Senior Preparatory Weekly Memo

Home 4 October 2024

Dear Parents

On World Teachers' Day, we celebrate the incredible individuals who go far beyond teaching. They are not only educators but also referees, counsellors, artists, lawyers, mediators and mentors, guiding students through life’s challenges with patience and creativity. Their dedication shapes the future, nurturing curiosity, compassion, and resilience in every child they reach. Tomorrow, we honour their tireless efforts, their many roles, and the profound impact they make on our world every single day. Thank you, teachers, for all that you do!

Our WRO teams participated in Nationals on 13 September. You can read more about their achievements under Five Parklands College Teams. 

World Teacher's Day

UNESCO inaugurated 5 October in 1994 as World Teachers' Day. World Teachers' Day represents a significant effort to raise awareness, understanding and appreciation for the vital contribution that teachers make to education and development across the globe.

To our Parklands College Teachers, we say thank you for the time, effort and contribution that you make towards educating our future generations, particularly during these interesting times.  Our teachers are Reaching Outwards, Growing Minds, Building Futures. 

Academic Information

Please refer to the academic tab for important information.

Parklands College has been designated an 

Apple Distinguished School (2016 - 2027)

Recognised for innovation, leadership, and educational excellence using technology

Parklands College is pleased to announce it has been recognised as an Apple Distinguished School for its fourth consecutive programme term, 2024–2027. Schools apply and are selected for this distinction based on their commitment to continuous innovation in education and using Apple products to inspire, imagine, and impact teaching and learning.

Apple Distinguished Schools are centres of leadership and educational excellence, with a clear vision for how technology-rich environments support learning goals. In Apple Distinguished Schools, forward-thinking leaders and their communities work to inspire, imagine, and impact teaching and learning, and they have documented results of academic accomplishments.

Schools all over the world are using iPad and Mac to transform learning. As teachers incorporate technology into their lessons, they empower students to lead, learn, and thrive, to discover new opportunities, and to make their world a better place.

Parklands College is a Pre-K to 12, Top 20, private, independent, co-educational school proudly representing the diverse culture in South Africa.

Our shared vision is to foster a sense of purpose and ignite a passion for life-long learning within our Parklands family. We encourage learners to effectively communicate ideas, work collaboratively, identify and solve challenges using creative and critical thinking, all while taking action to positively impact our global community.  This is our “Growing Minds” philosophy - the heartbeat to our expression of education. 

Leveraging innovative educational technology and a modern connected environment, our educators utilise new approaches to extend the learning experience. We encourage our learners to find and practice their purpose through authentic, experiential project and challenge-based learning.

“Reaching Outwards, Growing Minds, Building Futures”, our mission statement, concisely describes the core of our purpose, our “What”, “How” and “Why”.

Parklands College ADS Video - https://youtu.be/QYw0ekIjf94?si=sZF1eKI6J8fCZ2Eg

Extra Mural News

Drama Society Presentation

Our Senior Orchestra practising their song for their final performance at the end of the year

Sports Announcements

Notes and Reminders:

PE AND SQUAD SWIMMING

• Due to the pool being too cold, PE swimming will temporarily be replaced by Softball and Cricket respectively - however, please still pack costumes/towels/sunblock and goggles in case the pool warms up at any point. Learners to please come in PE clothes with packed swimming attire.

• Squad Swimming will continue as scheduled. 

Sport Practices and Matches in the week of 11-15 November 2024

Please see below for sport practices and matches in the week of 11-15 November:

No Gr 4-6 Softball practices or matches in the week of 11 - 15 November

No Gr 4-6 Cricket practices or matches in the week of 11 - 15 November

No Gr 4 - 6 tennis practices or matches in the week of 11 - 15 November

No Gr 4-6 Water Polo practices or matches in the week of 11 - 15 November

No Squad Swimming practices or galas in the week of 11 - 15 November

Dance, Junior Chefs, Drama Society, Design Society, Chess and Golf will continue during the week of 11 - 15 November.

Marimba, Choir and Orchestra lessons will continue, however, will end slightly earlier in the morning during the week of 11 - 15 November.

No results this week.

Congratulations to our U11 Netball Team

Learner External Achievements

Library News

OCTOBER FUN!

The sun is shining at last and our eager readers are streaming to the libraries to stock up on the latest arrivals. The Senior Prep learners are in awe of the Guinness World Book of Records 2025 and the amazing feats that people get up to in order to secure a spot in this hallowed publication, which is celebrating its 70th edition this year. How gorgeous is this cover!

October 22nd also heralds the arrival of a new Diary of a Wimpy Kid novel. This is number 19 in the series and titled Hot Mess. As Greg’s family from both sides come together to share a holiday, mayhem and hilarity are guaranteed. As is customary, we offer our avid collectors the opportunity to pre-order the books, which are then collected and delivered on the morning when the first boxes are opened in the shops - there is a worldwide embargo on selling before the due date and just for fun, we make sure to get the first copies! Children can bring R250 to get their copy, which is hardcover and usually sturdy and of good quality, which is important as they tend to reread these books many times. 

Five Parklands College Teams to Represent South Africa in the World Robot Olympiad International Final in Türkiye

The World Robot Olympiad (WRO) is an annual global Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) robotics event that takes place in over 95 countries from around the globe. There are various participation categories, including Future Innovators  (Senior, Junior, and Elementary), RoboMission (Senior, Junior, and Elementary), RoboSports, and Future Engineers. Each year the competition is based on a specific theme linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The official WRO® theme for this year’s competition is “Earth Allies” where teams must investigate how robots can help us live in harmony with nature.

The World Robot Olympiad National competition was held at  Curro Aurora in a hot Randburg on 14 September. Eleven Parklands College teams qualified for the National event as a result of their outstanding performance at the World Robot Olympiad Western Cape Regional competition held in August this year. The National event was highly competitive as the best robots in the country competed against each other for the highest scores in the quickest times. 

Our Senior Preparatory team, High Tech Dragon Riders (HTDR), were crowned champions of the RoboMission Elementary category by scoring 132 points in 103 seconds in this year’s Sustainable Farming challenge. 

Our Senior Preparatory Future Innovators team, EcoTrio, were crowned champions in their category for their robotic solution that restores coral reefs using a process called micro-fragmentation.

Our three RoboMission Junior category teams did exceptionally well with all three teams placing in the Top 4 in the country. TechnoMind placed fourth, Techtron won silver and TechnoBlade were crowned the South African champions with a full score of 146 in 76 seconds in the Green City challenge.

In the RoboSport Doubles Tennis category, our Secondary faculty team, Super Robot Builders, were crowned the South African RoboSport champions. We are extremely proud of this accomplishment, as it marks the first time we have won this title since we began competing in this category in 2017.

Parklands College secured four out of the seven category champion titles, marking our best performance at the National event to date. As a result of these accomplishments, High Tech Dragon Riders, TechnoBlade, Techtron, Eco Trio, and Super Robot Builders have qualified to represent South African at the International World Robot Olympiad competition in Izmir, Türkiye, from November 28-30. This means that five of the eleven teams representing South Africa are from Parklands College.

Please join me in congratulating the teams and their coaches, Justine de Wet, Austyn Delport, Phumlane Nkosi and Richard Knaggs for their contribution to the exceptional performances of all our teams and a special thank you to Snapplify who are one of our International sponsors.

We wish our teams the best of luck as they prepare for this incredible opportunity to represent South African in one of the biggest STEM based competitions in the world.