Dear Parents and Learners

It is almost time for the start of the Spring Quarter and we want to share some of the arrangements for the first week with you.  We will give feedback on activities during the last week of the Winter Quarter and the events that took place during the school holiday in the blog on Friday, 17 October 2025.

Please note that we follow a special timetable during the first week, due to all the formal events.  All learners are expected to attend the Honours Evening on Tuesday, 14 October and we expect everyone to be immaculately dressed and groomed for this prestigious event.  We will change to summer uniform after our awards ceremonies - on Thursday, 16 October 2025.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back and trust that you feel rested and ready for the final stretch.

START OF SPRING QUARTER

Special Timetable for Tuesday, 14 October 2025 (Day 7):

07:50  Assembly

08:30  Rehearsal for Honours Evening

09:00  Grade Meetings

           Grade 7: Collab 3

           Grade 8: Collab 2

           Grade 9: Collab 1

           Grade 10: Rec room

           Grade 11: Minor Hall

           Grade 12: Curie Hall

09:35  Break

10:10-10:50  Session 1 (Day 7)

10:55-11:35  Session 2 (Day 7)

11:40-12:20  Session 3 (Day 7)

12:20  Break

12:50 Line up for STCL

Special Timetable for Wednesday, 15 October 2025 (Day 1):

Gr9-11 Special Timetable: Wednesday, 15 October 2025 (Day 1 - Valedictory):

07:50  Session 1 (Day 1)

08:45  Session 2 (Day 1)

09:30 Break

09:40 Line up for Valedictory

10:00 Valedictory

11:15 End of day

Gr7-8 Special Arrangement: Wednesday, 15 October 2025 (Day 1 - Valedictory):

Work from home

10:00 Valedictory online

Gr12 Programme: Wednesday, 15 October 2025 (Day 1 - Valedictory):

08:00 Signing of shirts

08:30 Locking the Legacy in Curie Quad

09:30 Ready in the quad for Valedictory

10:00 Valedictory

Spring Quarter Class Timetables & Day Allocation

2025 Spring Quarter Class Timetables

2025 Spring Quarter Day Allocation

Academic Information

Note that the assessment calendars, examination timetables and study guidelines will be published in Friday's blog.

Online Parent / Educator Meetings

The online parent meeting slots have been scheduled for Monday to Wednesday, 20-22 October.  The links to the meeting slots will be available in Friday's blog.  If none of the available times are convenient, you are welcome to contact the educators or Grade Heads directly via email to arrange an alternative appointment.

Coming up ...

EVENTS

Our Awards Functions are occasions of great pride and celebration. It is important that all learners attend, conduct themselves appropriately, and are dressed immaculately. Please note that attendance at all events is compulsory. Due to venue capacity, Grade 7 and 8 learners will view the Valedictory Ceremony online.

LEARNER AFFAIRS

Caffeinated carbonated drinks

We strive to provide nutritious meals and drinks to our learners at the College. We strongly prohibit the consumption of caffeinated canned drinks on our campus.

1. Health Concerns: Energy drinks contain high levels of caffeine, sugar, and other additives that may be detrimental to the health and well-being of children. 

2. Impact on Learning: High stimulant content may negatively affect a learner's concentration and ability to focus in class, hindering their academic progress. 

3. Behavioural Changes: Reports from schools indicate that energy drinks may alter children's behaviour, leading to concerns from many experts.

Lockers

Our learners have been advised on the following:-

1. A learner can not use a locker that has not been allocated to him/her.

2. A locker that has been allocated to a learner needs to have a lock. This should be locked at all times. Lockers can be purchased at reception.

3. We can not be held liable for missing items if a learner is using a locker not allocated to him/her or a locker without a lock.

Learners driving to school

Every year, we receive requests from learners driving themselves to school to park their vehicles on the school grounds.  We will not allow that for the following very important and well-considered reasons:

1. Safety:  Hundreds of younger learners are dropped and picked up in the parking lot daily and the danger of allowing an additional approximate 100 inexperienced drivers (by the second half of the year) onto campus, is a risk too big to take.

2. Insurance:  The school has public liability insurance for injuries due to school-related events.  Driving a car is not a school-related event and will therefore not be covered by our insurance.

3. Necessity:  There is close enough access to public transport (MyCiTi) for there to be no need for learners to drive themselves to school if their parents are unable to do so.

4. Unlicensed driving:  Some parents allow their children to illegally drive vehicles to school.  As learners arrive and leave during peak times, it is impossible for the security guards to check licences without causing massive congestion.

There are parking embayments in College Avenue for learners to park their vehicles and when that is full, there is ample parking space available at Checkers.  The parking area on the East side of the gate is also available for parking.  This can be accessed from Sandown Road.

Learners missing school

The College prioritises academic/ tuition time.  Failure to comply will ultimately compromise a learner's academic performance.

We ask for your cooperation in not arranging activities and appointments during school hours.  Should disruption of the school day be beyond your control, e.g., appointments with a specialist, we ask that you inform the grade head timeously in order for us to make the necessary academic arrangements.  There is no such thing as a "free" lesson.  In the event of an educator being absent, a substitute educator is provided and work is set for that lesson.

Learners should be at school every day until at least the end of the academic day, including until after assembly on a Friday.  

You are reminded to email ssteyn@parklands.co.za directly to obtain permission to miss assembly on a Friday.

Please note that the Learner Attendance Policy has been updated in the Parent & Learner Directory.

College blazers

Please be reminded that all learners need to wear the new striped blazer from the start of 2026, with the obvious exception of those who wear Honours Blazers.  To ensure timely delivery, we advise you to place your order with our uniform supplier, School and Leisure, early.

Second-hand school uniforms

Please contact Tania Fourie if you would like to buy or sell good-quality second-hand uniforms.  She is also the supplier of Froggy School shoes.  Contact details:  +27 83 631 7683 or tania@sportstudio.co.za

Emergency Contact Details

We would like to remind you that it is imperative for us to be able to contact you or a member of your family or a close friend in the case of an emergency. Kindly visit the Edana App and check the contact details in the fields provided. To ensure that the information is complete and correct, it is vital that the contact numbers are accessible at all times by the College.  

This is a very important request, and we are asking you to comply immediately as a safety precaution.  

Please select your profile, then "Contact Information"  update, and "Emergency Contacts" and update accordingly. Please click on the link for step by step guidance.

Communication & Information

Please use secondary@parklands.co.za if you are unsure about who to contact.  Your mail will be directed to the correct person.

Please click on the tabs at the top of the Memo to access useful information:  Calendars, Academic info and Assessment Calendars, Uniform requirements and Operational Information (including Parent&Learner Directory, EDANA app instructions and KARRI app guidelines for use at Kauai)

We have updated the Parent & Learner Directory on 7 August 2025 with a revised Learner Attendance Policy.

We will be sharing snippets from our Directory with learners in the daily notes, and those same snippets will be included in the weekly memo to parents under Operational Info.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

SPORT

Please subscribe to the Secondary Sport Calendar to view matches for next week.

There will not be training on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons due to the Awards events on Tuesday and the adjusted school schedule for the Valedictory Service on Wednesday.

Training times next week:

• Mon 13th October (afternoon): U19A cricket only 

• Tue 14th October (morning): U19 water polo (boys and girls) and 2nd team tennis

• Tue 14th October (afternoon): U19A cricket only

• Wed 15th October (morning): U13/14/16 girls’ water polo and 1st team tennis

• Wed 15th October (afternoon): No sport training. Some teams have matches.
  
  

Training for all teams will resume as normal from Thursday 16th October (morning and afternoon).

Sports Department Coordinators

For general enquiries about specific winter sports, contact:

• Athletics, Softball and First Aid mviljoen@parklands.co.za

• Cricket and tennis     dviljoen@parklands.co.za

• Aquatics (swimming and water polo) sbloem@parklands.co.za

• Head of Cricket ggilder@parklands.co.za

• Head of Sport dhunt@parklands.co.za 

2025 Sports Prefects

• Erin Langenhoven

• Nicole Apsey

• Nic Farquhar

2026 Sports Prefects

• Dominique Yuill

• Malik Bunting

• Matias Munsamy

Summer Sports Managers (educators)

Sport                           Contact email

• Athletics

Coach (sprint) cwessels@parklands.co.za

Coach (middle distance) dduffield@parklands.co.za / erandewijk@parklands.co.za

• Cricket

U13 fhuman@parklands.co.za

U14 arossouw@parklands.co.za

U15 lmakhohlisa@parklands.co.za

2nd XI rhorsley@parklands.co.za

1st XI     cfortuin@parklands.co.za

• Softball

U13 ahayward@parklands.co.za

U15A/B pbates@parklands.co.za

2nd cawessels@parklands.co.za

1st       rpillay@parklands.co.za

• Swimming

GET&FET rismail@parklands.co.za

GET&FET kgoliath@parklands.co.za

• Tennis

1st Girls and/or Boys lbaker@parklands.co.za

2nd Girls sdube@parklands.co.za

2nd Boys rnieuwenhoudt@parklands.co.za

• Water polo

U13 & u14 Boys mengelbrecht@parklands.co.za

U13 & u14 Girls kfalake@parklands.co.za

U16 Boys         rviljoen@parklands.co.za

U16 Girls pbara@parklands.co.za

U19 Boys csteinmann@parklands.co.za

U19 Girls cconradie@parklands.co.za

Summer Sports Captains 

Summer Sport Programme (Q4: 14th October - 7 November)

Sport Calendar

Please remember to subscribe to our Secondary sports calendar using this link:  Secondary sports calendar 

CONCLUSION