Junior Preparatory Weekly Memo

8 August 2024

Dear Parents

The Grade Twos loved having their parents and families visit to assist them with their Project Based Learning today. The classrooms were a hive of activity with lots of problem solving and collaboration.

Funky Socks Day also brought some fun and smiles to our short week. Thank you for supporting this special day and for your donations which will be sent to The Home of Hope.

Important Dates

Winter Quarter Dates (revised)

Dates for 2024

Winter Quarter: 10 July – 13 September
Spring Quarter: 02 October – 04 December

Provisional dates for 2025

Summer Quarter: 20 January - 28 March

Autumn Quarter: 08 April- 25 June

*Mid-term break: 29 April - 2 May

Winter Quarter: 23 July - 01 Oct

Spring Quarter: 13 October - 05 December

I asked a couple of our learners a few questions about their days, what they enjoy and their favourite subjects - art is definitely a favourite amongst our learners!

EDADMIN APP

Ed-Admin MP Installation

We are pleased to inform you that the new Ed-admin Multi Portal App (Ed-admin MP) is now available on the Google and Apple App stores. The features include access to your child’s reports, calendar activities and daily attendance records to mention a few.

To install the App please follow the below instructions:
1.) Download the Ed-Admin Multi Portal App by using the relevant link below:

● Apple App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ed-admin-multi-portal/id6469108569

OR
● Google Play Store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.edana.edadmin&hl=en&gl= US

2.) Enter 230034 (Parklands College Code) and your email address to log in. For your convenience, please refer to the image below:

3.) The next step will require you to enter the login code sent to you via email. For your convenience, please refer to the image below:

Please ensure that you keep this App updated otherwise you will be logged out and will have to repeat the above process to regain access.

Please DO NOT stop by the gate of the JP Car Park and allow your child out there.

This causes a back log of cars and in turn we have frustrated parents. The JP Car Park has a clearly marked Drop and Go zone, please pull as far up as you can and allow your child to hop out and walk onto campus. If you would like to walk them to class, please park in one of the parking bays or park in Wood Drive.

Photographs

We are delighted to let you know that there’s still time to place re-orders for Individual Photographs! You have until the end of August to make your request. Kindly email your faculty secretary.

Teaching and Learning

Grade 1

Our Grade One learners have been discovering different occupations, the essentials tools needed and how different occupations work together. They put their creativity to task as they created ‘Occupation Crowns’. How awesome do they look!? Well done, Creative Agents.

Our Grade One classes hosted some special guests this week: their parents! They were invited to share information about their occupation with their child’s class with a focus on the tools they need to be able to do their job. The Grade ones delighted in having familiar faces share their interesting occupations. Thank you to the Grade one parents who gave of their time and were brave enough to play teacher-teacher.

Grade 2

In keeping with our PBL for this quarter, the Grade Twos learnt about the Water Cycle. They enjoyed a “rain cloud in a jar” experiment, looked for all the different types of clouds & learnt their names. They also had some fun drawing pictures in the clouds in Sketches Pro.

Over the past couple of weeks Grade 2P have had some fun lessons with our student teacher, Mrs C. These lessons have included rotating stations to revise place value and a scavenger hunt to practise the 'oi' sound in phonics.

Parklands College Robotics Teams Haul in the Medals at the 2024 Western Cape World Robot Olympiad Events

The World Robot Olympiad (WRO) takes place across 95 countries and brings together over 60 000 young people from all over the world to develop their creativity and problem-solving skills through challenging and educational robotics competitions. The official WRO® theme for 2024 is ‘Earth Allies’ where participants must investigate how robots can help us live in harmony with nature.

The number of teams participating in the South Africa WRO has doubled since 2023, which shows incredible growth and interest in this competition that promotes and develops global competencies. For this reason a total of nine events were held across the country over the past three weeks including two in the Western Cape. A total of eleven Parklands College teams competed in the Western Cape North and South events held on 27 July 2024 and 3 August 2024. Over 600 learners in 250 teams competed in these competitions.

Our Preparatory Faculty teams achieved the following places:

1. Robo Mission Elementary Category

1st Place (GOLD MEDAL): High Tech Dragon Riders - Hui Quan Sun, Kishan Murugan

2nd Place (Silver Medal): CyberTek - Saadhil Rampath, Matthew Beukes, Lucas Smee

3rd Place (Bronze Medal): HyperTech - Joshua Salter, Ewan Eichbauer

4th Place - CrimsonBots - Dariq Karachi, Karis Nyabadza, Damian Holtzhausen

2. Future Innovators - Elementary

1st Place (Gold Medal): Fusion Wave - Brynn Eichbauer, Mukundi Chikwati

2nd Place (Silver Medal): Eco Trio - Maximilian Stork, Yihan Dai ( Angelina), Yuhan Jiang (Emma)

Our Secondary Faculty teams achieved the following places:

1. RoboMission Junior Category

1st Place (Gold Medal): TechTron - Aidan Chow, Ashley Machine, Priyanka Ramlakan

2nd Place (Silver Medal): TechnoBlade - Matthew Francke, Luan Odendaal, Veer Atwaru

3rd Place (Bronze Medal): TechnoMind - Arcanjo Mwini, Daniel Spuhler

2. RoboSports - Doubles Tennis

3rd Place (Bronze Medal): The Real Civil Engineers - Nkosinathi Nxumalo, Daniel Maidment

4th Place: Super Robot Builders - Enoch Onyems, Hugo Bazin

All eleven of our teams qualified for the National competition of which four qualified first and second in the country in their respective categories. As a result of this success all of our teams have qualified for the Nationals Competition which will be held in Johannesburg on 14 September 2024. The Nationals winners will represent South Africa in Izmir, Turkiye at the “International Final” from 28 - 30 November 2024.

Please join me in congratulating the teams and coaches, Justine de Wet, Austyn Delport, Phumlane Nkosi and Richard Knaggs for their incredible contribution to our team's outstanding performances.

Cake sales

Our next cake sale is on Friday 30 August and is hosted by Grade 1K and 1R. Cake sale money is used to support various outreach projects.

We request that items such as cupcakes, popcorn, crisps, muffins, etc. are sent in by the classes that are hosting the cake sale. Please ensure that items donated for cake sales do not contain nuts. We love healthy goodies, especially popcorn!

Parents are welcome to send money in advance to be kept safely locked away or send in R6 on cake sale days. If you are able to assist at your class cake sale from 09h40, please notify your child’s class teacher.

Sport

Schedule for the Quarter Ahead

Please click on the link to see what matches are coming up. Please note that matches may change and Team Managers will communicate details with the parents of the children involved.

Quarter 3 Match Schedule U9-U13

Please note that there will be no Sports Hour on Friday 16 August. The learners will stay in their classrooms.

Derby Day

Our U8 and U9 rugby and netball teams are playing at Derby Day on Saturday 17 August. Parents will be emailed if their child/children are playing at Derby Day.

All learners must please travel to Somerset College with their own transport and arrive at 07h30 on Saturday morning. Please meet as follows:

Rugby: Vineyard Rugby Field

Netball: Netball Courts

Please see the programme and click on the relevant tab (netball and rugby are right at the end)

Programme

The North and South Sports Festival has been moved to Saturday 7 September 2024.

Soccer

Parklands College played Seamount Primary on a very cold Monday and won 3-1. The player of the match was Sebastian. Our boys have had a fantastic season of Soccer so far. Well done on another great game! Thank you to our parents for your continued support!

Rugby

We are super proud of our U8 boys who played their first rugby match ever against Milnerton on Wednesday. Milnerton won 6-1 and Xander was named player of the match. The boys listened to the coach with intent and played with tenacity. Great excitement reigned as they sprinted, tackled and protected the ball. They played their hearts outs and we are so grateful for the parents cheering from the side. Well done, Boys!

Netball

Our U9 Netball girls played CBC on Wednesday and are really showing an improvement in their skills and positioning. We lost 2-5 but really put in a wonderful effort. Shyloh is player of the match. Well done, girls!

Hockey

Our U9 boys did really well in the hockey festival on Saturday. We won two of the four games and are definitely improving our skills. The boys played so well and communicated effectively right through all their games. Well done boys, keep it up!

On Saturday, 3 August, our U9 boys hockey team played in the Blouberg Ridge hockey festival. The boys arrived with much excitement, ready to play their four games against Milnerton Primary School A and B Teams, Canon Creek and Pinelands North. The boys played brilliantly, communicated effectively right through all their games and showed tremendous team spirit. The U10 boys won two of their games played and took home a sense of pride and a even bigger love for the game of hockey. Well done to the boys that played! We are proud of you!

Milnerton Primary A team - Lost 0-1
Cannon Creek - Lost 0-5
Pinelands North - won 2-0
Milnerton Primary B team - Won 4- 0

Sporting activities selected in Quarter Two carry over to Quarter Three to complete the Winter Season. Please get in touch with the Sports Department should you wish to sign your children up for Quarter 3 sport or make a change. The only amendment to the Timetable is the collection time of the girls and boys for hockey on a Monday. This has been changed from 15:45 to 16:00.

Football / Boys’ Hockey / Rugby: Liam Maharage

Netball / Girls’ Hockey: Nadine Marais-Swart

Head Of Department: Jared Margetts

GENERAL SPORTS INFORMATION

In addition to the sport selected, the Grade 3s will join the Grade 4s on a Friday and attend a compulsory sport training session that forms part of their school day. This will take place on the Junior Preparatory campus and will end at 14:30 in time for collection.

Grade 1 and Grade 2 learners may wear their sports kit to school on their two Grade sport days as well as their PE Day. Grade 3 learners may wear their sports kit to school on their PE day as well as on a Friday for the new sport training session. Grade 3 learners are to bring their sports kit to school in the navy drawstring bag, for their sport days. The learners will change at school before their chosen sport.

Sport Days

Grade 1: Tuesday and Thursday
Grade 2: Monday and Wednesday
Grade 3: Friday

Unless otherwise communicated, the Grade 3 learners who have signed up for hockey will play on the Astroturf at Sandown every Friday during sports hour (13:30 - 14:30) and every Monday (14:30 - 16:00) during practice time. They will be transported to and from the Secondary Faculty back to the Junior Preparatory Faculty. Gum guards and shin pads must be worn.

We would like to assure parents that winter sports will continue each day as scheduled, especially if there is only light drizzle. In the event of extreme weather conditions, such as heavy rain, indoor sports will be arranged instead. Our coaches will engage the learners with field/court placements and strategies to ensure that their development and enjoyment of the sport continues uninterrupted.

External Achievements

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

External Achievements

Culture
Thank you to the learners who joined us on Open Day for a special Design Society. Just look at this fabulous Henri Matisse Collage Art.

Outreach

Ria Abel Collection

Library News

Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl Day is celebrated all over the world on 13 September every year, which is his birth date. Roald Dahl was one of the world’s greatest authors. He wrote children’s books, novels, short stories as well as film scripts. His books are true classics: they are just so good that they will live forever.

On the publishing front, there are interesting developments. Penguin Random House is bringing us the Roald Dahl Classic Collection, consisting of 20 books with the original covers. They are beautiful and worthy collectors’ items.

This week the Book Club started the celebrations by each creating a little flag featuring a beloved Roald Dahl character. These will be joined together as bunting for the Junior Preparatory library.

Here are some interesting facts about this iconic author:

● Roald Dahl (1916 - 1990) was born to Norwegian parents and lived in England for most of his life.

● He grew up in a town where there were two chocolate factories, Cadbury and Rowntree, and the school children often had the opportunity to taste new products. This left a lasting impression.

● He was a fighter pilot in World War 2 and survived a crash landing in the Sahara desert. Read his book “Solo” for the full story.

● He kept “office hours” and wrote in a little shed at the bottom of his garden.

● He invented 393 new words, many of which can be found in the Oxford dictionary and are simply marvellous to say. Do you know what these great words mean?

scrumdiddlyumptious; crodsquinkled; trogglehumper; gobblefunk; snozzcumber

We are so grateful to Mrs Chantel Lamb for donating this valuable Tom Gates collection. Our readers of all ages will enjoy them tremendously.

An evening with Dr. Sian Proctor, geoscience professor, Afrofuturism artist, and trailblazing astronaut from SpaceX Inspiration4.

We had an unforgettable evening with Astronaut Dr. Sian Proctor at the Cape Town International Convention Centre during the IAU General Assembly 2024 on Wednesday night. We learnt about her groundbreaking journey as the first female, African American commercial astronaut to pilot a spaceship. From her captivating Afrofuturism art to her pioneering work in analog astronaut missions and sustainable space practices, Dr. Proctor inspired us all with a future of diversity and inclusion in space exploration.

We would like to thank the Sakhikamva Foundation for the donation of 50 tickets to our school so that our staff, learners and parents could enjoy this incredible event.

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...