SAILI News

This month at SAILI we have focused on getting information out about school bachelor performance in the Western Cape. We were featured in the Cape Times newspaper and on Cape Talk radio and are presenting at UCT "Mind the Gap" and writing a feature for "Independent Education". All this means that word is getting out, assisting parents to make informed choices about high schools. We get regular community inquiries about high school choice and our consistent message is - send your child to the best school that you can afford.

Fortunately in Cape Town we have many high performing schools to choose from. With the SAILI focus on value for money, we love Mondale High School with a Bachelor pass of nearly 70% for only R2500/ year. Unfortunately, if you look at all graph you will see that performance is very weak in the cheaper schools. This is bad news for the thousands of families who are forced to take no fee options. These schools generally have a high drop out rate and a low bachelor pass rate. These two measures are of key importance because research shows that finishing school with a bachelor pass has a long term impact on your ability to get a job and earn a good salary.

Cost is not the only access issue in being able to attend a good high school. Location also plays a role. There are whole pockets of Cape Town and large regions of the Western Cape where there are no government schools with reasonable performance. For families in these areas it means commuting which is costly in time and also money. Families without financial resources are forced to attend under-performing high schools where even the smartest kids are unlikely to do well academically, unlikely to go on to further study and unlikely to get a job. Basically poor areas with poor schools stay poor.

That's why SAILI believes in scholarship. We believe that giving talented children access to good schools changes the trajectory of their lives, their families and their communities. We are excited about the work we do and glad that you are part of it.

For more information about choosing a high school in the Western Cape, read our blog.

SMART Goal Setting at SAILI

Turning over a new leaf doesn’t have to wait till New Years Day! Goal Setting and celebrating achievements are the markers of successful lives. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Bound. Here’s how to set SMART goals for yourself and make certain of your success.

We all have goals for our lives. They are the things we want for ourselves that we don’t yet have. Some of our goals are short term, we can get them quite quickly like eating less chocolate or going to bed by 10pm. Other goals take more time and need to be broken down into smaller steps like improving a maths grade by 15% or getting a driver’s licence. Goals are not the same as dreams for our life which tend to be much bigger and more general -like I want to be rich and famous and have my photo on the front of a major magazine. Dreams involve a large dollop of wild imagination. Goals balance imagination with careful planning.

Teens often find that other people also have goals for their lives. Mom wants me to be a doctor, my maths teacher wants me to talk less in class, my boyfriend wants me to grow my hair long… There is only one thing to say about other people’s goals, they belong to other people. Only you have the power to change you and that power comes from wanting it for yourself. What do you want?

At SAILI this term we asked our students to reflect on their term past and set and academic goal for term 4. We know that successful students are responsible for their own learning and hopeful about improvements. We will be asking for feedback during the December bread and are looking forward to celebrating our achievements.

Read more about goal setting for teens

Final 2014 Dates

Stationery Lists are due in by Monday 24th November for first order and Wednesday 10th December for second order. Reimbursement forms cannot be used for stationery.

29th Nov - Scholarship testing Round 1 for 2016 intake
15th Dec - Gr 9 Outing to CTSC, meet at 11.15am
18th Dec - Last day to process payments and reimbursements. ALL REPORTS DUE IN.
22nd Dec - 9th Jan - Kath on leave and not available by e-mail or phone. No payments processed.