The Kimberley Girls’ High School (KGHS) has more than one reason to celebrate. Last week, with the release of the 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination results, the school was announced as the top public school in the Northern Cape, with a 98,9% pass rate.
It is also the top public school in the Frances Baard District, and the top school for Mathematics.
The province’s top learner, Jiawen Huang, matriculated at the KGHS with eight distinctions, with two of her classmates ranked among the province’s 20 top achievers.
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In the subject top achievers category, the KGHS produced the top learners in Accounting, Business Studies, Life Sciences and Mathematics.
Safiya Stanfley, headmistress since 2023, said that in addition to these achievements, a 98% pass rate was achieved in 2025 for learners in Grade 8 to Grade 11, with Grade 11 learners attaining a 100% pass rate.
Since her appointment, Stanfley began changing processes with a focus on communication to and from the provincial Department of Education. Teachers were encouraged and supported for further training, and at parents’ meetings, a 100% pass rate was emphasised as the goal.
The school’s previous 100% pass rate was in 2018. Over recent years, the school made progress in increasing its matriculation pass rate: 98% in 2022, 96,6% in 2023, and 96,8% in 2024.
“We aimed to get parents and learners to commit to this target, with maximum output,” she said.
Extra Mathematics classes for Grade 12 learners were available every Monday, Tuesday, and over weekends according to a specific timetable.
“At the end of each term, we analysed the overall results and focused on subjects we were not satisfied with,” Stanfley remarked.
Part of the analysis involved focused communication with subject heads, the reviewing of assessments, and discussions with parents and learners.
The school boasts some very involved parents, whilst less engaged parents and those of underachieving learners are specifically invited to parents’ meetings.
Looking forward with much anticipation
Looking forward to 2026 with approximately 1 050 learners, there is much to anticipate. Eight newly built classes for Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy were occupied at the beginning of the year. The sports grounds are being upgraded, with among others six netball, hockey and multipurpose courts.
Currently, the KGHS has the highest number of learners studying Accounting and has offered Consumer Studies since 2024.
The school boasts 22 staff members involved in marking NSC papers. Mathematics teacher Ruann Blignault was appointed as a national examiner for Mathematics Paper 1, whilst Lillian Khapa was appointed as internal moderator for Consumer Studies preliminary examinations in September.
“We will continue providing support and training opportunities to educators, maintaining involvement with the wider community and all relevant departments,” Stanfley said.
“Parents are knocking down our doors , but our classes are full.” For the KGHS, established in 1887, the future looks bright.
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