Senior School

28 October 2020

The Senior School were surprised by a visit from members of the the Junior School SMT, to wish Penny Mullan a Happy Boss's day on Friday 16 October 2020.

2021

Connect Groups

In a year of craziness, we need to say a special Thank You to those who served as Grade Admins and House Heads for this year - holding in place the structures and systems which helped us all: Mrs de la Mare, Mrs van Zyl, Mrs Ballantyne, Mrs Meder, Mrs Tromp, Ms Boock, Mrs Visser, Mrs Pollack and Mrs Zimmermann.

As of 2021 we are making a few changes to the House and Connect System, and instead of Grade admins and House Heads, there will be two Co-ordinators per house. They will work collaboratively but have slightly different areas of focus.

The new House co-ordinators for next year are:

Dominic:

Mrs Pippa Visser

Dominic:

Mrs Nicky Hughes

Maccy:

Mrs Nomthandazo Ndlebe

Maccy:

Mrs Kirsty Tromp

Thomas:

Ms Sara Boock

Thomas:

Mrs Kate Zimmermann

In addition to the change in staffing we are also increasing the numbers of Connect groups per house from 9 to 11 so that we can decrease the size of the groups. Next week the girls will get the opportunity to meet the girls in their new Connect groups and spend some time getting to know each other. In addition, we are hosting a welcome event for the new pupils of 2021 when we will introduce them to their new Connect groups.

We firmly believe that this system will not only provide a support system for the girls individually but also strengthen us as a school collectively.

Bronwyn Jansen

Academic

The yearend assessments are scheduled to begin on 9 November, and I would imagine that by now, many of our pupils have worked out their study timetables and have started revising and consolidating the work covered in their subjects this year. With next week’s lessons largely devoted to consolidation and the practising of examination techniques, something which is more important than ever in a year that has been so unusually structured, we are certain that everyone will be ready to go in about ten days’ time.

The period leading up to the yearend assessments and the assessment period itself is a time when anxiety increases. Some advice on how to manage stress during this time:

On any given day, everyone should work together to create an atmosphere free of unneeded stress - both in person and perhaps especially in WhatsApp groups.
It is never a good idea for pupils to hype everyone up with discussions about what work should have been covered for a particular assessment, which is an issue that comes up often on WhatsApp groups. This information has been shared with all pupils in a standardised Google Doc for each grade: Grade 8, Grade 9, Grade 10 and Grade 11. If there are any changes, the subject heads will make the necessary adjustments and inform the classes of the change.
Some aspects of managing stress are up to the individual. Making the choice to move away from pupils who behave in a way that promotes anxiety is a good idea.
Pupils who become stressed or anxious should use slow and controlled breathing to relax, or tense and relax their hands while breathing.

The Google Docs for each grade also detail further aspects that are important to consider while preparing for yearend assessments. Please encourage your children to read through these notes carefully to help them prepare as well as they can.

DAVID FICK

Head of Academics

Exam timetable Nov 2020

Trinity Results

Rachel Son received her report and results from Trinity College London whose exams were assessed digitally this year.

She entered for the highest graded exam, Grade 8, and received a very pleasing 61/66 (92%) for her pieces with some stunning playing.

Well done, Rachel!

Khanya Mngqinya delivering a very appropriate oral for the evening: "When was the last time you tried something new?"

The girls were allowed to speak without masks at the Toastmasters' evening because they complied with the Matric Drama practical requirements - they had to stay behind a line at least 3m away from the nearest person, and the speaking area was santised between speakers.

Toastmasters

The Springfield Toastmaster’s evening was held on Tuesday 20 October in the New Music Annexe. Twelve brave Springfield girls: Zahra Bayo, Jordan Connelly, Leah Elias, Nina Samuels, Olivia Fuller, Caitlin Williams, Kelly O'Sullivan, Kate Thomas, Emma Parsraman, Khanya Mngqinya and Emma Senger presented orals on a variety of topics. During the course of a very entertaining evening, the girls spoke about a wide range of topics including chefs, revolution, astrology, Feminism and the implications of the Gini co-efficient.

Toastmasters’ training is designed to develop both leadership and speaking skills, so the girls were tasked with organising the entire evening themselves. They did an excellent job, hosting a thoroughly enjoyable, well-run evening.

Running Toastmasters this year was particularly challenging, as all training had to happen via Google Hangout meets and speeches were presented on a digital platform. This meant that the girls’ first experience of speaking to a live audience (whilst being live-streamed to Springfield’s Youtube channel) was on the night of the Showcase evening. They rose to the challenge and made public speaking look easy.

We are very grateful to the parents and friends who attended (and helped with the food, décor and transport) and the brilliant coaches from Toastmasters. The skilled coaching and enthusiastic support of Ms Melissa Awu, Ms Angie Kivido, Ms Mimi Makupula, Ms Nondumiso Thango and Mr Paul Tanton was invaluable. Through them, our girls have excelled.

Nicolette Going

Le tour de Maths

In an eventful couple of Le tour de Maths quizzes, Sua Sung in Grade 9 has quietly over-taken our up to now 'unbeatable' Emma Suter! We shall see what next week brings! Well done to all girls who have written and continue to write. Only 2 more to go until we have our Maths champions!

Jennifer Godlonton

SRC

The SRC has been hard at work throughout the year making sure the voices of the students are heard. Under the leadership of the Grade 11 SRC representatives for 2020, the SRC continues to meet once a week to discuss pertinent issues affecting the students as well as their goals and plans for 2021. Their final project for 2020 has been a collection of slides that will be displayed around the school with tips for managing exam anxiety and stress. Well done to the 2020 SRC!

Copy of SRC exam stress tips

The library will now be open after school until 4pm each day.

Open a world of reading. Try Sora, the new reading app for students, by OverDrive.

Borrow ebooks and audiobooks from your school's library with Sora. Setup is simple - just find your school and sign in. Then download or stream your assignments and favorite books to your device.

Explore SORA, Springfield’s new online library. Download the SORA app from the Google Playstore or the iStore. Find our school, and then register with a pupil’s school email address and Google password.

Sora - Open a world of reading - Judith Bronwen Wyllie.mp4

Sora includes:

• A ground-breaking built-in ebook reader

• A beautiful audiobook player

• Easy access to assigned titles

• A running tally of time spent reading and numbers of books read

With Sora you can:

• Borrow a book and start reading with a single tap

• Create and export notes and highlights

• Define words - and review a list of all the words that you've looked up

• Earn achievements for reading, and for completing certain tasks in Sora

• Enjoy reading ebooks and audiobooks!

Art department

Some artworks done by the talented Grade 11 group whose works have been accepted for an exhibition at the Zeitz Mocaa.

Grade 11 - Heidi Ansorge

Grade 11 - Ella McAdam

Grade 11 - Mila Matthews

Grade 11- Nicola Dale

Kate Ferreira, Grade 8

Dance

Kate Ferreira, Grade 8, has qualified to represent South Africa for Hip Hop Dance. She qualified with two solos, one in Commercial Hip Hop and one in Breaking. She was selected to travel to Croatia to dance in the World finals in May this year but due to COVID-19 the competition has been postponed to May 2021 and she is hoping to be able to travel and compete then.

Kate was recently presented with her South African team kit and certification.

Community Engagement

Christmas packs

This year for Christmas, a group of 8 schools is doing a collection to make up packs for the elderly in our community. These packs will consist of basic items of necessity, which are so needed by many in our community. Often the elderly are forgotten, so this year we would like to brighten up the lives of these valued members in old age homes in Wynberg.

Please can we ask for donations of deodorant and body lotion. These donations can be dropped off in the library, at screening, in the box available.

Sam Whitehorn

Blood clinic

Springfield has a proud tradition of hosting four blood clinics every year, a tradition that has lasted for nearly two decades. Despite the restrictions imposed by the COVID pandemic, we managed to host three of our four scheduled clinics this year. When we were unable to host a clinic in the second term during Lockdown Level 5, many members of the Springfield Community still donated blood at the N1 and Blue Route Clinics.

The efficient running of clinics against the odds this year would not have been possible without the enthusiasm, hard work and promotion done by Nina Samuels, Ruby Brosens, Emily Wohlenberg, Lauren Pearse and Amy Stubbs. Thank you, girls, for being such a wonderful group of “vampires”.

Beach clean-up

On Saturday 10 October, Springfield teamed up with Parklands College Interact to do a beach clean-up on Milnerton beach.

The clean-up was a great success, the students had fun and relationships between the two schools were founded.

A huge thank you to the students and teachers who helped out and the parents who lifted.

Sam Whitehorn

Nurdle Exchange!

Ever wondered what you could buy with a jar of Nurdles? No probably not ... well the Cape RADD team would like to put a positive spin on this nurdle nonsense and put a value on your time and effort as we are offering a Citizen Science snorkel trip with a friend in exchange for a jar of Nurdles! (Minimum 370ml). So head to the beach to start collecting nurdles, separate them from sand by using a bucket of sea water where they will float and you can then sieve them out. Dry the nurdles and pop in a jar! Bring your jar to Cape RADD and we will send you a voucher TOP BANANA

(Limited availability)

Share this post to spread the word on the nurdle exchange initiative and tag @caperadd in your beach clean photos!

NURDLE ALERT

Nurdles are littering our coastlines, please help by collecting them! Nurdles are little bits of plastic, usually white or translucent balls, they are shipped all over the world for manufacturing. A shipping incident has caused tonnes of Nurdles to leak into our oceans. We found a lot on Fish Hoek beach and reports of lots on Muizenberg beach. Every day there are reports of other beaches that have been hit. Please do not throw in the bin or try to recycle they need to be disposed of properly!

119849095_376723243698964_7643812985195248807_n.mp4

Sports News

Sign ups close on Thursday 29 October 2020 at 09h00. Please encourage your daughter to participate. The practices will continue during exams so the girls can get time to do some exercise and have some fun before they go back to studying.

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