Magazine 2019

32 Compiling the magazine provides an opportunity to reflect on the year gone past and relive the memories of events taken place: from our Grade One learners who started the year eager to learn how to read and write to our Grade Six’s who are now ready for their adventures in our Secondary Faculty. At Parklands College we seek to foster the innate potential of our learners, allowing them to imagine, explore and discover their learning journey through the Parklands Mind. The Parklands Mind encompasses five global competencies that we believe are essential for our learners in order to adapt to the changing workplace and future world. Upholding expectations and trusting in the ability and willingness of our learners to stretch and meet their goals is encouraged throughout all spheres of College life. This year we have had many opportunities to connect, collaborate, interact and share our experiences with our parents through events such as the Parklands Playground, Special Persons’ Day, Fun Sports events and Galas. These moments provided an insight into our children’s day as well as the skills they are developing for later life. Our learners have been ambassadors not only internationally with our WRO Robotics teams but locally at workshops as well as internally with our own staff and their peers. Our Grade Four and Five learners welcomed the Grade Twos and Threes into their classrooms, sharing their stories and activities with the younger ones. Our focus has been around kindness and caring and our Grade Fours and Fives embraced these values when entertaining their visitors. Our Grade Sixs spent time with the Grade Threes talking about leadership and the qualities you might need to shine and our Grade Ones hosted our Grade R learners and their parents. The Grade Ones showcased their reading skills, helped the Grade Rs to “write” the letters of their name with play dough and shared cookies and juice with their new friends. Our Preparatory programme has included many shows, outings and events that have supported the learning experiences and provided opportunities for our learners to explore topics in depth. Friendship Day allowed us to remember our friends and the importance of interacting with kindness and care. For Bokkie Day we stood together and supported the Springboks during the World Cup in Japan. We had a unique Bokkie Dot Day and invited “Bokkie” to visit the campus! Sport is an integral part of our children’s lives and helps to build determination, integrity and team spirit. From practices to match days and tours, learners have the opportunity to develop their gross motor skills, social skills and interactions with others. Our Grade One and Two learners are able to explore a variety of sporting activities before finding their favourite one whilst our Grade Threes to Six’s take time to hone their skills in their chosen sport. Our Cultural Department has received numerous accolades from Trinity College, the Tygerberg and Cape Town Eisteddfods, the Santam Child Art competition, ISTD Dance and RAD Ballet. Our Cultural article further in the magazine will highlight these achievements in greater detail. In October we celebrated World Teachers’ Day and I have often said that it takes a team (or village) to grow and nurture our young learners into the future leaders of tomorrow. Without the commitment and passion from our teachers this journey would not be possible. Thank you to our parents for acknowledging the hard work and dedication from our teachers.