Junior Preparatory Weekly Memo
4 October 2024
Dear Parents
We have enjoyed the past three days back at school and our learners especially enjoyed the Incredible Dog show this morning. The dogs are not only adorable but very clever, demonstrating good listening skills.
IMG_7902.MOVHAPPY WORLD TEACHERS DAY
It is a very special day on Saturday 5 October as we celebrate World Teachers' Day. We wish everyone who has a hand in educating our children, a Happy Teacher's Day, and that includes you as parents. It goes without saying that we think our teachers are absolutely fabulous.
We would like to honour our teachers and thank them for the many hours they spend shaping little lives and investing in our learners' futures by building their confidence and foundational skills. Thank you for all you do, we think you are incredible!
We thought you would enjoy what our learners had to say about their teachers...it is quite clear how much they value kindness and an aspect of fun in their learning.
CONGRATULATIONS
Parklands College has been designated an Apple Distinguished School (2016 - 2027)
Recognized for innovation, leadership, and educational excellence using technology
September 1, 2024 — 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”.
WRO
Richard Knaggs, our Director of Technology Innovation, won a trophy of recognition for all his work in Robotics in the Western Cape.
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 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.
(L-R): Gareth Thomson (Resolute), Kishan Murugan, Hui Quan Sun, Julianne Sharp (Resolute), Angelo Sgroi (Evetech)
The Parklands College World Robot Olympiad (WRO) team, High Tech Dragon Riders (HTDR), won Gold in the RoboMission Elementary category at the WRO National competition held on 14 September in Randburg. Their farming robot proved to be the best in the category. They have been selected to be part of the South African team invited to compete at the International competition in November in Izmir, Türkiye. @Snapplify
(L-R): Gareth Thomson (Resolute), Luan Odendaal, Veer Atwaru, Matthew Francke, Julianne Sharp (Resolute), Angelo Sgroi (Evetech)
Team TechnoBlade from Parklands College won Gold in the RoboMission Junior Category at the World Robot Olympiad National Competition held on 14 September at Curro Aurora in Randburg. Their Green City robot performed incredibly well achieving a full score in 76 seconds. They have been selected to be part of the South African team invited to compete at the International competition in November in Izmir, Türkiye. @Snapplify
(L-R): Gareth Thomson (Resolute), Aidan Chowl, Priyanka Ramlakan, Ashley Machine, Julianne Sharp (Resolute), Angelo Sgroi (Evetech)
Team Techtron from Parklands College won Silver in the RoboMission Junior Category at the World Robot Olympiad National Competition held on 14 September at Curro Aurora in Randburg. Their Green City robot managed a full score in 90 seconds. They have been selected to be part of the South African team invited to compete at the International competition in November in Izmir, Türkiye. @Snapplify
(L-R): Gareth Thomson (Resolute), Yihan Angelina Dai, Yuhan Emma Jiang, Maximilian Stork, Julianne Sharp (Resolute), Angelo Sgroi (Evetech)
Team EcoTrio from Parklands College won the Future Innovators Elementary Category at the World Robot Olympiad National Competition on 14 September. They developed a robotic solution that aids in the restoration of coral reefs through a technique known as micro-fragmentation. They have been selected to be part of the South African team invited to compete at the International competition in November in Izmir, Türkiye. @Snapplify
(L-R): Gareth Thomson (Resolute), Enoch Onyems, Hugo Bazin, Julianne Sharp (Resolute), Angelo Sgroi (Evetech)
The Super Robot Builders from Parklands College won the Robo Sport Doubles Tennis category at the WRO National competition held on 14 September in Randburg. In this category, pairs of robots compete against each other in tennis doubles matches. They have been selected to be part of the South African team invited to compete at the International competition in November in Izmir, Türkiye. @Snapplify
Summer Uniform
We have switched over to our summer uniform.
Blazers
In order to affirm our unique image, the College blazer from Grade 1 - 12 has changed. Current parents will have until the start of the Academic Year 2026, to replace the existing light blue blazer with the new royal blue, striped blazer. This fabric is unique to our College, and therefore distinguishes our learners from other schools who are wearing the same colour as our current blazer.
Every Grade One learner and all new learners joining the College are required to wear the striped blazer.
Parents are reminded that our blazers are an important part of the uniform which sets us apart from other schools. We therefore request that parents be particular about the condition of a blazer and if it is either faded or too small, it must be replaced.
IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTS
DATES FOR 2024
Spring Quarter: 02 October – 04 December
PROVISIONAL DATES FOR 2025
Please note that there has been a slight change to the 2025 dates indicated in blue below:
Summer Quarter: 20 January - 28 March
Autumn Quarter: 08 April - 25 June
*Mid-term break: 29 April - 2 May
Winter Quarter: 23 July - 02 October
Spring Quarter: 14 October - 05 December
COMMUNICATION
The weekly memo which is sent out on a Friday, is our main form of communication and includes important information regarding the College. Please note that the blog format has changed this quarter and we hope that information will be more accessible and easy to find.
The following tabs are available and this page, which is the main page, will include the most current information:
Curriculum and Learning
Clothing and Uniform
Staffing (All staff and their contact details)
General (school times, aftercare, drop-off, security, lunch/snacks, Houses, P&L Directory, transport, medication, devices)
TEACHING AND LEARNING
2025 DEVICE REQUIREMENTS
Please click on the link below to view the device requirements for next year.
Grade 1
The Grade Ones have done a PBL on creating a nutritious lunch box. They had to explore the challenge of providing a balanced and “budget friendly” lunch box. They also got to see how expensive their lunch boxes are and to be grateful that they have lunch as many others do not. We also looked at the different food groups and tried to have items from each.
Grade 2
The Grade Twos concluded their Weather PBL last quarter by learning all about Natural Disasters. In groups they had to research the disaster, plan how they were going to display their information on a poster and finally, explain what they had learnt using their poster as an aide.
SPORT AND CO-CURRICULARS
TENNIS
Coach Chad and Coach Ryan took our Grade 3 learners through a variety of fun and energetic drills in their tennis lesson this week. Pac-Man was a great game to end with.
Bridgehouse Mini Cricket Festival on Saturday 19 October.
Notifications for U8 and U9 will be emailed to parents on Monday for this festival. If you do not receive an email, your child is not involved in the festival. Please RSVP to the email ASAP to give us time to select other learners should your child not be available.
PE AND SWIMMING
Due to the pool being too cold, 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.
SPORTS MEETING FOR PARENTS
This has been postponed and a new date will be communicated to parents.
CO-CURRICULARS
Quarter 4 Cocurricular Time Table.pdfEXTERNAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Please find a link to the notification letter informing the College of a learner's external achievements at Area/Regional/Provincial level.
At the end of September, Gemma, Riley and Cathy attended their Silver Grade Pre-Levels for Gymnastics. They received 4th place in their respective categories. Well done, we are very proud of you!
CULTURE
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!
22 October 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.
BIRTHDAY BOOKS
Omari, Owen, Xhanti and Alan all celebrated their birthdays recently. Thank you so much for these magical Birthday Books, boys, they will be treasured and enjoyed. Happy birthday!
PARENT BUSINESS DIRECTORY
Parklands College and Christopher Robin Pre-Primary parents who are in business are able to list their businesses in our Parent Business Directory – www.parklands.co.za/parent-business-directory/
LISTINGS ARE FREE and include contact information as well as the opportunity to include a business logo or advert. Listings are available 24/7 on the College website and will be updated each quarter.
Should you be interested in marketing your business to over 1000 families, email: marketing@parklands.co.za to get started.
All listings will be subject to the College’s final approval.
This week's feature business is...
CONCLUDING COMMENTS
We wish Cara De Aguiar a very happy birthday for today Friday 4 October and Tammy Labuschagne for Saturday 5 October. Roché Buckle also celebrates her birthday on Monday 7 October and Licia Hammond on Wednesday 9 October. We hope they all have a wonderful day and a very blessed year ahead.
Wishing all our families a wonderful weekend with lots of sunshine.
Chantel Lamb
Junior Preparatory Principal
clamb@parklands.co.za
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Links to other faculty blogs:
Pre-Primary Faculty: https://ppblog.parklands.co.za
Senior Preparatory Faculty: https://spblog.parklands.co.za
Secondary Faculty: https://secblog.parklands.co.za