The 2022 school year has started with much activity at St Mary’s School. The campus has been filled with the sounds of girls in chapel and gathering in The Close for assemblies. There is an enthusiastic atmosphere amongst the pupils as they engage in the classroom and participate in co-curricular activities. We have hosted a few functions in the past two weeks, which have been well attended and occasions for parents, teachers, and pupils to make introductions and to mingle.

We began the school year celebrating our first quad’s win at the South Africa Schools’ Boat Race. This is a competitive rowing event that takes place on the Kowie River and draws wide interest nationally: a race that St Mary’s has now won 14 times in its 20-year history.

On Wednesday we released the 2021 National Senior Certificate results. Our class of 2021 is congratulated on their individual and collective achievement. The final two years of their schooling were disrupted by the pandemic, and they were confronted with the disappointment of not experiencing many of the highlights of school life. Nevertheless, the class of 2021 obtained a 100% pass rate, 390 distinctions, which averaged 3.5 A symbols per candidate, and 77% of the class achieved an average of over 70%. Further details of their achievements are recorded in this newsletter, on our website and on the school app.

Summer Splash, our popular aquatics festival, returns this weekend. I wish those swimming, diving, and playing water polo an enjoyable weekend. Although spectator numbers are restricted, we will welcome the Form V parents to support their daughters.

DEANNE KING
HEAD OF SCHOOL