February Newsletter
Each School Council member is given the opportunity to lead assembly during her time in office. With her permission, I have used extracts from the speech given by Tyralee Nel, our Head of Culture, as my newsletter this month. Life is not remembered by your successes, it’s remembered by the impact you made. Money, Power, Prestige all fades to nothing because it’s all an illusion - the only thing that matters is how you made an impact on someone else’s life, because that’s what lives on. We’re all on separate journeys, but the beautiful thing about life is that it’s so intertwined, that one little thing can have the greatest, most unexpected domino effect. More important than success is having an impact, knowing that you didn’t walk the planet in vain; it’s knowing that because you’ve been here you’ve blessed lives, you’ve developed people and you’ve made the world that much better a place. The effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is, because, once you’re no longer here, the only thing that will live on is what was inside your heart. Life is a mirror, it does not give us what we want, it gives us who we are. And, guess what? You are going to make some mistakes, but that’s okay, because the person who says they haven’t made any mistakes, well, they haven’t done anything. You’re going to make mistakes if you want to do something that makes a difference, you’re going to be criticized, you’ll feel awkward sometimes, but it’s okay because you’re doing more than the person who’s never made a mistake because she’s too fearful to take the risk Leonardo Di Caprio won’t be remembered for the number of times he didn’t win the Oscar, he’s going to be remembered for the number of times he kept walking that path determined to get that Oscar making that moment when he does all more sweet. The girl who took the time to make an extra sandwich that morning, she’s not going to be remembered for making the extra sandwich, she’s going to be remembered for walking over to the girl without lunch and giving her a sandwich. Your two feet, they are the difference between you and me. They are the difference between doing what’s asked or expected and going the extra mile to make that impact. So unlace your shoes and remove yourself from the metaphorical barrier represented by your shoes, get rid of the thing that’s holding you back, and preventing you from take those few extra steps. We can make a difference through hard work, resilience and persistence. Success is a ladder and few of us will find it. Even fewer will have the strength to climb it, afraid of the prospect of spending our whole life climbing. But remember that no matter what path you take, it’s up to you to decide it. Don’t let your success define you; let your success be defining, because there are two types of people - those who inspire and those who are inspiring.
Thank you, Tyralee. We hope that many will have the courage to do something new and make an impact.
Highlights of February Three Wynberg musicians perform in Philharmonic Gala Concert at Artscape On 7 February, at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town, the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and the Cape Town Youth Wind Ensemble performed at their annual gala concert.The show was a great hit and the hall was filled to capacity with excited parents, siblings, friends and fellow colleagues of the Cape Philharmonic Outreach program. This month three of our talented musicians, Carin Donson, Hong Ju Nam and Michaela Arries, performed. Well done girls! We look forward to many more performances.
Muizenberg Beach Clean Up The Wynberg Girls’ High School Enviro Club and the Wynberg Boys’ High School Green Society went on a beach clean-up at Muizenburg beach on 7 February. Eleven bags of litter were picked up in the 2 hours spent on the beach. The reward was in the many smiles and thanks that were given, but mostly in the knowledge that our marine friends were safe from a lot of potentially dangerous objects – at least for the moment.The clean-up ended with well-deserved ice-creams and for some, a packet of hot-chips. We encourage anyone with a love of the ocean and our animal friends to join us on the next one.
Littlewood and Waterloo Hostel Social On 11 February, the hostel had a social held at Littlewood Hostel at Wynberg Boy’s High School. There were special arrangements for the juniors and the seniors: Grades 8’s and 9’s were taken into the dining hall to take part in some speed-dating, while Grades 10-12 relaxed and danced to music outside. Snacks were provided and as the sun began to set, conversations deepened and the music was turned up. The girls really enjoyed the social as it was a chance to mix with our friends at Boys’ High.
Learning to Lead on the Grade 11 Camp The Grade 11 Camp took place on the 10-12 February at Rocklands Camp Centre in Simon’s Town. Grade 11 is the penultimate year of high school and the year in which the Grade 11s prepare to lead their school in Matric. A large amount of emphasis was placed on leadership qualities and discovering who you are.
SA Women’s hockey team joins Waterloo for lunch On 22 February the South African Women’s Hockey team had lunch at Waterloo Hostel. Amongst these talented hockey players were two Wynberg Old Girls, Candice Manuel and Quinita Bobbs. Thanks to the team for taking the time to visit us on campus!
The Grade 11s of 2016 were treated to a number of informative and engaging sessions lead by the teachers and external speakers. A few of these sessions included “Discover Yourself” in which we discovered our personality types by the use of the Enneagram. Another was “Productive Time” where we learnt about our time styles and how we needed to organize time more efficiently. “Conflict Management” taught us how to appropriately deal with conflict within a group. Mrs Harding also visited us to discuss leadership and gave us a greater understanding of what it truly means to be a leader at Wynberg Girls’ High School. These talks encouraged us to understand ourselves and others in order to work together as a team of leaders in 2017. It goes without saying that the wealth of knowledge gained gave us a new outlook on what leadership actually entails. The Grade 11 camp was an experience that will stay with us forever. The lessons learnt and skills gained have prepared us to soar like eagles into our Matric year and be the best representation of Wynberg Women we could possibly be.
Moonlit Movies At Waterloo On 20 February, our hostel girls hosted a moonlit open-air cinema screening of Knight’s Tale. Making it even more special than such an event would have been, was the fact that our Littlewood brothers were invited to join us!
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Stars and Snow in Sutherland
Three Wynberg girls selected to represent SA at the KSI World Championships! Adriana Verster, Chelsea de Reuck and Jessica Virgin have all been selected to represent South Africa at the KSI World Championships in Germany later this year. The tournament is from the 19-23 July 2016. We are extraordinarily proud of them, and congratulate them on their achievement.
Some of our Grade 9 learners had the opportunity to join Herzlia on a two day excursion to Sutherland – the town of snow and stars. We got to appreciate the beauty of the Karoo landscape, took a walk through the quaint tourist town of Sutherland and even did a bit of history as we visited an old grave site. However, as darkness descended, the reason we were in Sutherland came sharply into focus – the stars. We all became amateur astronomers as we made our way round the night sky both with the naked eye and through some powerful telescopes. The highlight of the evening though, was the 3:00am sighting of Saturn with all its perfect rings – a sight well worth getting up for. The next day we set out to SALT where we had a most informative tour around the complex. We also had a rare view of the biggest telescope in the Southern Hemisphere rotating on its axis to display all its mirrors – a truly wow moment for us all. We would like to thank Herzlia for the invitation to join them on this very special trip.
An Amazing Summer School Programme at Wynberg Girls High School
http://bit.ly/1oo3dts
So What Is Summer School at Wynberg Girls High School? On 12 February, Wynberg experienced a new kind of learning: Summer School. Taking inspiration from a similar programme at UCT, an ordinary day was replaced with a day where students signed up for workshops in what they wanted to be taught, and in some cases, what they wanted to teach. Girls volunteered to share their skills and passions on a range of talks on various topics, as well as activities. Staff and Grades 8, 10 and 12 had the opportunity of choosing three of these to attend on Friday. With talks and workshops on topics from photography to Mandarin to Coding and Drum Majorettes there were opportunities to experience something very different.
Grade 9 Camp We arrived at Back 2 Basics Campsite after a long two hours on the road. We were all ready and looking forward to three days of fun! We completed the first day with our allocated groups and created a special name and warcry for our team. The spirit and pride that came from each team was indescribable. Day two was a long and exhausting day filled with raft-building, crawling through muddy water and working together as a team. By the last day of camp, our voices were gone, our bodies were sore and our eyes were half-closed. But, besides all of that, we left camp filled with Wynberg pride as the Grade 9s of 2016. - Erin Harris
Results U16A Interschools’ Waterpolo Challenge On Saturday the U16A Waterpolo team played in a tournament hosted by Rustenburg Girls’ High School. The tournament was held at SACS and Wynberg Girls’ High School was placed second out of six teams. Apart from the game against Rustenburg, they won all their matches. The scores were as follows: ¤ Rustenburg 4 and WGHS 2 ¤ Somerset College U14 0 and WGHS 13 ¤ Somerset College U16 2 and WGHS 7 ¤ Parklands 0 and WGHS 15 ¤ St Cyprians 1 and WGHS 11 The tournament was a good way to end off the season’s matches and the girls are excited for next season in term four.
Results Hockey Fives: Second Teams
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Third
Second Team: The 2nd team has had two fantastic wins in the 5s Tournament over the past two Mondays. Last week Monday we played a great game against Reddam, winning 12 – 2. Everyone in the team scored at least one goal. This week we won 10 – 0 against Springfield. A fantastic way to end our tournament. You all have improved and I look forward to many more games in the outdoor season. - Amber Bailey (C) Third Team: Wynberg’s 3rds ended their 5s Tournament under the lights on Monday with a great win against Springfield. The score was 4-1 and our goals were scored by Michelle Boshoff(2), Hannah Davids and Laretia Esbach. The team communicated positively and it showed. The whole team was announced “Player of the Match” for their solid efforts throughout the game. - Jade de Villiers
<- Fun At the Cape Town Science Centre Grade 12 phyiscs Excursion
St Peters Waterpolo Tournament Our first team Waterpolo girls went on tour to St Peters this month. The energy at the tournament was electric and the girls played like true sportswomen.
Pitcairn Cup Waterpolo Tournament Power, spirit, stamina and strength! This is what we saw in our girls at the Pitcairn Waterpolo Tournament from 11-14 Feb. It was a high-energy, nail-biting event and the girls did incredibly well for a brand new team. Watch this space for more fantastic polo by our u14s!
Results: Wynberg defeats Arch Rivals Diving Competition
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Wynberg Girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; High Schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diving team competed in a diving competition against our biggest rival Springfield, on 4 February, at the WGHS diving pool. The team competed extremely well and to the best of their ability, and defeated them by 21 points. Samantha Martin came 2nd and Caroline Enslin came 3rd in our senior division, and Kayla Walsh came 1st and Marine Bosch came a close 2nd in our junior division. Well done to all the girls who competed and those who supported. There was a wonderful atmosphere at the pool.
Senior and Junior Debating Trials Well done to the following girls who have been selected for the Senior and Junior Debating Teams: A team: Aqilah Regal, Stacey Goliath, Ashleigh Cozzet and Thandeka Chakanyuka. B team: Zoey Van Reenan, Mikayla Schilder, Lilitha Njobe and Esethu Mahlumba. For more information, news, updates and stories hot off the press, visit www.wynghs.co.za