Linkside High School

fun times with friends , shaky education 6.5/10

Let me start this off by saying that linkside high is a wonderful place to be. It is a very good school to go for, it has great education, the teachers are very nice and the facilities are clean, the facilities have been upgraded since last I was there but it is quite a journey to be inside of linkside high School. It is very interesting and if you put your head and your heart to it you will come out very successful. But let me tell you a little about my journey in this high school to give you a glimpse of a percentage of what to expect because as time moves on this may not always be the case. First of all, yes, linkside is the ghetto. We got it all. From A to Z you name it we got it. If you want a group of friends that smoke. You got it. If you want a group of friends that play games all day in class, you most likely got it. If you want a group of friends that study the same subjects as you that actually are willing to help you... Well in some cases like my own you don't have that but I have friends in other subjects that have claimed to have. There is more but I'd end up writing a book... Linkside is highly cultural. It's a place for your kid to get out of his/her comfort zone. (to the student) as you grow, you develop in your body and in your mind you start to understand that all these rule breakers within the school are nothing more than students that have failed to stand firm in a bright future. It's not entirely the schools fault. It is also the partly fault of the caregiver of that student. So I say it's a 50/50 for the guilt to the school and the caregiver. But as you grow that ratio slowly changes from school and caregiver to school and student. This is why it is important to be brought up in a disciplined home. Enough blabbering. On to my story. As to not give my identity away I'll call myself Chip (for the OGs, if you know, you know). So 13 year old Chip finally gets the chance to apply for high school. He applied for 3 schools and waited for a response. He applied for Westering, Linkside and Alexander. Chip never got a reply from Alex. Chip got racially declined by Westering. Chip got accepted at Linkside. Chip was happy and nervous. Mixed emotions went through Chip's head as he got ready for his first day at high school. Chip was an introverted person in primary but Chip wanted to become better than what he was. He made an oath to be the best version of himself that he knew he would be proud of. Chip held to that oath as he started gaining the courage to make friends and ask his crush out to be his Valentine. Let's just say Chip made a lot of friends but went empty handed on 14 Feb. Chip was learning new things besides working and all the school jazz you know about. It's just schoolwork and homework. But Chip got involved in sound crew at Linkside. Chip was happy. Chip was and will forever be the youngest IT prefect to have been in linkside because the IT manager at the time (we miss you Mr Boggenpoel) only allowed grade 10 and above but because Chip socialized so much he made good mates with the IT manager and got a free ticket to being an IT prefect at the age of 14. This was just the beginning for Chip. Chip had become such a loved character around the school. Chip made a brand for himself through his character that he was building. He started working on his skills that he started gaining such as fixing electronics like computers and phones to dancing. Chip went through a family hiccup and had to leave Linkside. But later when Chip returned to PE, Chip reapplied to Linkside in hopes for a response. The deputy principal accepted Chip's letter within a heartbeat. She called Chip in and said that the school had become so bland and boring since Chip had left. Chip was only more empowered from then onwards to show Linkside who he truly is. Chip continued to study hard and get the best marks he was capable of getting. If I remember correctly Chip only got into serious trouble about 2 times. One of them got him his first incident report. But such are teenagers. I mean bro teaching was done for the term, we could relax so we were chilling outside. Anyways.... Chip really started to get somewhere. On the social side, Chip started to experience a lot of change. Chip had a good few girlfriends in high school. Some in the school and some outside the school. None of them worked out. Sorry to those thinking "This is how I met your mother". Keep in mind that Chip's friend circle changed a lot as well. Chip kept on marketing his talents. So much that he organized a talent show with a friend of his. People didn't know that Chip's true intent of the talent show was to show those that attended what he truly loves and what he is capable of. Further down the line Chip finally reached his goal of being recognized for what he is good at. Dancing and technical assistance. Chips NSC was just above average. But in the end he made it. And 20 years from now Chip will be back in linkside provided it still exists to give back to the school that made him who he is today.

Chip does have one request. Stop the cap, Linkside. You know full well to not be two faced. Yes this is aimed to the principal and deputy principal. Like bro. You can't have assemblies with devotion and a prayer where you preach the word of the Lord but then have a good time going against it the next day. Two faced I must say. But again, just stick to the bible and don't detour from it otherwise the school and all it's good for will be deemed hell bound.

N.B. This ain't one of those high schools like in the movies where you get free lunch. Pack your lunch, kids. Otherwise you'll be starving all day. There is a tuck shop though for the rich kids.

This is Chip, signing out, Linkside matriculant 2023.

Throughout my Linkside experience I was victim to bullying to the point where I would bunk almost all classes where it happened, because of how the students and a specific teacher was. Only twice did I ever get caught. It was really interesting how the students would be like that right infront of teachers and guess what they would do? Absolutely nothing. I lost count of how many incident reports I handed in, and only if I went into the office and I would only hear something back after constantly insisting on a response. They have these "anti-drugs" campaigns but the children just laugh, they should put smoke detectors in the bathroom stalls because that's where everyone goes to smoke during classes. They should put cameras by the hockey field, by the bushes/tress of the hockey field, at the bottom of the rugby field, along the fences of the rugby field going towards the staff parking, by the downhill between the rugby and soccer field, by the old school board on the soccer field, by the blindspots like the staircase that goes into room 1, because those and the bathrooms where you can't put cameras inside are the main bunking spots, often boys and girls go together into the same bathroom to sit during classes and bunk while drinking and/or smoking, but having eyedrops, mouthwash/breathmints and spray hides the evidence right? Out of all my classes only in 4 did we actually work, in 1 the teacher always picked on me because of my race and made me cry multiple times in class and students even questioned why his racist and denied being a racialist. Well as for the rest I spent all my time on my phone because even though the teacher was speaking, no one was ever paying attention and always on their phones and the teachers didn't do anything about it because, smart to have class WhatsApp groups to send work right? The school should have never stopped using Moodle it had alot more structure. And I never understood the point of textbooks because I never brought a single one to school and never got in trouble about it. The white slips and detention system the school has is a joke to the students. Friday till 4 at school writing out why you did what you did? I bet there's many students who would prefer that than having to go home to broken families. The school needs to severely work on discipline. In my time there people have laughed and made a huge joke at the fact that they got community service for space muffins at school, and people who would go every morning to the golf course between trees where people can't see and smoke because they can't do anything if it didn't happen on school grounds right? And students who would be called to the office to be tested but would arrive there with the alcohol bottle clearly sticking out their pocket and students who would be laughing at eachother right after getting tested because they know if their parents found out they wouldn't care. And for that I blame the parents, for raising their children to be and think like that. But that is what caused the school to be called "the ghetto" and it's sad because it not everyone but it's always that minority that ruins things like the school name for the other majority. But sadly, like the majority students mindsets are, "let's cause problems in class so the teacher can shout and lecture all period then we don't have to do work then we'll just get it for homework", "And what's the chances the homework will be checked?" The school had more structure when they followed the ER system, ever since that fell away so has students work ethic. As well as, teachers are too lenient when not necessary. The school should really consider to check the homework, do class tests on topics, and if they notice a student is getting below 75% in a topic that they go for extra classes when that topic is being retaught or schedule with the teacher to help the students understand it. Because I personally can say since the school started slacking on ensuring students are doing and understanding work I have totally slacked in putting effort into doing and making the effort to get help in material I didnt understand. My class workbooks for 2023 are all brand new and empty, besides math lit, afrikaans, english and tourism that I did all in one book which was the only thing ever in my school bag and my pencil case to seem productive, because no one payed attention to if it's even the right book with the right material inside, the school shouldn't have stopped checking books too. Because sending a student who did the work around with the teacher stamp won't do any justice because yes that student did the work in that class but won't tell on his/her friends who didn't because that same student probably didn't do work in another class and would risk getting snitched there. Oh and lastly, I politely want to say to the school, you can't butter both sides of the bread. Meaning, you can't be opening assemblies in prayer and Bible devotion but be having communities and clubs that goes completely against the Bible. You can't be on both sides. Either you against the word of the Bible or you live by it.

This is the best school ever 😍. The teacher are so supportive and helpful in times of need and students are so kind, caring and friendly. I've only been here two years but it's the best exchange. I would definitely love other to experience what I have