From the Principal’s Desk
Dear Parents
Ah, to be on top of a hill…
To feel your heart pulsing like the wondrous machine that it is. To fill your lungs with the sweetest, fresh air… To be able to remove your mask!
Last Thursday, the High School students and staff took a much-needed day away from the classroom to recharge in the natural environment of the Helderberg Nature Reserve. Everyone enjoyed the pleasure of sunbeams stroking our skins, birds heralding our approach as they lightly flitted about and the limitless, breath-taking views. It was a well-earned respite from the academic challenges of the term and the stifling restrictions of the times we live in.
It occurs to me that hiking to the top of a hill or mountain is a fitting metaphor for the strive for success. To enjoy the magnificent views, and feel the thrill of exertion and success, takes effort. In fact, the very effort itself is enjoyable if one’s perspective is aligned with the end goal. Every step, is either a step closer to the intended destination or a learning opportunity. The important part is not to give up. Certainly, one can take a breather; look back and realise how much progress has been made, but never give up.
And this philosophy applies to teaching. And to parenting. It may require us to dig deeply to take the next step and specially to persevere when it would be so easy to give up, shrug our shoulders and let it be. But our children deserve the necessary guidance to ensure that they reach the top of the hill and can enjoy the thrill of success. They need to be taught that discipline is a necessary step to ensure progress; that without it, the climb will be so much more difficult. If we as teachers and parents work together to guide our children in the same direction, we cannot fail, and neither can they. The summit beckons; it requires effort, but every step is worth it.
It has been a quieter week at School as the Primary and High schools get to grips with the term’s work and show what they have learned. The exams are in full swing and our students have risen to the challenge with courage and determination. In the Foundation Phase, the teachers are busy with assessments and everyday class activities. There is a general hum of activity in the unseasonably warm weather as we wind up the term.
A few house matters:
- Please note that our students are not allowed to visit the coffee shop at the church to buy lunch. We simply do not have the resources to accompany a child to the church and cannot allow them to go over on their own. Lunches are available through Danelle at Nels Bakery for R37 a day should you wish to order for your child.(contact the office and they will send you the necessary information)
- We appeal to our parents to help out with the bottleneck created on Fridays at home time. If your child is not waiting for you and ready to climb into the car, please go and park at the church parking and fetch your child on foot.
Thank you to all our parents for their support and encouragement. We miss the social events that we would ordinarily have had throughout the year and the interaction with our parents. Nevertheless, we are grateful to know that our parents continue to support the school and are content. Please feel free to give us feedback when necessary – we cannot improve on that of which we are not aware.
Wishing you a wonderful family weekend.
Cristina Sanchez Black
Principal
Waterproof Materials
Poor Melissa the Mermaid lost some of the scales from her tail! The Early Childhood 2 class were tasked with the job to find out which materials she could use to cover her tail until new scales grew back! They tested a range of different materials to see which was the most waterproof!
Year 7 Writing
The Year 7 class were asked pretend that Anne survived the concentration camps and to write an account of what she did when she grew up. Levi wrote the following fantastic piece.
Anne Frank WHAT-IF
Rough Draft:
The 15th of April 1945 is a day that has been engraved into my memory. It was at dawn that we felt the ground vibrate and shake. As we huddled out of the barracks, the penetrating daylight scorched our eyes. Skeletal figures, flesh and bone surrounded me. My skin was raw from the scabies. Through blistered eyes I could see the cause of the tremors. There were columns of tanks entering Bergen-Belson: The Union Jack on each one flapping in the wind. Our tormentors, the vicious S.S. guards were nowhere in sight. Free at last, free at last. Thank you God almighty, I am free at last!
After being liberated I went to live with my cousin in Amsterdam. Adjusting back to normal life was difficult. The scabies had scarred my skin but thank God not my face. I had nightmares for many years. The starving, the working, the beatings. Every night when I cleansed myself I stared at the number on my forearm: 98288. Our persecutors reduced us to numbers. I am not a number; I am Annelies Marie Frank! I was hardworking and as I had dreamt, I graduated from the University of Utrecht in 1953 with a degree in journalism. Through the help of the Association of Holocaust Organizations, I found my father in a convalescent home in Eindhoven in 1954. The day was surreal. My father was old, his body worn out, but his eyes had a spark. We tremored as we clutched each other. Even Auschwitz cannot break the everlasting bond between a daughter and her father.
My journalism career set off at the Utrecht Dagblad as a news journalist. 50 million dead which included 6 million Jews and yet humanity could not stop fighting after World War II. The Cold War was in full swing and everywhere little tin gods were trying to establish their regimes. One of them was the Butcher of Uganda, Idi Amin. Just like Hitler, he unleashed a genocide on his country, and I covered this human tragedy. For a full week we were trapped inside a cold, dark, damp basement in a church located in the Ugandan Capital. Father DaSilva had to smuggle provisions past the army roadblocks to help us survive. The exposé I wrote on this tragedy helped me to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1981. I settled in Brussels with my husband and two kids, Margot and Otto. The refreshing winds greeted us every day as we walked in the park.
Editor’s Note: On the 14th of May 2019, Annelies Marie Frank died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 90, surrounded by her children. She was a wife, a mother, a journalist… and a Holocaust survivor.
On the 14th of May 2019, Annelies Marie Frank died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 90, surrounded by her children. She was a wife, a mother, a journalist… and a Holocaust survivor.
Primary Colours
Our Early Childhood 2 students had great time experimenting and mixing primary colours to see what colours they created. Mixing primary colors creates secondary colors. If you combine two primary colors with each other, you get a so-called secondary color.
If you mix red and blue, you get violet, yellow and red become orange, blue and yellow become green. If you mix all the primary colors together, you get black.
❤️-vir-lees / ❤️2read
Our Year 9 class came up with the idea of a buddy reading system after an Afrikaans unit on literacy. Every Friday the Year 9’s listen to the Year 4 class and 5 class reading from their reader and then continue reading to the younger ones.
The students were asked what did you like about the ️-vir-lees /
️2read?
Tyler (Year 9) had the following to say: I liked helping them read and learning about them. I so enjoyed spending time with younger children. It worked to let them take turns reading so they both got a chance and also to get to know them so I knew what they were nervous about. I think reading with them makes me more confident because I am usually shy. I got to be outside of my comfort zone.
I liked that we all read. Reilly (Year 5)
I enjoyed when my reading partner and I got to know each other. I also enjoyed when I was reading to her. I would change me being a little nervous. Mené (Year 5)
Read More
Elevate Education Study Skills
A number of our High School students joined the Elevate Study Skills. Here is some of their feedback. We highly recommend these sessions . If you child is not signed up and would like to attend the next 2 sessions later in the year, please contact us.
I think that the Elevate course is an asset to any student. It gives helpful advice on how to study, and what to do and what not to do. I would recommend it not only to students who are struggling with studying, but to any student. Connor Boiskin, Year 9
Elevate definitely helped. I am already using what they taught us for the exams and I can already see a difference in my knowledge and understanding of the work.
Connor Brooker, Year 9
Good methods that I will definitely use. Christopher Renga, Year 10
The given study methods have instantly improved my understanding of the work and will definitely help me to study better. Definitely worthwhile and would recommend it.
Hagan Brooker, Year 10
Good methods taught and have already started using the methods. And I can notice the difference. Gloria Chen, Year 10
My initial thoughts were that it would be a waste of time because I know how to study. However, my mom convinced me to just try it out, because Elevate has a good reputation. And I must say I was surprised by how well the first lesson went. He was enthusiastic and entertaining, always engaging the audience by interacting with us. I think the information that he shared was very helpful, and I will definitely make an effort to introduce some of what he suggested into my studying. He never really looked at his notes, which was impressive. Overall, I was very impressed, and I think it helped that he was younger, because we could, to a certain degree, relate more. I would highly recommend it to anyone and everyone! Paul Roos ,Year 12
I enjoyed the Elevate Course very much and it will help in the future of my education as I now have a better grasp of studying. They told us methods to study. They taught us about how your memory works and I think that it bettered my ability to study very much.
Aidan Downie, Year 9
They explained the things very well. He used a lot of examples which was very nice. He was very specific with the mind map. He made us close our eyes and imagine stuff. He also told us a whole story and when he asked us what we remembered, I remembered everything and he said it was because I made a picture in my head. The mind maps helped me a lot, because now I have started using it much more and it helps with my studies.
Olivia Cunningham, Year 9
The class was very helpful and useful. I started using these methods for studying and it really helped me. The class was very fun and I will definitely recommend these methods to other students. Isabell Botha, Year 9
Helderberg International School – Virtual Intersek 2021
We are extremely excited that our participants fared so well in the Artistic/Optical Illusion Photography contest – with Jessica Bailey in Year 10, winning this event and Connor Brooker in Year 9, winning his age group – Category 2, and Antony Chen in Year 6, coming in second in his age group – Category 1, for the Mathematical Photography contests at Intersek 2021 this year. There were some beautiful images submitted by the various contestants worldwide. Competing at Intersek was a first for us and a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Antony documents the Mathematics used in his photograph:
I placed the shell down on the surface and then hung the slinky over the shell. I positioned the camera on top of the slinky looking down onto the shell. This created a spiral effect.
A spiral is a three-dimensional curve. The shell is a golden spiral which is a spiral that gets wider in a ratio called the golden ratio. The slinky is a space curve spiraling around a Helix (a coil). Looking down into the slinky I captured concentric circles. Concentric circles are circles that have a common center. The space between the concentric circles is called an annulus.
Device used: Nikon B700 camera
Jessica, in Year 10 documents her Journey:
When I was informed about the artistic optical illusion competition, and was told that it had to involve a piece of our heritage, my mind immediately thought of Table Mountain, because it is one of the most well-known touristic/heritage sights in the country.
I first envisioned a scene of my two models, being my close friends Robyn Pearse and Connor Payze, sitting together on dining chairs on the beach, eating dinner on table mountain. I sketched out my idea, and thought of things I could put on the “table”, and ways on how I could position them. I decided to build a frame that would be portable and hang the items from the top beam using fishing lines, so it would create the illusion that the items were actually placed on the “table”. Because of limited space, I ended up going with a simple tea, incorporating some national specialties such as koeksisters on the saucers and a protea centred in the middle of the “table”. Before we made the final plans, my dad and I did a test run at home with the frame, and used a plate as our test item, and our property gate as our “table”, and it worked out perfectly!
In the editing process I removed the fishing lines and moved the items around a little bit, as well as added a shadow underneath each item to ensure the illusion was fully created.
I was very pleased with the outcome, and was extremely honoured to have been nominated and even won! I am also very grateful for the help of my dad, who helped me build and set up the frame, ensure all the items were secure, and took the time out of his schedule to drive us to our location and back. As well as very grateful for my lovely models for being so patient, taking the time out of their day to help me out and for doing so well with the modeling!
Connor outlines the Mathematics used in his winning photograph:
I used a kaleidoscope with a marble at the end and faced it towards the sun. A kaleidoscope is an instrument with optical properties forming a reflection of light using mirrors (in this case 3 mirrors in the shape of an equilateral triangle). This has created a tessellation of equilateral triangles and thereby creating 6-sided hexagons. These shapes create patterns and radial symmetry using transformations such as reflections, rotations and translations.Device used: Huawei P30 Pro
