51 50 Life Sciences 2023 has been a busy year, with hard work in the classroom and several field trips being done. There have been a few subtle changes to the senior syllabus and in the junior phase a section on Marine Biology and Human Physiology practicals were added. Regarding teaching methods, a migration to more electronic presentations and annotated notes from lessons were made available to the boys. We continued to include current topics of interest and South Africans' input in the field of Life Sciences, with an increasing number of South Africans and others closely linked to South Africa having an impact on the Life Sciences. Where possible, their work is used as examples in our teaching. Outside the classroom, the field trips were a highlight, with Grades 12, 11, 10 and 8 all enjoying at least one field trip. The Grade 12s had an Environmental Studies revision field trip to Emanzini Private Reserve, where they recapped practical ecological study techniques. Grade 11s enjoyed two field trips. A long day on the Wild Coast was worthwhile, with a guided walk to a local village where the traditional village way of life was explained, as was the sustainable ecological approach used to preserve and extend the value of their communal land for grazing and crop production. The second trip was a morning spent at uShaka Marine World and Dangerous Creatures, where the pupils recapped biodiversity, taxonomy and the human influence on the environment. A new experience for some was the collection of sardine data – measuring their length and weight and determining if it was a male or female. Grade 10s enjoyed an ecological field trip to Emanzini Private Reserve, focusing on biomes, ecosystems and the interactions between organisms and the environment. How reserves are managed, what information is required, and the practicalities were also discussed. The Grade 8s undertook a trip to Umgeni Valley Nature Reserve, where they recapped the basics of ecology in a fun and engaging way. They also carried out a mini SASS assessment of a tributary of the Umgeni River. Fortunately, there were very few staff changes in the department. I am exceptionally grateful to Miss Fihlela, Mrs Pelzer and Mr Sookdeo for their tireless efforts in keeping up to date with teaching methods, running practicals and assisting on field trips. The department’s achievements are a true team effort. I thank our interns for the year - Miss Archary, Mr Duma and Mr Joubert - for their enthusiasm and efforts in lessons and on field trips. Mr Dougan Macdonald HOD Life Sciences Mathematics As the year draws to a close, we reflect on a year defined by hard work, teamwork, fun activities, and much academic success. Pi-Day During class on Tuesday, 14 March, all students worked on fun class activities to develop a better understanding of the relationship between the diameter and the circumference of a circle and that mysterious letter p. All Grades watched Pi-day presentations and videos. At lunchtime, the Kearsney caterers made ‘burger pies’ in keeping with the theme. As always, our staff dressed up for the occasion! In the week leading up to Pi Day, all our Mathematics students wrote the first-round paper of the SA Mathematics Olympiad. Olympiad - Round 1 At Kearsney we appreciate the importance of the SA Mathematics Olympiad, as an external benchmark to indicate how we are developing our students’ nonroutine problem-solving skills. We were very pleased with our Round 1 results, with a total of 214 boys progressing to Round 2. Our top achievers per grade are listed below. Grade 8: Mukona Marageni 90% Thomas du Plessis 85% Grade 9: Matthew Behrens 90% Ruan Vandenheede 85% Mathematics & Sciences SENIOR PAPER Grade 10: Hayden Dunsdon 75% Joel Steyn 70% Grade 11: Woojae Lee 90% Jack White 80% Grade 12: James Engelbrecht 85% Ethan Groom 85% Olympiad - Round 2 Based on the Round 2 results, we had 18 Kearsney boys gain representation on the Provincial Honours list (top 100 students in KZN). They would then represent Team KZN in the Inter-provincial SA Mathematics Team Competition later in the year. (Haydon Dunsdon was unable to represent KZN due to being on exchange at the time, and Ethan Groom had 1st Team sporting commitments). James Engelbrecht (Grade 12), our best-placed senior, was ranked 8th in the province in the senior category. Matthew Behrens (Grade 9) and Mukona Marageni (Grade 8) were placed 2nd and 5th, respectively, in KZN in the Junior High School division and in the top 100 in South Africa, meaning they also progressed to Round 3. James Engelbrecht missed being placed in the top 100 in South Africa by 1 mark, so he was allowed to write the 4-hour Round 3 paper. He fared exceptionally well and was placed 43rd overall in South Africa. These are outstanding achievements by these boys and worthy of recognition for their hard work and tremendous talent. Inter-provincial SA Mathematics Team Competition On Saturday 09 September, Kearsney College hosted the SA Inter-provincial team competition, where the best candidates from each province were placed into teams. Our boys spent much time preparing for the competition, working through previous papers and attending evening lectures facilitated by Prof. Pillay from UKZN. On the day, the boys wrote an individual 1 hour paper to place them in the correct KZN team, followed by a team competition, to be crowned National Team Champion. Four senior Kearsney pupils were selected for the KZN Senior A team based on the individual paper results. They were ranked in KZN as follows: 3rd Patrick Rocher (received an individual trophy) 4th Jack White 8th James Engelbrecht 9th Woojae Lee Two Kearsney pupils were selected for the KZN Junior A team and two for the KZN Junior B team. Junior A: Mukona Marageni; Conor McKeown Junior B: Matthew Behrens; Liam Botha We were extremely happy with the National results: Seniors: The Senior A team were placed 3rd overall in SA, which is a phenomenal feat considering that there were about 100 provincial teams taking part. Juniors: Our Junior A team was placed 4th overall. A fantastic result! Mathematics Focus Day The mathematics department spans three subjects, namely Mathematics, Mathematical Literacy and Further Studies (FS) Mathematics – formerly known as Advanced Programme Mathematics. Our staff hold a Strategic Planning Day each year, where we focus on one of the three subjects. This year we focussed on FS Mathematics. The FS staff spent the day reviewing our current policy, discussing changes to the new curriculum and the impact on Kearsney boys, some of our current challenges and then reviewing our schemes of work from Grades 10 to 12 and adjusting our notes accordingly. We know that the boys will benefit from our day of planning. Teacher Training and Development SAMC Round 3 Training The final round of the Primary Schools’ South African Mathematics Challenge, the prestigious Olympiad run by the SA Mathematics Foundation, was written at Kearsney on Thursday 07 September 2023. In the morning Mr Savage-Reid and Mrs du Plessis, along with two SA Mathematics Foundation facilitators, conducted training sessions for the 45 KZN pupils who progressed to the final round of the Challenge. During this time, Mr Ancillotti and Mrs Hotz conducted training for the accompanying 32 teachers. The training was aimed at helping the pupils and teachers to develop their problem-solving skills, strategies and techniques. Some of the mathematically talented pupils from our KZN primary schools joined the Challenge finalists at the training sessions. Their day ended with a fun but challenging inter-school maths quiz. We trust that a great deal of learning took place, but more importantly, that all had fun. Kearsney was crowned the Top Performing School in KZN for the fourth consecutive year by the South
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