With warm wishes 

Shirley Harding
PRINCIPAL

Here come the 

PEER GUIDES

The Peer Guidance Counsellors is a new system of counselling that will be introduced at Wynberg as from next term. This is a group of twenty-four grade 11 girls who have been equipped with basic counselling skills in order to assist other girls solve their problems. 

For the pupils, by the pupils. 

If, in the past, a student felt afraid to consult a school counsellor, then she will now have an opportunity to discuss and analyze her problems with a fellow learner. Should she feel neglected, hurt, afraid or perhaps there is just something she needs to get off her chest, the Peer Guides will be there to help! We encourage girls to find their own solutions and ways to handle the issues they are faced with. So we don’t give advice, we look at various options. 

The mastermind behind this new system - she also happens to be our multi-talented PE teacher, Ms Hunt - said this about Peer Guides: “We are very excited about introducing this programme at Wynberg. It offers another avenue for girls to go down when trying to cope with their problems, enabling them to grow as people. Our Guides have put a lot of effort into their training and we (staff) feel confident that they’ve developed the skills to guide fellow peers to a deeper understanding of issues in their lives.”

Keep your ears and eyes open for what the Guides will be offering from next term onwards. 

Sibs Matiyela

This is an online database consisting of 6497 educational web sites that pertain to all the SA Curriculum 2005 learning areas. Any relevant websites are sourced, described and fed into the database to which schools subscribe. This is an on-going activity, and every month up to 100 new web sites are added to the database. 

In addition, if, within this database, schools cannot find information on a specific topic, Weblinks will do additional searches on that topic on behalf of the school, and will send the relevant results to the school within 48 hours. 

Every school is given a username and password and with that username and password, the teachers and students can access the database from any computer in the world, in other words from school, home, or anywhere else. Students will be given more information and introduced to this programme next term.

Mrs N Gerhardi

Capstone Camp: three well-organised, enjoyable days filled with challenging experiences. During those three days, we had time to experience God in a new way and to grow in his power. There were also various planned activities, including obstacle courses and games, free time and worship, great food and informative sessions. Our speakers, Julian and Archie, spoke about the Kingdom of God, His will for our lives and How to live a life of purpose, committed to Jesus. They are topics that are of significance to all of us and they were powerfully spoken about. During the talks, important questions that came up were later covered during cell group time. 

The camp leaders had challenges or games planned - things like the capture, the flag and word quizzes. There were also times to swim, play rugby or just make friends . But it wasn’t all fun and games: we had to wash our own dishes, participate in a trail up the mountain (blindfolded), answer a quiz that really taxed the mind, and eat weird and wonderful things like fish paste on vita snacks, sardines and condensed milk and even dog and cat food - something they called “who wants to spew.” 
But, not even that was enough to dampen our spirits when twenty-two people gave their lives to the Lord.

We started from Constantia Nek and made our way up. The breeze was cool but the hot sun was overhead - this pleasant mixture made it perfect walking weather. It took us around two hours to reach the Mountain Club hut where we settled in for the night as the wind had intensified and any outside activity was out of the question- we would have been blown off the mountain! The early evening was spent munching goodies and eventually we settled into our sleeping bags, only to be awakened by two adventurous young lads at the most peculiar time of 01:00!!

The next morning, we walked to the cable car along the front of the mountain. As we climbed further and further up the mountain, the view across the bay became more and more spectacular. To see the sloping mountain-side hit the beautiful coastline was really something - no one could resist getting out their cameras and capturing the scene. When we made it to the cable car, we had a 360-degree view of Cape Town. After using up all our film we headed back down the way we had come, and then back to the car park in Constantia. 

We all thoroughly enjoyed the mountain and will definitely be making another trip up!

Sarah de Man and Becky Gallman 
(the Gappers) 

Many of the models travelled beautifully through the air, with rockets shooting up to great heights, kites gracing the skies, hot air balloons sailing well over the roof of the school (one even drifting from the quad to the other side of the astroturf) and a toy monkey parachuting safely from the English corridor to the quad below. Well done to all the matric Science girls for tackling their projects with such enthusiasm!

Mr P Bodenstein

WYNBERG ARTS AND FOOD FESTIVAL 

There's a buzz in the school - meetings, plans, rehearsals are taking place at all times of the day and night - preparations for the Arts and Food festival to be held on 30 March are well underway. For all the lowdown on that exciting evening, read the next newsletter.

Many wide-eyed and uninformed girls and boys gathered in the hall at Wynberg Girls' High School on Thursday 25 March. 

Mrs Annette Millar, Career Guidance Consultant, told the eager learners and their parents that Aptitude + Interest + Personality + a Realistic Decision = A Wise Career Choice! 

After this highly motivational talk, the learners and their parents were set loose onto the various career opportunities. There were Film & T.V (Paul Lensen), Sports Management (Russel Adams), Civil Engineering (Graham English), Geomatics (Terry Richards) to name but a few. The people representing the careers above provided the learners with an insight to what their future careers had in store for them. 

In addition, representatives from various Universities, Colleges and Technikons had set up attractive presentations in the Gym and Ballet Hall to encourage future students to consider furthering their studies at these institutions. They provided stacks of brochures and leaflets, rulers and some even gave out water bottles! Talk about bribery!!!

All enjoyed the evening very much. Many learners said that the evening had really broadened their outlook and made things seem more achievable! One of the main messages that was conveyed by the end of the evening was that careers are changing. By having a broad knowledge of things you can keep reinventing yourself. This is what our future employers are looking for!

Ruschka Issel

The Promotions Court at the Canal Walk Shopping Centre came alive on Human Rights' Day when 27 teams of would-be engineers (and one team of retired engineers) came together to compete in the annual SAICE Model Bridge-building Competition. The WGHS team (Michelle Fourie, Najmeera Parker and Yumna Moosa) assembled at the MTN Science Centre where the team attended a lecture on the basics of bridge building. They then spent the next five or so hours sanding, sawing and glueing what would later come to be "Betty" - the official WGHS bridge. The judging started in the afternoon, with aesthetics and mass of materials used being taken into consideration.

At 5:30 the tension rose as the weight-testing began. This is what the bridge-building competition is all about. The winning bridge is the one which can hold the most weight before it breaks under the strain. "Betty" held 70kg before breaking, weighed 230g and was awarded 21 points for aesthetics. We ended up 15th overall And beat our brother school - WBHS, the UCT engineering team AND the retired engineers! 

Thank you to Mrs Jaaback for spending the whole day with the team and well done Wynberg !!! 

On Friday 26 March, the grade 10,11 and 12 Afrikaans 1st Language classes travelled to the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town where they had a wonderful opportunity to see a play based on Dalene Matthee's novel, Kringe in 'n Bos. The play was thoroughly enjoyed by all, particularly by the Grade 12 class, who had the experience of seeing the characters of their setwork novel brought to life on stage. It is hoped that this outing has given the girls the opportunity to expand their horizons andstimulate their appreciation of theatre in another language.

We would like to extend our thanks to Mrs Muller, Ms Petersen and Mrs Glass, who made this outing possible.

Mrs T O’Reilly

We also welcomed new staff members this term: Rebecca Galman and Sarah de Man, who are our GAPS from Australia. They soon felt like “part of the family” and have already contributed a great deal. We wish them a wonderful time in South Africa. 

The Grade 11’s have worked hard to raise funds for the Matric Farewell Dinner which is to be held at the end of this year. Some of their creative ideas have included a Valentines Day talent show, exercise classes and Upside-down dinners. Many boarders made use of the opportunity to have their bedrooms cleaned when the Grade 11’s hired themselves out as “slaves for a day”. 

We have also enjoyed several social hostel exchanges with the hostels in our area. In particular in a community outreach project initiated by St Cyprians. Recently, representatives from our Waterloo House were invited to dinner at St Cyprian’s with boarders from these schools, in order to plan fund-raising activities for various charities that the boarders have decided they would like to support. 

As the boarders prepare to leave for home, the staff will be preparing to receive guests: Waterpolo players and Two Ocean’s Marathon runners, who will be staying in the hostel for the holidays. The funds raised through this will be used to renovate the hostel. 

Mrs D. Cheney
HOSTEL SUPERINTENDENT

Thursday 15 April: 
Term 2 begins

Outings on that day:
Grade 12 - Biology; 
Grade 11 - Geography; 
Grade 10 - Maths;
Grade 9 - History; 
Grade 8 - Assessment work at school

Friday 16 April: 
Exam Day All Grades: English, Afrikaans and Xhosa

Monday 19 April: 
17:30 to 19:30 Parent-Teacher discussions: Grades 8, 10, and 11

Thursday 22 April: 
18:00 to 19:30 Portfolio and Parent-Teacher discussions: Grades 9 and 12

Tuesday 11 May: 
Exam Day All Grades

Thursday 27 May: 
Exam Day Grade 8 National English Test

1 June to 18 June: School Exams

NB: Absence from any exam will require a Medical Certificate

Parents are encouraged to join the scheme by obtaining a Makro card through the school. Application forms will be sent out at the beginning of next term via your daughters. If you are interested please return the form to the school. If you already have a Makro card please link it to WGHS: this can be done by sending us your name, address and card number.

URGENTLY NEEDED BY THE ART DEPARTMENT 

RECYCLABLE GOODS BUTTONS, BEADS, FABRIC, MAGAZINES, etc. etc.

Hand to Mrs du Plessis or put in the box outside The Arts and Culture Room.

The music department has had a busy first term, performing at various external venues. The Kirstenbosch Garden Fair was definitely a highlight. Performances varied from the marimbas to the pop band. The vocal ensemble gave an outstanding performance at the “Over Sixties’ ” club, where they were asked for an encore. The senior citizens enjoyed our varied performance to such an extent that they even danced to the tunes of the pop band. 

Once again the vocal ensemble was asked to sing at the World Women’s day service held at the Lutheran church. We were proud of their outstanding singing. The orchestra played well at the lunchtime concert where all enjoyed their interpretation of “Rock around the clock”. 

The Music Department thanks all learners, parents and teachers for their support and commitment into making this a successful term.

Ms B Franke

During the first week of the term, dance teachers attended a workshop at UCT School of Dance. We learnt about the path Dance, as a subject, is to follow over the next few years, broadened our knowledge on the existing syllabus and experienced the new work to be taught. 

A visiting choreographer from London, Kenneth Tharpe, also worked with teachers at this course, and he inspired us in the art of choreography for children. In February he met daily for one week with a group of twenty learners, including three girls from Wynberg Girls’ High, to choreograph an item to be presented at an Arts Festival in August at the Artscape theatre. 

As part of their History syllabus, the matric learners must keep abreast of the performances produced by Cape Town City Ballet. One of the ballets, RAKA, choreo-graphed by the late Frank Staff on a poem of the same name written by N P van Wyk Louw, will be performed in April. Our girls were able to watch a video of this work and were fortunate to have principal dancer Robin van Wyk speak to them about the ballet. As Robin is to dance the role of Raka, he gave the girls a good understanding and detail of the work - lucky girls! 

Our Grade 12 learners also promoted the school and the Dance department at our annual Open Day. The Dance Department has spent time putting together items for the WGHS Arts’ Festival. The Grade 12’s will dance to the sounds of the senior Marimba Band, the Grade 11’s will be dancing to the voice of Michelle Botha singing “Unforgettable” and the Grade 10’s to the lovely music from the film “Out of Africa”. 

We hope you did not miss the surprise item - “The Paparinas from Parys” - at the end of the Festival. What a fabulous bunch of Dads; every minute of every rehearsal was enjoyed by all. Hats off to you guys and thank you, it was a privilege to work with you.

Ms C Shapiro-Dodds

During the first term, we have welcomed ten new members who are already spinning away, hard at work. This term is always a very busy one for the Web. To mention just a few events covered by us: the Matric sleepover, Grade 8 RCL voting, Grade 10 film outing, Grade 8 braai, Memorial service for Lindy, co-ed swimming gala, Valentine’s assembly, Grade 11 camp, Matric hike, Open Day, Capstone camp, Apsley Easter egg challenge, meeting Trevor Manuel, bridge-building etc. etc. Our work never ends! Thanks go to all the hard-working spinners plus special thanks to Ms Orpen for burning the midnight oil again. 

Aiggy Shen

INTERACT 

We started this busy term greeting many new Grade 8’s and ended with a very successful Easter egg party with the Dietrich Moravian Primary School. We had endless exciting Tuesdays meetings, a speaker from ‘Habitat for Humanity’, we collected books and visited the Murambi Old Age Home. Thanks to all and happy holidays !!!!

Ellie Shortall 

THE ENVIRO CLUB 

Members, take note: there will be an Enviro Camp next term to the Cederburg. This area is well-known for its San rock paintings and those coming will be able to look at these. One of our projects this term has been to create an awareness of our beautiful environment by posting information on various Environmental projects. The Botanical Society has expressed their sincere thanks to those who assisted at the Kirstenbosch Plant sale.

Danny Alexander

The Library continues to be the most vibrant, popular spot in our school, with the exception of the tuck-shop. (Hey! What about those crowds around the computer room ?) Amidst the bleeping of the security system, the lively chattering of the girls, the printers spewing out paper, and the tick-tapping of computer keyboards, our dedicated team of library monitors continue to help when needed. With a constant stream of new books and with new generations discovering old favourites, there are plenty of books for all girls to enjoy. Happy reading these holidays!

Lauren Losper

Wynberg Girls’ has continued its involvement in the Rotary chess program this term. 

An excellent Western Province coach, Mr Edwin November, has been teaching strategies to the chess team and to pupils from Heathfield High, who join us every Friday afternoon. Alana Heynes(Constantia) and Trish-Lynne O’Reilly(Waterloo) are all set to play a game with live pieces at the Arts’ Festival.

Ms D Miles

First there was the Valentine’s Day assembly, and much later the Arts Festival, plus everything else in between: this has been a busy term. Our newcomers have been thrown into the deep end, and a few technical hitches and some special training later, they have quickly realised how stressful the life of a Techie on the job can be! However, spirits and enthusiasm remain high - onward and upward, to infinity and beyond!

Insaaf Abrahams

The swimming season is almost at an end, but it has been an enjoyable and rewarding one. The inter-schools gala took place on the 9 March at Newlands. All the swimmers swam their hearts out and Wynberg managed to come 5th overall. The Matrics are relieved, but also sad not to be swimming for their school again. The rest of the team are eagerly anticipating next season!

Sharon Marle

Tennis has had its ups and downs this term, but eventually found its rhythm. The 1st’s and 2nd’s practised in the mornings - a bright and early start to the day. The Seniors and the Grade 8’s played well at their respective Interschools competitions and both came fourth overall. Well done to all who participated. Thank you very much to Mr Lord and Mev Muller for their hard word and excellent organisation.

Debbie Gray 

There has been a great improvement in the general fitness of all participants since the beginning of the term although running is really not for the faint-hearted ! There were so many exciting routes to take that most runs this term were away from school. Well done to those who turned out regularly and thank you to Ms Damon and Mrs Fowkes for organising and even joining us on our runs.

Debbie Gray

We have had an excellent Athletics season. WGHS has some outstanding athletes who practise regularly and therefore achieve great results. On 25 February our athletes took part in the Interschool Athletics competition at Green Point stadium. This is a major event which attracts many local schools and thousands of supporters. Well done to all the girls who participated, especially to Jade Barlow, Jeanne van Rensburg, and Candice Conradie who made it through to the inter-zonal competition held at Belville Athletics Stadium. We look forward to our girls making it even further next year, because they definitely have the potential to do so.

Special thanks go to Ms Hunt, our coach, who supported the athletics girls right through the Season.

Busi Kokolo 

INDOOR HOCKEY - a success story!!! 

The 2004 Indoor Hockey season was a very successful one. All the hard work and dedication during training sessions really paid off and the teams did really well in their various leagues.
The 1st team was unbeaten in the league and met Pinelands in the play-offs for 1st and 2nd place. They played excellent hockey and won 2 – 1 to win the Premier League - a much-deserved reward for the wonderful hockey they played all season. 
The 2nd team also qualified for the play-offs: they played against Fairmont for 3rd and 4th position. Although they lost this match1 – 3 and finished the season in 4th place they, too, are to be commended. 

Inter-house Indoor Hockey took place on Thursday 11 March. As we only had time for one afternoon’s play, we decided to combine the houses to make 4 teams. The final results were: 
1st - Wellesley & Copenhagen 
2nd – Cavanagh & Constantia 
3rd – Waterloo & Kirsten 
4th – Silverlea & Apsley 

Inter-schools took place on 19 March at Herschel. The 1st team played amazing hockey, probably the best of the season, and beat St Cyprians 7–0, Herschel 4–1, Springfield 2-0 and Rustenberg 4–0. 
Well done to all the players for bringing the trophy back to Wynberg (where it truly belongs!) Well done to all the teams for an excellent season, and a Big thank you to our wonderful coaches, Ms Bernstein and Ms Selfe!

Jenna Cunliffe 

The water polo teams have enjoyed a very busy and successful 2003/2004 summer season. New 1st and 2nd teamcoach, Helen Wilson, has been very popular with the girls and has put a lot of energy into her coaching. 

The U16 Waterpolo team!

We were also very fortunate to retain the services of Arendene Fourie who coaches the U16’s with such success. Captained by Estelle Jansen van Rensburg, they continued their fine form, playing very well in their fixtures and making it through to Newlands for the champs. Here they beat Westerford convincingly in the one semi-final but went on to lose to a very strong Reddam side in the closely contested final. 

The new U14’s, captained by Deidre Knight, have many very promising young players who just love being in the water. This is a team to watch as although none had played the game before, they managed to come 3rd in the interschools’ tournament. 
The Anderson twins, Kirsten and Robyn, continue to excel in the game. Together with Micaela Patterson, they played for WP U14 A in December 2003 and then were both selected for the SA team after the tournament. This is a wonderful achievement! 

Robyn went on to represent WP U16A in January 2004. Tessa Fredericks, who has been a very popular and enthusiastic Wynberg 1st team captain, and Carolyn Jones, were both selected for the WP U18 development side which played in the interprovincial tournament in December. Congratulations to all the players for their achievements and for a waterpolo season played in such good spirit.

Mr P Bodenstein and Tessa Fredericks