Academic
Before 1994, education in South Africa was organised according to the imperatives of apartheid. There were four white departments, one for each of the four provinces. The Joint Matriculation Board had set the standards and conditions for school-leaving exams that would enable the universities to use its results as entrance qualifications. This Board had closed down in 1988 and had been replaced as a school examining board by the Independent Examinations Board. The IEB offered an exam but did not carry out any teaching administration. There was the huge Department of Bantu Education, a Coloured Affairs Education department, and Indian Affairs Education department. Then there were various education departments in the so-called ‘homelands’. Each department set its own final Std 10 exams and carried out the marking.
The requirements of the final exam determined by the JMB involved subjects being placed in separate categories with various combinations of subjects being required, as well as various levels of passes in different subjects. The approach to curriculum was prescriptive and authoritarian. From 1978, the subjects were offered in either Higher or Standard Grade, and in some subjects, Lower grade as well. Syllabus content had been specified as well.
After the democratic government was elected in 1994, there was a determination to break entirely from the old dispensation. The new education legislation (the South African Schools Act 1996) set out the structure of education. There were three layers – Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. The first two were controlled by the Minister of Basic Education and were administered by the nine provinces. Education was a provincial competence. This Act was followed in 1998 by the introduction of an outcomes-based curriculum called Curriculum 2005.
Approaches to Curriculum Design
Approaches to curriculum design can be either product based, or process based. The apartheid dispensation was entirely product based – clear goals and authoritatively prescribed learning content. That approach to curriculum design viewed knowledge as given and absolute, and the teachers and pupils had little to no influence when the curriculum was being determined. Process-based approaches (preferred by the new administration) involved a more descriptive curriculum which would be created in the classroom, giving teachers opportunities to select the content that they choose to teach.
Curriculum 2005
Curriculum 2005 was very different from the apartheid-based curriculum, which was rigid with regard to what was taught, how it should be taught and how it was to be examined. Curriculum 2005 required that learners should participate in discovering knowledge and the teachers should facilitate learning. Outcomes were to be achieved, not content. But it was introduced far too quickly, as most South African teachers were not equipped to become creators of the curriculum. The Minister of Education, Prof Kadar Asmal, appointed a review committee under Prof Linda Chisholm, which found that more guidance for teachers was required in curriculum terms. So a Revised Curriculum 2005 was introduced in 2002, which was a hybrid of both approaches – product and process. Even this was too much. In 2008, the Senior Certificate was replaced by the National Senior Certificate, which was based on nationally administered final exams, rather than the previous province-based system. This was also too much for most South African teachers, and so in 2011, a new curriculum, almost entirely product-based was introduced, the so-called CAPS curriculum, which is prescriptive in terms of what is to be taught, how and when it should be taught, and how it will be examined. This system is still in place in 2024.
Curriculum Design at the Prep
Curriculum 2005 had an impact on the academic programme at the Prep. Midge Hilton-Green had before 1999 introduced certain modules such as an intensive entrepreneurship course and modules in public speaking, memory training and study skills. Adjustments were made to accommodate the Learning Areas of Curriculum 2005, and outcomes based learning, and this resulted in a shift taking place towards theme-based teaching, group work, and new methods of assessment. The Learning Area called ‘Economic and Management Sciences’ now required the teaching of entrepreneurship as part of the curriculum. The other new learning areas were ‘Life Orientation’ and ‘Arts and Culture’.
The Bishops Curriculum
The Bishops curriculum (both the hidden and the open components) had been subjected to an in-depth evaluation during the 1990s. There was a deep concern about the rote learning model which underpinned the matric and other exams. But trying to institute as an alternative, a discovery learning model, was challenging because of the difficulty of gaining access to sources of information other than textbooks or the reference books in the Library, even though the Molteno Library was a very well-stocked school library. The discovery model regarded knowledge as socially constructed; learning was seen as a socially constructed process, rather than a delivery by a teacher and its passive reception by the students.
Laptops
Into the middle of this debate, Peter Crawley, the Headmaster of Trinity Grammar in Melbourne, Australia, came to South Africa as a guest speaker at the ISASA conference in 1996. He talked about introducing laptops into his school. Peter Crawley came down to the Western Cape and he spoke at a meeting of schools held at Bishops. Following this presentation, Clive Watson and Michael King deliberated on the pros and cons of introducing laptops to Bishops, decided to go ahead, and gained Council approval. Clive Watson announced this project at Prizegiving in Dec 1996.
A two-year preparation phase launched at the start of 1997, involving motivating and training the teachers on how to use the laptops in a constructionist approach to enable discovery learning. The interval was also necessary to lay down cabling for networking in the classrooms to allow access to the internet and the intranet. Laying cables in the classroom resulted in a redefinition of the traditional classroom geography. The needs of the cabling had caused desks to be clustered together in groups of four – this pattern was fine when the boys were working in groups or on their own but was awkward when the teacher wanted or needed to teach from the front of the room. The cables, both network and electricity, invariably spread out on the floor, further upsetting the ideal of the neat classroom. Other ‘geography’ changes would also follow. Matthew Gibson, a Library Monitor, writing a farewell piece for the Diocesan College Magazine in 1998 wrote: “with the growth of the Internet the role of the library has changed from receptacle of information to a true resource centre.” He went on to say: “In the next few years, as information technology changes, one can only hope that the Molteno Library embraces the change to remain a first class resource centre.” The third component was to decide on a package deal of an appropriate model laptop and maintenance and insurance costs. The first classes using the laptops started in 1999 in five departments.
The Constructionist Model
The key advantages of having laptops was promoting a constructionist learning model. Laptops allowed teachers and students to collaborate in constructing knowledge rather than just swallowing what was fed to them by teachers aiming to produce good exam results. The constructionist approach enabled by a laptop-based approach required that the individual student, and not just the teacher, should take responsibility for the learning that had to take place. But persuading teachers and especially parents that this new approach, or paradigm, would prove effective and or better than traditional teacher-led imparting of information, took some effort. Some teachers were quickly persuaded and became excited proponents; others found this approach difficult. Of particular concern was the shift in authority in the classrooms, the different preparations needed, and a deep skepticism about whether laptops would be useful learning devices, or whether they would simply be distractions, used for playing games or surfing for pornography (both of which were matters that the school had to deal with).
There was an irony in that the approach that the state wanted to introduce was in many aspects very similar to what Bishops was introducing. However, as Bishops advanced along the directions enabled by the laptops, the state’s planning faltered because neither the capacity of the teacher corps nor the resources available to schools were sufficient to allow nation-wide outcomes-based learning to succeed. This was most evident in the matter of portfolios of evidence, which, following the OBE model, were to be assessed by groups of teachers locally. Bishops teachers wanted to arrive with the boys’ portfolios in digital format; the rest arrived with bulky paper-based portfolios.
It is still difficult to ascertain whether or how successful the introduction of laptops was in terms of matric results, even if this was not a stated target. Bishops matric results had been excellent before, and they continued excellent afterwards, with the school often being included in the official lists of excellence of results. Many people believe that there was a significant grade inflation in the Senior Certificate exams results. But using the official exam results as a yardstick, Bishops produced results which allowed nearly every leaver to engage in tertiary studies, some even in overseas universities.
The Intranet
Each department started creating its learning programmes and resources which were placed on the Intranet which had been designed by the IT team led by Sally Bowes and Paul Mayers. This was uneven – some departments were very active, others not so much.
Despite, or maybe because of all the energy and innovation being directed towards the laptop project, the boys continued to achieve great success in Olympiads, Competitions, Expos, as well as the matric exams themselves.
WCED vs IEB
There was another ongoing debate within the school – whether to stay with the Western Cape Education Department’s exams, or to move across to the Independent Examinations Board’s. The IEB had taken over from the Joint Matriculation Board in 1988, and its activities were concentrated in the Gauteng and KwaZulu independent schools. During Grant Nupen’s time, strong arguments were advanced in support of the local examinations system, which meant competing in the same exam system as the rival schools in the Western Cape. Pressure for Western Cape independent schools to move across seemed to come most strongly from newly appointed Heads of Western Cape schools who had been in the IEB system before their promotion. In 2011, as part of a strategic plan for the next five years, the academic staff were invited to do a comprehensive comparison and arrive at a decision as to which system to follow. While there were advantages and disadvantages in both, the staff decided to remain with the Western Cape. This decision has been reviewed a number of times since 2011 by the academic staff and the school executive, but the position has remained the same.
The Molteno Library
In 2014, the Molteno Library was transformed from being a repository for books with space for accessing and using the books, to being a place where “multi-functional, wirelessly-supercharged, flexible learning spaces support the acquisition of 21st century skills, including: critical thinking and problem solving, curiosity and imagination, collaboration across networks, agility and adaptability, initiative and entrepreneurialism, self-regulation and responsibility, grit and resilience.” Matthew Gibson’s wish of 1998 had come true.
"Big Ideas"
The next big advance in curriculum practice was the institution in 2018 of the “Big Ideas” programme in Grade 9. This was a cross-disciplinary project-based initiative, using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the content framework in order to help the boys develop the 21st-century skills of communication, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, empathy, and resilience. Space in the timetable was found by using the periods allocated to Biology, History, Geography, Economics and Management Science, and Life Orientation in terms 3 and 4. EMS has since withdrawn. 60 Boys applied for and 30 were selected. This project generated a lot of interest, and pressure to be accepted was great. In 2019, there were 53 boys. In each subsequent year, either 1 or 2 classes of between 25 to 27 boys have been accepted into this programme for the second half of each grade 9 year.
Grade 8 Conversational Languages
Grade 8 Conversational Language classes were introduced in 2022. Conversational isiXhosa was taken by those taking Afrikaans as their first additional language, and Conversational Afrikaans was taken by those taking isiXhosa as their first additional language. These were non-examination subjects focusing on cultural aspects and communication in Western Cape South African Languages.
The Bishops Research and Harvard Referencing pathway
The Bishops Research and Harvard Referencing pathway that had been intentionally threaded through a boy’s college career, directly taught rigorous academic process and addressed academic integrity and authenticity. This ideal has been to prepare the boys more adequately for tertiary studies by developing a roadmap which ensured that each boy leaving Bishops in Grade 12, no matter what subjects he might have taken, had been educated and challenged on the quality and presentation of his research. Inherent in this process is correct referencing techniques and lessons around plagiarism.
Staff Recruitment Policy
Staff recruitment policy to address our diversity and transformation agenda has changed the staff profile significantly, because by the nature of the average age of the teaching staff being in the mid- 50s, there have been many retirements and hence many new appointments.
Bishops WCED results in 2023
The Bishops results for the 2023 examinations were startlingly impressive. Bishops was recognized as the top academic school in the province. Evidence for this was as follows.
- Top Mathematics school in the country in terms of number of distinctions as well as percentage of those who took Mathematics getting a distinction with 74 of the 139 boys (53%) getting over 80%. Only 36% of all candidates nationally wrote Pure Mathematics with 3,5% obtaining a distinction. The Bishops average for Mathematics was 78%.
- Top school in the country in Accounting in terms of the percentage of distinctions with 68% of the class, albeit a small class of 22, achieving this.
- Top school in the country in Economics with a staggering 72 distinctions from the 89 boys in the class who wrote the subject (81% of the class). This compares with the 2,2% figure nationally. The Bishops average for Economics was 86,5%.
- Second in the country in terms of the number of distinctions for Physical Sciences and fourth in terms of percentage of distinctions for the group with 50 of the 100 boys achieving this. The number of boys who took the subject is higher than any other school in the top 10. The Bishops average for Science was 78%.
The Cambridge International Stream
During the 1990s, the school had explored in some depth the notion of offering an International Baccalaureate path side by side with the Senior Certificate path. This would have split the matric group, and for that and other reasons such as cost, the school decided against doing this. However, in 2023, the school went ahead with offering a choice of the Cambridge International Stream as well as the NSC exam path. The stand-alone driving factor for introducing this in Grade 11 and 12 was to provide extension for the boys. In 2023 Cambridge AS Levels for Grade 11 were offered, taught by current Bishops teachers. A cohort of 19 boys took compulsory subjects: English Language and Literature, Mathematics AS levels, and Afrikaans or French IGCSE. In addition, they were required to offer 2 or 3 other AS Level subjects. The results were excellent. The school has been adamant about providing this extension primarily for Bishops boys, and has not accepted boys who seek move to Bishops, primarily to follow the Cambridge stream. In 2024 both A Levels in Grade 12 and AS Levels in Grade 11 were offered.
The Ubuntu Learning Centre
With larger class sizes of on average 27 boys in Grade 8 and 9, and the increased focus and importance of developing the 21st century skills like collaboration, communication, problem-solving and adaptability, the school recognised that these ideals were hindered by having venues that could not support interactions which involve more than a single class of boys. The space occupied by the old NLT (New Lecture Theatre) and its surrounds was recognised as the place, in the centre of the academic precinct, to build a new building to address the need for 21st Century large academic spaces, which would offer a physical and visual connection to the Molteno Resource Centre. Building the planned three floors started in 2023 and will be completed in 2024 in time for the 175 celebration. Its capacity includes a venue which can be subdivided into three smaller rooms, but at its maximum can accommodate a grade of boys, which number on average 160 in 2024. The old “wind tunnel” which separated the old NLT and the library will still run through the centre of the building and on the left the resource centre will remain, and the Ubuntu Learning Centre will be on the right. The problems of classroom geography which had presented such an obstacle in 1999 were finally being addressed. In addition, a much needed new staffroom, which can accommodate the entire staff, will occupy half of the third floor.
