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Issue no. 4

2 March 2020

General News CLIMATE CHANGE MARCH On Friday, 21 February, the whole school took to the pavements around the school in an attempt to raise awareness of the Climate Change crisis the world is facing. This march was part of a National initiative organised by our very own, Anna Conradie and a learner from Sacred Heart College. They got a large number of schools to participate and credit must to given to these young activists who are trying to mobilise, not only the community, but the country. The event started with Anna reading her media statement, followed by the girls taking to the ‘pavements’ with their charts and pre-prepared posters which were hung up on the fences around the school.

PARKTOWN BOYS SUPPORT INITIATIVE Thank you to all the girls who helped and assisted with putting together the cards, the care packs for the Parktown Boys’ Grade 8’s and their staff. We really appreciate your compassion, empathy and willingness to stand behind our brother school in what has been a very difficult and emotional term for them.

GRADE 8 STAY AWAKE Written by Nceba Hlongwane, Potted Sports Member After long hours of planning, organising and discussing, the day finally arrived. The Grade 8 Stay-awake! The Potted Sports committee set up the decor with help from assistants and a few fellow Parktonians. With the decor done we were ready to warmly welcome the grade 8s. The night began with an introduction of the theme 'Survivor' and the grade 8s were split into their ‘tribes’. We started the night off with some ice breakers which were followed by a treasure hunt around the school. The night was filled with music, games, laughs and good vibes. Dinner was served followed by 'Moana', the movie of choice. After some technical difficulties the grade 8s enjoyed the movie with popcorn. The rain and thunderstorms did not damage the spirits of the girls. The group photo was taken and stay awake ended with everyone leaving with big smiles and lots of memories. Special thanks to Ms Halley, the teachers and parents that helped out on the night, the ground staff and everyone who helped out and supported us. A big thank you to the awesome grade 8s, we wish you a good first year of high school.

IMPORTANT NOTES FROM OUR FINANCE OFFICE A reminder to parents that when paying school fees, to please use the account number on your statement. When paying for any other activities, please send through proof of payments and use the reference quoted in the letters that were sent home. If you have a signed a debit order and you want to make changes, or cancel it please give the Finance office: kunene@parktowngirls.co.za one month’s notice and a written instruction. A few days before the debit order is due to run is not acceptable.

Dates to Diarise

PLEASE NOTE:

The Uniform Shop will be closed from

THURSDAY, 12 MARCH 2020,

until the end of the term due to a stock take.

It will reopen as usual from Term 2.

02/03 Old Parks’ Association Meeting 03/03 English Olympiad 03/03 SGB Meeting 04/03 Inter-high Diving 05/03 Inter-high Swimming Gala 07/03 Open Day (8:30 – 12:00) 11/03 PA Meeting (18:30) 12/03 Mathematics Olympiad 13/03 DNA U18 Social 14/03 Parktown Wellness Day 17-19/03 Enrichment Week 17-19/03 Matric Orals 20/03 Issue Grade 8 – 12 reports 20/03 Term 1 Ends

Cultural News FEDA

DEBATING Over the weekend of 7 February, Parktown had 5 girls participating in trials for the South African debating team; the largest number of trialists out of all the schools in the country. The trials took place in Midrand where the girls got to debate with the best debaters in the country. Micaela Smith, Zahra Sader, Aaliyah Cassim (grade 10) and Christina Vaurdan (grade 9) all trialled for the SA Jnr debating team and Melissa Smith (grade 12) trialled for the SA team. Our girls did exceptionally well and we are proud of all of them for having made it this far. The weekend was filled with Parktown bonding sessions, after late night debates in hotel rooms. Zahra Sader did exceptionally well and was selected to be a reserve speaker for the SA Jnr

debating team making her one of 7 of the best debaters in the country. Parktown debaters are truly a force to be reckoned with and that is not debatable! From left to right: Micaela Smith, Aaliyah Cassim, Christina Vaurdan, Melissa Smith and Zahra Sader

Sport News CONGRATULATIONS Congratulations to Maseeha Mahomed who participated in the SANESA Qualifier 1 on Sunday, 2 February 2020 at Eaton Farm. She achieved 3rd place in Equitation 50-60 cm and 1st place in Showjumping 60 cm normal competition. Well done Maseeha, keep up the good work.

Maseeha Mahomed

Caitlin King and Ashleigh King have been selected for the U17A and U14B Western Gauteng Provincial Action Netball Teams, respectively. They will both be participating in their section at the Inter-Provincial Tournament in March hosted in Roodepoort. This is fantastic, well done ladies.

The following girls have been selected for the South African Squad for the Touch Rugby Youth World Cup. This is an absolutely phenomenal achievement; congratulations girls on your hard work and perseverance which has paid off at the highest level. We also have a few old girls and coaches that have been selected. Parktown is extremely proud of you all. U15 South African Squad

Rofhiwa Muambadzi Daniella Freitas

U17 South African Squad

Vhutshilo Muambadzi

U19 South African Squad

Jenissi Mondaoko Anneke Loots (old girl) Lethabo Mkhonto (old girl and current Parktown Coach) Dita Musungaie (old girl) Jenna van der Merwe (old girl)

From left: Jenissi Mondaoko, Daniella Freitas, Rofhiwa Muambadzi, Vhutshilo Muambadzi

Congratulations to Morgan Ferriman who has qualified to swim for Central Gauteng Aquatics at the South African Open Water Swimming Nationals. She will swim in Jeffrey’s Bay from 7 – 8 March 2020. This is a fantastic achievement, well done and good luck Morgan.

DIVING Our Diving girls have yet again done extremely well at the competition at Kingsmead College on Saturday, 15 February 2020. The divers have been putting in a lot of hours perfecting their dives which is definitely paying off. Well done to all the girls who participated.

Open Section 2nd Place – Justine Gower

3rd Place – Robyn Norval

U16 Section 2nd Place – Daniella Freitas

3rd Place – Rebekah Mandelbaum

7th Place – Sara Mcmaster

U15 Section 2nd Place – Cyd Paton Levin

3rd Place – Ashlyn Hayter

4th Place – Zoë Devine

Back from left: Zoë Devine, Cyd

Paton Levin, Ashlyn Hayter, Sara

Mcmaster, Mrs Hammond (Coach),

Robyn Norval, Daniella Freitas.

Front: Rebekah Mandelbaum and

Justine Gower

SWIMMERS Our swimming team participated in another league gala hosted by Holy Rosary on Thursday, 13 February. Our team placed 4th against some tough competition. On Thursday, 20 February, we participated in the Night Gala hosted by St Stithian’s Girls College, this is always a very tough gala where we compete against the toughest schools in Gauteng and many junior national swimmers. Our team did extremely well placing 3rd overall, the highest we have ever placed at the Night Gala. The team can be extremely proud of themselves. In preparations for the Inter-high Gala which is swum at Ellis Park Swimming Pool Stadium, the 50m pool at Wits has been booked for training. This is done in order to get used to the 50m length and to do as much preparation as possible. Well done girls, keep up the hard work in preparation for Inter-high.

Parktown Swimming Team at the Night Gala 2020

TOUCH RUGBY Our Touch Rugby players competed in league matches on Friday, 7 February, at Crawford Sandton and on Friday, 14 February, at Greenside High School. Unfortunately, due to the bad weather, our teams did not get to play at Crawford Sandton. Well done to all the players and teams on their results thus far in the league. The juniors are doing particularly well and have come very far in the short period that they have been playing. Parktown is the only school to have so many teams entered into the Gauteng Touch Rugby League; this is something we are very proud of. Due to having so many teams, friendly matches are being organised to maximise the chance of competition.

WATER POLO Our water polo girls have kept up the pace with more league matches and preparations for Reef Cup that is coming up in March. Our Junior team, in particular, are doing very well and are settling into the game. They had their first win against Kingsmead and then went on to win again against Randpark. Well done ladies, keep it up.

14 February 2020 Greenside High Shool

Parktown U19 Team Won 2 – 0 Vs St Martin’s U19 Won 12 – 0 Vs Sagewood U19

Parktown U17 Team Lost 0 – 1 Vs King David Linksfield U17 Lost 0 – 1 Vs St Martin’s U17

Parktown U16 A Team Lost 0 – 5 Vs Crawford Sandton U16

Parktown U16 B Team Lost 0 – 5 Vs Crawford Lonehill U16 A

Parktown U15 A Team Drew 1 – 1 Vs St Martin’s U15

Parktown U15 B Team Won 2 – 0 vs King David Linksfield U15

Parktown U14 Team Lost 0 – 2 Vs King David Linksfield U14

Kingsmead College

Fourways High School Randpark High School

Parktown First Team Won 14 – 6 Won 9 – 0

Parktown 2nd Team (Friendly) Won 16 – 4

Parktown Junior Team Won 4 – 3 Won 7 – 0 Lost 4 – 5

Parktown Junior Water Polo Team

OLD MUTUAL SWIMATHON Due to our Water Polo First Team participating in the Old Mutual Prestige Cup, the school receives R10 000 which we have to use towards a ‘learn to swim’ programme. This programme is run on Monday afternoons in the small pool at the student centre and taught by Mrs Eckhardt. This is such a crucial part of ensuring that we as a school are preparing our learners by ensuring they have access to crucial life skills, such as learning to swim. On Saturday, 22 February, Roedean hosted the Old Mutual Swimmathon which is where the beginner

swimmers can celebrate and showcase the swimming skills they have learnt. The swimmers were treated on the day with a lovely lunch, goodie bags and an oversized cheque. Well done to all the beginner swimmers who have done so well this term. Unfortunately, due to lightning, a few sessions have been cancelled, but hopefully, we will get in lots of sessions for the last few

weeks.

Service News COMMUNTIY SERVICE

On Thursday afternoon, 13 February, the Community service girls organised a scrumptious tea and a delightful entertainment program for the residents of Rose Village Retirement Home in Roosevelt Park.

REMINDER: OPEN DAY - SATURDAY 7 MARCH 08h30 – 12h00

Please follow our school Newspaper, The Star Gazer on Instagram: stargazernewspaper

And be inspired!

Anyone interested in this tour can email Ms Haus, haus@parktowngirls.co.za for more information.

Parents’ Association News

Tickets are selling out fast. To avoid disappointment please buy your tickets from Finance or at breaks on the drive every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The PA is also looking for parents to help with Safety and security on the night. Please click on the following link to add your details if you can help https://forms.gle/VpTC1H4fAos5ztig8

Thank you to all who supported the Social Committee Fund Raising initiative at RocoMamas, Rosebank. The girls had lots of fun.

FUN DAY - 4 April 2020, 10am – 3pm

Now if the thought of fun day makes you want to get footloose and run away, let me reassure you that a spoon full of sugar will help this medicine go down, and if that still doesn’t help, remember you’ve never had a friend like me. I promise you that the sun’ll come out tomorrow, and of course if you just let it go, you will see that money, money money must be funny in the Parktown world, so stick with me and you will see the terraces alive with the sound of music. So let’s stick to the bear necessities and remember we are all in this together….. So yes, the theme for this year’s Fun day is Musicals. Our Fun day is combining with our Small Stalls Market, and for those of you who have been around for a while, things will be a bit different this year. Girls will still work in their houses but within their house each Grade will work as a team.

The Grade 8s will be providing the food, the Grade 9s will be running game stalls, the Grade 10s will be serving sweets, desserts and special drinks, the Grade 11s will be running the Coffee and Tea terrace and the Grade 12s will be facilitating the giant inflatable and Kiddies area. Please get involved, support you daughter and her school. Contact her register teacher or her House head. The PA will also need assistance with ticket sales, selling cooldrinks and safety and security.

THE SCHOOL ACCEPTS OUTSIDE ADVERTISEMENTS. WE ARE UNABLE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE NATURE AND QUALITY OF THE SERVICES OFFERED

Book tickets for How To Write Your Book in Three Months - for tweens and teens!

https://qkt.io/howtowrite

Join us on 28 March for a workshop where you will discover:

· How to write a bestselling book in three months · Getting your mind right · How to take action · Creating a writing habit · How to find your great idea · How to turn your idea into a book · Finding your voice · Powerful story telling techniques · Character development · Scene development · The role of dialogue · Points of view (first person, second person, third person) · How to deal with creativity blocks · Why editing matters · Self publish or traditional publishing route ABOUT YOUR TRAINERS:

Tanya Haffern is a best-selling author and international trainer who will share ideas, tips & strategies to encourage, motivate, and inspire you to get your book started and done.

Iza Grek is an award-winning journalist, e-book and ghost writer, blogger and highly respected editor. She will demonstrate the importance of dotting your ‘I’s’ and crossing your ‘T’s and explain why this step is essential to the writing process.