Past Case Studies

We have included a few examples of ex-learners who have successfully finished Grade 12 in our school.

2009, first year of our school’s existence (34 Grade 12 learners):

We have enrolled a learner who experienced severe challenges throughout his whole academic career. He was evaluated professionally and it was concluded that he would never be able to pass Grade 12. His previous school gave up on him and he was asked to leave. He completed Grade 12 successfully with us.
We regularly identify boys who are smoking dagga. Counselling them over a period of time managed to affect a dramatic behaviour of change in most of them so that they successfully passed Grade 12.
We have rehabilitated learners who had severe gambling problems and were stealing their school fees to finance their habit. These ex-gamblers are currently rehabilitated, positive and responsible citizens.

2010 (42 Grade 12 learners):

One very aggressive juvenile was frequently involved in fights and often stormed out of classes after he had disagreements with teachers. He was enrolled into our counselling program and by the time he reached Grade 12, he was a different person, making positive contributions to sport and cultural activities and achieving above average marks.

A learner finished Grade 12 in a neighbouring school in 2009, but with unsatisfactory marks. She achieved 40% for Mathematics and 37% for Physical Sciences. She repeated Grade 12 in our school and achieved 69% for Mathematics and 71% for Physical Sciences.

2011 (22 Grade 12 learners):

We had a learner that suffered from bi-polarity resulting in severe mood swings. He was absent from school very often and regularly arrived late at school. He caused various disrupting episodes in class. He was even more surprised than the teachers when he ended up passing matric.
A learner was placed in a special school during foundation phase where they were not taught the normal reading and writing skills. When he was in Grade 8 his parents decided to place him in a mainstream school. He could not adapt and came to Eagle Christian College. We believe he was a high functioning autistic person (possibly Asperger, but never professionally diagnosed) and was frequently the cause of disciplinary issues. He passed Grade 12 achieving average marks.

A learner came to us in Grade 11 and was soon found to be smoking dagga as well as nyaope. He was also caught stealing cell phones. After several unsuccessful internal attempts to change his behaviour, we referred him to a rehabilitation centre. He came back in September of his Grade 11 year. Within a week after returning he was caught stealing a cell phone again. Our renewed counselling proved to be successful and he ended up being one of the top learners in the school in Grade 12.

2012 (29 Grade 12 learners) -2013 (39 Grade 12 learners):

We are accepting more learners from neighbouring schools who were asked to leave because of weak results in Grade 11. The majority of them passed Grade 12 at Eagle Christian College. Because of our emphasis on independent learning instead of exam coaching, several of these learners have reported back that in spite of their mediocre Grade 12 marks, they are achieving above average results in tertiary education.

2014 (38 Grade 12 learners):

This was probably our weakest Grade 12 group ever, with eighty percent of them being ‘broken children’. We still managed to achieve an 83% pass rate.

An Afrikaans speaking coloured male failed Grade 11 in the local Afrikaans medium government school in 2012. Additionally his father passed away during 2012. He came to us to repeat Grade 11. This was a huge adaptation since he is Afrikaans speaking. During 2013 his mother also passed away. He then failed grade 11 again, but we progressed him due to circumstances. During 2014 we supported him financially and otherwise, but he still struggled academically and emotionally. During September (6 weeks before the final examinations) he was assaulted and his right eyeball was cut with a knife. He spent some time in hospital. He decided to persevere and wrote the final examination. To our surprise and utter joy he passed Grade 12.

A Sepedi speaker from a remote rural area in Limpopo enrolled with us for her Gr.10 year. She had previously been staying with her grandparents who owned a funeral parlour. Since Gr.7 she only attended school three days a week as she had to lay out the corpses for the funerals. Her English was barely understandable and she had never been taught Afrikaans. She gave birth to a baby at the end of Gr.10. She failed her Gr. 11 year and repeated it. She had jealous family members, who over a period of time burnt her school bag and destroyed some of her school books. She passed Gr.12 being condoned for Afrikaans.

2015 (46 grade 12’s 86% pass rate)

One learner was in special classes since primary school. He repeated grade 10 and 11. The second time when he wrote grade 11 in 2014, he was progressed since he didn’t meet the requirements. Yet he ended passing grade 12.

Another learner came to us to do grade 12 after spending 2014 in rehab. He ended being our top performer.

2016 (51 grade 12’s 90% pass rate)

One learner repeated and failed grade 10 twice in a neighbouring school. She did grade 10 for the third time in our school and ended with an above average grade 12.

Another learner was expelled more than once during his school career and was in and out of rehabilitation centres. He ended with a good pass in grade 12.

2017 (46 grade 12’s 87% pass rate)

Fourteen of these learners were asked to leave their previous school during or at the end of the grade 10 or 11 year, for reason that varied between behavioural or academic performance.

2019 (51 learners 90% pass rate)
We had a learner who was an orphan and had a total lake of self-esteem. He ended up being a prefect and passed with a good average.

2020 (55 learners 86% pass rate)

One learner was sent to a special (occupational) school and was not supposed to make grade 12. He ended up achieving Diploma status.
Another learner was born with aids and is also an orphan. She came to us after having very bad results in grade 10 and ended up as one of our top performers with an average of 73%.