PRE-PRIMARY PREPARATORY COLLEGE COLLEGE NEWS

BRIDGE HOUSE

PRE-PRIMARY PREPARATORY COLLEGE

COLLEGE NEWS

No 26 www.bridgehouse.org.za 22 August 2014

Cultural Awards

Above left to right: Lara Wessels, Warren Fleming, Tanay Solanki, Nandi On Thursday evening, Bridge House
Dhlamini, Josh Mercer, Zackary Nel, Corné Hendricks
celebrated its second annual Cultural
Above: Alexander van Rensburg (Grade 12)
Mary de Villiers (Prep Parent) did the spectacular flower arrangement for the Awards Evening. Although the academic

evening. Thank you very much to her. achievements of our culturally active

students are acknowledged at the

Academic Awards Ceremony, this evening

was the occasion to applaud those

students who go far beyond the curriculum

in the different fields of the Performing and

Visual Arts. This year we were joined for

the first time by students who in their

endeavours promoted English outside the

classroom.

Although the evening was well supported

by students and their families, it has been

suggested that the event might reach even

more people if it were held on a Friday after

school. Please contact us if you have an

opinion in this regard. Mr David Fuller

Top left to right: Clara Ortmann and Brannon Quinn; Jeffrey
Armstrong and Mr Francois Le Roux

Centre: Part of the Vocal Ensemble; Abigail Stubbs and Corné
Hendricks

Above: Jordy Gurr, Simpe Jonas Solwandle; Marthella Minne

Top: Keagan Clack; Nomfundo Mjila and Abby
MacGillivray

Above: Annie Theron, Zubin Pietersen, Robin
Brewer

Music Maestro

Jeffrey Armstrong (Grade 12) got through
to the finals of the SACS National Music
competition on Saturday and walked off
with the first prize (Instrumental category,
Age 17 – 19) as well as the “Rising Star”
award. Jeffery has also been invited to
play at the Artscape Concerto Festival
(see below). We are very proud of you,
Jeffery!

Artscape CPO Concerto

Festival

“Be at Artscape Opera on Saturday at
7.30 to hear a slew of marvellously
talented young performers at the Youth
Music Festival celebrating 20 years of
democracy… they’ll knock your socks off
in the celebration concert which marks the
43rd annual festival. Some of the
performers are CPYO players like

Jeffrey Armstrong, and those who

have performed or played ad hoc with the
CPO like marimba player Dylan Tabisher,
singers Siyabulele Ntlale, Goitsemang
Lehobye, Makudupanyane Senaoana and
cellist Aristide du Plessis, as well as
pianists Ellen Wagenstroom and Roelof
Temmingh, flautist Myles Roberts and
clarinettist Carla van der Merwe. On the
podium? Our marvellous Brandon
Phillips”. Tickets at Computicket.

Paarl Valley Eisteddfod Results

Once again our musicians achieve excellent results at the Paarl Valley Eisteddfod. Pupils had to
score the following marks to achieve certificates: Cum Laude 90 - 100%, Gold Plus 85 - 89%, Gold
80 - 84%, Silver 75 - 79%, Silver 70 – 74%.

Congratulations to Zackary Nel for achieving a Gold Plus for his singing!

Special mention must be made to Mr Heinen who was singled out by the singing adjudicator for his
outstanding skills as an accompanist. The adjudicator added that other accompanists could learn a
skill or two from this gifted musician! Well done, Mr Heinen!

International Exchange

Exchange has definitely been the highlight of my life so far. For about five weeks, I spent my
exchange in Hinterzarten, Germany. My school was in the beautiful Schwarzwald (Black Forest) and I
am so privileged to have met life-long friends as well as to have experienced a completely different
world. I have come back to South Africa, with improved German, as well as a suitcase of Haribo
sweets. I encourage all Grade 8s and 9s to apply and make the most of this incredible experience.

Yamilla Martin (Grade 10)

Danette Smith conquers the mountain to finish 4th in her
age group

On Saturday 16 August, Miss Danette Smith took part in the Long Distance Trail Running World
Championships held in Colorado, USA as a member of the South African Trail Running team. It was a
tough race which saw more than three thousand runners take on the Pikes Peak Ascent. A gruelling
21 km uphill-only climb, which took the runners from an elevation of 1900m above sea level to the finish
at 4300m, where there is 40% less oxygen in the air than at sea level and nothing grows! 1683 Ladies
from around the world finished the race in which Danette was placed 28th overall and an impressive 4th
in her age group (20 – 24yrs), in a time of 3hrs 13 min. Amazing CAN DO effort, Danette!

Mrs Justine du Plessis

Condolences

We extend our sincere condolences to Mrs Sandy Allen whose mother passed away yesterday.
Sandy, you and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.

Congratulations

Head of College Maths, Mr Stephan Willers, has graduated with a BSc
Honours in Mathematics Education. Well done.
Mr Robin November received his PGCE. Congratulations to him.

Sports Update

Archery

Scott Jacobs participated in the “Cape of Good Hope” archery
tournament on Saturday 16 August. The tournament was hosted by
the Western Cape Target Archery Association (www.wparchery.org)
and the event was sanctioned by the South African National Archery
Association (SANAA) with all scores achieved counting towards
National Ranking Status. The tournament takes approximately five
hours to complete and consisted of shooting 36 arrows at each of the
following distances – 50m, 40m 30m & 20m totalling 144 competition
arrows shot during the day.

After breaking the existing Western Province record at 50m, Scott
was looking good for posting some high scores for the day. During
the rest of the tournament Scott went on to break the 40 metre
Western Province record as well as the 30 meter and the 20 metre
records. His overall tournament score also set a new record for the
Province in the Boys Under 15 Compound Bow division. Well done to
Scott for a great Archery achievement and setting 5 new Western
Province records.

Soccer vs Mbekweni Saturday 16 August (home)
U14 won 3 - 2
U16 won 3 - 2
1st team lost 9 - 0

Netball vs Labori Monday 18 August (home)
2nd team won 29 - 5
1st team lost 24 - 20

Inter-house sport
Unfortunately Inter-House Hockey, Soccer & Rugby could not be played this week because of the
bad weather. We shall try and fit these fixtures in before the end of term. Watch Daily Notices and
school emails for details.
Results of Inter-House netball
1st Alexandria (6)
2nd Helios (3)
3rd Olympia (0)

 PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE NO SPORT DURING WEEK WITHOUT WALLS
(25 AUGUST – 30 AUGUST)

 WINTER SPORT (IN THE COLLEGE – NOT IN THE PREP) HAS COME TO AN END.
THE SPORT SCHEDULE FOR THE REST OF THE TERM WILL BE PUBLISHED IN
NEXT WEEK’S NEWSLETTER

Hockey vs Charlie Hofmeyer Saturday 16 August (home)

Girls U16A drew 1-1
Girls 2nd team lost 0-5
Girls 1st team lost 0-7

Boys U16 A lost 1-3
2nd team lost 0-3
1st team drew 1-1

See terms and conditions at the end of the newsletter

The last school week of 2014 and final reports

The termly calendars have carried the start and end dates of our 2014 terms for some time now, but
we need to be quite specific about the arrangements for the final week of the fourth term (starting
Monday 1 December) to avoid confusion. The term dates in the calendar indicate that school closes
on Friday 5 December. Please note that this date applies to teaching staff. The students’ last school
day is in fact Wednesday 3 December, which is the same arrangement as for the end of 2013. The
school will close with a final assembly, ending at 11.00.

There are a number of reasons for this arrangement, mainly connected to the process around the

collation and publishing of the fourth term reports in a very short space of time. This is made all the

more pressured by the departure of a cohort of College staff for IEB Grade 12 marking in
Johannesburg. These two clear report-processing days, with the year’s academic work finished,

afford staff the time for review meetings for all grades, comment writing and checking of reports to be

completed in time for them to be e-mailed to parents on Friday 5 December. It is worth noting that the

arrangement also allows us to maximise teaching time prior to the final examinations, by pushing

these exams as late into the term as possible (the timetable is set to have the last examinations on

Monday 1 December, with Tuesday 2 December as a hand-back and checking day.) We sincerely

hope that this does not lead to any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. As always,

hard copies will also be available for collection on Monday 8 December. Mr Mike Russell

60 Minutes with the Heads – The date of this meeting

has been moved forward to Monday 8 September

In the interests of good and improving communication between school and parents, Mike Russell and
Marc Barrow, Heads of the College and Prep respectively, will host the termly 60 Minutes with the
Heads meeting, on Monday 8 September in the Prep Hall, from 08h00 to 09h00.

In order to help the Heads prepare properly for this, please e-mail any questions or concerns (of a
general nature) you may have, to [email protected] by or on Monday 1 September. The PA
has kindly offered to bundle these into a folder and forward them to the Heads, who will then prepare
responses to the matters raised, and email out the agenda. Parents interested in these agenda items
will be welcome to come along and participate in the conversation.

Please note that any issues mailed to PA@bridgehouse after that closing date will not be on the
agenda for this meeting, and will either be replied to in the interim, or carried over to the next 60
Minutes in the third term.

The rules for 60 Minutes are simple:

 it's a constructive and collaborative initiative;

 matters raised and mailed through need to be of a general nature;

 if deemed a better option to do so, the Heads can respond directly by e-mail to any issues

before the meeting;

 there will be honest and frank responses and discussion around the topics on the agenda;

 questions from the floor need to be only about the agenda issues: no "surprises" and no

"general"!

 giving the Heads some preparation time is simply so that if figures and data are required for an

answer, or if someone else's expertise is needed, there is an opportunity to gather this and

give full answers (and perhaps put it into a presentation of sorts);

 time: strictly 60 minutes for the forum, so that it's short and sharp and those attending can plan

their morning. Mr Mike Russell





French Tutor wanted

We are looking for a French Tutor to teach our daughter, aged 11, in Grade 5.
She is bilingual and does speak well, however, concentration is now needed on the written language
and reading.
Lessons would ideally be once or twice a week for about 45 mins. Mondays – Thursdays, 4pm at the
school.
If you are interested please contact either:
Olivier Cebe – 0824522488 – [email protected]
or
Rachel Drew – 0836864734 – [email protected]

*******************************************************************************************************************

Tel : (011) 275 0251 | (021) 872 7673 | Fax: 086 512 6452 | Cell: 076 811 9102 / 076 811 9100
E-mail: [email protected] | [email protected]
Website: www.jump-a-queue.co.za

Physical / Postal: 2nd Floor, The Business Centre, 377 Rivonia Boulevard, Corner Rivonia Road and 12th Avenue, Rivonia
And at: 376 Main Road / Hoof Straat, Paarl
Reg. Number: 2005/029022/07

___________________________________________________________________________________________

CONGRATULATIONS, PARENTS! YOU ARE MAKING A
DIFFERENCE. SEE THE LETTER BELOW THAT WE HAVE JUST

RECEIVED FROM THE MySchool REPRESENTATIVE.

We have reached the end of our financial year July 2013 to June 2014, and I thought that it would be a good time to
reflect on what has been happening with regard to MySchool activity at Bridge House.

Congratulations!

 Bridge House was our number 3 school in the Boland, with the total Gross funds raised of R142 967 for the
financial year (21.8% growth in gross funds raised compared to R117 400 during the previous financial year.)

 Over the past few years, Bridge House has moved from position number 99 countrywide to number 44 at the end
of the financial year.

 If you continue to grow at this rate, you’ll very soon be in the top 30! Your growth of 21.8% is better that most of
the schools in the top 50.

 Of the top 50 schools, only 11 other schools have shown better growth than Bridge House…
 Since the school registered as a beneficiary just over 11 years ago, the grand total of Gross Funds raised to date

by Bridge House supporters, is a whopping R653 418!!!
 During the past financial year 97 new MySchool cards or Woolworths Rewards cards were issued for Bridge House

supporters, of which 63 have been activated. The activation ratio is almost 65%, which is good. However, I
would like us to aim for a 100% activation ratio.
o This is a fantastic performance. To maintain such growth is remarkable. All your
planning and activities have paid off!
 With the help of 450 active supporters (used their cards during the year) or 342 unique supporters (using their cards
in June) you have the ability to double your funds raised (754 learners in your school), or what do you think?

Terms & Conditions – Bridge House Parents’
Association Raffle.

1. The Parents’ Association will draw the
winning ticket on Wednesday 17th
September 2014 at the annual Bridge
House Golf Day. The decision of the
Parents’ Association is final and no
correspondence will be entered into.

2. The Parents’ Association reserves the
right to postpone the draw date should
the golf day be postponed or a
prescribed minimum number of tickets
is not sold.

3. There will be a maximum of 4000
tickets sold.

4. There will be no refunds on tickets
purchased.

5. Accommodation for the first prize is on
a sharing basis for two people, all
meals, park fees, scheduled daily camp
activities and local drinks (excluding
premium brand imports) are included.

6. Bookings must be made at least one
month prior to departure and any costs
incurred because of subsequent
changes will be for the winners’
account.

7. No flights are included in the first prize;
these are for the prizewinner’s account.

8. Accommodation for Cascade Country
Manor is on a bed and breakfast basis
only.

9. Prizes must be used during their
validation period.

10. The prizes are non-transferable and
cannot be exchanged for cash.

11. Travel is carried out purely at the
individual’s own risk and he/she is
responsible for his/her own travel
insurance that he/she deems fit in
respect of personal accident, medical
and related expenses and personal
effects.

12. Under no circumstances can the school
and / or its representatives be held
liable for bodily injury, illness and / or
the loss of personal effects howsoever
caused.