A Year of Academic Accolades!

Pinelands North Primary's Prizewinning Mathematicians for 2014

When our school worked on our last strategic plan three years ago, there were several new parents to our school who attended, and felt we shouldn’t focus our attention on special needs in school. After explaining to them what we meant and how we were actually trying to give every child the education they had the right to receive, some were convinced. Others, however, were still concerned that when the general public hears that a school focuses on special needs, it means that teachers would then focus on the lower third of the class and not on everybody.

How wrong they have been! This has been the year that has proved our school’s output is the best in the suburb, circuit and even the district at times! We do draw children who don’t achieve at other schools but then we help them turn that around! We also draw children from around the country because the more we attend conferences focusing on the very bright child, the more psychologists from all over refer families to us! This has meant that we receive at least one call a week from a family who has had their child ‘diagnosed’ as ‘gifted’, and then has been told to contact us as we are the only school they recommend for children with those particular needs. The other spin off has been very high profile winning of awards by individual pupils, and by the whole school too. In March this year, the school was recognised by the Metro  Central District in Mathematics and Language with six awards. 

Horizon Maths Competition Winners

In July, seven of our pupils attended a function at the Baxter Theatre to celebrate the winners of the Horizon Maths Competition. Kangyong Choi, Rana Ebrahim, Lisakhanya Gqirana, Ananya Jain, Matthew Killer and Luke Watermeyer received prizes for being among the top two hundred mathematicians out of nine thousand in the province, and David White received a prize for being in the top twenty, out of nine thousand entrants! 
In August, the Metro Central District Mathematics Competition for all grade four to seven pupils, again recognized our mathematicians. Again seven of our pupils were invited to the second round, and Savar Jain was placed first in the circuit in grade four, Luke Watermeyer was placed third and Matthew Killer first in the circuit in grade six, and Ananya Jain was placed third in the circuit in grade seven. 
Our grade one to seven children took part in Living Maths Competition too, Caleb Carelse, Ella Binos, Hogan Crossley, Munwon Jang, Matthew Killer, Zameer Gamiet and Ananya Jain, were placed in the top three positions in their grades in the country! 
All our grade four to seven pupils also wrote the Amesa Maths Competition, and sixteen were invited to the second round. Eleven children received certificates in this round: seven silvers and four bronze! 

Metro Central Maths Competition Winners

So, when parents of pupils at other schools mention the ‘Pinelands’ adage that the Red School pupils are the ‘all-rounders’, mention to them that indeed we are but we also provide the top academic pupils in the circuit, as evidenced in just the few awards we have won this year.