Mr. Ross Barrett

I first became aware of Solid Foundations just over a year ago in my personal capacity. On being appointed to Pecanwood College High School in the latter part of 2016, it became very apparent that the pupils and families that were applying from Botswana particularly, were younger than their South African peers and on sitting the Benchmark assessment in Math and English, gaps existed.
Working closely with the staff of Solid Foundations, they have fulfilled an important role of providing a remarkably detailed set of assessments which has empowered both parents and my staff to put effective and strategic supporting lessons and actions in place. Furthermore, the Solid Foundations tutors have established a centre on campus to enable the additional sessions to work alongside the school’s co-curricular afternoon programme. The tutors have been professional, friendly and ever-so willing to find a way to ensure the necessary lessons take place.
The pupils who started with Solid Foundations at the beginning of this year have shown an improvement of up to 17% – which is a remarkable performance. Other, possibly more importantly, non-measurables like self-confidence and delight in learning have been the additional spin-offs – the willingness to engage with learning has also been ignited.
Solid Foundations is now a key part of our strategy going forward.