RHENISH NEWS For parents & daughters 23/03/2018 Rhenish Girls’ High School aims to provide its learners with an education of the highest quality and is committed to providing an environment that is conducive to effective teaching and learning. All learners, regardless of their intellectual abilities, social backgrounds and academic aspirations, are encouraged to develop their full potential, to strive for excellence in all they do, and to become responsible, caring and productive citizens. Success … to what degree is it Important Notices a choice? 1. Paper III Exams: Success – irrespective of how one looks at it – takes hard work, Please note that Paper III (Creative and commitment and sacrifice. Often, we look at people we deem ‘successful’ Transactional Writing) for English and Afrikaans will take place on Monday 26 March and we wonder, “How do they do it?” or we may think, enviously to and Tuesday 27 March. Please ensure that ourselves, “They’re so lucky, good things always happen to them.” your daughter is present to write these exams The truth, however, is often a far more simple story. More often than not, – consult the policy document regarding the procedure for this on our website. Learners success is about identifying your goal and then almost singlemindedly who will not be here have already made pursuing that goal. It requires many sacrifices along the way: sometimes arrangements with Mrs van Dyk and will do they can be small sacrifices, like forgoing sugar in your tea or coffee; other these exams on 11 April (English) and 12 April times, they may require bigger sacrifices like not going on that holiday with (Afrikaans) after school. all your friends because you have a training programme to which you have committed yourself. 2. Get behind the LC's Community Service Project - the Backpack Project - You can The degree to which we succeed in achieving our identified goal often donate any of these items: depends on two things: how realistic that goal is and how committed we Grade 8s - sanitary pads are to the goal. Grade 9s - toothpaste and toothbrush Grade 10s - Hand sanitiser and lip balm We have a slew of success stories among Rhenishers – old and current – Grade 11s - facecloths and tissues that bear testimony to this: Grade 12s - deodorant and sanitary pads Drop off your goodies in the black box/bin at Ms Jean-Mare Senekal the matric lockers or in your register classes. Ms Senekal holds down a full-time teaching job Sterri Stumpis are also being sold at half price (Accounting and Mathematical Literacy), she at PRG Spar. A percentage of the salescoaches go athletics (hurdles), AND she is a hurdler of note herself. towards our campaign. Her goal is ultimately to participate in her country’s colours. Last weekend, at the South African Senior Championships, Ms Senekal placed 3rd in the 400m and 100m hurdles. Aside from the sacrifices made in terms of time on the track and in practice, as an amateur without a sponsor, Ms Senekal also has to finance her entries and her flights to competitions. Her vision is clear and her commitment to her goal is complete. Moya Smith and Monique Bartsch Moya and Monique matriculated from Rhenish in 2017. Both young ladies were A candidates in their matric class – clearly academic achievers and both are first year students in highly competitive fields of study at Stellenbosch University. Moya is studying Medicine at the Tygerberg Campus and Monique is studying Engineering. Moya and Monique have been selected for the South African Women’s U21 Hockey ITP team. They were both stalwarts of the 2017 Rhenish Hockey team that won the Spur Cape Town International Hockey Tournament and went to Top Schools Tournament in Bloemfontein where the team ended 6th in the country. Despite both of them having exceedingly demanding study schedules, their commitment to hockey remains unchanged and their passion for the game lives on. Dom Scott – class of 2010 Dominique Scott had a dream of competing internationally. When she addressed the girls in an assembly last year about her journey to becoming an Olympic athlete, she spoke of the sacrifices she made along the way. These included leaving her then school and her family home and moving to boarding school at Rhenish in Grade 9 so that she could train under a particular coach at Maties. Later, after matric, her vision and commitment to her goal, together with her talent and hard work, would see her earning a scholarship to a university in the United States. Again, she left behind her family and the world she knew in pursuit of her dream. Many hard, lonely days, months and years followed before she began to see the rewards of her sacrifices. Today, Dom Scott has competed for South Africa at the Olympics, she has a professional contract with Adidas – she is the face of their most recent advertising campaign and you will see her in store everywhere - and she runs on the professional circuit. But her dream does not stop there – and neither does the training or the sacrifices. In South Africa, immediately following the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Dom is participating in the Outdoor Track and Field season. Last night, she ran in the Athletics Grand Prix at Dal Josaphat, coming in second to Caster Semenya. Last weekend, in the SA Senior Champs, Dom won the 5000m. But, you will not see her resting in between – follow her Instagram feed – domscottrunsa - and you will see her pounding the streets of Cape Town every morning as she maintains her training and works her dream. “What does this mean to me,” you may be thinking. Well, with the first term’s results in and reports about to be released, it is perhaps time to do some reflecting. Time to do some realistic goal setting. And then, think very seriously about the sacrifices you are prepared to make in order to achieve your goals. You will realise, if the goal is a worthwhile one, so too is the sacrifice. Drama Festival The Grade 11 Drama girls had the privilege of attending the annual Drama Festival hosted at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town, organised by the National Arts Foundation of Grahamstown. Much excitement was evident in the girls who were ready to leave for Cape Town at 05:15 to start a full day of workshops, lectures, and performances. They also had the opportunity to watch ground-breaking plays by upcoming South African performers. The Grade 11s developed various skills that will be applied in their theoretical as well as practical work that lies ahead. Workshops included covering the basic elements of Drama, Stanislavski's methods, modern and modern jazz dance lessons, human behaviour, debating, creative writing, conquering stage fright and music performance and business. Each girl attended four workshops and saw 5 plays. It was an unforgettable, educational experience and our girls were complemented on their conduct throughout the festival as well as on their enthusiastic participation. Drama Department Afrikaans Debat – Stellenbosch Hoe r Nine of our Grade 8 learners participated in an Afrikaans debate at Stellenbosch High School on 15 March in teams of three. The competition was really tough as they are First Additional Language learners and they debated against Afrikaans Home Language Learners. They enjoyed the evening very much and are very eager to participate in further competitions of this nature. Ms Woudstra, who initiated this contact with Stellenbosch High School had realized that Rhenish did not have Afrikaans debating for the juniors and she felt it would be of great advantage to them as they do debating for marks in class and the experience would help them to develop their skills through exposure and practice. “I wanted to give them the opportunity to debate against Home Language learners to challenge them and to show them how to debate,” explains Ms Woudstra. Ms Woudstra enlisted the assistance of a US student and debater who guided them through practices after school. The evening was informal and they had many of their peers as supporters. “I think they surprised themselves,” said Ms Woudstra, “when they were announced as the winning team at the end of the evening and Rhenish also had the best speaker.” Congratulations to all the participants, but especially to the winning team: Anouk Esterhuyse Monique Huskisson Skye Flaatten Winning Team Best speaker: Emma Colyn Best Speaker Debating - Term 1 The Rhenish debating team has had an eventful- and successful - first term. Under the guidance of our supportive liaison teacher, Mrs Lynne Conchar, and our fantastic coach, Claire Rankin, we have enjoyed a fun-filled first half of the season. Many eager Grade 8s joined the Debating Society and, along with our dedicated seniors, they have excelled at the weekly Boland Schools' Debating League rounds that are hosted by the University of Stellenbosch. After sharing our opinions, engaging with like-minded students from other schools, and eloquently voicing our arguments, I am happy to report that Rhenish's two senior and junior debating teams won at least half of their debates every week and several girls were awarded best speaker positions in their debates. We look forward to the challenging topics and discussions that next term will bring. Palesa Makena CULTURE WEEK 2018 In a week of celebration and appreciation, waves of culture flowed through Rhenish from 12 - 16 March 2018. With a fully booked schedule, Rhenishers streamed to the picnic area created each break, eager to listen to and to learn something new each day. The Marimba kicked off the week with Coldplay. Siyaphambili followed with a couple of dance items on Tuesday.