Blackheath High School, usually classified as an under-performing school, is celebrating one of its most notable achievements of increasing its pass rate for maths from zero to 50%.
An air of celebration pervaded over the staff and learner population yesterday (Friday) as they went through the matric results.
The school’s new principal, Antonio Michaels, grinned from ear to ear as he and his staff recounted the remarkable turnaround that they pulled off in just a few months.
“We are ecstatic,” Michaels said as he proudly introduced the school’s top two matriculants in one of the offices in the school’s admin block.
“This is a victory for us,” added veteran teacher, Eloise Henn, who has been at the school since its doors opened in 1995. “On 12 April 1995, we entered this building,” she explained.
The relief is almost palpable as the language teacher adds: “I can’t even remember when it went well.”
In a province known for stellar matric results, theirs may not register much excitement, but for Michaels it was a milestone. For years, Blackheath High was classified as an underperforming school, meaning that its matric pass rate was below 60%.
In 2010, the provincial government launched a strategy to deal with the growing problem in the Western Cape, including better distribution of textbooks and greater involvement from district officials. But that didn’t have much of an impact at Blackheath High.
Some colleagues even questioned Michaels’s sanity after he took on the job in April last year.
In 2021, the school’s matric pass rate was 59%, roughly the same level it had been since 2020. Last year, it jumped to 68.2%. Over the same period, the maths pass rate went from 0% to 50%. Geography – historically a “struggle subject” according to Henn – went from 67% to an 88% pass rate.
Henn remembers one bright spot in 2017, when around 80% of the final-years passed, but from there “it went down.” She blames vandalism in the area and burglaries at the school, as well as a sense of hopelessness.
In the neighbourhood? “In the country,” she replies.
Michaels recalls the dejection that he found when he arrived. “Obviously schools are measured by their matric results and the morale of educators was very low, because of pressure that they felt due to the results. I saw my job as motivating the team because, if I could motivate the team, the team could motivate the kids.”
Through a “back to basics” campaign, Michaels encouraged staff to “enter to learn” and “leave to serve”. That meant that everybody should perform their basic role.
The next step was to host extra classes four days in the week, including Saturdays. At first it was a struggle, with only a 20% turnout but Michaels and his team persisted and arranged transport for children staying in other neighbourhoods, such as Wesbank, Mfuleni and Kayamandi.
They also provided meals consisting of a sandwich and fruit. Soon, attendance was 70% after Michaels told them he would accept no excuses.
The school’s top two matrics – Lilitha Matshaya and Axolile Vala – felt the pressure but they were also motivated by the efforts from Michaels and his team. Lilitha scored mostly Bs and an A for history.
Axolile, who was nicknamed “90s” for his high-scoring academic abilities, is already planning to redo some of his subjects, which includes, for him, an unsatisfactory B for business economics.
“It was a lot of pressure, but then I saw the work the teachers and the principal and our parents were putting in, because it’s definitely not easy for them,” Lilitha said.
“Teachers also had to stay after school, and they had to come to school on Saturday. At first, I was, like, no, this is too much… But then, as you can see, in the end it worked out for me.”
Michaels said this was only the beginning. “What I told the staff is: ‘We put everything into the kids and we walked the extra mile, and we are proud of our results. It’s not your 80 or 90%. We know it’s not the best, but we will get there. We will definitely get there. What’s very important is we need to let the kids believe they can pass’.”
But they don’t only cherish the achievers. Asked whether any learners stood out for them, Henn mentions a fidgety jokester who repeated two grades while at the school, but made it to the final stretch.
“He gave me grey hair,” Michaels said affectionately. The two colleagues then exchanged stories about his career prospects.
Henn explained sardonically: “He told me, in one of my oral sessions, that he wants to be a policeman, but he wants to be a corrupt policeman.”
Weekend Argus