SCHOOL WELCOMES FIVE SETS OF TWINS
Siblings excited about taking on high school together and making lasting memories
An East London school has welcomed its biggest intake of twins yet, with five sets starting Grade 8.
The twins will be among 400 newcomers to John Bisseker Senior Secondary School in Parkside. The Daily Dispatch met up with four of the five sets at orientation on Tuesday.
They include Giswall and Herswill Peters, Jade and Jady Wentzel, Tianah and Tyrah Botha and Aldin and Alsha Stevens, who all live in Parkside. The fifth set of twins was not at school on Tuesday.
They hid behind mischievous smiles and said being in high school as pairs would make the experience more rewarding.
The identical Peters twins said they were looking forward to confusing more pupils and teachers.
“We’re happy to be in the same school because it means more people will be confused by us,” Giswall said.
He said the only way people were able to differentiate between them was because he was chubbier than his slender twin brother.
“We are looking forward to a year filled with success,” he said.
The Botha sisters were the only all-girl set of twins in the group.
The sisters said school was better together because they would always have a friend in each other.
The Stevens twins are a boy and a girl.
“We turned 14 on Monday and we’re very excited to be starting in yet another school together after being at AW Barnes. It’s just always better that way,” Alsha said.
The Wentzel brothers, however, had a different feeling about being in the same school.
Jade said: “My brother’s mischief often gets me into trouble. I am the innocent one.”
John Bisseker deputy principal Richard Joubert said it was the first time the school had so many twin sets in one go.
“We’re quite excited. We’ve had a couple of twins each year but this is quite extraordinary. Teachers do tend to get them confused but they make the most of it.”
Joubert said each Grade 8 class had up to 50 pupils, with a new classroom stretching their capacities to the maximum.