January 2016

WYNBERG GIRLS’

HIGH SCHOOL

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2016

Also available on our website : www.wynghs.co.za

MATRIC RESULTS

Dear Parents This past weekend saw the beginning of the year-long anniversary celebra ons of our brother schools. WGHS congratulates Boys' Junior and Boys' High and wishes them well well in this their 175th year.

The four Wynberg schools formed a Campus of Schools some years ago – a vision of Keith Richardson, former headmaster of Boys' High. We are fortunate to be the only government school (of which we have knowledge) where boys' and girls' junior and high schools are in such close proximity to allow us to have the best of both worlds – single sex educa on with many joint ac vi es and shared facili es. The Campus of Schools bonds all four schools with a similar ethos under the four founda on pillars - Academic, Culture, Service and Sport. The campus has resulted in the shared astroturf fields, joint produc ons in drama and music, sharing of waterpolo pools and the girls' junior heated swimming pool, sharing of IT skills, and other ac vi es and skills where one school gains from the experience of the others.

This year we hope to introduce a more structured Campus forum for parents, where interes ng and relevant school and community topics can be discussed, and we trust that you will be keen to join us in this venture.

The District Awards ceremony for the Matrics of 2015 was held on Saturday and we congratulate our Wynberg girls on their success, bringing home the award for most Bachelor passes in the district, and having nine Wynberg girls in the Top 20 posi ons in the Metro South Educa on District.

The first month of the year has already gone and we hope that some of your resolu ons for the year have taken hold! All too soon we will be at the end of the first term so we encourage all Wynberg girls to reach their goals for the term. Cemen ng a good founda on is impera ve if your daughter wants to achieve great things this year, and we ask that you also encourage her commitment to her schoolwork from home.

Warm regards Shirley Harding PRINCIPAL

WGHS congratulates WBHS on their 175 years of excellence!

Mrs S Harding with Wynberg’s top 3 students: Nicole Wentzel, Ashleigh Thompson & Tamsyn Gaynor Congratula ons to the 2015 Matrics who achieved excellent results in the Na onal Senior Cer ficate Examina ons.

186 candidates passed the examina on of which 174 (93 %) achieved a Bachelors Pass. There were 405 subject dis nc ons (80%+) and 48 learners achieved 4 or more subject dis nc ons. Of the 19 subjects offered, 13 obtained an average above 70% and 5 above 80% – a clear reflec on of the quality of teaching at the school.

Once again Wynberg was one of the schools invited to the award ceremony at Leeuwenhof, the official residence of the Premier of the Western Cape. The award we received, as on previous occasions, was Category 1 – Excellence in academic performance. Nicole Wentzel who achieved eight dis nc ons, was one of the top achievers in the province.

We also congratulate the following girls who were ranked amongst the top 10 in the Province, in the following subjects: isiXhosa : Nokubonga Fatman - 2nd Dance Studies: Veronique Reagon - 2nd Visual Arts: Mikayla Visser - 2nd & Alyssa Siepen - 8th

Nokubonga Fatman

Veronique Reagon

7 Dis nc ons Kayla Arnold Ashleigh Dreyer Tamsyn Gaynor Caitlin Hurry Michelle Mitchell Clara Stassen Ashleigh Thompson Natalie Winter

Mikayla Visser

Alyssa Siepen

The following students achieved between 6 and 7 dis nc ons: 6 Dis nc ons Roxanne Douglas Layla Omar Raadhiyah Jacobs Lynn-Leigh Plaatjies Tamar Kendon Zayaan Stegmann Carla Mathyse Saabira Swart Catherine Nothling Cara White-Phillips

MORE MATRIC RESULTS

The following Matrics, in alphabe cal order, achieved 4 or 5 dis nc ons: 5 Dis nc ons Alice da Silva Jessie Leverzencie Gabriella Schiava Miché Daniels Anastasia Solomons Beth Petersen Nadine Eddy Julia White-Phillips Jaime Philander Mishka Fisher Robyn Williams Michaela Randall Michelle Langeveld Veronique Reagon Courtney Wray

Hannah Fuller Amy-Leigh Goldman Amy Gribble Casey Homan

4 Dis nc ons Tyra Khan Adrienne Knight Hayley Knoll Nadine Maneveld

Naafiah Mayet

Stefanie Simon Chelsea Spaans Kelly Vermaak Mikayla Visser

Jae-Young Park

TERM 4 2015 PILLAR AWARDS The Pillar Awards are made at the end of each term to acknowledge outstanding achievement within that pillar during the term. We congratulate the following girls who were awarded the Pillar trophies in Term 4 2015: Sports Pillar – Saarah Smith, Service Pillar – Huda Ely, Cultural Pillar – Tasha Ainsworth, Academic Pillar –Aa’isha Dout.

Saarah Smith, Huda Ely, Tasha Ainsworth & Aa’isha Dout

ACADEMIC COLOUR AWARDS PROTEA COLOURS Aa’isha Dout Grade 11

GRADE 11 FULL COLOURS Meg Anderton Tasha Ainsworth Dana Arries Leigh Botha Monique Harrison Razaana Manuel Kauthar Taliep Chelsea Terry Chloe van Niekerk HALF COLOURS Nicole Chineka Shreya Naidu Rebekah Nathan Lauren Wiemers

These awards are based on the 2015 November examina ons, when the girls were in Grades 10 and 11. They are now in Grades 11 and 12.

GRADE 10 FULL COLOURS Front: A Chiktay, Y Booley, J Stephens, R van Dam, P Naidoo, C Wilsnagh Back: S Goliath, K Nicholls, I Evans

GRADE 11 FULL COLOURS Front: C Terry, L Botha, T Ainsworth, K Taliep Back: C van Niekerk, D Arries, A Dout (Protea Colours)

GRADE 10 HALF COLOURS I Babb, S Prentice, T Harrison, A Arendse

GRADE 11 HALF COLOURS S Naidu, R Nathan, L Wiemers

FULL COLOURS GRADE 10 Yusra Booley Parina Naidoo Afroze Chiktay Katherine Nicholls Jessica Stephens Isobel Evans Stacey Goliath Robyn van Dam Caitlin Wilsnagh

HALF COLOURS Amy Arendse India Babb Paige Farquhar Tayob Harrison Shannon Pren ce

WELCOME TO WYNBERG There are several new members of staff this term. Ms Anya O’Hagan steps in as our new PR and Marke ng officer, par cularly digital marke ng. Mrs Debby Sapore comes in as Visual Arts Subject Head, Mr John Roberts takes over the Advanced Programme Mathema cs and will also be teaching Mathema cs, Mrs Charme Kriel joins the Afrikaans and Life Orienta on departments, Mrs Nicita Hansrajh will be teaching English and Technology, and Mr Nathan Lewis joins the Music department.

Ms A O’Hagan Then Ms Gill Su on comes into the History department while Ms Wills is on study leave, Mrs Joni Stoop takes over Ms Muhl’s Life Sciences and Natural Sciences classes while she is on maternity leave, and Mrs O'dine Lategan comes in for Mrs Muller in the Afrikaans department. We are also very lucky to have two Wynberg past-pupils as teacher interns this year: both Ms Illse Davids and Ms Amy Wilkinson will be teaching History and Life Orienta on. Ms Nicola Basse , also a teacher intern at WGJS this Mrs N Hanrajh year, will join the Life Orienta on and Natural Science departments. We wish you all a very warm Wynberg welcome!

Mrs D Saporetti

Mr J Roberts

Mrs C Kriel

Mr N Lewis

Ms G Sutton

Mrs J Stoop

Ms I Davids

Ms A Wilkinson

AS LEVELS RESULTS AS Levels are interna onal examina ons run by Cambridge University and wri en by students all over the world. WGHS has been offering A Levels since 1999 and currently offers AS Levels in English and History to Grade 11s who must meet the requirements of both WCED and Cambridge.

Mrs O Lategan

Ms N Bassett

The top Wynberg student this year was Aa’isha Dout (le ), who achieved an A for English and History. Hers was the top English mark at WGHS. Not far behind was Meg Anderton (right) who achieved an A for History - this was the top WGHS mark - and a B for English.

3rd was Nina Devlin (le ) who achieved Bs for both English and History.

The following girls received a B for English: Sade Allcock, Leigh Botha, Nicole Chineka, Gabby Makohliso, Razaana Manuel, Rebekah Nathan and Chelsea Terry.

These girls received a B for History: Thandeka Chakanyuka, Khanyisile Matabata, Ceara Front: G Makohliso, L Harris, D Arries, S Allcock, E Littleton Mullins and Kauthar Taliep. We congratulate Middle: R Manuel, S Cloete, K Matabata, T Flint, C van Niekerk, A Dout, C Mullins, K Taliep all of these girls and their teachers on these Back: S Dingeni, L Botha, N Devlin, R Nathan, C Terry, N Chineka excellent results.

ACADEMIC BREAKFAST On Monday, 25 January, the top twelve academics from the November exams in each of Grades 8 to 11 met for a celebratory breakfast in the Wynberger. Mrs Harding welcomed everyone and congratulated the girls on their excellent achievements in 2015.

A er this our 2016 Academic Head, Meg Anderton, gave a short mo va onal speech in which she encouraged the girls to take risks in order to do even be er in the future. Chocolates were handed out to girls who a ained over 80% in every subject in the final exams of 2015. Grade 8: Tali Sulcas and Kaley Appleton; Grade 9: Aneesa Rawat and Na-eela Coleman; Grade10: Parina Naidoo; and Grade 11: Aa'isha Dout. Special congratula ons go to Kaley Appleton and Na-eela Coleman who achieved over 80% in each subject in every term last year! A er the formali es it was me to tuck into the delicious breakfast consis ng of fruit salad, yoghurt, muffins, croissants, juice and coffee.

WELCOME TO THE GRADE 8s In order to make the process of entering high school less overwhelming, the WGHS leaders run an orienta on programme to introduce the Grade 8s to our school. Firstly, the Grade 12 RCL reps explained its role and the upcoming Grade 8 RCL elec on process. House groups were next, where goals and achievements were set out for this year. The Academic pillar hosted a very enjoyable interhouse general knowledge quiz between the houses, won by Wellesley. In a fashion show, the Sports pillar showed what not to wear at Wynberg when it comes to Sport uniforms, and screened a number of videos created by the sports captains to encourage involvement. The Spirit team concluded the session with a new school cheer that echoed through the hall!

The second day began with a Cultural pillar ‘market’: every cultural society set up a stall to promote itself. There were also performances from the dance and drama girls. The Service pillar organised a hands-on sandwich-making session and the gym was a buzz of sandwich-making ac vity. Within half an hour, each house had produced roughly 400 sandwiches that were delivered to Capricorn Primary later that day. This was followed by an introduc on to the Service pillar and Wynberg’s outreach programme Ms Opperman inspired the Grade 8s during the learning of our School Song and an Internet Facts Quiz by Mr Schu e got the girls on their feet. Each house created a rou ne and the Grade 8s learned a dance rou ne that had the hall erup ng in applause.

School spirit con nued to grow during day 3. Each house performed their cheer and Copenhagen’s was adjudged the best! The Heads of Houses then took each class for a tour around the school before wishing the girls well for their first year at WGHS.

GRADE 8 PLEDGE CEREMONY Becoming a true Wynberg girl begins in Grade 8 with the Pledge Ceremony, when the Grade 8s are officially welcomed into the Wynberg family by receiving their signed pledges.

After being welcomed by Zolisa Kapa, RCL Chair, and Lara Mrs J van Zyl, Head of Grade 8 Harris, Head of School, each Head of House, in turn, & Mrs S Harding,Principal. invited her Grade 8s to put on their blazers.

Wearing her Lara Harris, Head of School, blazer officially for the first time, each girl was personally welcomed by her matric leader, tutor and Zolisa Kapa, RCL Chair teacher and house co-coordinator while receiving her signed Pledge Certificate and Wynberg badge.

Waterloo Tutor, Mr P Bodenstein (below), hands the pledge cer ficate to each girl in his tutor group.

All the other tutors did the same for their tutor group.

Proud Wynberg girls!

Afterwards, there were refreshments, and the Grade 8s introduced their parents to their tutors. We hope the Grade 8s feel very welcome and that they are ready to make the most of the next 5 years.

CURRENT AFFAIRS The Current Affairs Society had its first mee ng of 2016 and, as usual, the room was filled to capacity. The topic for the session was ‘Racism’, reflec ng the current increase na onally in racist comments via tweets and posts on social media. Girls were keen to engage in this conversa on, as for most of us, this is a deeply personal issue. Those who have experienced direct racism shared their experiences with the group which created a greater level of understanding and willingness to address this issue. Many felt that even though we are 22 years into the ‘new’ South Africa, there is s ll a long way to go before our society is truly transformed. Many felt that ‘Fees Must Fall’ had done much to highlight the issue . As a response to our first mee ng, members of the society intend becoming more socially conscious in 2016 in order to work towards a more empathe c and just society. We believe that one of the ways in which this can be achieved is by having more discussions addressing conten ous issues. Everyone who is free from 15h00 to 16h00 on Tuesday a ernoons is encouraged to join in the conversa on in Room 19!

MATRIC SLEEPOVER THE LAST ON THE GRASS!

DOWNLOADING TEXTBOOKS! Wynberg is joining an exci ng new phase in becoming a paperless society. Working with ITSI - IT School Innova on - this involves downloading electronic textbooks for all the 2016 Grade 8s which they will be access via their tablets.

Step 1 is for all Grade 8s to download the relevant free app from the Windows store.

Step 2 connects all Grade 8s’ tablets to the ITSI server so that the electronic textbooks can be downloaded. All Grade 8s have hard copy of their textbooks and will be working with them un l the downloading has been completed. All the Grade 8 teachers have undergone training so that they know how to work with these digital books and are able to add resources and data to them and then sync all the new data to learners’ tablets. The beginning of a new era!

FEM SOC FemSoc restarted on 22 January when we welcomed our new commi ee: Jenni Ely, Tayla Pinto, Julie e Aus n and Juliet Stromin, and Ms Orpen who will hold the fort while Ms Wills is on study leave. In the first session, we watched a Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talk en tled “We Should All Be Feminists”. Girls were encouraged to jot down points which they thought interes ng or thought-provoking and which might serve as topics to explore in more detail. It provided an entertaining introduc on to feminism for new and old members.

PRINTING SOCIETY A sleepover on the sacred grass in the centre of Wynberg’s beau ful quad has become a tradi on. However, owing to the really exci ng renova ons about to happen, this is the last me it can be held in this venue which added a special atmosphere to this year’s sleepover. The girls quickly set up their tents and in no me the braais were going and there were shrieks coming from the pool. The music was a hit, there was dancing all night long and the girls got to bond - a vital part of being in matric and a brilliant start to this year.

On Monday 25th, the Prin ng Society had its first mee ng. In the first term this involves doing linocuts. On Monday, members started thinking about and sourcing the images that would ul mately be used. A er that, the process of transferring the images onto the lino using carbon paper began. Once this arduous process was completed, we started cu ng away the lino with our tools. When everyone is finished, we will print the linocuts on the prin ng press. During the course of the year, we are hoping to explore many different types of prin ng, such as woodcuts, collagraphs, and dry point etchings. Wynberg has also incorporated prin ng into the Art curriculum so the girls are learning skills that they can use for their own enjoyment and in their art prac cals. Sade Alcock (Prin ng Society Head)

MSA BRAAI The Muslim Students’ Associa on started the year with a braai as a special welcome to all new members, especially the Grade 8s.

The braai was also a fund-raiser with the money to be used for any MSA events held during the year. Any money not used by the end of the year is donated to a charity. The girls enjoyed socialising and ge ng henna ta oos done. It was truly a successful a ernoon of bonding together as a society.

TENNIS On 19 January, the 3rd Tennis team played a match against Springfield. The girls represen ng Wynberg were: Kayleigh Henderson, Megan Farquhar, Jenna Grey and Na-eela Coleman. In spite of the heat, the girls played very well and showed great enthusiasm and spirt which resulted in an excellent result: Wynberg beat Springfield 5-1. Well done to Megan who won her singles 8-2, and to Jenna and Na-eela who won their doubles 8-3.

On 22 January, the 2nd Team played against St Cyprians and unfortunately lost 0-6. Congratulations to Nkensani Baloyi who won 6 games in her singles match, eventually losing 6-8. She has shown great commitment and significant improvement.

On 26 January, the 1st Team girls played against Springfield Convent on the Cavan Road courts. Our 1st team consisted of: Tali Sulcas, Dana Arries, Katherine Nicholls and Savannah Wiegand. Springfield have always been tough compe on and un l now, the Katherine tennis girls have not been able to Nicholls defeat them in the first league. That in ac on. has changed! Tali and Dana had a very ght doubles match in the beginning but persisted, and were able to break Springfield’s serve which gave them the confidence to take the match. Special congratula ons go to Katherine Nicholls who only allowed her opponent one game when she beat her. Naturally, the team was thrilled to win their first league fixture so convincingly 5-1 - an important one at that! Our vision of Wynberg finishing in the top 3 by the end of the season is something we hold close to our hearts. Well done to the 1st Team!

BIATHLON Congratula ons to Donne Hooper (le ) and Amaarah Cornish (right) who were selected to represent Western Province at the Highgate Oudshoorn Interprovincial Biathlon Mee ng on Saturday 6 February.

TASHA’S USA EXPERIENCE Tasha Ainsworth was invited to par cipate solo in the Interna onal Pulse Compe on in Orlando and to train amongst the best in the world at the Alven Ailey Dance Studio in New York.

Tasha reports: “I had the most incredibly inspiring trip and have certainly learnt a lot which I intend to share with the Dance Society especially! In New York, I was very fortunate to a end 5 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre shows, and, the ul mate highlight, met Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber! I also did 3 to 4 classes a day at The Ailey School, Broadway Dance Centre and Steps on Broadway and a master class at The Martha Graham Company. Then we flew to Orlando for the Pulse Conven on and Compe on. I competed in the solo division ages 13-25 and got through to the finals, making it into the top 12! Overall this was an incredible eyeopener for an aspiring dancer and I now know exactly where to set my hopes and dreams!”

INDOOR HOCKEY Matches vs Fairmont

1st Team: Wynberg won 3-0.

The first game of the season started off at full pace.

A penalty corner resulted in a penalty stroke and Sasha Sivertsen made no mistake and scored. Wynberg con nued to a ack and earned several short corners, two of which they converted: Amina Williams scored a great deflec on goal and Jamie Southgate scored Wynberg’s 3rd. In defence, Chelsea van de Berg made three crucial saves in goal. Well done, girls!

2nd Team: Wynberg lost 0-3.

The 2nd team had many opportuni es during the game but could not covert them into goals. Despite the loss, the team had fun and are keen to improve and start scoring.

3rd Team: Wynberg lost 2-5.

Wynberg scored first through goals by Shannon Reilly and Caitlin Thomson. The team fought well and displayed great tenacity throughout the game. Fairmont con nued to apply pressure and ul mately proved too strong.

SAILING Two Wynberg girls took part in the Junior Na onals Sailing Rega a.

Sonja Stock (right) sailed in the Dabchick fleet (33 boats). She was 1st girl, and came 3rd overall. Sarah Deary (le ) sailed in the Laser Radials where she was 2nd girl and 7th overall.

Sonja also took part in the Interprovincial rega a where she and two SACS boys sailed for the Western Province A team and took the na onal trophy!

WATERPOLO vs RHENISH Well done to the whole U14B team for playing so well in their first match at WGHS. They kept figh ng un l the last chukka, but lost 3-7. Well done to Caylee Nell and Layla Adams for scoring the goals. Led by Lara Mills, the 14A team started their season in Garin Walker, 1st team fine fashion, winning 8-2. coach, in action.

The U16B team played well but lost. The U16A team also lost, 4-7. Player of the match was Megan de Beer. The 2nd team showed tenacity and courage but also lost, 1-4. 1st team had a wonderful start to the season, winning 8-6. All the hard work and training has paid off. Lara Pollecu scored most of the goals.

RELAY GALA On Thursday, 28 January the swimming team par cipated in a relay gala at WBHS where each swimmer improved on her mes from the previous week! The team was delighted to have beaten their old rivals, Springfield.

Special men on to the U14 team who swam outstandingly in only their second gala. It was especially great to have the Spirit Team there cheering our girls on.

We could not be more proud of the swimmers.