BRIDGE HOUSE PRE-PRIMARY PREPARATORY COLLEGE COLLEGE NEWS No 31 www.bridgehouse.org.za 16 October 2015 Head Boy and Head Girl 2016 Head Boy and Head Girl for 2016 announced at College Awards Celebration. Congratulations to Cameron Shepherd (Head Boy) and Rebecca Visser (Head Girl) (More about the Awards Ceremony and the Matrics’ last day in next week’s newsletter) Round Square International Conference “The irony is Shackleton tried to save his men from Antarctica (in 1916) and we are now trying to save Antarctica from man,” Tim Jarvis, Keynote Speaker RSIC 2015 and author of Shackleton’s Epic: Recreating the World’s Greatest Journey of Survival. This year the Round Square International Conference was hosted by the United World Colleges of South East Asia. (UWCSEA has two campuses- totalling about 5500 full-time students.) We spent most of our time at the Dover campus, sharing, exploring and interrogating the conference theme of “Act today, Change tomorrow”, with a specific focus, as the opening quote suggests, on sustainability and what needs to be done to achieve the millennium development goals. Bridge House Delegates left to right: Andrew Jones, Kristin von Bülow, Lelia van Niekerk, Kirsten Welham, Lara Wessels, Ella van Niekerk, Ms Sam Tyler When we arrived in Singapore we encountered what appeared to be overcast conditions, but as we soon discovered, it was air pollution that originated from Indonesia. For the next two weeks, we tried to get a deeper understanding of the origins of this haze, which seems to be an annual occurrence in South East Asia. As a result of this crisis, it created a unique opportunity to consider the multi- dimensional issues faced by the developing nations and the spill-over effects that they have on a developed state like Singapore, especially significant in the context of the conference theme. Before the official conference started, we left Singapore to embark on our pre-conference tour to Tioman Island, Malaysia. This idyllic setting provided us with a fantastic opportunity to participate in a range of activities including kayaking, snorkelling and a number of treks around the island. We also spent some time helping a local family clear their land and assisted them with planting vegetables. Juara Turtle Sanctuary was another enriching experience, where we learnt about the plight of the sea turtles. This pre-conference trip also gave us the opportunity to network and to get to share the experience with students and staff from other Round Square Schools from Germany, Australia and Canada. Because Bridge House was first in the alphabet of the schools present, the Bridge House flag bearer, Lelia van Niekerk, was first in the procession at the Opening Ceremony. After a ferry trip and relatively long bus trip, we returned to Singapore for the conference. As is tradition, the Conference opened with a flag ceremony, with Bridge House leading the procession. The Conference had a number of thought-provoking presentations by keynote speakers, an Explore Singapore Day, service activities and a number of opportunities to discuss and explore some of the key themes in baraza groups. UWCSEA were the perfect hosts and the entire school community did everything possible to make us feel at home. The content of the conference programme was rich, varied and diverse and posed some challenging questions to all who attended. Bridge House can be very proud of our delegation: Lara Wessels, Ella van Niekerk, Kristin von Bülow, Lelia van Niekerk and Kirsten Welham. They made the most of this life-enriching learning experience and were wonderful ambassadors for our school. Mr Andrew Jones Below: Ella in a selfie with His Majesty King Constantine. As President and Patron of Round Square, HM King Constantine has been actively involved since he chaired its formative meeting in 1966. As a teenager, His Majesty attended Anavryta School in Athens which later became a founding Round Square member school. His main interests have continued to be in education and in 1980 he founded the Hellenic College of London. His Majesty is an Honorary Member of the International Olympic Committee and President of Honour of the International Sailing Federation. Above: final group photo; Below left: Ice-breaker activities; Below right: Ella, Lara and Kirsten with the youngest-ever winner of the Kurt Hahn Prize, Poppy Mulford. Expo for Young Scientists International Science Fair Congratulations to Lucca Naudé (second from left at the back in the photo with the other finalists) who was awarded a Silver Medal at the National Science Expo for her project: Is solar water disinfection effective and practical for South Africa? We are very proud of you, Lucca! Matrics Cross-Dressing Day Their last opportunity for dressing up: the Matrics traditional cross-dressing day last week. Madame Zingara Celebration The College Drama outing to Madame Zingara's Celebration show on Saturday was awesome. The dazzling array of international performances in an amazing two-story tent was entertaining and a truly unique experience. Huguenot Boarders’ Birthday Celebrations Celebrating with good things to eat and good friends. International Exchange Nicholas Swart is on exchange at Stanstead College, an independent boarding school in Stanstead, Quebec, Canada. He is third from the left in the picture below and bottom left disguised as a goat. Grade 9 Maths Grade 9s formed straight lines on a life-size cartesian plane in order to see how the gradient changes the shape of the line. They even tried to form a parabola in the last picture. Condolences We extend our sincere condolences to Caelyn Airey and her family on the death of Caelyn’s mother, Nicola. Caelyn, the Bridge House community holds you in their thoughts and prayers at this sad time. Ms Jane Parry’s mother passed away suddenly this week. Jane, we extend our condolences to you and hold you in our thoughts and prayers at this difficult time. Buying iPads Digicape will be hosting an information session on using the iPad as an educational tool on Tuesday, 20 October at 08:30 in the Learning Commons. They will be available to answer your questions and will also be demonstrating some of the products. They have given Bridge House parents a special offer of a 4% discount (the normal educational discount is 3%) which means that pricing is now as follows: iPad Air 1 32GB - R7295 inc VAT iPad Air 2 64GB - R9887 inc VAT This offer is available to all parents regardless of the number who order, which means we are getting the bulk discount benefit without being tied to a required number of purchasers. Card facilities will be available for people who wish to purchase devices on the morning. For further information, please contact Shaun Kirk, Director of the Learning Commons at [email protected]. Waltons Stationery Forms Waltons Back to School Stationery Forms for 2016 were sent out with the report packs. Please note that these forms must be returned by Monday 19 October. Waltons will process and pack these orders and you will then receive an invoice before the collection dates which are 16 and 17 November. Pre-paid fees for 2016 To receive a 1.5% rebate for pre-paying your 2016 fees, please fill in and return the form which was emailed to you to request a proforma invoice from Philippa Browne [email protected] This offer expires on 11 November. Special Parents’ Meeting re Fee Information 2016 A special Parents meeting re Fee Information for 2016 will take place in the Prep Hall at 18h00 on Wednesday 21 October. If you would like to attend please RSVP to Jenny Jones at [email protected] before Tuesday 20 October. Finnish Feedback Meeting On Thursday 22 October at 08h00, Mike Russell will provide feedback on the International Conference of Principals which he attended in Finland last term. Please RSVP to Jenny Jones [email protected] by Tuesday 20 October if you would like to attend. The venue will be confirmed nearer the time. Congratulations! Mr Juan Kidd and his wife, Nita, have a new addition to their family: a gorgeous baby daughter, Emma, born on 9 October. Reminder , IMPORTANT “WE HAVE CHANGED BANKS” From 1st July 2015 we will be moving to Standard Bank. Our new bank account details are as follows: STANDARD BANK TYGERMANOR BRANCH Current Account Number : 372 458 696 Branch Code : 05 10 01 Swift Code : SBZAZAJJ Please note our accounts at First National Bank will be closed in due course and we urge you to change your details for all EFT payments to the school sooner rather than later. Sports News CLAY TARGET SHOOTING Tristan Stubbs has been invited by the Western Cape Clay Target Shooting Association to participate in the World English Sporting Championships to be held at the Valley Gun Club from Thursday 15 October - Sunday 18 October. It is a great opportunity to compete against international sportsmen and it is especially fortunate that it is at his home club. Our best wishes accompany him. ARCHERY From 23 – 25 October 2015, the South African National Indoor Archery Championships will be held in Pretoria. This is a completely different Archery discipline and takes place indoors at the Tuks University Sports grounds in Pretoria. The entire tournament and knock-out rounds take place over a distance of 18 metres shot at a target, where the centre X ring is only 18 mm (the size of a 20c piece). We wish Scott Jacobs all the best for these Championships. BODY BOARDING Our heartiest congratulations go to Chantel Cremer who represented Boland at the South African Body Boarding Championships in Richard’s Bay in Kwa-Zulu Natal last weekend.