Top achievers share secrets to success

And they are from the Independent Examinations Board, which basically has achieved 98.47 pass rate. In studio with me are three top achievers from Rodin. This is a private school and guess how much that school has achieved in terms of its bachelor passes? 100 percent. Yeah. All right. Let me introduce them one by one. And seated right in front of me is Maya Osei. She has achieved eight distinctions. Seated next to Maya is Romy Day. Romy Day, she's achieved seven distinctions. We then have Mia. So there's a Maya and a Mia. Mia Loizidis. She is the top achiever, I am told, with about eight distinctions. I'm not going to ask you guys boring questions. Oh, oh, I can't forget. How can I do this? The head of senior school, Annabel Roberts. Welcome to all of you. Such a pleasure to have you here. And so, let's begin this conversation. And Mia, let's start with you. I don't know what to ask you, actually, because I don't want to ask you boring questions. So how did you do this? Well, it's a long story. It started back in grade eight. But I think, honestly, I couldn't have done it without the support of my peers and the support of Exco, like Mrs. Roberts, and Mrs. Natale. I think, honestly, just having people to lean on throughout the whole experience is really what got me to where I am. Even small things like helping with math concepts before a test in the library, or just uplifting each other in our failures and tests back in grade 10. I think it's just that support system, that ecosystem of upliftment and encouragement from everyone around you is just so special. I think that's really what got me to where I am today. So something else South Africans are learning about you tonight is that you're also the head girl, the head prefect at Rodin. How do you manage to manage others whilst at the same time managing academics? I think, honestly, I heard of the concept of balance before I came into Matric, and I was always aware of balance and always thought it was quite cliché and overused. But I think that really is just what allowed me to balance everything I wanted to do over the course of the year. Balance in my sporting, such as water polo, balance other culture activities like different clubs, and help myself manage others in my position of head student. I think, once again, having my deputy head student, Jumeira, to lean on is what allowed me to maintain that balance. It also comes down to very meticulous time management and just prioritizing yourself, allowing yourself the outlets and the different facets of Rodin is really what allowed me to manage others, I guess. Let's talk to Romi. Romi, you've achieved seven distinctions and you're going to explain how you did this, because I have no idea how it is that you guys have achieved such results. By the way, 100% bachelor passes at Rodin. So tell me your story. How do you manage to do what you do? Because you're not going to reveal, by the way, which is my moment that I'll reveal about you, the other thing that you do besides academics. Let's talk about the academics first. Firstly, I'm so grateful to be a part of Rodin. All they have done is supported me from grade eight, from when COVID hit and we were all in lockdown from grade eight until grade nine. And it was very difficult getting out of that very isolated system into this world where we're supposed to learn how to live our lives of significance, as Rodin has taught us. But I definitely think being disciplined in my academics, as well as having a social life, doing some sports has definitely allowed me to, as Maya said, balance my time. So I think time management is definitely a big role to play in my life and how I achieve my results. So here's a big reveal. She talks about time management as if it's just a thing. So you are a national swimmer, you've represented South Africa, and yet on top of this, you've achieved seven distinctions. How in the world did you do that? I mean, as Maya said, I think it's very, very important to have that time management. And as a sportswoman, I've learned from a very young age how to manage my time while dealing with the pressures of either cultural activities or academic activities. And so coming into Matric, knowing that there was so much pressure to get these results that I'm so proud of, I knew that I had to balance my time. And actually swimming is one thing that allowed me to do that. So doing all these national competitions and prelims, and I still had to train, it was really hectic, but it definitely served me for the best. You talk about time management, we'll come to you in a moment, Maya, your moment is coming. Some parents who have top achievers like yourself, who are also very determined to make sure that they stay in the sports, they've decided that actually, we're going to tell our kids to take a pause, pause your extramural activities in order to focus on studies. Were your parents tempted to do that at one point? Definitely not. One thing about me is if I don't swim, I'm not a happy person. So I learned that actually sport is a very good stress relief for me. And so I felt I've done exams without like any kind of sport, and my results were so much worse than what they are now. So I've done the test, and I've seen for myself that that is not the way to go for me. My goodness, so swimming is the motivator. Interesting. And then let's come to Mia, top achiever, eight distinctions, and you are ranked in the top 5% in six or more subjects and achieved a rate level of seven in life orientation. What do you do to prep for examinations? I think it's also as Romy was saying, it's a mixture. You can't obsess yourself with academics, it just does not turn out well. For me, I also had like a bit of a hectic prelim situation, I went to China to represent South Africa for water polo at the FINA championships. And it taught me time management as well. Like for me, my prelims were crammed into two weeks rather than four. And so when I came to finals, where you have seven weeks, you get bored, almost like you sit there and you're like, what am I supposed to do? You know, you can only study so much into your head. Yeah, you can only study so much. You can't study for 12 hours a day. It's just not humanly possible. So for me, it was also I use my water polo, I use my sport. I went out, I found my friends, we studied together, we had study dates, and it was so much better. It was so much more manageable. You can't sit and study for 12 hours a day. And it's just not possible. You have to balance as Maria was saying as well. You're not going to remember everything. So it means that the way that I did it however many years ago it was. Basically, what was I doing? I would cram things in my head, try to memorize. You don't do that. That's not how you study. Is that what you say? Well, what I realized is also this is what happens at Rodin is it's a process. Everything's a process. So you start at the beginning of the year and you're learning your work. And by the time you get to the final matric exams, you've already had two full sets of exams, you know the information, it's literally, it's like you wake up and you know what you're going to do with the day, you have your process, you have everything nailed down to a T. And that's what's important is you have to have a foundation. I mean, sometimes, and I think it happens with everyone is you cram your exams and you cram your information and then literally the next day you forget it. And it's literally what happens. But what happened with Rodin is because we had so many sets of exams before, and we had our June prelims. By the time we got to finals, the information was there. It wasn't going anywhere. It was literally a take a breath and you could put your pen on paper and you were so ready to write that exam because you've done so many times before. Let's talk to the head of senior school, Annabel Roberts. And so there's a trick to this, because Rodin has stayed among the top achievers. I mean, this is not the first time that you're achieving a hundred percent bachelor pass rate. Talk to us about what the What is it that you do that sets you apart? I think for many years, Rodin has been seen as a school that is academics, academics, academics. And I think having listened to our students here, it's very clear that that isn't all that Rodin is. And we have taken an approach, in particular this year, we made a decision to decompress how we present things. Because previously it was as many lessons as possible, squashed together as tightly as possible, keep the breaks short and tight. The research has progressed and told us that when people have time to decompress, when people have time to be, and when people are happy, they actually have better neural pathways and possibly can access the information better. And so we took a courageous decision based on good research at the beginning of this year to decompress our timetable. And this is the group that now can claim to be Rodin's best improvement between their grade 11 year and their grade 12 year. Interestingly, and I just think this is fascinating for education as a whole. Interestingly, caring for the whole human being has actually yielded amazing academic results as well. So let me pause you there, caring for the holistic human being. This is what you have termed in this article, where you were quoted as saying you have taken a holistic well-being of pupils. Is that what it talks to what you've just explained? Absolutely. It's saying that we are going to give you some time to create relationships, to be mentors to some younger students, to be involved in all of your sporting activities. And we happen to have three of our very sporting students here, but some of our students are incredible in the cultural domain. We have musicians that are just out of this world, are quieter at the US this year and brought tears to everybody's eyes. And many of them were matriculants as well. So it's about saying we are all so much more than just our brain. We are a mind, we are a heart, we are a soul. And we've been intentional about valuing every aspect of the students and I think they would endorse that. You're watching News at Prime. And if you're just joining us, you catch us at the tail end of a very beautiful conversation with top achievers from Rodin. And they have all achieved massive feat. So let's talk about their plans. Let's start with you. Maya. Yes. It's Maya. Yes. I've got to remember there's a Maya and a Mia. Maya, what do you plan to do going forward? In the year 2025, I'll be taking a pre-med track and studying at Yale University in New Haven in the US. And I'm going to be studying under the History of Science, Medicine and Public Health degree. A lot of people have asked me why I've decided to study abroad. And the reason for that is because elite institutions like Yale abroad really allow me to build connections and just gain more international multicultural experience to allow me to expand my knowledge into different facets or realm of medicine. And to just take the knowledge I've gained in the US and bring that back here to another continent. Because I truly believe that one of the greatest injustices of a medical revolution are those that we've kind of left behind here and like our public health system feels further behind than it should be in comparison to the Western world. So I will be furthering my interest in biology and life sciences and all things medicine at Yale in 2025. Well, let me tell you this, the person who's probably very happy listening to you right now is the Minister of Health because he has an investment in you and he hasn't even done anything. All that he is going to do is receive that investment. Wow. Okay. Best of luck. Thank you so much. With everything that you do. Let, Romy, what is it that you plan to do going forward? I plan on going to WITS to study physiotherapy at BSE in physiotherapy. And I've always been interested in physiotherapy. I've been very fortunate to be one of those people who have always known what they want to do from grade eight. And physiotherapy caught my eye, not just because I'm a sportswoman and I've definitely been to a physiotherapist in my life, but because I really love the idea of helping people. And I've been to Charlotte Makeke and I've seen these injuries and how these physiotherapists have helped with gun wounds. These like, not just muscle injuries, some very hectic injuries that are internal and external. And that not only intrigues me, but I really love the idea of trying to help these people. Fantastic. Wow. So the medical space is gaining and gaining, at least from what I've gauged from the two of you. Mia? For me, I want to go down to Stellenbosch University to study data science. I find it's the analysis and statistics, a lot to do with modern technology, such as AI, which I believe is very relevant in today and in the current workspaces. It allows me to make predictive models and harness new technology, like I said, AI, which is very beneficial because I can take that forward into many different areas, whether that be healthcare or whether that be education. And there's so much more I can do with that degree. And that's why I decided to study that. Wow. Guys, you have a bright future ahead of you. All three of you. I mean that. And I'm actually very jealous because, well, my boss is not going to fire me, but yeah, I wouldn't have necessarily chosen journalism had I achieved these marks. Let's talk to you, Annabelle. The suggestions have been made that Rodin is right up there. I'm not going to rate you. You're probably going to tell us where you think you are as a school. But what is the plan to keep at this? Yeah, I think the first thing is to say that we are collaborative in the IB rather than competitive. But there is a joy in seeing that one is on the podium. And I'm confident that Rodin's results do put us onto the podium. And I'm so grateful to the teachers. I'm so grateful to the parents who back these students up. And of course, to the hard work that the students themselves put in. So we have 4.4 distinctions per candidate and an overall average of 79.4. So if you take all of their results and you average them, 79.4, 20 out of 66 students have got a full house or more. And 56 percent of our students have an A average. So above 80 percent as an average. So those are just phenomenal results. And it comes from a structured, disciplined, caring, compassionate environment that sets people up for success. Yeah. And working in the IB is amazing because of the collaboration. All of our schools want to work together. And our hope is that we empower South African education as a whole. Guys, I'm not afraid to say this. And that is that I'm out of my league sitting among you. I'm just so impressed with what you've achieved. Best of luck to all of you. Thank you so much. Going forward. All right. And that's where we're going to end the conversation. So just to prove how clever I am, I'm going to remember all your names and how to say them properly. Annabelle Roberts, the head of a senior school. And then you have Mia Topachiva Loizidis. Thank you. And then we've got Romy Day. Seven distinctions, including a top swimmer for our country. Thank you for joining us here. And then last but not least, Maya Jose. Great things for you. All of you, in fact. Thank you so much. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much for joining us. And I hope you at home have enjoyed this conversation, because this is what you reap when you really put your heart in it. And they say hard work.