NEWS

GRADE 6

PSW: Respect and Mutual Respect 💡

This week in Personal and Social Well-being (PSW), our Grade 6 learners explored the important theme of Respect. The lessons encouraged them to think about what respect truly means, why it matters and how it shapes the way we interact with others.

Learners discussed practical questions such as:
✨ What is respect?
✨ How do I show it?
✨ What does it look like in action at school, at home and with friends and family?

Through conversations and examples, they discovered that respect isn’t just about good manners, it’s about listening, valuing others’ opinions, treating people kindly and recognising the feelings of those around us. Mutual respect means that this behaviour goes both ways, creating healthy and positive relationships.

By reflecting on real-life situations, learners realised that small actions like: using polite language, waiting their turn, or supporting a friend, can make a big difference in building an atmosphere of kindness and trust wherever they go. 🌟

Navigating Friendships – Workshop with Grade 6 Learners

This week, our Grade 6 learners participated in a meaningful workshop titled Navigating Friendships, where we explored the ups and downs that come with growing social circles and changing dynamics. Together, we unpacked some key challenges like jealousy, peer pressure, and growing apart, helping learners recognise what these experiences can look and feel like in real life.

More importantly, we focused on what to do when faced with friendship challenges. Learners were encouraged to practise self-reflection, initiate face-to-face conversations rather than texting and think carefully about the other person’s response. We also explored how to decide on a path forward, whether that means setting healthy boundaries or understanding that not all friendships are meant to last and that’s okay. Prioritising mental health and emotional well-being was a key theme throughout.

A special highlight of the session was hearing from our peer support group, who shared their personal experiences with friendships and transitions. Learners also had the chance to meet and interact with our high school counselors, who will be a valuable source of support for them in the coming year.

We’re proud of our learners for engaging openly and thoughtfully as they continue to build strong, respectful and resilient friendships.

Afrikaans: Word Order with STOMPI 📘

In Afrikaans, our Grade 6 learners tackled one of the most important grammar tools they’ll use throughout school - STOMPI! This clever acronym is going to be their best friend for a very long time, as it helps them remember the correct word order when writing sentences.

We spoke about how understanding sentence structure is not only key to acing grammar exercises but also to writing clear and accurate sentences in their creative and formal writing tasks. By practising with STOMPI, learners are building a strong foundation that will make Afrikaans sentence writing feel much easier and more natural over time.

🌟 Tip: Subject ➡️ Time ➡️ Object ➡️ Manner ➡️ Place ➡️ Infinitive verb! 

If you keep STOMPI in mind, you’ll always know where the words should go.

👉 Example:

• Jumbled sentence: In die park speel die kinders elke dag gelukkig sokker.

• Using STOMPI: Die kinders speel elke dag gelukkig sokker in die park.

The learners enjoyed seeing how a mixed-up sentence could be “fixed” quickly with STOMPI, making their writing neat and structured!

English: Character Sketches 📖

Our Grade 6 learners worked collaboratively to create visual character sketches of the characters from their Quarter 3 novel. This activity encouraged them to think deeply about how authors build characters through actions, words and personality traits. They showed excellent teamwork while combining creativity and descriptive detail to bring the characters to life. 📚

GRADE 5

Academic Highlights

English: Our learners delved into the fascinating world of language, exploring the key differences between homonyms and homophones—building stronger foundations for their vocabulary and spelling skills.

GRADE 4

After many weeks of growing microgreens, our Grade 4s hosted a farmers' market yesterday. Thank you to all of our parents who supported our initiative. We raised over R3000 selling homegrown microgreens, which will be donated to Ladles of Love. Well done Grade 4s. 

Growing Minds Shields

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.

In assembly this week we awarded the following learners Growing Minds shields. 

Congratulations and well done on being nominated for this award.  

SPORT 

Derby Day has arrived! 🎉 

This Saturday, 20 September, we gather at Golden Grove for one of the highlights of our sporting calendar – the North vs South Derby. Our learners have been working hard all term, and this is their chance to showcase their skills and school spirit. Please wear your Blue and White and come ready to cheer our teams on!

Fixtures kick off at 09h00 with action across the Rugby fields and Netball courts. Learners are asked to arrive 30 minutes prior to their scheduled start time to warm up and prepare for the day. Families are welcome to stay and enjoy the full line-up of games and festivities – but please note that learners must remain under the care of a parent or guardian throughout the event.

This Derby is more than just matches – it’s a celebration of teamwork, rivalry, and community. We’ve seen huge strides in our learners’ development this term. From early-season practices in the wet and windy Cape Town winter, through league matches and weekend festivals, our Rugby, Netball, Hockey, Chess and Soccer players have grown in skill, resilience, and confidence. These improvements have been evident in every fixture – and Derby Day will be the perfect stage to showcase them.

As Derby Day wraps up, so too does Quarter 3 sport. The Sports Department would like to thank every parent, learner, and coach for their support, encouragement, and dedication this quarter. Your energy on the sidelines and commitment behind the scenes have made a big difference, and our learners have truly benefited.

Looking ahead, we are now preparing for summer sports. 🌞 Cricket, Tennis, Softball, Swimming, and Waterpolo return to the spotlight, with Quarter 4 promising a vibrant programme. Please don’t forget to sign up for our Cricket Clinic on 13 October, an excellent opportunity for our U10, U11 and U12 cricketers to sharpen their skills. With the Swimming Gala, exciting cricket and softball fixtures, and plenty of competitive tennis rallies on the horizon, the momentum will continue into the new season.

Here’s to ending the winter season on a high at Derby Day, and to a summer filled with energy, sportsmanship, and Blue-and-White pride! 💙🤍

Senior Prep Week that was:

What an awesome last week of Sport for our U12 Netballers who took on our Coaches on Wednesday in a "friendly" yet competitive fixture. Unfortunately, for our Grade 6s, coaches showed their experience and pure talent, which doesn't seem to fade with age. 

Sport Quick Links

This week, learners participated in three exhilarating Lit Quiz competitions. The aim was to find the winning house in each category and earn some valuable points towards being the ultimate winning house at the end of the year. Competition was fierce and there were some highlights along the way with individual prizes up for grabs.

 In Grade 1 & 2, Cambridge won the day with an unprecedented first place tie from Team Magic Finger, Team Sophie and Team BFG.

In Grade 5 & 6, Team Samwise took the lead right from the start and held on throughout to win the competition, closely followed by Team Faramir and Team Tauriel. Once again, Cambridge was the winning house.

Congratulations to Cambridge, our 2025 Inter house Lit Quiz Champions!

Quick Links

CONCLUDING COMMENTS

Here are some important dates for this quarter:

Happy birthday to Miss Amy Dean for today and Mr Cupido for Saturday 20 September.

Tuesday 23 September is the last day of school and school closes at 13h00.  Please make arrangements to collect your child promptly at 13h00 as there are no aftercare facilities on this day.

Please note our learners return to school on Tuesday 14 October in their summer school uniform.

We would like to wish the following teachers a very happy birthday. We hope they enjoy celebrating in the holidays.

2 October: Simoné Prinsloo                                    

7 October:  Roché Buckle          

To all our Jewish Families, we wish you a Happy Rosh Hashanah for next week.

This is the last blog for the quarter, the next blog will be published on Monday 13 October. 

Don't forget, 5th October is World Teachers Day!

Have a wonderful holiday and see you back on Tuesday 14 October.

Paul Mayers

Senior Preparatory Principal

pmayers@parklands.co.za 

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Links to other faculty blogs:

Pre-Primary Faculty: https://ppblog.parklands.co.za

Junior Preparatory Faculty: https://jpblog.parklands.co.za 

Secondary Faculty: https://secblog.parklands.co.za