Hoërskool Strand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hoërskool Strand (English: Strand High School) is an Afrikaans high school located in Strand, South Africa. More than 1 000 students attend the school, mostly residents of Strand, although students from as far as Gordon's Bay, Somerset West, and even Grabouw attend the school. The school is the majour provider of secondary education in the area and is headmastered by mr Christo Vorster.
Hoërskool Strand has four quarters in a school year, stretching from January to December. The school provides classes from grade eight to grade twelve (the latter also known as matric).
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[edit] Sport
Hoërskool Strand competes in inter-schools activities with neighbouring schools Parel Vallei High School and Hottentots Holland High School, and it also competes against tour groups, such as the Bablake school from England, which last toured Strand in mid-2006. The sports in which it competes include rugby, cricket, netball, squash, tennis and chess. Sports activities which the school provides but which is not limited to inter-school competition includes swimming and surfing.
The school also has a strong academical focus, but it is considered by most to be concentrating on excelling in the sports-world. A school rule requiring students to take part in at least one winter- and one summer activity, introduced at the beginning of 2006, is evidence of the school's goal to become a sport power within the school circles in the area. It is thought that the school has already reached this goal, but is only trying to strengthen it, after it has lost the winter inter-schools to Parel Vallei High School, for the first time in plenty years.
On 14 October 2006, the school has sent a year 11 student to compete in the World Junior Chess Championship which is to be held in Georgia.
[edit] Academic
Academically the school also excells on national front.
The school provides a wide variety of subjects to its students, however the students are required to take the default list of subjects in grade 8 and 9, with the option to take English as a first language.
Here is a list of the subjects:
- Language, Literacy and Communication
- Afrikaans First Language
- English First Language
- English Second Language
- Mathematical Literacy, Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences
- Mathematics; or
- Mathematical Literacy
- Additional mathematics
- General Sciences
- Physical Sciences
- Biology
- Human and Social Sciences
- History
- Geography
- Economics
- Accounting
- Business Economics
- Information Technology
- Computer Literacy
- Computer Sciences
- Technology
- Enginerical Graphics and Design
- Metalworks and
- Home Economics
- Technology
- Life Orientation
- Life Skills and Psychology
- Arts and Cultures
- Visual art
- Cultural Studies
- Art History
- Music
- Practical; and
- Theory
- Other
- Drama
- German Third Language
- Tourism
Some of the subjects require minimum qualifications.
[edit] Exchange System
The school is very active in exchanging students to schools in primarily Roeselare, Belgium, due to the language similarities between Afrikaans and Flemish which makes communication much easier. Students can also visit schools in Germany, Switzerland and Argentina. Exchange students visiting the school come from Belgium, England and Italy. England and Italy however mainly provide sport tour groups.
[edit] Criticism
In 2005 a group of matrics rented a guest house in Beach Road, Strand to throw an open house-party, celebrating their last forty days of school (this being known simply as "forty days" or "40 days"). The aftermath of this party was "apalling" according to some, with alcohol containers strewn all over the premises, wrecked cupboards and carpets, and urine on the walls. This incident drew much attention and was widely exclaimed in local newspapers as unexceptable. The school, however, states that it had no knowledge of the party until after the reports in the papers. It has been confirmed that the school has had no part in the party, and that some of the students at the party were prefects, resulting in them losing their titles and taken away the advantage of noting it in their CVs.
