Quarter 4 Newsletter DECEMBER 2019

9 A CULTURAL ADVENTURE… F. Sionil Jose says, ‘Art, whatever form it takes, requires hard work, craftsmanship and creativity.’ Our Preparatory School Culture Department is filled with creative, hard working learners who build on their craft daily. The Art room has been a hive of activity with Preparatory artists designing and creating ten large artworks to be framed for display. The use of colour and design is inspiring and we look forward to seeing the final product. There has been fancy footwork in the dance rooms, as the modern, ballet and tap dancers prepared for their ISTD and RAD dance examinations which took place in October and November. We await their results in the new year. The Preparatory musicians also spent many hours preparing for their Trinity examinations which took place at the beginning of November. We are very pleased with the outstanding results, and congratulate all the teachers and learners. Our ensemble groups worked very hard to prepare beautiful pieces for our various Awards mornings and their efforts were much appreciated by their audiences. Our year ended on a high note with a fantastic morning of talent as learners worked together to prepare and present various items for our inaugural ‘SP’s Got Talent’ event. We were entertained with dance groups, singing, spoon music, hula hoops and a special appearance by our ‘Secret Seven’ Marimba Band. 2019 has been a very productive and successful year for the Cultural Department and the number of certificates and awards which have been given to the learners is testament to their success. We wish those learners who are moving to the Secondary Faculty Cultural Department all the best for the next step of their journey. Remember, ‘All the world’s a stage’ (William Shakespeare) and ‘Anything can happen if you let it’ (Mary Poppins). A SPORTING ADVENTURE… The Spring Quarter delivered an exciting and compressed sports programme with learners still enjoying both competitive and fun sports experiences, while the end of year assessments were in sight and most focus was rightfully channeled into the academics. All our sports teams enjoyed numerous sporting opportunities and memorable growing experiences while having fun and making new friendships on the sports field. Our learners maintained high levels of sportsmanship, discipline, teamwork and camaraderie while proudly representing their Parklands sports team as we continue to build the sports culture at Parklands Preparatory school learners are guided by their passionate coaching team to perfect, correct and practise the basic skills and techniques of each code during productive training sessions, incorporating maximum participation where all learners enjoy equal involvement, movement and growth in their respective sporting codes. The coaches were pleased with the massive strides and progress players and teams achieved, which is certainly a true reflection of the efforts and dedication of the coaches who have contributed immensely towards building their teams. Special thanks must be extended to our committed coaching team for all their hard work and dedication. The Spring Quarter sports programme featured 20 Cricket matches, 6 Tennis matches and 9 Softball matches all within a very short period of 3 weeks. This year an outstanding level of Regional, Provincial and National representation was achieved by Parklands learners across various sporting codes. We are most proud to have such a talented group of learners who excel in a diverse range of activities. Our U/9 cricketers were also introduced to hard ball cricket this quarter. This ongoing initiative provides our U/9 cricketers with a head start as hard ball cricket in the Western Cape starts from U/10 level. This will enable our young cricketers the opportunity to engage with learning the hard ball cricket skills, techniques and fundamentals a year in advance before their actual hard ball introduction year. Our Grade 1 and 2 cricketers have made great progress this quarter and this allows a further group of players to grow and develop their skill set. We hope to see many of the girls continue to love the game as they progress through the age groups. The U/12 cricket side engaged in two cricket matches per week as they were entered into the U/12 Saturday Premier League. This team also enjoyed a great experience by playing against Bishops Preparatory U/12 A side on the Frank Reid Oval (Main Cricket Field). Our cricketers performed extremely well and brought great competition to the hosts. The softball season restarted this quarter which provided the girls with an opportunity to improve their skills on the softball diamond. Our Grade 3 girls played their last quarter of T-Ball as next year the girls will start pitching. With some big hits and great catches the girls showed improvement week on week and finished the season with the necessary skills to go forward into the Grade 4 softball season. Our Grade 4 - 6 Softball teams delivered a high standard as these girls competed extremely well during their matches. The Senior Preparatory Inter House Athletics “Fun Day” was held on Friday 15 November. The Inter House build-up period was filled with excitement as the house captains did very well with the planning of their athletes’ event allocations as well as leading their houses in great spirit with war cries while cheering for and supporting the various events. It was a very enjoyable morning and the spectators were entertained with top performances in the various athletic events. Well done to all the Parklands learners who participated and gave their best for their houses. Our aquatics programmes started off well after the winter break. Learners and coaches started with a preparation period to get swimmers and water polo players fit for the 2019 season ahead. The Parklands swimming team represented their school in full force at the Table View Inter Schools Swimming Gala. This event provided great competition for our swimmers to measure their fitness levels and techniques. Parklands ended in 3rd place out of 6 schools, finishing just behind two top swimming schools, Sun Valley Primary (1st) and Jan van Riebeeck Primary (2nd). The swimming programme also included the Ladder 8 swimming gala for Grade 4 - 6 as well as the Fun Interhouse swimming gala for Grade 1 - 3 learners. The Ladder 8 swimming gala was initiated four years ago which provides the top 8 swimmers in every grade to compete internally and measure their fitness levels against their peers in a formal school event. Special thanks must be extended to all Parklands parents for their continued support on the side lines and we look forward to a fun-filled and exciting 2020 sports year!