Termly Newsletter Term 4 2011

THE END OF YEAR TEST

“The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he asks, but how many
questions (which he finds hard to answer) which he inspires his pupils to ask.”
AW Rollins

As we reach the end of another year – the170th in the history of the school – it is an appropriate time to
Aask whether we have succeeded in our core purpose as an educational institution – has real learning taken place?
Wynberg boys have come up trumps in many areas of school life this year. Olympiads have produced
successful results, academic prizes have been earned, sports teams have triumphed, provincial selections
have been announced, music concerts and dramatic productions have been acclaimed. The press, our
annual school magazine and the general public perception will hold the view, quite rightly, that Wynberg has
had a successful year.
We must never take these successes for granted. The number of hours put in by both pupils and teachers
belie the somewhat impersonal printed facts. This school has immense talent in its ranks and the fact that
our boys, in and out of the classroom, are prepared to expend hours ensuring that their talent comes to
fruition, says volumes about those who don the Wynberg blazer, knowing that it symbolically demands of
them always to aim high.
It is important that all our pupils, including our sportsmen, realise that more important than the accolades,
the certificates, the cups, the awards, the selections, the tries, the runs and the goals, must be the lessons
which they must learn. Have they understood the value of perseverance? The significance of hours of hard
work? The importance of Supera Moras – never giving up in adversity? The merit of team work?
The role of this school is to provide our pupils with an environment where they can make mistakes and still
learn life’s lessons. They may well believe that they are learning when they achieve 80% in a test or a
bucketful of goals in their chosen sport, but they are learning even more in the hours spent solving a
problem in their Maths homework or perfecting the yorker in cricket.
An even more valuable lesson is learning to cope with and fighting back from disappointment. Good
schools should not only be teaching classroom lessons but also ensuring testing situations which in turn
teach their own lessons. 147 Matrics, including their parents and teachers, are nervously waiting for their
results on 5 January 2012. Only in years to come will the true results become obvious. Have they acquired
a love for academics in order to study further? Are they driven to find out more? Are they enthused enough
to probe and prod deeper? Have they been unsettled enough to keep asking questions? Are they reexamining
cherished beliefs?
Many questions have been posed above, which every parent must ask of their sons. Most questions cannot
be answered yet, but it is important nonetheless, as the year comes to an end, to put these questions out
there. In most instances we, as teachers, will not see the final product – but we keep exhorting and
encouraging our pupils, in all grades and in all teams, never to stop challenging and inquiring.
Hopefully in years to come our boys will learn that universal truth: Talent is Not Enough. When that
realization strikes home, then they can fall back on the lessons learned at Wynberg and become
contributing citizens of our country.
KCR

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