Senior Preparatory Weekly Memo

7 March 2025

Dear Parents

What an exciting week we've had at the Senior Preparatory Faculty! We kicked things off with a Special Library Assembly on Monday where our talented Grade 6's celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday while also acknowledging a UNESCO Heritage Day, World Wildlife Day. I was so impressed with how beautifully they connected these themes through their thoughtful dialogue.

We also awarded our Growing Minds trophies to several outstanding learners who exemplified qualities such as purposeful collaboration, effective communication, critical thinking, creative agency, and responsible citizenship. These are 5 core competencies that we place high value on at the college.

Note we have opened up Co-curricular signups for Q2 & 3. Please sign up using the Q2&3 Co-curricular Sign Up Form for all Sport, Drama, Design and Junior Chefs, for each child you have enrolled in the Preparatory Faculty. There are a number of activities which have maximum learner limits.

There is lots of news this week... catch the short video summary in Principal Paul's memo...

Principal Pauls Memo Week 7.MOV

Happy Birthday Christopher Robin

Above: Lorraine and Werner Roth Above Right: Founding Educators: (Back L-R) J. Booysen, L. Davies, L. Steynberg (Nee Greenway), J. Armstrong, R. Knaggs (Director), G. Douglas, A. Bailly, N. Muller (Front L-R) H. Kreyenbroek, R. van der Merwe, P. O’Brien, L. Ribaudo and L. Torbet. (Highlighted names denote staff who are still with us).

We will be celebrating our 45th birthday on Tuesday, 11 March and on this day in 1980, Lorraine Roth, opened the doors of Christopher Robin Pre-Primary School to the residents of Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard. The quality of education provided brought about a well – patronised and respected establishment, which offered care and early learning to young children, aged from six months to six years.

The reputation and quality of the school continued to grow and numerous requests by parents, for the Pre-Primary to offer formal education began. Encouraged by the staunch support of parents we were prompted to search for land to grow the school’s academic offering. As a result of a thorough research process, the Western Seaboard was identified as a potential major growth area. This was further supported by growth and population statistics from the City of Cape Town’s Planning Department. The construction of Parklands College commenced in 1998 in the new suburb of Parklands and in July of the same year, proudly opened the doors of the new Campus in Raats Drive, to 32 learners.

The College was built in phases, in order to accommodate the growth in learner numbers. The window period provided during the construction phases enabled the College to acquire additional land for sports and future developments. Parklands College currently operates from three sites, on approximately twenty-six and a half hectares of land. The growth of the College and Pre-Primary required careful strategic planning, and a decision to develop a new campus for the existing Secondary Faculty was formalised by the Board in February 2010. Parklands College, at 1 College Avenue, opened its doors in January 2012.

The College continues to grow as a result of the outstanding education and foundation our learners receive in our Pre-Primary and we are proud of what has been made available, in order to enrich their academic, cultural and sporting interests. We look forward to providing many more years of outstanding innovative education, beginning in the early years. The success could not have been achieved without the outstanding support we have received from our parents.

Lorraine Roth

NOTICES

The City of Cape Town’s Urban Mobility Directorate have advised that they will be commencing construction of a median island and relocation of the speed hump in Wood Drive between Raats Drive and Dorchester Drive. They will be constructing an island opposite the Senior Preparatory exit gate and moving the speed hump closer to the circle.

INFORMATION REQUIRED

Please complete the form indicating participation in the your child's participation in the Interhouse gala on Thursday 20 March as well as the Q2 and Q3 Co-Curricular Sign-up form. You can find more information in the Co-Curricular section below.

ACADEMICS

Reports and feedback meetings

Senior Preparatory Reports will be released on Monday 24 March and report feedback meetings will take place on Tuesday 25 March, Wednesday 26 March and Thursday 27 March. Your child’s class teacher will share the link to their Google Calendar in order for you to book a meeting to discuss your child’s academic progress.

Appointments are usually 15 mins in length. We greatly value our parents’ and teachers’ time and urge parents to be on time in order to ensure that other parents are not kept waiting. Please contact your child’s class teacher directly should you be unavailable to meet on the specific days and times scheduled.

Please be reminded that formal assessment dates can be found on the assessment calendar for each grade on academic tab. Each calendar entry contains the specific date and study details of each assessment. The study details are posted at least two weeks before the assessment.

Growing Minds shields awarded this week

From our Parent and Learner Directory

The future requires people who are innovative, humanity-centred, relationship-oriented, compassion-focused, values-driven, globally-conscious and planet-sensitive, in order to guarantee that this generation will become REAL agents of change. The values necessary to sustain life on earth, as humans and environmentalists, are incorporated in five global competencies across our curriculum under our “Growing Minds” banner: Critical Thinkers, Effective Communicators, Purposeful Collaborators, Creative Agents and Responsible Citizens.

We are proud to award the following learners the shields for this week:

Critical Thinking
Raphael

Effective Communicators

Declan and Damian

Purposeful Collaborators
Tyler and Sophia J

Creative Agents
Ted, Zimi, Brynn and Lea

Responsible Citizen
Aliyana

Grade 6 News

Ever wondered how you can fit an entire country into your backpack? In Geography this week, we learnt and used the magic of scale to shrink huge places like cities and mountains onto maps to help us explore and navigate the world around us!

This week in mathematics, we had fun sharpening our calculator skills while practising mode, median, mean, and range!

A handy hint to remember: if you arrange the words mode, median, and mean alphabetically, median falls in the middle—just like in the data set! A simple trick to help you remember which word means "middle".

Meanwhile, in Art, creativity is in full swing as learners bring their fungi and cacti multi-medium masterpieces to life! With pastels, pencils, paint, and khokis flying across their pages, their artworks are bursting with texture and colour. We can’t wait to see the final pieces!

In History, we waved goodbye to the Lost Kingdom of Mapungubwe and set off on an epic adventure, following Marco Polo’s footsteps along the legendary Silk Road! From the bustling markets of Italy to the wonders of Asia, learners are uncovering ancient trade secrets, mysterious lands, and incredible journeys. Who knows what treasures and tales they’ll discover next?

Grade 5 News

What a fantastic week, Grade 5s! In English, we put our journalistic skills to the test by writing our own newspaper articles about some of Parklands College’s amazing achievements. Keep an eye out next quarter when these will be displayed in the corridor! In Science, we explored all the bones in our body and had a blast testing our knowledge with a fun Kahoot quiz. Who knew learning about the skeleton could be so exciting?

And finally—hooray!—we have completed our formal assessments for the quarter! Your teachers are incredibly proud of all your hard work and dedication. Well done! 🎉

Grade 5 Q1 Building 3D Shapes.mp4

Grade 4 News

Our Grade 4s discovered the many ways flashcards can help them study for their Mathematics assessment. From using them in a simple matching game—pairing definitions with words—to placing them around the house and testing themselves as they pass by, creating Flash cards are a great way to make studying interactive, memorable, and fun.

In English, our learners loved playing Boggle and competing to find the highest number of words. 4L did an incredible job, discovering 40 different words!

Boggle: How many words can you find?

Junior Tour De Maths

Our grade 6 and 7 Tour De Maths team had their second leg of the Competition at Elkanah this past Tuesday. Our learners came second on the night, but have managed to keep their first place ranking after two legs. We are extremely proud of their efforts. It was once again a highly enjoyable evening and we look forward to seeing our team only grow in confidence and mathematical rigour.

Mathletics Certificates

Congratulations to who have levelled up in Mathletics this week and received their silver certificates.

Outreach

Only a few weeks to go to donate dog and cat food. Thank you for your continued support this quarter.

CO-CURRICULAR

Our weekly co-curricular programme can be found on the Sports and Co-Curricular Tab

Please complete the Q2&3 Co-curricular Sign Up Form for all Sport, Drama, Design and Junior Chefs, for each child you have enrolled in the Preparatory Faculty.

SPORT

From the Sports Desk

A New Season Begins – Autumn Pre-Season 2025!

Just like that, we switch gears and transition into Autumn Pre-Season Sports for 2025! As we pack away our cricket bats, pads, and softball mitts, it's time to bring out the rugby balls, hockey sticks, and netballs for an exciting new term of sport.

We encourage all learners to jump onto the Q2&3 Co-curricular Sign Up Form:

🏑 Boys' Sports – Hockey, Soccer (Grade 5-6 only), Rugby
🏐 Girls' Sports – Hockey or Netball
♟️ Chess – Tuesdays & Fridays

We will be having our annual Interhouse Gala on Thursday 20 March. Please complete the following form on behalf of your child. Interhouse Gala Form

A huge thank you to our parents for your unwavering support on the cricket and softball fields. Your cheers and encouragement have made all the difference. And of course, a massive shout-out to those who have supported our gala season - it’s been an action-packed one! A special appreciation goes to the team that worked tirelessly in Quarter 1 to get our learners ready for competition.

As we wrap up our final gala of the year today, let’s celebrate the dedication, growth, and passion our young athletes have shown. Here's to an exciting new season ahead!

Yours in sport,
Jared Margetts
Head of Preparatory Sports

The Week That Was: Unbeaten Streaks and Spirited Performances!

What an incredible week of sport, filled with thrilling victories and hard-fought battles!

Our U12 Cricket team continues its dominant form, making it 5 out of 5 with a 54-run victory over Reddam Durbanville. Ross and Declan shared Player of the Match honors - Ross impressing with 45 not out and Declan delivering with the ball, taking 2 wickets for just 3 runs. A special mention to James, who stepped up as stand-in wicketkeeper and claimed three catches behind the stumps!

Our U10 Cricket team remains unbeaten this quarter, making it 4 from 4 with a resounding 10-wicket win over Reddam Durbanville. Makenzo set the tone early, grabbing two wickets in his first over!

The U11 Cricket team played out a nail-biting draw against Reddam Durbanville, with Nick earning Player of the Match honors for his outstanding all-round performance.

On the Softball front, our U10 and U11/12 teams took on Cannons Creek in two tightly contested matches. The U10s fell just short, losing 8-7, with Player of the Match (Milka), while our U11/U12 team put up a spirited fight but couldn't secure the win, with Players of the Match (Imogen and Mira).

Despite some tough results, the growth and determination of our softballers have been inspiring—they continue to play with smiles on their faces, showing resilience and passion every step of the way!

Another fantastic week of sport - well done to all our young athletes!

Parklands College Rotation Chess Event

U12 Knysna Netballers: Pre-season training!

Looking Ahead:

Parklands College Prep Interschools Gala, 7 March 2025
Bring your cheers and spirits to our final Interschools Gala of the quarter.

Pre-season Autumn switch is here!

Please look at the Autumn switch programme below and familiarise yourself with the changes for the sports programme.

PRE-SEASON AUTUMN SWITCH: 10 - 20 MARCH 2025

SP Extra Mural Timetable AUTUMN SWITCH 2025 MEMO - Google Docs.pdf

External Achievements in Sport

Please find a link to the notification letter informing the College of a learner's external achievements at Area/Regional/Provincial level.

External Achievements

Sport Quick Links

SPORTS INFO

TRAVEL CONSENT

EXTERNAL ACHIEVEMENTS

SPORTS CALENDAR

CULTURE

Our Dance Siblings at Parklands College

credit Ms Dean

Time to book: Autumn Awakenings Choir Concert

Celebrate the start of Autumn with Music! The choirs from Table View Primary, Blouberg Ridge and Blouberg International will join the Parklands College Junior and Senior Preparatory Choirs in this celebration of song!

Bookings can be made on quicket using the following link or QR Code

https://www.quicket.co.za/events/260969-autumn-awakenings-choir-festival#/

LIBRARY

Extreme Reading

In the (slightly amended) words of Dr Seuss, whose birthday it was on Sunday, 2nd March:

I can read here and there

I can read EVERYWHERE!

At our assembly on Monday it was a pleasure to acknowledge the winners for their exceptional entries in the Extreme Reading challenge. We also want to congratulate all the participants who accepted the challenge and came up with creative and sometimes outrageous ideas. Well done to you all! You have indeed been reading everywhere!

Extreme Reading 2025.mov

Book Donation

Thank you so much to Keziah Matyila for donating a book to the Max Einstein series, which encourages a love for Science and taking care of our planet. This one is titled, Rebels with a Cause.

Quick Links

CALENDAR AND EVENTS

Please bookmark the following calendars and add them to your personal calendar by using the + at the bottom of each calendar. They can also be accessed through the EdAdmin App (more information under the general tab)