La Rochelle 2020

 BEHEERLIGGAAM

W

GOVERNING BODY

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. This saying is particularly applicable to 2020! Only in a storm the skills of a sailor are tested. On the battlefield, the brave sol - diers raise their hands. We had to ‘write’ the unprepared Corona test this year and the

Abe Louw

Amanda Lochner

André Fourie

Christa Bothma

results have been outstanding. Ms Amanda Lochner and her brilliant team came to the fore, communicated frequently to advise us on what to expect, and created new structures and procedures to manage this virus curve ball thrown into our direction. The Larries, sup- ported by their parents, also reacted in remarkable fashion. At the end of the day, we all found ourselves in the same boat and we had to react as a co-ordinated team. Thanks to everybody for their support. Nobody will blame our Matrics if they feel they have been robbed of a ’normal’ last year at school. Even the most astute debator will struggle to portray 2020 as a ’normal’ year. However, one day, the Matrics will definitely be able to share with their children, the experiences they have had in this extraordinary year. At the end of the day, life is about experiences, family and friends and many of us had to spend time in Lockdown to realise what our priorities should be. If we look back on 2020 and the last months of 2019, La Ro - chelle achieved many amazing results, amongst which were:  A 100% pass rate of our 2019 Matrics;  A 75% average achieved by the Class of 2019;  La Rochelle received an award as one of the Top 20 Aca- demic Achieving schools;  In various subjects, including Afrikaans, Science and Ac- counting, La Rochelle was in the Top 20 schools in South Africa in the number of A symbols per learner category;  In the Grade 9 WCED Systemic Tests, the school achieved an average of 71.4% in Maths and 79.9% in Home Lan - guage, ending in the overall 7th place. In the few sports events which were completed prior to the Lockdown, La Rochelle came first in the Twizza Grand Finale and who will forget our absolute brilliant win at 4M! Plenty to celebrate! Anybody who tries new things will make mistakes. We are not perfect and we encourage all our Lar- ries, parents and teachers to raise their concerns fearlessly. We want to learn from our mistakes. Our vision is to empower value-driven young women to own their futures. The values of La Rochelle – RESPECT, ACCEP - TANCE and LOVE – lay the foundation of our actions. We want to embrace our differences and learn from one another. If one wishes to achieve certain goals and a vision, there are two ways in which to communicate these with people. One can either manipulate a person to act as required, which sometimes is successful in the shorter term, but seldom over a period of time. Secondly, and more challenging, is the option of inspiring people to achieving more and the most effective way to inspiring others, is by setting an example. All of us know that knowledge is power. It is a fact that one common demoninator of billionaires is that they read far more than the average person. As John Maxwell notes, ‘ knowledge is worthless if it is not applied ’.

Dawid Botha

Eduan Hayman

Julia Moore

Lizanne Pelham

Michelle Horn

Miemie Briers-Louw

Nadene van Aswegen

Nico Koch

Sonett Vorster

Shani Botha

Layla van Sitters

Elizabeth du Toit

La Rochelle wants to be the school inspiring our learners to achieving more, embracing differences and setting an example, applying our knowledge, but also learning from our mistakes. Thanks to all the Larries living by our values on a daily basis. Dit is vir my ook ’n wonderlike voorreg om deel te wees van ’n uiters dinamiese Beheerliggaam. Dit is mense wat hulle vrye tyd opoffer vir die skool sonder enige vergoeding. Oor die afgelope jaar is daar op verskeie gebiede groot vordering gemaak, wat, onder andere, insluit:  Die bou van die Astro;

 Die finalisering van die grondeis;  Die opgradering van tennisbane;  Die bou van ’n verkorte atletiekbaan;  Die opgradering van die koshuis;  Die eerste ‘ Evening with Stars ;  Die opgradering van die klaskamers.

Baie dankie aan almal wat ’n verskil gemaak het. ‘Dankie’ is ’n kort woordjie, maar ons doen dit in diepe dankbaarheid. Vir diegene wat bevoorreg g enoeg is om op vakansie te gaan, geniet elke oomblik. Vir almal wat moet werk, maak die beste daarvan. Niemand van ons weet wat 2021 vir ons gaan inhou nie, maar ons moet verseker die wonderlike lesse, wat ons die afgelope jaar geleer het, toepas in die nuwe jaar. Lastly, it does not cost us any money to be kind to one another.  NICO KOCH (GOVERNING BODY CHAIRPERSON)

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