/ 31 January 2025

Matric class of 2024 emerges triumphant

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Despite starting grade 8 at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Crawford International grade 12 class of 2024 emerged triumphant, with exceptional achievements and showing resilience in their academic journey by achieving a 100% pass rate. 

“Crawfordians are known for their resilience and adaptability, swiftly transitioning to online learning, ensuring uninterrupted access to education. Our educators adapted their teaching strategies to maintain engagement and academic rigour in the virtual space,” said Thersia Rossouw, the brand academic head of Crawford International. 

Across its six campuses, students collectively achieved 1 527 distinctions, with an impressive average of 2.81 distinctions per candidate, reinforcing the school’s commitment to academic excellence and holistic education.  Crawford Sandton emerged as the top-performing campus, achieving 504 distinctions,  with an average of 4.27 per candidate. Its La Lucia campus achieved a total of 296 distinctions, Pretoria came second with 201 distinctions, Ruimsig (179), North Coast (168) and Lonehill (179).

Rossouw said the students’ achievements are “a result of broad, superior academic achievement driven by a student-centric ethos”.

“With experienced and highly qualified teachers to ensure that every student receives personalised attention and support, collaboratively crafting individualised learning pathways students excel not only academically but also in areas of personal interest, thanks to our extracurricular programmes.”

Innovative teaching methodologies

Crawford International uses a progressive approach to ensure that students receive the necessary academic support through the Crawford Matric Preparation Programme (CMPP). 

This structured three-year programme, which begins in grade 10, equips students with critical thinking skills, academic resilience, and a future-focused mindset. The programme ensures that students are not only prepared for their final exams but also for the opportunities and challenges they will face in the future.

It includes focused workshops, additional subject- skills development classes (known as boost lessons by the Crawford community), mock exams, Crawford preliminary exams and one-on-one mentoring sessions.

“Crawford’s proven and innovative teaching methodologies are designed to ensure students excel in all their subjects,” Rossouw said. 

She added: “We integrate inquiry-based learning, flipped classrooms, transdisciplinary approach, research-driven insights, independent learning, differentiated learning and technology-driven strategies rooted in local, global and real-world applications. These strategies are further complemented by proprietary AI-driven and machine learning support programs.”

Global citizens in the making 

At the core of Crawford International, lies its four academic pillars — local and global relevance, future-focused skills, student agency and a personalised learning journey. “This promotes a holistic and well-balanced approach, especially when coupled with our extensive extracurricular options,” she said.

This is achieved when teachers bridge the gap between theory and practice by embedding experiential learning opportunities into the curriculum, which includes project-based assignments, hands-on experiments, and real-world applications of academic concepts. 

“The students’ learning journey of integrating experiential learning by means of our International Baccalaureate [IB] Primary Years Programme [PYP],” Rossouw said. 

The IB PYP is a curriculum framework for students aged three to 12, which helps students build conceptual understanding, learn across traditional subject boundaries and allows them to learn more than one language through authentic experiences. In 2022, more than 5 500 schools in 160 countries taught the IB programmes.

“This internationally accredited offering lays the fundamental foundation for the success of our college by equipping our students to be self-regulated to come to independent practical insights and explore real-world challenges, fostering an embedded inquiry mindset for deeper understanding of the subjects,” Rossouw said. 

The Crawford community as such is international, boasting more than 90 nationalities, thoroughly preparing its students to thrive in an interconnected global society.

In addition to being part of ADvTECH — Africa’s leading private education provider — school division, Crawford is a catalyst for the Respect Diversity Inclusion programme that consists of implementing social and environmental programmes to empower students with globally-relevant competencies such as sustainability.

“Being part of a bigger group ensures ongoing investment, financial stability, efficient online systems and academic excellence,” Crawford said of ADvTECH. 

As part of its curriculum, Crawford International has integrated technology throughout the student’s learning process, to prepare them to thrive and adapt in an increasingly digital world. 

Educators use various educational technology solutions to form a seamless extension to a blended learning approach that includes flipped classroom models, collaboration and the promotion of discussions that extend beyond the four walls of the classroom. 

“Furthermore, our academic offering goes beyond the scope of traditional confined technologies, and we focus on our education technology offering such as STEAM [a digital distribution service], robotics and esports [electronic sport],” said Rossouw. 

“Our learning management system is used to promote feedback, feedforward and reflection, visible not only to the teacher, student and peers but also to the parents. This emphasises the transparency of our academic offering.”

Beyond the academic structures

Crawford International’s future-focused education combines broad academic excellence with essential skills development. Students acquire social skills, leadership fundamentals, and the ability to communicate effectively, which can assist them as they transition out of the school system. 

“By nurturing strong social skills and an appreciation for cultural diversity, we prepare our students for an ever-changing globalised world,” Rossouw said. 

Students are further encouraged to get involved in solutions to the issues that affect them, and in owning the learning spaces of which they are the primary stakeholders. 

“All in all this is the foundation of our third academic pillar, namely student agency, which empowers our learner’s own voice and choice and allows them to step up and take ownership of their education and their learning journey while encouraging the growth of their personal interests.”

This approach, according to Rossouw, fosters inquisitiveness, confidence and strong research skills among students. “It is in keeping with our core belief — of ‘every child is a masterpiece’,” she says.

“Our students are challenged to reflect upon their own learning, set personal best goals in collaboration with their teachers as well as air their views.”

Support for students 

With a student body made up of learners from more than 90 different nationalities, Crawford International says it is dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment, as well as an understanding of different cultures and perspectives. 

“When I started working at Crawford it was like working at the United Nations, with local and global representatives all sitting together in one classroom,” she laughs. “Within Crawford’s nurturing environment, our students are not only made aware of understanding local perspectives but also real-time global perspectives.”

This, according to Rossouw, is because Crawford actively promotes students’ voices through its leadership programme, student-led conferences and in-depth personalised teacher feedback, including goal-setting sessions. 

“These platforms enable students to develop social skills and leadership capabilities, empowering them to confidently construct and present their ideas persuasively, but also to do in-depth reflection upon their own learning journey.”

Students and educators are also encouraged to practice Crawford’s critical component of inclusive learning practices to foster a healthy understanding of diversity. Crawford schools are are LGBTQIA+ safe spaces with shared cross-campus resources and expertise that provide students with a network of support, regardless of their context or circumstance.

Furthermore, Crawford prioritises the emotional well-being of its students through continued efforts to foster a sense of community and support through regular check-ins and counselling services. 

“This adaptability and resilience have been instrumental in sustaining the high standards of education for which Crawford is known, and are fundamental components that we also instil in our students,” Rossouw said. 

At Crawford International, parental involvement is essential to ensure that students receive a supportive environment that will enhance their academic performance and overall well-being.

“Parents play an essential role in reinforcing the Crawford values and skills we instil, creating an integrated framework that drives student success,” she said. “Their collaboration ensures a cohesive Crawford community and environment where students excel in academic and extracurricular pursuits, acquire social skills and grow into confident, well-rounded global leaders.”

Parents are encouraged to share their insights into different industry sectors through workshops with students, and as guest speakers to reinforce Crawford’s focus on academic rigour and global leadership development. 

As an international school, Crawford College provides a world-class education and a global perspective that is progressive, future-focused and tailor-made to each child’s unique learning ability. 

“Our academic philosophy is ‘Think, Understand and Apply,’ promoting in-depth inquiry, self-realisation, and, above all, giving our students a voice to discover their learning journey.”

According to Rossouw, Crawford’s balanced academic pillars prepare students to enter the world as “future changemakers”. The outstanding accomplishments of the matric class of 2024 are a testimonial to Crawford’s commitment to excellence, innovation, and holistic development.

“The results achieved by our students this year underscore Crawford’s commitment to nurturing a culture of academic excellence. The combined efforts of our students, teachers, and families continue to drive our success. We are proud of all our matriculants and look forward to seeing them lead and excel in their future endeavours.”

Tracey Purkiss, the principal of Crawford Sandton College, praised the achievements of this year’s matriculants: “The class of 2024 has demonstrated a true Crawfordian spirit in their approach to their final year. Their achievements reflect their hard work and commitment; we are incredibly proud of their success. I look forward to their positive contributions as global leaders.”