce a holistic individual in a Christian environment.
“The school also runs some income generating projects that bring produce for the school kitchen and we also make savings on school fees at the same time training the girls to be self-sustained in future.”
St James High School currently houses 548 girls from Form One to Form Six.
Bongani Ndlovu