WESTERN PROVINCE PREPARATORY

SCHOOL

Newsletter 28 October 2016

“Awakening Possibility”

celebrating life and learning

From the Headmaster’s Desk

During our assembly on Monday, four boys from Grades 6 & 7 presented their speeches to the school. The speeches by John Smith, James Griffiths, Robbie Dow and Connor Todd were all excellent. They all spoke with such conviction and confidence. Having heard these outstanding speeches, I thought it would be wonderful to share one of them with you. James Griffiths spoke about the state of the environment and he said the following:

‘Zap It in The Recycling Can’

“There will be more waste plastic in the sea than fish by 2050 unless industry cleans up its act.” The earth desperately needs our help with recycling, as the amount of waste the Earth produces every year increases as the human population explosion contin-ues. It is every human being’s responsibility to be accountable for the management of the waste that they produce.

The ocean provides many of the basic elements of life. It produces half of the oxygen we breathe, and it is an essential part of the water cycle, helping to provide the water we drink. Our beaches support ocean health. They provide homes and nesting grounds for ocean wildlife, like sea turtles and seabirds. They attract holi-day makers from around the world who come to spend their holi-day money, helping to sustain coastal economies. Whether we live on a beach or hundreds of kilometres from the coast, we all have a massive stake in an ocean that is healthy and full of life. An enormous amount of waste plastic and toxins floating in our oceans breaks down into tiny particles which are camouflaged in the water, waiting for ocean animals to consume it in their food. Those animals that don’t get sick and die, are caught by fisherman and land up on our plates. Just how comfortable are you knowing that your tasty hake dinner is carrying invisible toxins such as mercury and plastic micro-beads.

Why are our precious oceans becoming more and more polluted with plastic? My dad and I had this debate and we came to the conclusion that many people of my dad’s generation were not taught about recycling. It was drummed into them that as long as you “Zap It in a Zibi Can” then your responsibility for waste was over and the problem becomes someone else’s. No further thought was given to re-using anything and no thought to where everything ends up. It is my dad’s generation that is now the cap-tains of industry, driving big business which creates big waste; their guiding principle being the “Zibi Ostrich Philosophy”.

Although we are only 12 and 13, it is time for our generation to be heard so that these ideas can evolve. If everyone contributes and takes recycling seriously, we could live in a world today that we can guarantee will be clean tomorrow, and children could start to have a positive outlook on the world of the future. We are chil-dren of this world and our parents and their generation listen passionately to what children have to say.

With this advantage, our generation has the power to make a difference to how humanity respects our world. How difficult could it be for our parents to make one lifestyle change if we are showing them what needs to be done?

Convince them to think twice before they throw that plastic juice bottle into the dust-bin. But act quickly, because the vast quanti-ties of plastic waste produced and dumped into our beautiful oceans increases every year, and soon it might be too late to reverse the damage. STAFF NEWS

These moves are designed to bring optimum benefit to all our boys. SIMON WEAVER

We are delighted to inform you that Wendy Roebeck has been appointed as Head of Pre-Primary from the be-ginning of 2017.

Tamryn Saunders, who is currently working in the Academic Support Department, will be taking over from Ingrid Pitt in Grade 3. She will be join-ing Lara Heyn as a Grade 3 teacher.

Alexa Todd-Mason will be moving into Grade 5 as a class teacher.

Andrew Hughes will be moving to teach Maths in Grades 6 & 7.

Joscelyn Davie will move up to teach English in Grades 6 & 7.

celebrating life and learning

In This Issue

From the Headmaster’s Desk

And the Wetpups Academy Award goes to...

Christmas Market Thank You

WPPS Golf Day

Weekly Riddle

Remembrance Day Invite

Chaplain’s Corner

Eden Road Notes

Grades 1 & 2 Music Concerts

First Reconciliation

Grade R World of Birds Outing

Grade 1 St James Outing

Thought for the Week

The Golf Day and Fundraising Committee have put together an exciting day of golf and fun on 4 November 2016 at Royal Cape Golf Club. We would like to welcome as many as possible to come and join in the festivities.

Please see the line-up of auction items on offer this year:

Zuka House (Phinda Game Reserve) for a five-night stay including accommodation, all meals, house wines, spirits and refreshments and two game-drives per day for eight people.

Two nights at Tierhoek wine farm, Piekenierskloof for two people.

Rovos Rail two night/three day trip on the Old Pioneering Trail for two people.

One hour Cricket team training session by Jacques Kallis.

Day trip for eight people on the Aqua Princess.

Paired lunch for four at La Residence, V&A Waterfront, with return helicopter transfer.

Hilary Hefer Cheffing services for eight people.

Headmaster’s parking bay for a full year.

There will be exciting events on a number of holes, courtesy of our sponsors. This includes a putting competition courtesy of Thule, a Hole-in-One competition on the 15th Hole to the value of R100 000, courtesy of Citadel, and various nearest the pin competitions including one sponsored by Enel Renewable Energy.

As always, we also have superb raffle prizes available, but only if you buy a ticket! One of them being a Kirsten Goss 18kt Yellow Gold Ver-meil Cuff. Tickets will be on sale at registration and after the golf ahead of Prize Giving.

Prizes for outstanding golf performances go all the way to the top ten four-balls. Prizes include, among other things, Footjoy Golf Shoes, Thule Blur backpacks, Melissa’s Hampers and Under Armour Hampers. So don’t delay, we have only two four-balls still available. Ladies are most welcome to join in the festivities on the golf course, by participating, or afterwards for the auction and raffle.

We look forward to a successful and enjoyable day and would love you to join us and celebrate our school!

And the Wetpups Academy Award goes to...

The Grade 6s have just finished editing their short films which they started during ICT in the third term. The boys wrote their own script, created a storyboard and explored cinematography and sound effects. Their films were made using iPads on the iMovie application.

Benjamin Reid, Adam de Waal and Noah du Randt's film was unan-imously voted best film by their peers. Congratulations to them and all the Grade 6 boys for their efforts. We hope this project will inspire a new generation of Wetpups filmmakers! https://goo.gl/4z22rq

Thank You

Once again to our sponsors, Panarottis and Seeff Properties, and also to our wonderful parents for all their help and for the dona-tions of delicious tea garden goodies.

Weekly Riddle

A man was driving his truck. His lights were not on. The moon was not out. Up ahead, a woman was crossing the street. How did he see her?

From last week: The word Mississippi has four eyes, but can’t see.

celebrating life and learning

Chaplain’s Corner

A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

Proverbs 13:1

Parents’ Prayer Group – All welcome

Wednesdays from 08:00 – 08:30 in the WPPS Chapel. Send pray-er requests or get reminders to Kath Malan jkmalan@webafrica.org.za

Wednesday Chapel Services

All parents are invited to attend the Chapel service on Wednesdays in the Stansbury Hall at 07:40. Please join us.

Eden Road Notes

No cap / no outdoor activities. Please remember to apply sun-screen.

Boys are to remember to wear shoes before leaving the premises.

REMINDERS Mon 31 Oct Grade N to Butterfly World 08:30 – 12:30 Tues 1 Nov Grades 1 and 2 Music Concert 13:15 – 14:15 Fri 4 Nov Stump Cricket

Grades 1 & 2 Music Concert This concert will take place on Tuesday, 1 November in the FC Recital Room starting at 13:15 and it will last about an hour. The programme is on the school's website.

Please will you remind your son to practise his piece this weekend. Boys must bring their instruments to school on Monday for the rehearsal and on Tuesday for the concert. Parents are welcome to attend the concert.

First Reconciliation

Congratulations to our Grade 3s who made their First Reconcilia-tion on Wednesday morning. We are proud of you ,Alexander McIvor, William Reid, Christian Gloyne and Jonathan Clogg!

Thank you to Janine Oelz, their catechist, and Father Paul, for preparing the boys to receive this sacrament.

WW1 Trench Models: boards all shaped and prepped to look like trenches. This week they are painting and adding

props.

celebrating life and learning

Grade 1 St James Outing

Last week Friday, the Grade 1s took the train from Kenilworth to St James Station. Since we have been learning about whales at school, we had all hoped to spot one on the outing. Unfortunately there were none to be seen. The rain kept us huddled under the shelter at the train station for the first half an hour.

The boys had a snack while we waited for the rain to subside. Once the sun peeped through, we walked to the St James rock pools where the boys played for a while, finding shells, star fish, hermit crabs and other exciting things. We then walked to Muizenberg beach. The boys seemed to enjoy the roughly one-and-a-half kilometre walk and had friendly greetings for those who passed by. Some boys were delighted that they had spotted a seal in the distance. Once on Muizenberg beach, the boys had a fantastic time building sandcastles and digging very deep holes. When it was time to go home, we caught the train back from Muizenberg. Despite the weather, the boys had a fantastic time on the outing.

Grade R World of Birds Outing

To extend their theme of birds, Grade R visited the World of Birds. Spring is a great time for a visit, as they were able to see many species of birds and animals with their young. The highlight was seeing the baby marmoset and baby lemur, as well as the serval kitten.

Thought for the Week

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882)