Welcome back to another year at St Mary’s, and a warm welcome to families new to our school.

The matric results have been well documented and we are delighted with the achievement of the class of 2016. There were many significant stories of girls within the group who had exceeded all expectations and overcome personal difficulties to achieve very good results. The statistic that the school believes to be significant is that 80% of the class achieved an aggregate of over 70%.

The social media campaign that we ran to celebrate our results featured all the individuals of the class, which I believe was important, as each girl left her mark on our school. Julia Huysamer, our top candidate, was interviewed by Times Live and I have the highest praise for her humility, her maturity and her recognition of privilege. We are extremely proud of Julia, who has chosen to follow her heart and study the arts at Wits University. In an upcoming newsletter we will report on where our class of 2016 are furthering their studies this year.

Not all the girls were equally happy with their achievements, but I do hope that St Mary's has taught them that it does not matter how often you fall; what matters most is that you stand up every time. This is one of the most important lessons that we try to teach in our approach to guiding the girls through adolescence and their studies.

Deanne King

Head of school