Diaz Diplomas Awarded

On the 5th of November, Diaz Primary held their Diploma Ceremony for 2009. It began at 6.30pm and was conducted through English and Afrikaans.
The ceremony was opened beautifully by the school choir. For such young children I was really impressed by the strength and depth of their voices. Mr. Johannes, their conductor, and the children should be very proud of their performances, they really were a delight. However, the musical extravaganza was not to end there as Ms. Beukes’ children played some lovely pieces on the recorder which were also warmly received.
The hall was literally packed full of people and extra chairs had to be retrieved as streams of parents continued to come in through the doors, chatting excitedly and laden with cake.
When they began to hand out diplomas, the hall was literally humming with anticipation. The atmosphere was wonderful. I have never seen a parent so proud of their child. One woman actually ran up the aisle to the stage, ululating and waving her hands up in the air so that she could take a photograph of her son holding his certificate. The sense of community present was truly inspiring. Whenever a learner scored over 90% in a subject, everyone in the audience would cheer wildly – a collective pride that was quite moving. Each child was applauded heartily and those that received more than one diploma were “Ooo-ed” and “Aaaah-ed”, by all the parents, regardless of whose child it was.
That’s not to say, however, that the learners in question did not deserve these adorations. They well and truly did. Competition was very close; the distance between 1st, 2nd and 3rd place sometimes given in decimal point and in some cases, 1st place was awarded to a learner that had scored over 95%! Congratulations to all the learners that received diplomas, there were so many that deserve a special mention in here but I can only name a select few.

Congratulations to:
•Tshepiso Ntlai – 80%
•Francisca Sibeni – 80%
•Letifa Victor – 79%
•Kelsey Engelbrecht – 67%

These were the overall winners from Grade One, with Francisca and Tshepiso tying for 1st place.

Congratulations to the overall winners from Grade Two:
•Nakwila Ipinge – 91%
•Jeremia Negumbo – 88%
•Gabriella Jacobs – 80%

Congratulations to the overall winners from Grade Three:
•Rejoice Nembungu – 94%
•Alina Uusiku – 87%
•Paulus Washeya – 85%
Congratulations to the overall winners from Grade Four:
•Kleophas Cloete – 77%
•Misha Ntlai – 76.8%
•Selma Festus – 75%

Congratulations to the overall winners from Grade Five:
•Wendy Penda – 82.5%
•Amy Beukes – 81.6%
•Jameh David – 77%

Congratulations to the overall winners from Grade Seven:
•Ndigwana Mukapuli – 80.8%
•Metumo Mungungu – 79.9%
•Angeline Iputa – 76.4%
A special congratulations to the Dux Learner from Lower Primary – Mish Ntlai. The Dux Learner from Upper Primary is Ndigwana Mukapuli. Well done girls!
Mr. Aspara closed the ceremony by giving thanks to the teachers, learners and parents for all the work that they have put in over the year and to remind the learners that, “It’s not over! There’s still one semester to go!”
Congratulations Diaz Primary, I hope you continue to achieve such outstanding results in the years to come.•