Pupils at St Dunstan's College are taught resilience and self-motivation
Building confidence and equipping pupils to excel in tertiary education and adult life is both an art and a science, and it takes a broad range of inputs, activities and support to achieve this.
The new rector and college head of St Dunstan’s College in Benoni, Michael McConnachie, who succeeds Alan Thompson, says one indication of a successful school education is how well a school’s pupils perform at tertiary education level. “School is often a safe and somewhat protected environment. In order for pupils to succeed at tertiary level and later life, they need to be resilient, independent and self-motivated. There are no tests or formal subjects for these ‘soft skills’; they are learnt through exposure to a broad range of activities and experiences.”
He cites sport as a good example of an activity that teaches resilience, self-motivation and the important ability to deal with the possibility that one might lose. “St Dunstan’s College strongly encourages every child to participate in sport. If there is a particular sport they would like to do, we try to offer it. We are also moving to become more scientific in our sports training methods, with the addition of expert trainers and sport dieticians, for exam- ple, to help pupils excel in this area. Once a pupil finds an area he or she excels at, they build confidence and we find ways to encourage a cross- transfer of the skills they acquire in their chosen sport into other areas.”
Other activities such as group camps at the beginning of the school year also teach the pupils to think out of the box. “For example, our prefects were camping in Parys this month, when a terrible storm tore through the area. They showed amazing resilience and resourcefulness in coping with the situation, and will likely remember lessons learnt there for years to come,” he says.
Naturally, academic performance is a top priority for the school, which is proud to note that its 2014 class achieved particularly good results. Its matrics achieved a 100% pass rate, an 89.4% bachelor’s degree pass and several of its pupils were placed in the top 1%. Among its top achievers were Dennis De Gouveia with eight distinctions and Jess Neely with six. While not all pupils have the ability to achieve multiple distinctions, St Dunstan’s makes every effort to mentor, sup- port and help every student to achieve the best results they can. “If a pupil is falling behind, the school works with parents and the pupil to help address any problems and build their confidence.”
McConnachie says reports from former pupils indicate that St Dunstan’s College pupils tend to do well in tertiary education, but he aims to start formalising research into how past pupils performed at tertiary level, in order to address any shortcomings. He is also work- ing closely with the teachers, heads of department and the pupils them- selves to identify areas for improve- ment. “This year, we will examine our strengths and aim to progress steadily in areas such as team spirit and respect.”
These areas are important in an increasingly hostile and intolerant world, he says. St Dunstan’s, an Anglican institution with its chapel at the heart of the school and nearly 100 years of history behind it, includes Religious Education in the curriculum. The school emphasises spirituality, account- ability, tolerance and respect. “The face of society mirrors the lack of spirituality in society today,” says McConnachie. “It is important that our pupils learn tolerance, respect and understanding of the humanity of people. Spiritual guidance such as this helps form basic decency.”