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Newsletter 01/ January 2008
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Dear One & All
PENRYN DAD WALKS TO THE FROM THE CHAPLAIN’S DESK
SOUTH POLE I recently read a book by Chris van Wyk, a South African
author. The book is called Shirley, Goodness and Mercy.
The author as a child got the hymn half right and proceeded to
put the rest together as best he could. Instead of „surely‟ he
substituted “Shirley”, which was part of his life and
experiences.
I wonder how often we fail our children in a similar way.
Instead of clearly explaining and showing them the way we
issue instructions and leave the rest to chance. With reference
to the Bible, I often find „leopards‟ instead of „lepers‟ that Jesus
heals. Recently one answer concerning the three gifts Jesus
received was „Frankenstein‟. At school I am „Red‟ rather than
„Rev‟.
The problem is that we adults assume the children know what
we are saying. We add further confusion when we add, „Do as
I say. Do not do as I do.‟ Our lives should be congruent and
Is he serious you may well ask? genuine. The one that worries me most is our ignoring of
traffic rules. The traffic light turns yellow and we ignore it.
And the answer is that he is. Very. Mr Sibusiso Vilane (father Speed limits are clear yet we exceed them. Even worse is
of Setsabile in Grade 9) and his partner Mr Alex Harris have crossing the border and slipping money to the officials or
just become the first humans ever to walk to the South Pole. getting out of a speed fine by doing the same.
The journey was 1 113 km long and they each towed a sled
that weighed about 130kg during this time. They took two and Just what message are our children receiving? Scripture is
a half months to complete the feat. clear: let your yes be yes and your no be no. Each parent is
responsible for passing on values and ethics.
Conditions were expectedly cold, starting at -8ºC and dropping Rev Fred
to -40ºC as they neared the pole.
What a unique achievement! Think Scott of the Antarctic and
FROM THE HEAD’S DESK
what happened to him and his team, and Shackleton and all of
WELCOME
the other explorers that have become part of the general
A warm welcome back to the 2008 academic year. I trust that
history of the world. And the first person to walk to the pole
you all had a blessed and restful break and have returned filled
comes from the Lowveld of all places.
with enthusiasm and energy, ready to make this another
special year in our history. My wish for all of you this year is
After being the first black person to climb Everest Sibusiso has
that through your endeavours, at work, at school, in your
quickly become a legend, and he has one peak to complete to
families, amongst your friends, and with the strangers that you
do all of the seven highest peaks on the seven continents. His
meet, that you will continue to find life in its fullest, fulfillment,
next plan apparently is to walk across the empty quarter of the
meaning and affectivity.
Arabian Desert. This is a sand desert the size of France,
Holland and Belgium combined (1 000km by 600km). It is also
2007 MATRIC RESULTS
considered to be the most inhospitable place on Earth and is
The 2007 Matriculants are to be congratulated on their
entirely uninhabited by humans. Truly a forbidding prospect.
outstanding results, the finest in our history. One of our
scholars, Howard Saffy achieved 7 subject distinctions, and
And what a challenge to the rest of us. Congratulations to him
was placed in the “Top 50” Candidates of the Independent
and his family, and thank you for being such an inspiration for
Examinations Board Senior Certificate Examination. Two other
the Penryn family.
scholars, Geoffrey Clark and Mark Richards achieved 6
distinctions, and five achieved 5 distinctions.
A full list of distinctions is attached below together with all the And then congratulations are due to:
other statistics that are important. Congratulations to the Mr Bailey Nkuna and his wife Constance on the birth of
scholars, staff and parents of the Class of 2007. You made us their son, Nhlamulo (God‟s blessing);
very proud indeed. It gives me great pleasure to know that we Surane Stapelberg on the birth of her son, Gareth;
close the door on the old matriculation certificate without ever Ms Danielle de Villiers on her engagement to Mr James
having a failure. Ten years of achievement that brings great Beer (class of 2001)
honour to the College. Messrs Collie and Nel have qualified as Certified Staff
Mentors;
GROUNDS AND FACILITIES Allan Maclaurin who has been awarded a BJP Billiton
Considering the amount of rain that we have had over the st
Bursary afrter he achieved in the Top 1 Year marks in the
break (interspersed with periods of warm sunshine) the Science and Built Environment Faculty at UCT in 2008.
campus and grounds are looking very good indeed. The estate
manager informs me that he has quite a job to keep the grass
under control, but one cannot fault the wonderful green image
GENERAL NOTICES
of the campus. The pool too is on the mend and will be
sparkling soon. This isn‟t helped by electricity cuts, but we ELECTRONIC CIRCULARS
need to live with it and make it work. At the end of last year, we upgraded our administrative system
which enabled us to send out circulars, reports and statements
We have spoken frequently in the recent past about the electronically. We have had a number of positive responses
development of facilities on campus. I thank you for your from parents and thank you for this as your feedback is
patience in this regard. Happily there have been tremendous important and appreciated.
developments in this area and we can all look forward to great
progress during the course of this year. We have a facilities Access to the Family portal is now also possible by accessing
and development committee meeting next week under the the Penryn website, www.penryn.co.za. You will be able to
chairmanship of Chris Kotze and a schedule of development view your child‟s academic progress, fee statement and
will be published soon after that. We have a great deal to look absenteeism. To access the Family portal, please send an e-
forward to. mail to eduadmin@penryn.co.za with your child‟s name and
surname and a password of your choice.
STAFF NEWS
We welcome the following new staff members to Penryn and Should you not have access to e-mail and would like a hard
wish them a long and happy career at the College: copy of correspondence, please send a note to your child‟s
tutor.
Academic Staff
PPA AGM
Mr Paul Viljoen from Brackenfell HS in the Western Cape
who will teach in the Business Economics department. The PPA has a monthly committee meeting of elected
members and organizes several social events during the
Mrs Dalene van Der Berg from Rob Ferreira HS who will
course of the year as well as raising funds for special projects
teach Mathematics.
around the school and for bursaries. The PPA furthermore is a
Mrs Kim Cook from Lowveld High School who will teach in
conduit to Council for parental comment. The Parents
the English department.
Association form a very important link between the parents,
Ms Nicola Joubert from Maputo International School who school and community.
teaches Life Science and Science.
Mrs Trish Ferri who teachers in the Life Sciences The Heads of Penryn and the PPA are keen to promote a
department temporarily for the first two terms. collaborative school atmosphere with adequate resources and
support to enable both parents and teachers to participate
Support Staff effectively in decision making.
Mr Conan Olivier from Wits University. He is the new
Director of Sport for the campus. We encourage our parent body to attend the AGM to hear
Mrs Angela van Rij from Uplands College, who is to run more – you will not regret it. This will take place on 4
th
the College computer network. February 2008 at 18h00 in the Community Centre.
Intern Teachers PENREACH
Mr Jan Hendrik Odendaal who joins us from Komatipoort A heartfelt thanks to the support and donations we receive
Akademie. He is to join the Geography department. from parents towards the Penreach programme. We are in
dire need of a cashier who can assist at the Penreach
workshops, 2 Saturdays a month from 07h30 to 09h30. Please
PENRYN FAMILY NEWS contact Mrs Janet Henning on (013) 7581725 if you are able to
We wish to express our sincere condolences to the following assist.
members of the Penryn Family on their loss of loved ones in
recent weeks: COMPULSORY FUNCTIONS FOR SCHOLARS
Mrs Sue Meiring, Kelly and Ricci Christin on the loss of If for some reasons, your child is unable to attend a
her husband and their step-dad; compulsory school function, please put this in writing,
Ms Fikile Ngwenya on the loss of her father; addressed to me before the function. Any letters of excuse
Ms Cindy and Jarryd Putter on the loss of her father and received after the function will not be accepted.
his grandfather;
Mrs Jane Matemana on the loss of her brother. The first of these will be the Inter House Swimming Gala which
We wish Linda and Kirsten Kidd speedy recoveries after will be held on 30 January from 18h00.
their motorcar accident.
Please keep these families in your thoughts and prayers. The other compulsory function this term is the Uplands /
th
Penryn Derby which will take place on Friday, 7 and
th
Saturday, 8 March 2008.
GRADE 12 STUDY SKILLS WORKSHOP TRANSFORMATION WORKSHOP
Our Grade 12 scholars will attend a Study Skills workshop on A reminder that Penryn will be closed on 27, 28 and 29
Saturday, 26 January from 08h00 – 16h00. It has been in our February to allow all staff to attend a Transformation
experience that our Grade 12 scholars have benefitted from Workshop. Scholars will be given compulsory word to do over
rd
this session in the past. Please do not hesitate to contact Mrs the weekend. This will be handed in on Monday, 3 March.
Spratt should you have any further queries. A follow-up
meeting will be held for Grade 12 scholars on Tuesday, 29 TECHNICAL DRAWING
January from 15h00 – 17h00. If there are any scholars interested in taking Technical Drawing
th
as an 8 subject after sport, please contact Jill Tate on (013)
GRADE 12 PARENTS INFORMATION EVENING 7581182.
A meeting for all Grade 12 scholars and parents will be held on
Thursday, 31 January from 17h00 in the Community Centre. CYCLING
We encourage you all to attend as the way forward for this If there are any cyclists interested in entering the Argus Cycle
year will be discussed. There will be a question and answer Tour over the weekend of 7 & 8 March as part of a Penryn
session after the meeting. team, please forward your names to Mr Conan Olivier (013)
758 1182 or conan@penryn.co.za.
SCHOLAR EXEC, SRC AND IMBIZOS
These take place on Thursdays from 14h00 to 14h45. All
scholars are required to attend Imbizos and Exec, only. SRC
members are to attend SRC meetings and others may go
home, or wait until sport.
The schedule for Term 1 is as follows:
24 Jan Choosing LEAPS Whole college
31 Jan SRC SRC only
7 Feb Imbizo Whole college
14 Feb SRC SRC only
21 Feb Exec Whole college
6 March SRC SRC only
13 March Exec Whole college
Sincerely
……………………………
Greg Theron
Executive Head
