BRIDGE HOUSE
PRE-PRIMARY
PREPARATORY
COLLEGE
COLLEGE NEWS
No 14
www.bridgehouse.org.za
15 May 2015
Sandwich Day
Our decision to move sandwich day from Friday to Monday has, it seems, been a very good one.
For one thing, we are now afforded the opportunity to interact with pupils from Wemmershoek
when we go. So far, only three groups have been, a Grade 9 group, the SLC and two Grade 12
home rooms, in that order. They will report, I'm sure, that it was a unique and rewarding
experience. We played games, shared food, chatted about this and that, sang a little and then
returned to school. All in all, I don't think there has ever been a better opportunity (outside of the
reading programme perhaps) to get to know pupils from other schools in the Valley. I want to thank
everyone who has contributed so far towards making these experiences memorable and
meaningful and for their enthusiasm and continued support. I look forward to many more trips,
filled with laughter and high spirits! Don't forget sandwich day every Monday!
Mr George Backhouse
Learner Leaders
On Friday 8 May Miles Bosman,
Wesley Derrick and Marteinn
Kristinsson attended the Leaders’
Conference presented by La Rochelle
Girls’ High School in Paarl. This
prestigious event was attended by
student leaders from all over the
Western Cape. The theme for the
conference was “To be the best that I
can be”. The pupils were addressed by
the following inspirational
speakers: Louis Awerbuck (clinical
psychologist) and Lise Swart (TV
presenter), Gavin Keller (Principal of
Sun Valley) and Dr Gillian Arendse
(nuclear physicist and head of the
Centre for Mentor, Tutor and
Leadership Development at the
University of Stellenbosch).
Mrs Colleen de Villiers
Grade 9 Science Expo
Gold and Silver award winners
Bridge House has participated in the Eskom Expo for the past nine years. The aim of the Bridge
House Expo is to expose pupils to the rigours of the scientific process while encouraging the solving
of problems facing the world today. A delegation of pupils from the Bridge House Expo will go on to
participate in the Regional Eskom Expo in Stellenbosch. The Regional Expo selects students to
attend the National Expo and some of those winners are fortunate enough to participate in
International Expos. The Science Department would like to commend all the participants because the
Expo is hard work and requires greater effort than the average Grade 9 project. It is a rite of passage
for the Grade 9s and gives them a taste of what to expect in the higher grades. Well done to the
pupils who earned a Gold or a Silver award and we look forward to the Regional Expo in August.
Mr Rob Mckay
Science Expo Gold and Silver Awards
Blaisse
Laurien
Gold
Cargill
Emma
Gold
de Lange
Christa-Mari
Gold
Dower
Jack
Gold
Grapow
Kai
Gold
Hamman
Michelle
Gold
Lindhorst
Shannon
Gold
Naudé
Lucca
Gold
Solanki
Tanay
Gold
van Poeteren
Max
Gold
Blümers
Renate
Silver
Brewer
Robin
Silver
Brink
Peter
Silver
Claus
Antonia
Silver
Cremer
Chantel
Silver
de Vos
Jason
Silver
Field
Matthew
Silver
Gordon
Emma
Silver
Graham
James
Silver
Hunting
Alex
Silver
Jacobs
Scott
Silver
Kusluoğlu
Doğan
Silver
Masson
Anaïs
Silver
McKay
Dylan
Silver
Meihuizen
Zach
Silver
Nicholls
Matthew
Silver
Pretorius
Thomas
Silver
Solms
Ella
Silver
Matric Jackets
Every year, the Matrics have the privilege of designing their own special jacket or jersey to wear in
their Matric year. The new jackets arrived this week and there was much excitement when they were
handed out. The Matrics look very smart in them.
Next week is Round Square Week
On Monday, all pupils who have been, or are going on exchange, or have been or are going on an
International RS conference or an RSIS project, may wear a touch of something from their
respective counties. For example: a scarf, a hat, a flag worn as a shawl, a bracelet or a bag - nothing
excessive and distracting, please.
1. There will be a bake sale by the class of 2015 on Monday 18 May to raise funds for a Round
Square gift to the school. Please remember to bring some money and support our skilful
bakers.
2. On Thursday it is the ACCV’s (Designated Child Protection Organisation) ”1 day without
shoes” day. We invite you to come to school without shoes on your feet, and bring a pair of
shoes in your hands to donate to children who don’t have shoes. Please do not bring shoes
that are worn-out or distasteful.
3. On Friday, the theme for the civvies day will be “I just got back from (*fill in this space)
adventure looking like this”. Adventures could be anything from going out to sea and coming
to school with a paddle in your hand, to being covered in mud, to being a superhero or even
just having a buff around your head and hiking boots on your feet. Please remember to dress
appropriately and for a respectable environment.
A quote by Kurt Hahn, the founder of Round Square:
“I regard it as the foremost task of education to ensure the survival of these qualities: an enterprising
curiosity, an undefeatable spirit, tenacity in pursuit, readiness for sensible self denial, and above all,
compassion”
TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES FOR A WHOLE DAY
COME TO SCHOOL WITHOUT YOUR SHOES ON, NEXT
THURSDAY 21 MAY, AND BRING A PAIR OF GOOD
SECOND-HAND, OR NEW IF YOU PREFER, SHOES TO
DONATE
The shoes will be taken to the ACVV in Groendal to distribute to needy
children in the community. You can donate any type of shoes in any size.
Second Round of the Harmony Gold National
Mathematics Olympiad
On Wednesday, 84 of our pupils took part in the Second Round of the Harmony Gold National
Mathematics Olympiad. Pupils who achieved 50% or higher in the first round got the opportunity to
take part in this multiple choice paper which is written nationally on the same day. 30% of our pupils
made it to the second round!
Stellenbosch Kunswedstryd
Congratulations to Erin Turner who participated in the piano category of the Stellenbosch
Kunswedstryd during this past week. She performed two contrasting works – Allegro non Tanto by
Dussek and 60s Swing by Evelien Vis and was awarded a Silver/B+ (75-79%) for her performance.
Well done, Erin!
ABRSM Theory Exam results
Congratulations to the following pupils who wrote their ABRSM theory exams on 4 March.
Renate Blümers (Grade 3) 83% Merit
Erin Turner (Grade 3) 79% Pass
Foreign Languages Outing
On Wednesday, the
Grade 11 foreign
language pupils piled
onto a bus and
headed to
Stellenbosch for the
annual foreign
language outing. It
was an experience of
a lifetime! Pupils
were treated to a
special tour of the
Stellenbosch
University Library
(the largest in
Africa!), where they
had the rare privilege
of visiting the
Africana section. This
section of the library
houses some of the
oldest and rarest
book collections in
Africa. Pupils also visited the Department of Modern Foreign Languages where they attended
lectures and sampled student academic life. The outing ended with a spectacular lunch at the “Blue
Crane and the Butterfly” restaurant in Stellenbosch where they enjoyed specially-prepared and
mouth-watering French and German cuisine while they discussed the day’s adventures. Thank you to
all for a wonderful outing!
Mr George Backhouse
Q and A session on the introduction of the 1:1 iPad
programme in 2016 - 09h30 in the Learning Commons
At 09h30, after the Andrew Merryweather talk which takes place on Friday 22 May, Shaun Kirk,
Director of the Learning Commons will be available for a Question and Answer session in the
Learning Commons. Don’t miss this if you would like to find out more about the introduction of the 1:1
iPad Programme for next year.
Pre-primary Open Day – please invite friends and family
who are interested in a place for their children in our
Playschool and Pre-Primary, to come to the
Pre-Primary Open Day on 29 May.
60 Minutes with the Heads
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 1 June 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 25 May. 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 e-mail 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:
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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" please!
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
New PA Committee
Congratulations to the PA Committee for 2015/2016 who were appointed at the PA AGM which took
place on Tuesday evening. Ten nominations were received and the following parents were elected
unopposed: Janet Johnson, Allison Spolander, Karen Downie, Lee van Niekerk, Lurien Rawson,
Deidre Hampshire, Saskia Blaisse, Yvonne Holmes, Paula Hinks and Michelle Harley. At the first
meeting of the new committee, held this morning, Michelle Harley was re-elected as Chairman.
New Parents’ Tea
New Parents, please note that the new Parents’ tea which was on the calendar for next week has
been postponed. We will email you with a new date.
Wine Donations
The PA is looking for donations of wine, from single bottles to cases, to use at events. If you are able
to donate wine please contact [email protected].
New security entry stickers for your cars
The Parents’ Association have had very smart new Bridge House stickers printed to replace the
paper version which we have been using on our cars. Please call in to the Prep or College offices to
collect a sticker/stickers for your car/cars. These are free of charge.
Pop Up Sculpture Exhibition
Sam Allerton’s exhibition of his sculptures at Bridge House has had a huge impact on students, staff
and parents at all the different stages of the school. It was heart-warming to see teachers and
students (from the very young to the much older) enjoying extending their knowledge of the artistic
process and engaging with the notion that each work could be interpreted in many different ways
according to the outlook and experiences of the observer. The sculptures transformed the walkway
from a means of getting from one place to another, to a destination into a space where you could
stop, pause and reflect.
Sam has now started to remove his works and their absence (to those of us who had become
accustomed to their presence) has created almost as big an impact as their arrival. We hope that
Sam’s initiative will be taken up by other artists who will take up the baton of adding to the
educational experience of the Bridge House family.
Thank you, Sam, for your vision and generosity!
Mr Dave Fuller
Advanced Programme Mathematics Workshop Western
Cape 2015
On Friday 8 May, the 10th annual Bridge House Advanced Programme Mathematics (APM) workshop
for teachers of APM in the Western Cape was held at Bridge House. This was the first year we
opened the workshop to teachers from the rest of the country and we had a few delegates from
Gauteng and KZN who attended. A total of 51 delegates attended this year, the largest number yet.
We had presentations by one of the subject examiners and various other “master” classes were
presented to the teachers. The workshop was hugely successful and I would personally like to thank
Mrs De Kock for organising this conference.
APM is offered only by a handful of schools in South Africa. In 2014 we had 2 315 (49% public
schools and 51% IEB schools) pupils who completed the three-year course and wrote the three-hour
exam. Pupils who complete the course receive a separate certificate for their NSC certificate at the
end of their Grade 12 year. The number of pupils completing the course nationally has grown. This is
wonderful as APM is the only advanced course in Mathematics that South African school pupils can
take within the NSC framework. Universities have also begun to officially recognise the subject and
are encouraging pupils to take the subject. With the scrapping of Higher Grade Mathematics in 2006,
it has become essential that we independently offer our pupils the option to engage with Mathematics
at a higher level at school. Our universities are struggling with the standard of school Mathematics
and we hope that APM will be the answer to this problem.
Mr Stephan Willers
Accommodation Needed
Child friendly, pet friendly accommodation, which is not too far from the school, is needed for Bridge
House staff. Please contact Janis Christian [email protected] if you know of any suitable
accommodation.
Sports Update
The girls and boys loved playing their matches on the Astroturf at
Stellenbosch University on Saturday. They made a clean sweep of the
games with every team winning its match against Curro, Langebaan.
U14 Girls won 9-0
Goal scorers: Noa Stolk (2)
Tegan Willard (3) Alex Visser (2)
Lexi Holgate (1) Jessica DendyYoung (1)
Player of the match: Anaïs
Colmant
U14 Boys won 8-0
Goal scorers: Joshua Riddle (3),
Sinalo Mbuleni (3), Timothy
Swart (1), Adam Sendzul (1).
Man of the match: Joshua
Riddle & Sinalo Mbeleni
U16 Girls (left) won 4-0
Goals scorers: Mijs Goosen (1),
Aidan Harrison (1) and Brenda
Liman (2). Player of the match:
Olivia Grier.
U16 Boys won 2-1
Goal scorers: Sidney Gray and
Joshua van der Merwe.
1st team girls won 6-0
The Girls 1st XI enjoyed a dominant morning against
Curro Langebaan on the Stellenbosch A astro. With
the girls keeping to their structure and enjoying the
lion’s share of possession, the Girls 1st XI kept Curro
pinned in their own half. Credit must go to the whole
team for working really hard and for showing a lot of
maturity in their game. Goals were scored by Mijs
Goosen (2) Brenda Liman (2) Nina Buys (1) and
Natasha Glazer (1).
1st team boys won 4-0
The boys 1st XI had a very successful morning against
Curro Langebaan. There was a lot of attacking
enterprise and they maintained their playing structure
throughout the match. The 4-0 victory was a credit to
the contribution made by every player and the focus
and patience displayed throughout. Goal scorers:
Shore Hennings (2), Jacques Saayman and James
Alderslade.
We can’t wait until we have our own Astroturf field to lift the level of our hockey for
these young teams!
If there are any parents who are prepared to contribute in any way to make this
happen, please contact us. Every single contribution, in whatever form, counts and
would be appreciated!
Provincial Hockey Players, Managers and Coaches
Congratulations to Mr Andrew Stamper (Manager U/16 Boys’ Boland Regional Team), Mr Cheslyn Andrews
(Manager U/18B Boys’ Boland Regional Team), Kristin von Bülow (U/18 Girls’ Boland Regional Team), Bo-Mary
Hartman (U/18 Girls’ Boland Regional Team), Brenda Liman (U/16 Girls’ Boland Regional Team), Ruben du Toit
(U/14 Boys’ Boland Regional Team), Ross Millard (U14 Boys’ Boland Regional Team), Liam Millard (U16 Boys
Boland Regional Team), Jacques Saayman (U16 A IPT Boland Team) and Mr David Sutcliffe (Coach U/16 Boland
Regional Team) Absent: Matthew Field (U/16 Boys’ Boland Regional Team).
SPORT RESULTS FROM THE WEEK
GIRLS HOCKEY VS LA ROCHELLE TUESDAY 12 MAY AT BRIDGE HOUSE
U14 Girls lost 2-3
U16 Girls lost 0-4
1st team drew 0-0 (The Girls 1st XI demonstrated again how they have grown in their hockey over the past
month, holding La Rochelle 1st XI to a 0-0 draw. Not once during the game did they look flustered or out of
place on the field. They held their own against a strong and competitive La Rochelle 1st XI. Credit must go to
the whole team for a great game and a special mention to Kristin von Bülow in goals for some amazing
saves. Well done, girls, on a great result. Player of the match: Kristin von Bülow.)
NETBALL VS LA ROCHELLE TUESDAY 12 MAY (AWAY)
Well done to our netball teams who played very tough matches vs La Rochelle. This is the first time
that we have taken on their higher teams and the girls enjoyed the strong opposition and played good
netball throughout.
BH U14B vs La Rochelle U14B lost 2-35
BH U16B vs La Rochelle U16C lost 16-20
BH U16A vs La Rochelle U16B lost 17-18
BH 2nd team vs La Rochelle 3rd team lost 11-17
BH 1st team vs La Rochelle 2nd team lost 12-27
NETBALL VS FRANSCHHOEK HIGH SCHOOL 13 MAY (AWAY)
BH U14B vs Franschhoek U14A lost 3-10
BH U16B vs Franschhoek U16A won 23-5
BH 2nd team vs Groendal 1st team won 26-6
SOCCER VS KHAYAMANDI
The Bridge House Soccer teams played some outstanding matches on Wednesday vs Khayamandi.
The competition was strong, but our boys played attractive football and did not go down without a
fight. Well done to all the boys who scored goals for their teams.
U15A – Lost 3-1
U17A – Lost 4-1
U19A – Lost 4-2
CROSS COUNTRY – BOLAND MEETING HOSTED BY PAARL BOYS’ HIGH WEDNESDAY 13
MAY 2014
Well done to the following athletes who participated in the last Boland Cross Country meeting for the
term in Paarl on Wednesday. Results were as follows:
Junior Boys
JP Nel 15th
21:42
Senior Girls
14th Lelia van Niekerk
21:72
16th Becky Fuller
23:39
th
17 Nikita van Wyngaardt
23:47
Senior Boys
14th James Horner
15:43
15th Konrad Blümers
16:14
nd
22 Matthew Browne
16:56
29th Michael Bordin
19:50
nd
32 Ashlin Govender
23:39
CANOEING
Saturday saw James Horner take part in the WCCU marathon champs held at Peninsula Canoe Club.
James' race consisted of 5 laps of approximately 4.2km each and included 4 portages. He paddled
superbly and came home with a well-deserved gold medal in the U16 section and was placed 5th
overall. Well done, James!
Clay Target Shooting
Tristan Stubbs won the Junior SA Grand Trap championship last weekend. This was a great
performance especially as teams from Namibia, SA and Zimbabwe participated. The Junior age
group in this discipline is under 21 – so at 15 he has some good years ahead of him! Well done,
Tristan!
Archery
Scott Jacobs travelled to Natal on Friday 8 May to participate in the Natal
Midlands Indoor Archery Championships held in Pietermaritzburg. The Indoor
championship consists of 60 scoring arrows shot at a distance of 18 metres
with the centre X / 10 score only 19 mm in diameter (size of a 20 cent piece).
During the course of the day two full indoor rounds were shot with the highest
score of the two rounds used for national ranking on the South African National
Archery Register. In round one, Scott achieved a National Qualifying score of
545 / 600 and then went on to better his score during round two with a 548 /
600. As a result of this achievement, Scott managed to secure a Gold medal
and first place in his age and bow category.
Having received Western Province Colours in April this year for the Field
Target Archery discipline shot over distances of 50m, 40m, 30m & 20 metre, Scott is now aiming for a
second Provincial cap within the same year in the very difficult Indoor Archery discipline. Well done,
Scott!
FIXTURES FOR THE WEEK AHEAD
Saturday 16 May
Hockey Boys vs Paul Roos at Maties astro
08:00 U14
09:00 1st team
10:00 U16
Monday 18 May
Soccer vs Mbekweni at Bridge House
15:00 U15
15:45 U16
16:30 1st team
Netball vs Mbekweni
15:15 1st team
16:00 U16A
Wednesday 20 May
Soccer BHU17 vs Kylemore (away)
Netball vs Groendal (teams & venue to be confirmed)
Saturday 23 May
Hockey vs Strand at Maties astro
08:30 1st team Boys (astro A) & Girls U14 (astro B)
09:30 Girls U16 (astro A) & Boys U14 (astro B)
10:30 Girls 1st team (astro A) & Boys U16 (astro B)
Canoeing – Paarl to Skooltjie K1 race on Berg River
“WALK INTO THE FUTURE”
Ensure that your family name becomes part of Bridge
House history by buying a personalised brick.
Your contribution will help us to move
ahead – for your children’s benefit and for
those still to come.
Email Cheryl at
[email protected]
today to buy a brick