About Tsogo High School

About Tsogo High School
History, information and achievements
Tsogo High School
Alumni Society
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The History of Tsogo High School
Tsogo High School (now Tsogo Secondary School) was founded thirty two years ago. ‘Tsogo’
is a Setswana name meaning ‘Resurrection’. Tsogo is therefore a “Resurrection School” or
“New Life School”
The beginning
The story of Tsogo High School begins with the Catholic Sisters of Mercy. The Sisters of
Mercy is an Irish Catholic Union of Sisters which dates back to the 1970’s and has amongst
other things worked to establish community centres, schools, adult education centres and
various centres across the country and globe. The Union has worked for over 30 years to
assist and uplift communities through Christianity and philosophies of collectivism and self
help.
In 1974 a request was made by the Stigmatine Fathers to establish a foundation and high
school in De Wildt, near Brits. The school was to be built in the village of Mmakau. This
school was Tsogo High School. In 1975 Tsogo High School was opened with Sr. Majella and
Sr Myra as staff. Other staff included Sr. Marylyn, the late priest Fr Michael and Mr. P.
Mothata. The Sisters lived in Iona Convent in Pretoria and commuted to the school every day.
The first buildings of Tsogo High School
Later on Sr M Rita was appointed as principal of the existing Primary school on the Mission.
Towards the end of 1976 Sr M Xavier was appointed as the new Superior and she took Sr M
Rita's place as principal of the primary school. A small section of the High School building
was adapted for use as a Convent and the Sisters moved out to live there. The opening and
blessing of the High School took place in April. Sr. Marilyn was appointed to the High School
staff at the beginning of the year.
From 1975 to 1976 classes were held in an old school house (see picture above), the parish
industrial centre and two rooms in the adjacent primary school. By 1977 a new school building
had been erected at the foot of the scenic Bakgatla hill of NKOPO and was officially opened
and blessed by Archbishop Daniel on 12 June 1977.
Since then a second storey was added to the school building to accommodate an even
growing demand for education by the locals and surrounding areas. The school has also been
lucky to secure sponsorship to build a Computer Centre – thanks to generous donors.
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Tsogo High School today
The school’s campus also houses a primary school, Morekolodi Primary School and a preschool, Motsweding. In addition, the campus houses a community centre, an adult education
centre, a church, a health centre, a refugee centre and a convent.
The school is housed in a campus that gives learners an opportunity to interact with the
community in some activities and therefore gain from social interaction and community work.
The school has a small library, computer room, science and biology laboratories and a newly
built technology room. All these facilities require upgrading and an addition of other
complementary resources.
The school has produced many successful alumni who have gone on to achieve success in
their academic undertakings and careers.
The majority of learners from the school come from the villages of Mmakau, Bethanie, Hebron
and nearby townships of Ga-Rankuwa, Mothutlung, Mabopane and Soshanguve.
The community centre, called Mmashiko offers adult education. The community centre,
which is adjacent to the school offers classes such as computer literacy, sewing and
dressmaking, and bricklaying.
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Facts and information
Tsogo Secondary School - fact file (2006)
Student body
703
Grade 11 &
Matric learners
234
Teachers/staff
Teacher :
Learner ratio
Grades offered
Current
principal
23
1.: 31
7 to 12
Mr. Assi
We also wish to express our gratitude to former principals - Sr. Majella (founder member), Sr.
Colmcille and Sr. Kathy (preceded Mr. Assi)
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Tsogo High School’s academic history and achievements
The school has aimed for and achieved academic excellence in spite of the socio-economic
conditions it operates in and its limited access to resources. The school continues to stress
discipline, dedication and proper moral standards.
Tsogo High School has been continually recognised as a school that achieves a 100% matric
pass rate. Further, the school has also been included in the list of the 100 best schools in the
country by the Sunday Times survey. Tsogo High school continues to achieve this due to the
discipline, commitment and passion taught and practiced at the school.
The former principal of Tsogo High School expressed the following after their matric pass rate
in 2001 and years before:
"It is not the computers and the rest of the other technologies that deliver the good results, but
the hardworking teachers and co-operative learners together with supportive management,
that really delivered the goods"
The Department of Education in the North-West reports the following statistics and rankings
for 2004:
The full report is available as an annexure to this document or at:
www.nwpg.gov.za/Education/ exams/2004/reports/Schools_100_pass.pdf
SCHOOLS THAT ATTAINED 100% PASS RATE IN 2004
Region/District or
Circuit
Percentage Centre
BLOEMHOF CIRCUIT
100%
KROMELLENBOOG COMBINED SCHOOL
BRITS CIRCUIT
100%
HARTBEESPOORT HIGH SCHOOL
LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
KLERKSDORP-EAST CIRCUIT 100%
MILNER HIGH SCHOOL
KLERKSDORP-NORTH
CIRCUIT
100%
WESVALIA HIGH SCHOOL
KOSTER CIRCUIT
100%
KOSTER HIGH SCHOOL
LICHTENBURG CIRCUIT
100%
LICHTENBURG HIGH SCHOOL
MMAKAU-MOTHOTLUNG
CIRCUIT
100%
TSOGO SECONDARY SCHOOL
OTTOSDAL CIRCUIT
100%
COLIGNY HIGH SCHOOL
POTCHEFSTROOM-EAST
CIRCUIT
100%
POTCHEFSTROOM BOYS HIGH
POTCHEFSTROOM GIRLS HIGH
POTCHEFSTROOM SECONDARY
POTCHEFSTROOM-NORTH
CIRCUIT
100%
POTCHEFSTROOM GIMNASIUM
TIGANE CIRCUIT
100%
PHAKELA COMBINED SCHOOL
TLHABANE CIRCUIT
100%
H T S RUSTENBURG
VRYBURG I CIRCUIT
100%
STELLA HIGH SCHOOL
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Tsogo Hish School’s academic history and achievements
History of matric pass rates since 1988
Grade 12 (matric) results per subject in 2006
Grade 12 (matric) results per subject in 2005 and 2004
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More details about the Tsogo High School Alumni Society
The society was formed by the Class of 1997 alumni with the goal of assisting and uplifting
the current learners through career guidance, career exposure and talks, mentorship and
other material assistance to the school.
The current executive committee consists of the following members:
(1) President: Thabo Ncalo
Qualifications: BCom (Bus. Finance & Acc.) Univ. of the Witwatersrand
Diploma in Treasury and Int’l Banking (Inst. of Bankers in South Africa)
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) Candidate (U.S.A)
Current employer: Investec Asset Management, Cape Town.
(2) Deputy President: Mpho Makhene
Qualification: N Dip (Electrical Engineering) Univ. of Johannesburg
Current employer: Schneider Electric (Lagos, Nigeria)
(3) Secretary: Thabiso Mokwena
Qualification: BSc. (Chemical Engineering), Univ. of Cape Town
Current employer: Shell & BP South African Petroleum Refinery, Durban
(4) Treasurer: Malebo Chadi
Qualifications: BCom (Fin. Acc), H. Dip Accounting (Univ. of the Witwatersrand)
SAICA Final Qualifying Exam Part 1
Current employer: Ernst and Young, Jhb.
(5) Events Co-ordinator: Motlalepula Phakedi
Qualification: BSc (Info. Systems) Rhodes University
Current employer: Gijima AST
(6) Projects Co-ordinator: Pono Mogoera
Qualification: BSc. (Chemical Engineering) Univ. of Cape Town
Current employer: Anglo Platinum
(7) Additional member: Joan Legamamitlwa
Qualification: B.A. (Univ. of Cape Town)
Current employer: Encounters International Documentary Festival
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More pictures of the school campus
Old school building and new centre
The school’s soccer field
The first church for the community
Community health centre
Soccer ground and a view of the
school from the front
The newer, larger church building