Durban High School matric pupils, from left, Connor Dewing, Aphelele Madonda,Omhle Zuma and Michael Russel with physics teacher Rob Smyth after the physics paper 2 exam. Picture: Tumi Pakkies/African News Agency(ANA)
Durban — Week three of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams began with the learners writing the physical science paper 2 (chemistry) and technical sciences paper 2.
Durban High School (DHS) is one of the schools that follow the NSC timetable. Department and pastoral head of Grade 12 and physics teacher, Rob Smyth, who has been teaching at DHS for 18 years, said the class of 2022 had faced the challenges of missing time at school in their preceding two years (Grade 10 and 11), but as a group, they were very strong.
“They have proved themselves through the year and have done well academically – both in June and during trials,” he said.
Smyth is expecting good results from the matrics at the end of the year.
Due to Covid-19, DHS has moved into the digital domain. The school introduced Google classrooms as a platform to communicate with pupils – and still uses it.
“There is no substitute for the traditional methods of teaching. Teachers are still expected to stand in front of a class and lead those lessons and engage those pupils,” he said.
Smyth said every learner used an iPad, but they combined that with the traditional method of using textbooks.
“The one compliments the other, so they are equally important,” he said.
His advice for the class of 2022 was to meet the challenges of leaving school head-on and be more adaptable than before.
“They need to be more open-minded and adapt to the challenges and environments that they’ll find themselves in,” he said.
Some matric pupils reflecting on the physics paper said they had enjoyed it and thought it was better than the “trial” exam.
Omhle Zuma said: “I think everyone will agree with me that the paper was nice compared with what we had in trials.”
Aphelele Madonda said: “I agree, it was very good. The trials and the June papers were a good preparation.”
But Connor Dewing disagreed, saying: “I did not find the paper that easy. I found the past papers at home easier.”
Another learner said that it was good timing because trials were “squashed up”, while the finals were more spread out. He said that if you were able to cope with the pressure of trials, then it made the finals a lot easier.
Michael Russel said: “Covid-19 had a positive impact as I learnt a lot of self-discipline. There was nobody at home telling me to go to my lessons or do my work. It built a lot of resilience.”
The four were determined and optimistic about their targets as they all expected to obtain seven distinctions.
The class of 2022s advice to the following year’s pupils is to work hard from day one and not leave it all until the end.
Daily News