Bay matric maestros

THE top Richards Bay matric achievers agree that hard work, dedication and late night studying helped them score high marks in the final exams.

Top Bay performers reeled in the distinctions in the National Senior Certificate Examinations where Hoêrskool Richardsbaai pupils Alicia Boshoff and JJ Jacobs and John Ross College pupil Christelle Naidoo each received eight distinctions.

The top four at Richards Bay High School reeled in distinctions between them.

Boshoff received A’s for English, Afrikaans, Maths, Life Orientation, Accounting, Life Sciences, Physics and Maths 3 and an additional distinction for AP Maths written in the Independent Examination Board, while Jacobs scored top marks for English, Afrikaans, Maths, Life Orientation, Geography, History, Life Sciences and Physics.

They were followed by Danike Struwig who scored seven distinctions and Chante Moolman who earned six.

The 2013 head girl, Boschoff said she was excited about starting the next education chapter and is already packed and ready to head off to study medicine at the University of Pretoria.

‘I was hoping for good results but didn’t expect them, so this was great news.

‘These results were from hard work and support from our dedicated teachers who went out of their way to ensure we understood our work.’

Her advice to the matric class of 2014 was to work hard consistently from day one and not to leave learning to the last minute.

Jacobs, a youngster of few words said he was not really sure what to expect but all distinctions were a bonus. He will be studying Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at Stellenbosch University.

Following closely behind the eight distinction duo was Struwig who is looking forward to studying medicine at University of Stellenbosch.

‘This does not feel real, I cannot believe I’m done with high school,’ she said.

School Principal Chris van der Westhuizen said he was proud of his pupils and expected the results as pupils have worked hard throughout the year.

‘They had the ability and were good students and this was the result of collective efforts by pupils, parents and teachers.’

John Ross College star pupil, Naidoo received distinctions for English, Afrikaans, Maths 3, Physics, Life Sciences, Accounting, Life Orientation and Maths.

She said the days leading up to the release of results were nerve-wracking but was happy the wait is over.

‘Even though I worked hard throughout the year, I was still unsure about the final result; there is always that little bit of doubt.

When asked what her recipe for success was, Naidoo said it was a combination of hard work, dedication, late night studying and lots of prayer.

‘This was the final lap in my 12-year schooling journey so I pushed really hard.’

Thrilled with their daughter’s achievement, mom Loshni said the family was so excited and proud of Christelle.

Following closely behind Naidoo with seven distinctions were Kaveshan Subramanian who will be studying Bachelor of Accounting Science, Navash Haricharan enrolled for Actuarial Science and Nospiho Zikhali also heading into medical studies.

Scoring six A’s were Trinola Govender, Taahirah Achmat, Nondumiso Blose and Terisha Naidoo.

Ecstatic with the results, principal Janine King said she was extremely proud of the top achievers who worked so hard.

‘This was our largest group of matrics with 219 pupils, they worked hard, supported one another and had such a good team spirit.’