Dear Mr Lamont,
I have come to the end of my three-year journey of IT and despite the many challenges I may have encountered, I am thankful for the opportunity allowed to me.
It was a new experience in which I had to teach myself with no teacher alongside me or a class. I learnt many skills like perseverance and discipline in doing work every day in order not to fall behind (although I may have fallen behind many times and this was a growing curve for me).
Despite the challenges, stress and anxiety, I am so grateful that it was made easier because I had guidance. You have been a great teacher, you were always patient, kind and thoughtful, offering help whenever I needed it. I am so thankful to have had such guidance throughout my three years and I know I could not have succeeded and achieved what I did without your teaching.
I may not study IT further, but I will forever hold the skills I have learnt with me and use them as I go into the future and be grateful that I had the opportunity to study IT and learn about it, as it enhanced me in many different aspects.
I really appreciate all that you have done for me and I hope you have a wonderful holiday and the new year holds many great things.
Thank you for everything.
Kind regards
Robyn (2020)
"Working with and through computer studies has been an experience I won't soon forget... It's been hard but worthwhile. Now at the end of the tunnel we look back and realise just how much we've learnt. So much more is possible now and an entire avenue to the future has been opened. It has been an absolute pleasure working with Mr Lamont in this and he really has made the work both fascinating and intriguing. It has been beneficial not only to my future in the world of computers but also to my entire way of thinking; If there is one thing programming teaches best it's thinking!" (Padi - a grade 12 student)
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"I studied through Ssir because I have a great interest in computers, and technology. And am very interested in the creating of programs and finding out how a computer actually works. And my future studying is going to consist of the same sort of things, so i thought i would make an early start. And also my school does not offer it as a subject. I would recommend Ssir to people who have a love for computers and are interested in them. If you have no motivation to learn about technology then i would not recommend doing this. One thing that did stand out was how prepared the teachers were to drop everything - at any time - just to help with a question. Especially those last few burning queries before the final exam. At any time I could make contact and find out something or get help. With regards to the final prac exam, I was very prepared for it and am confident that i have achieved a pleasing result. Thanks!!" (Matt - a grade 12 student)
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"I would also like to thank you for your time and effort that you have put into my IT work this year and for helping me to learn an awesome subject. You have done a good job and thank you for it !" (Ryan – a grade 12 student)
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"Ssir has been offering both CAT and IT to pupils from De La Salle Holy Cross College for a number of years. Pupils have been very positive about the experience of studying online, and have always achieved the results they expected or better. The professional way in which the Ssir site is run is a testament to the care taken by Mr Arnold Lamont to ensure that the educational experience is the best that can be offered to school pupils from an online environment.
I often recommend to parents who want their children to study CAT or IT to make use of the opportunity offered by Ssir.
I recommend this avenue of study to all who are not able to study the subjects they want to either through the unavailability of the subject at their school, or when they wish to study extra subjects beyond the 7 that form part of the FET curriculum." (John Gelling - previous Headmaster at De La Salle Holy Cross College)
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My experience with the SSIR community has been amazing. When I decided to take IT way back in grade 9 it was quite a difficult decision to make (partly because you don’t have a physical teacher in the classroom and partly because my entire family went in the medical direction). After much persuasion, my parents finally allowed me to follow my passion for coding and after that everything became a blur. Time flies when you’re having fun and I’ve got to say that I’ve really enjoyed and embraced this fantastic opportunity.
Make no mistake though, things will almost never work out the first time you “run” things, but this teaches you perseverance and humility. Luckily for me, I always had the SSIR team to help me out when I just couldn’t make sense of things. To conclude, I would just like to say that if you’re ever interested in IT or want to go against the grain and try something new and exciting, then SSIR is the way to go.
Jared Tavares