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The Secondary Faculty
From Left: Ansie Bailly (Associate Principal),
Stephen Le Feuvre (Associate Principal), Sylvia Steyn (Principal)
When we seek words to describe
an event, our emotions or a time
of great experiences, we often find
that we fall short. It was Marlene
Dietrich who said it best: “… it is a
joy to find thoughts one might have,
beautifully expressed with much
authority by someone one recognises
as wiser than oneself.” In this year
of Madiba, it is an honour and a
privilege to borrow his wise words
to use in the journal of yet another
memorable year at the College.
“Education is the great
engine of personal
development. It is what
we make out of what we
have, not what we are
given, that separates one
person from another.”
Nelson Mandela on 6 May 2007
We are grateful, but at the same
time humbled, when we look back
on what our learners and staff
have achieved by utilising and
making the most of their inner
gifts. In the classrooms; on stage
and on the sports fields; in the
field of technology and in caring
for others though our outreach
projects - we have indeed made
a difference – and that we can
celebrate. One wonderful example
is the contributions of the entire
College to raise enough money to
build a house with the organization
Habitat for Humanity, a project
facilitated by the Prefect body. The
year started with huge accolades
from the Department of Education,
when we were awarded 13
th
place
in the Western Cape, based on our
matric results of the past three years.
As a relatively young school, we
were most thrilled to find ourselves
in the company of some of the most
established and respected schools
in the Cape. It immediately became
noticeable to us that our learners
took this achievement seriously
and wanted to maintain our
reputation by setting even
higher academic goals for
themselves.
The facilities on our new
campus have enabled us to
embark on a variety of new
projects, like the recording
and producing of a Parklands
Music CD; the development of
an App for the use of EGD -
now available from iStore; the
hosting of the first ever in Africa
Google conference with our very
own staff presenting sessions
at numerous Apple events; our
staff winning prizes for the use
of technology in education, and
many more. Institutions, both local
and abroad, regularly contact us
for advice on implementing new
technologies in the classroom or
for requests to visit our school. The
many compliments we receive after
these visits bear testimony to how we
are viewed as a leader in the field.
Our ICT department, together with
our ICT integrators, deserves our
salutations for the groundbreaking
work they are doing.
The keen interest of our past
learners in events at the College
has given us great joy and their
willingness to act as adjudicators
at internal competitions like the
Park Idols and Public Speaking
Competition, augers well for the
future of the College.
We have employed a number
of past learners as educators,
in administration and the ICT
Department, and we have even
enrolled our first second generation
learners in Christopher Robin Pre-
Primary! It gives us great satisfaction
to see our legacy expanding.
As we page through the past
year’s record of a plethora of
activities at the College, we can
indeed be proud.
Thank you to our Managing
Director, Lorraine Roth, for her vision
and pro-active leadership; our
Board of Directors; all our educators
and other staff; our parents and our
learners for the part you played in
making 2013 another exceptional
year.
“Education’s purpose is
to replace an empty mind
with an open one.
”
Malcolm Forbes (1919 – 1990) in
Forbes Magazine
This is what we do at Parklands
College.
We wish you a prosperous and
exciting 2014, full of surprises, joy
and happiness.
