Victoria Primary School – A primary school for girls in Grahamstown/Makhanda

VP Newsletter 10 April 2026

10th Apr 2026 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

Welcome back to the start of our second term. This promises to be a jam-packed term with many winter sports fixtures. It is also an exam term for our Grade 4-7 girls and with only six weeks before the examinations start it is never too late to do a little bit every day so that there isn’t panic and excessive late nights during exam time. If your daughter is struggling in Mathematics or English, please ensure that she attends the intervention sessions this term that are there to assist her. Maths, in particular, has to be practised to be understood and internalised and every learner will benefit from spending a small portion of their afternoon practising the work that they have covered this year. It will also give them a chance to ask their teacher for help or clarity before the exams begin. Your daughter will also benefit from starting to write her study notes and mind maps to help summarize her work before exams. A little bit each day will contribute to your daughter’s success and ease the anxiety that comes with exam time.

“Take small steps everyday and one day you will get there” – unknown.

Worker of the Week

We have started the term off with a bang with many girls already receiving a Principal’s Sticker for their good work. Well done to Haset Sintayehu for her beautiful work in Life Skills. Keep it up, Haset.

Merit Achievers

The following girls have received over 250 merits so far this year: Caitlyn Bodill, Amyoli Loli and Mbalentle Dyaloyi. Keep it up, girls!

Congratulations

Well done to Leah Fox who participated in the 2026 DHL Lifesaving Championships during the holidays. Leah was ranked 9th for both individuals, and 6th for the relay. She participated in the relays as an U10. Well done, Leah. We are super proud of you.

Grade 00-3 Open music lessons

The Victoria Primary Music School would like to invite you to our annual Foundation Phase open music class taking place on Tuesday, 14 April. This is an opportunity for parents and guardians to come and watch what takes place during a class music lesson, and see what their enthusiastic girls have been learning in music.

The open class will take place in the school hall; each session will be half an hour, 5 minutes for arrival and seating, a 20-minute music lesson, and another 5 minutes for parents to lead out before the next class begins their lesson. The only exception is the Grade 3s which will have their open lesson as a combined group, as we will begin our 10:00 session with the Grade 3 choir.

The timetable for the day will be as follows:

Gr 1 Mrs Orsmond 08:00-08:30

Gr 1 Ms Casling 08:30-09:00

Gr R Teacher Kerry 09:00-09:30

Gr R Teacher Sam 09:30-10:00

Gr 3 Mrs Dewey & Mrs Mgogo 10:00-10:30

BREAK

Gr 2 Ms Christian 11:00-11:30

Gr 2 Mrs Olivier 11:30-12:00

Gr 00 Teacher Lee 12:00-12:30

Please join us for a wonderful morning of music and to see your daughter’s musical development in action!

U10 hockey Clinic

Netball vs Kenton-on-Sea

On Saturday, 18 April our U9A, U10A, U11 and U13 netball teams will play Kenton Primary in Kenton-on-Sea. Girls participating have received letters. We wish them all the best!

District Chess Trial

Girls from U10–U20 are reminded to enter the upcoming district chess trials hosted by the Sarah Baartman Chess Association.

The event will take place on Saturday, 18 April in Makhanda. Entries close on Wednesday, 15 April.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to improve your ranking and gain valuable experience—enter now!

VP’s Got Talent

Entries are now open! A fee of R10 per person per act is required and must be submitted together with your application form. Forms can be collected from the office, Ms Knott-Craig or Dr Wynne, and all completed entries must be handed in to Ms Knott-Craig by Friday, 22 May.

Each act should be between 1–2 minutes long. Auditions will take place during the week of 1–4 June from 13:00–14:00, with specific time slots allocated. All artworks must be submitted by the 8 June and will be entered in and displayed at the final show. The final show will be held on 18 June at 17:30.

Grade 4 ‘How to learn’ talk

Please note that the Grade 4 talk scheduled to take place on the 13 April will be postponed to later date that is still to be confirmed

VPV

We will be having our next VPV meeting on Wednesday, 15 April at 17:15 in the school hall. Hope to see you there.

Easter Raffle

We are delighted to announce that the VPV raised R29490 from our Easter Raffle. Thank you to everyone for their support.

Extramurals

Please note that the winter extramural programme will begin on Monday, 13 April. Please ensure that your daughter has all the equipment needed to do her chosen sport/s. Girls may do both netball and hockey up until U11. From U12 she has to choose to do either hockey or netball. It is compulsory for every child to do at least one winter sport.

Please note these changes to the extramural programme:

Art club will be on Monday 14:30-15:30
No extramurals for Grade 4-7 on Thursday, 16 April as teachers will attend District Moderation. Choir and Library will continue as usual.

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to the following girls who celebrated this week: Lulo Kota, Carla Frazer, Phumelela Macetyana, Alexis Killian, Emily Floris, Lidwala Matamo, Zizo Ngqoyiya, Ivakele Duba, Sivuze Xamleko, Sahlulo Kutase, Zenazi Gqeke and Uyathandwa Macanda. We hope you had a very special birthday!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Dates to remember
Friday 10/04	· Grade 7 Committee meetings 13:00-13:30
Saturday 11/04	· U10 Hockey Clinic 09:00-12:00
Monday 13/04	· Applications for 2027 open
Tuesday 14/04	· FP Open Music Class
Wednesday 15/04	· PTA meeting @17:15
Thursday 16/04	· District moderation – Grade 4-7 extramurals cancelled as teachers will attend. Choir and Library will continue.
Saturday 18 /04	· Netball vs Kenton @Kenton · Sarah Baartman netball trials in Somerset East · Makana Chess trials in Makhanda

VP Newsletter 20 March 2026

20th Mar 2026 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

Although I may be pre-empting my thanks for the Alice in Wonderland that, while I am writing this, has yet to be performed, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the dedicated teachers and girls (and their families) who have not had one Saturday off this term – preparing for this show. I am forever in awe of the commitment and lengths our staff go to, to give our girls the opportunity to be involved in something quite magical. I know that they are all exhausted, cast and staff alike, but I am certain that the ‘high’ and pride that they will get from next week’s shows will make it all worth it.

I encourage you to buy a ticket to see the show, even if your daughter is not in the production, as it will no doubt be an incredible night out with your family. The tickets are selling quickly, to avoid disappointment, don’t delay in purchasing one!

Alice Tuckshop

Our newly established VPV is also enthusiastically preparing an exciting tuckshop for the productions. To reduce costs, we are asking for donations of the following items.

flour; eggs; baking powder; boxes of ground cinnamon; loaves of bread; Apricot jam; Brown paper bags for popcorn; Oil; White vinegar; Sugar; Salt; Popcorn Kernels.

These can be dropped off at the school office.

The VPV will be selling snack platters each night that can be pre- ordered at R35 each and consist of the following:

X2 cocktail pies; X1 vetkoek; X1 pancake; X1 cheese griller; X2 triangle sandwiches with jam and cheese

Your daughter will receive an order form for you to complete and return to school by Monday, 23 March if you would like to order platters.

Alice in Wonderland ticket sales

Tickets for Alice in Wonderland are currently on sale from the school office at a cost of R50. The shows will be as follows:

24 March 18:00

25 March 18:00

26 March 18:00

Don’t leave it too late as no tickets will be sold at the door

Worker of the Week

Congratulations to Tessanne Arries who is our Worker of the Week this week for her beautiful work on ecosystems in Natural Sciences.

Merit achievers

Chloe Jeggels, Halle Orsmond, Ababalwe Ngwethsheni, Makatendeka Chakona and Maham Rizvi have received over 250 merits so far this year. Well done!

Assembly

On Monday, 23 March we will have our Induction Assembly and our Committee Heads, Deputy Head Girl and Head Girl for 2026 will be announced. Parents are welcome.

Easter Egg Raffle

We hope that tickets sales for our Easter raffle are going well. We are grateful for all the donations of Easter Eggs that have come in already – Monday will be the last day to make your contribution to the hampers for our winners! Please send your raffle sheets and payment in to school on Monday, 23 March as we will be doing the draw for the winners on Wednesday, 25 March. A reminder that if a raffle sheet has been lost R50 will be payable.

Netball Trials

Congratulations to the following girls who made it to the next round of Trials. The girls will now represent Makana at the Sarah Baartman Trails in Somerset East on Saturday, 18 April

U12

– Lidwala Matamo

– Zenkosi Mati

U13

– Uncumolwam Mqomboti

– Silubonile Royi

We are proud of you!

Splash and Interhouse Gala results

Well done to all the girls who swam in the Splash and Interhouse Gala! We had lots of fun and summery weather. The final results are as follows:

1st Disa

2nd Fern

3rd Arum

4th Aloe

Victrix Ludorums:

U9: Nima Ntsepo

U10: Teia van Rooyen

U11: Chanelle Musarurwa

U12: Isla Orsmond

Open: Anathi Mbandlakazi

Most Improved swimmers:

Gold: Andisiwe Mraji

Pink: Nakhane Klei

Purple: Kendra Chrisjan

Yellow: Lunathi Makasi

Orange: Gabriella Cervati

Feeder: Emihle Kulati

Team: (Van Onselen Trophy for the Most Improved Swimmer) Cayden Strauss

Grade 1-3 Open Music Lessons

Please note that due to the production next week and the set-up in the hall, we will postpone the Music Open Lessons for the Pre-Primary and Foundation Phase until next term on Tueday, 14 April. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Progress Concert

All our beginners and Initial-level musicians will perform at the annual Progress Concert, which will take place in the hall on Thursday, 26 March at 14:15. Parents are welcome to attend in support of our budding performers.

Conquesta

Should you wish for your child to participate in Conquesta 2026, entry forms are available from Mrs Sauls. Conquesta is only open to Grades 4-7. Please complete the entry form and return it to school in an envelope, marked conquesta with the exact amount for entry fee and your child’s name and class. Closing date for entries is 25 March.

Natural Sciences Olympiad (Grades 4–7)

Girls in Grades 4 to 7 are invited to take part in the NRF SAASTA Natural Sciences Olympiad. This is a great opportunity for learners who enjoy science to challenge themselves, develop problem-solving skills, and test their knowledge. Dates (during school hours):

29 July – Grades 4–6
30 July – Grade 7

Entry forms are available from Ms Miskin.

Please return the completed form with the R35 entry fee by Friday, 26 March.

Reports

Hard copies of reports will be handed out to the girls on the last day of school before they leave at 10:30. NO reports will be handed out before this time. Please do not inundate the office for earlier requests. However, we will now also be sending out digital copies of reports via email. If you have changed your email address recently, please ensure you inform the school office to ensure that you receive your daughter’s report via email.

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to the following girls who celebrated this week: Buhle Phongolo, Tehillah Dingani, Avethandwa Wana, Luminathi Mofu, Iyana Zono, Silindokuhle Demele, Elihle Velem, Bella Bonsor, Luhle Songongo and Emily Smith. We hope you had a very special birthday!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Dates to remember
Fri. 20 March	· Alice in Wonderland Production Camp 14:00-19:00. · Grade 7 Committee meeting 13:00-13:30.
Sat. 21 March	· Human Rights Day. · Alice in Wonderland rehearsal 09:00-13:00
Mon. 23 March	· Induction Assembly @10:00. · Return Easter raffle sheets and payment.
Tues. 24 March	· Alice in Wonderland production – please be seated by 18:00
Wed. 25 March	· Easter Raffle draw. · Alice in Wonderland production – please be seated by 18:00
Thurs. 26 March	· Beginners & Initial-level musicians Progress Concert @14:15. · Alice in Wonderland production – please be seated by 18:00
Fri. 27 March	· Top 10 Academic Assembly @08:30. Parents welcome. · School closes at 10:30. Hostel closes at 12:30. No Aftercare.

9th Mar 2026 Ilza Lang No Comments

Newsletter 6 March 2026

Message from the office

At lines this week the teachers have been talking to the girls about having strong minds which is part of our motto this year. Developing a strong mind is something that we can nurture and develop in our girls. Although the concept of a strong mind can encapsulate many concepts such a growth mindset, positivity, resilience and a positive self-esteem amongst others, it is about skilling our daughters to not only face what life throws at us, but the ability to thrive through it all.

Here are 10 ways you can set your daughter up to feel capable, brave and have the courage to overcome any obstacles. (https://childmind.org/article/12-tips-raising-confident-kids/)

Model confidence yourself

Even if you’re not quite feeling it! Seeing you tackle new tasks with optimism and lots of preparation sets a good example for your daughters.

Don’t get upset about mistakes

Help our girls to see that everyone makes mistakes and the important thing is to learn from them, not dwell on them.

Encourage them to try new things

Attaining new skills makes one feel capable and confident that they can tackle whatever comes their way. Helping her to discover her own interests can develop a sense of identity, which is essential to building confidence.

Allow your daughter to fail

It’s natural to want to protect your child from failure, but trial and error is how children learn, and falling short on a goal helps them to find out that it’s not fatal.

Praise perseverance

Confidence and self-esteem are not about succeeding at everything all the time, they’re about being resilient enough to keep trying, and not being distressed if you’re not the best.

Set goals

Help your child turn desires and dreams into actionable goals by encouraging them to make a list of things they’d like to accomplish. Then, practice breaking down longer-term goals into realistic benchmarks.

Celebrate effort

Praising your daughter for her accomplishments is great, but it’s also important to let her know you’re proud of her efforts regardless of the outcome.

Expect her to pitch in

They might complain, but children feel more connected and valued when they’re counted on to do age-appropriate jobs, from picking up toys to doing dishes.

Embrace imperfection

It is important for our girls to get the message that perfection is unrealistic, remind them that being less than perfect is human and totally okay.

Show your love

Let your children know you love them no matter what. Making sure a child knows that you think they’re great – and not just when they do great things – will bolster their self-worth even when they’re not feeling good about themselves.

Worker of the Week

Well done to Amy Mlambo who is WOW this week for her excellent work in Natural Sciences. Keep up the good work!

Easter Egg Raffle

We hope that tickets sales for our Easter raffle are going well. We are grateful for all the donations of Easter Eggs that have come in already – please continue to donate.

Assembly

On Monday, 9 March Grade 5M will present the assembly. Parents are welcome to attend. Assembly starts at 10:15

Extramural information

Please note that due to a Staff Development meeting there will be no extramurals for Grade 4-7 on Wednesday, 11 March.

Colour Splash Gala

Our Colour Splash Gala will be held on Thursday, 12 March from 14:00 -15:30. Please note that it is compulsory for all girls in Grade 4 – 7 to attend the entire duration of the gala. All other extramurals are cancelled. FP Sport will continue as usual.

Parents are welcome to attend and must please enter through the Beaufort Street gate. All girls can be collected from the Beaufort Street office gate at 15:30.

Grade 4-7 girls are required to come to school dressed in their house shirts, black shorts and takkies or VP flip flops for the day. They will change into their costumes at second break. Swimming caps and towels are essential for girls participating in the gala, please also ensure that your daughter has a black speedo costume, which is the correct size and that the material is not perished.

Interhouse Gala

Our Interhouse Gala will be held on Friday, 13 March from 13:00 -15:30

Please note that it is be compulsory for all girls in Grade 3 – 7 to attend the entire duration of the gala. All other extramurals are cancelled.

Gr 1-2s must be collected from the Huntley Street gate at 13:00. Parents are welcome to attend the gala and must please enter through the Beaufort Street gate.

All Grade 3-7 girls are required to come to school dressed in their house shirts, black shorts and takkies or VP flip flops for the day. Swimming caps and towels are

essential for girls participating in the gala, please also ensure that she has a black speedo costume (if not a team swimmer) which is the correct size and that the material is not perished. The VPV will be running a tuckshop at the gala.

Please note that only selected swimmers will swim in the Interhouse gala.

Interdistricts Gala

Selected girls swam in the Interdistricts gala on Thursday, representing the Sarah Baartman District. They all achieved a top three result! Isla Orsmond came first in breaststroke, Rose Jordaan came first in breaststroke and Naima Ntsepo came second in freestyle and third in breastroke. Well done!

Netball

Today & Saturday, 6&7 March the U13B netball team will take part in the Frans Erasmus Netball Festival at PJ Olivier. The fixtures are below.

FRIDAY (Court A)

13:50 – VP vs George Dickerson

15:10 – VP vs Good Shepherd

SATURDAY (Court A)

8:00 – VP vs PJ

9:20 – VP vs Grahamstown Primary

13:40 – VP vs Kenton-On-Sea

14:20 – Oatlands

Good luck, girls!

U12 & U13 Makana Netball trials Congratulations to the U12 and U13 girls who have been selected to represent VP at the Makana Netball Trials.

U12

Lidwala Matamo

Riekie Mabaso

Zenkosi Mati

Kungazo Mathanga

U13

Siphesihle Chrisjan

Angawo Zono

Silubonile Royi

Uncumolwam Mqombothi

Oyintando Nkatazo

The U13 trials will take place on Tuesday, 10 March at VGHS from 14h30 and the U12 trials on Wednesday, 11 March at PJ Olivier from 14h30. Good luck, girls!

Lorraine Hockey/Netball Festival

We would like to wish the U13A hockey and netball teams good luck as they participate in the Lorraine Winter Sports Festival, today and tomorrow. Travel safely and play well, girls.

FP Open Swimming Lesson

Foundation Phase parents are invited to join us to see what the girls are learning at swimming and marvel at how much progress they have made!

Grade 3: Monday, 9 March @13:00.

Grade 2: Tuesday, 10 March at 13:00.

Grade 1: Wednesday, 11 March at 13:00

Please enter through the Beaufort Street office entrance.

Mini Maestros

Please note that the deadline for entries and payment is Friday, 13 March.

Rehearsals: Please note important dates for our production of Alice in Wonderland.

7 March (Scene 1-10) 09:00-13:00

14 March – Full Dress Rehearsal 09:00-13:00

20 March (Morning – Cushion Show)

21 March Rehearsal TBC

24 March (School’s Cushion show)

24 March (Evening show) 18:00

25 March (Evening show) 18:00

26 March (Evening show) 18:00

Alice in Wonderland ticket sales

Please note that ticket sales for Alice in Wonderland will go on sale from next week Friday, 13 March from the school office.

Donation

We are requesting donations of empty, clean tins for our Grade 00s.

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to the following staff member and girls who celebrated this week: Mrs Tata, Olumiyo Koliti, Halle Orsmond, Anna Malamis Michaela Swanepoel, Kefilwe Racoco, Mvelo-Entle Ntlanjeni, Ubulumko Dunywa, Lilitha Kulati, Sinqobile Mbeyane, Ndalo Mvula, and Ziviwe Mteto.

We hope you had a very special birthday!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Dates to remember
Fri. 6 March	· Lorraine Primary U13A Netball & Hockey Tournament @Gqeberha · Frans Erasmus U13B Netball team participate in Frans Erasmus tournament @PJ
Sat. 7 March	· Alice in Wonderland rehearsal (Scene 1-10) 09:00-13:00 · Lorraine Tournament @Lorraine Primary, Gqeberha · Frans Erasmus Tournament @PJ
Mon. 9 March	· Grade 5M assembly @10:15. · Grade 3 Open swimming lesson @13:00
Tues. 10 March	· Grade 2 Open swimming lesson @13:00 · U13 Makana netball trials, VGHS @14:00
Wed. 11 March	· Grade 1 Open swimming lesson @13:00 · U12 Makana netball trials, PJ @13:30 · Grade 4-7: NO EXTRAMURALS
Thurs. 12 March	· Colour Splash Gala @14:00-15:30 Compulsory for Grade 4-7. No other extramurals for Gr 4-7.
Fri. 13 March	· Interhouse Gala @13:00-15:30. Compulsory for all Gr 3-7s. No other extramurals.
Sat. 14 March	· 14 March – Full Dress Rehearsal 09:00-13:00

VP Newsletter 27 February 2026

27th Feb 2026 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

Today we celebrated our 76th Founders’ Day and we were delighted to have Sisipho Macingwane as our guest Speaker. Sisipho came to VP in Grade 4 in 2008, went to VGHS and is now a Quantity Surveyor in Pretoria. She is currently pursuing her masters in Project Management. She is also a talented sportswoman having trained with Caster Semenye doing 100 and 200 m sprints and long jump. I also remember her as a very talented hockey player. We are always so delighted to see our girls doing so well and it was especially wonderful to not only see her thrive professionally but to note her kind and giving heart which was something I remember fondly when she was in Grade 4. Thank you, Sisipho, for joining us today as our special guest. We also thank all our families and friends who joined us for our assembly.

We are very proud to introduce our new branding for Victoria Primary School which was used for our Founders’ Day Assembly programme for the first time and you are able to view it on our newsletter. We decided it is time for a new fresh look and we are super excited about our new website which is in the process of being developed. Watch this space!

Personality of the Week

Well done to our POW this week; to Chloe Jeggels for Perseverance and Shameega Kholisa for Compassion and Thoughtfulness. We are proud of you both.

Worker of the Week

Congratulations to Lilitha Kulati who is our WOW for her neat handwriting. Keep it up, Lilitha.

Easter Egg Raffle

As a VPV fundraiser, every child will receive an Easter Raffle sheet to sell at R5 a ticket. Please sell the sheet and return the money to your daughter’s class teacher. You are most welcome to sell more than one sheet! Please note that if your daughter loses her sheet, you will have to pay in the R50.

The raffle prizes will be Easter Egg hampers. These hampers are made up from Easter Eggs which are donated by VP families. Please give generously so that our winners can have a very chocolaty Easter!

Assembly

On Monday, 2 March Grade 6P will present the assembly. Parents are welcome to attend. Assembly starts at 10:15

Request for Donations

We are asking for donations of newspapers, pringle tubes (long ones) and Checkers/Pick ‘n Pay brown bags please! We will be using these materials to make props for Alice in Wonderland.

Interdistricts gala

Well done to Rose Jordaan, Naima Ntsepo and Isla Orsmond for making the Sarah Baartman Swimming Team. They will be competing next Thursday at the Interdistrict Gala in East London.

Travel safely and swim well, girls!

Netball

On Friday & Saturday, 6&7 March the U13B netball team will take part in the Frans Erasmus Netball Festival at PJ Olivier. The fixtures are below. Girls involved have received letters.

FRIDAY (Court A)

13:50 – VP vs George Dickerson

15:10 – VP vs Good Shepherd

SATURDAY (Court A)

8:00 – VP vs PJ

9:20 – VP vs Grahamstown Primary

13:40 – VP vs Kenton On Sea

14:20 – Oatlands

Lorraine Hockey/Netball Festival

We would like to wish the U13A hockey and netball teams good luck as they will be participating in the annual Lorraine Winter Sports Festival. Girls will leave on Friday, 6 March and return to Makhanda on Saturday, 7 March. Travel safely and good luck, girls.

Balmoral Girls Primary

On Thursday, 5 March the U13A hockey and netball girls will be playing a friendly match versus Balmoral Girls Primary School in preparation for the Lorraine Winter Sports festival. The hockey and netball games will be at VP and start at 14h10.

Tennis

Our VP tennis teams played against Port Alfred on Thursday, 26 February. They had an exciting afternoon of competitive tennis. The Senior First Team delivered a great performance, convincingly winning 47–16 games. Their focus, teamwork, and consistency on court were outstanding. The junior team also rose to the occasion, securing a well-earned 35–30 game victory in a closely contested match. It was a fantastic day filled with great sportsmanship, determination, and team spirit. Congratulations to all our players, we are incredibly proud of you!

Puppet Show

On Thursday morning the Pre-Primary and Foundation Phase will be enjoying a Puppet Works Production called Dare to be Different! Thank you to Heather and her team for visiting us!

Music

Assessments

Music pupils are reminded that they will play their Term 1 assessments next week.

Marimba

Please note that all marimba band members are required to send the marimba levy (R50) to Dr. Wynne by Friday next week, if they wish to continue playing.

Mini maestros

Letters regarding this music competition were sent home yesterday. Please note that the closing date for entries is Friday, 13 March.

Rehearsals: Please note important dates for our production of Alice in Wonderland.

28 February (Scene 1-10) 09:00-13:00

7 March (Scene 1-10) 09:00-13:00

14 March – Full Dress Rehearsal 09:00-13:00

20 March (Morning – Cushion Show)

21 March Rehearsal TBC

24 March (School’s Cushion show)

24 March (Evening show) 18:00

25 March (Evening show) 18:00

26 March (Evening show) 18:00

For Sale

Limited stock of our Memory books are available from the office for R150. These books have a page for each year of school with blank pages and slots to include achievements and memories from the year. Great for children and parents to complete together and keep forever!

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to the following staff member and girls who celebrated this week: Ms Quza, Mrs Sopangiso, Ayomide Booi, Elizabeth Egunlusi, Khumoitsile Moleko, Taylynne Thomas, Mivuyo Nongxaza, Azoma Magopeni, Tasmine Thomas and Caryne Grobler.

We hope you had a very special birthday!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Dates to remember
Saturday, 28 February	Alice in Wonderland rehearsal (Scene 1-5) 09:00 -13:00 B-League gala in Gqeberha.
Monday, 2 March	Grade 6P assembly @10:15
Thursday, 5 March	Interdistricts Gala, East London U13A netball & hockey vs Balmoral @VP 14:10 Puppet Show for Pre-Primary & Foundation Phase
Friday, 6 March	Lorraine Primary U13A Netball & Hockey Tournament @Gqeberha Frans Erasmus U13B Netball team participate in Frans Erasmus tournament @PJ
Saturday, 7 March	Alice in Wonderland rehearsal (Scene 1-10) 09:00-13:00 Lorraine Tournament @Gqeberha Frans Erasmus Tournament @PJ

VP Newsletter 20 February 2026

20th Feb 2026 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

One of the highlights of my day is when girls come to receive their Principal Stickers. Their unabashed curiosity of being in my office, the delightful questions they ask and the joy they show when they uncurl their sour worm out the bucket – really makes my day!

This poem sums up our delightful girls!

Why God Made Little Girls

(Henry Alfred Dixon)

God made the world with its towering trees,

Majestic mountains and restless seas.

Then stopped and said, “It needs one more thing,

Someone to laugh and dance and sing.

To walk in the woods and gather flowers,

To commune with nature in quiet hours.”

So God created little girls.

With laughing eyes and bouncing curls.

With joyful hearts and infectious smiles,

Enchanting ways and feminine wiles.

And when He’d completed the task He’d begun,

He was pleased and proud of the job He’d done.

For the world when seen through a little girl’s eyes,

Greatly resembles His own paradise.

Questionnaire

One of our key objectives this year is to strengthen our communication and connection with you, our parent community.

We would greatly appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to complete a short questionnaire consisting of only five questions. Your feedback will help us identify our strengths as well as areas where we can improve. The link to the questionnaire is as follows: https://forms.gle/jDEswCv9dr5Rna8w7

We will also be sharing the questionnaire link via the WhatsApp groups for you to complete.

Founders’ Day Assembly

On Friday, 27 February, we will be celebrating our Founders’ Day with an assembly at 08:30. Our guest speaker is a special old VP girl, Sisipho Macingwane, who is flying out from Johannesburg for the occasion. We would love for our VP parents and families, past and present, to join us. Please be seated in the gallery by 08:25.

All girls must be dressed in their full school uniform on Friday (Grade 4-7 girls in their blazers). If your daughter has a birthday on Friday she can either change after the assembly or she may wear her civvies on Thursday, 26 February or on Monday, 2 February.

Request for Donations

We are desperately needing donations of newspapers, pringle tubes (long ones) and Checkers/Pick ‘n Pay brown bags please! We will be using these materials to make props for Alice in Wonderland.

Worker of the Week

Well done to Iminathi Bawuti who is our WOW this week for her lovely work in isiXhosa!

Assembly

On Monday, 23 February Grade 6G will present the assembly. Parents are welcome to attend. Assembly starts at 10:15

Music

Music pupils will play their scales tests next week, and their Term 1 assessments the week after. Keep practising, girls.

Extramural update

Please note that on Thursday, 26 February swimming practice for the Pink and Purple teams is cancelled due to coaches attending District Moderation.

Athletics

A big congratulations to the following girls who took part in the Sarah Baartman Athletics Meet last week Friday; Kaya Jones, Amahle Mchunu, Nalu Mfiki, Etinosa Nini, Emihle Kulati, Akum Mxo and Siphesihle Chrisjan. They can be very proud of their performances! Well done!

Sarah Baartman District Trials

Well done to all the girls who swam at the Sarah Baartman trials at DSG on Tuesday. We are very proud of your effort! We await the results to hear who made the team.

Tennis

Well done to Halle Orsmond for participating in the Interdistricts Tennis Tournament. Well done Halle, we are so proud of you!
We wish our junior and senior girls’ tennis teams the very best for their matches this Thursday, 26 February, against Port Alfred. Play well girls and have fun!

EC Lifesaving Champs

Leah Fox participated in the EC Champs last weekend in Jeffrey’s Bay. She could not complete all her events because the conditions were dangerous but she tried her very best and did not give up. Well done, Leah, you make us very proud! Leah will be competing in the National Championship at the end of March and we wish her all the best.

U12 Netball Trials

Reminder that the U12 netball trials will be taking place on Monday and Wednesday next week from 15:15 to 16:00. Girls who are interested in playing netball, especially new girls who came to VP this year, must please attend.

Easter Egg Hamper – VPV Fundraiser

Our first fundraiser for this year will be a raffle for Easter Egg hampers. These hampers are made up from Easter Eggs which are donated by VP families. Please give generously so that our winners can have a very chocolaty Easter!

Rehearsals

Please note important dates for our production of Alice in Wonderland.

21 February (Scene 7-10) 09:00-12:00

28 February (Scene 1-10) 09:00-13:00

7 March (Scene 1-10) 09:00-13:00

14 March – Full Dress Rehearsal 09:00-13:00

20 March (Morning – Cushion Show)

21 March Rehearsal TBC

24 March (School’s Cushion show)

24 March (Evening show) 18:00

25 March (Evening show) 18:00

26 March (Evening show) 18:00

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to the following teachers and girls who celebrated this week:

Mrs T. Coetzee, Kazlin De Maar, Elamibhongo Sidima, Amahle Mchunu, Libhongo Mase, Lusenathi Ntoyanto, Megan van Staden, Olwenene Ndlole, Mivuyo Santi, Kaya Jones, Tori Coetzee, Kelsey Botha, Lumile Zani, Lunje Kota and Okuhle Smile.

We hope you had a very special birthday!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Dates to remember
Saturday, 21 February	Alice in Wonderland rehearsal (Scene 7-10) 09:00 -12:00
Sunday, 22 February	Boarders return from Leave Out
Monday, 23 February	Grade 6G assembly @10:15
Thursday, 26 February	Tennis vs PAHS. Jnr tennis team (U9, 10, 11) @PAHS Snr team (U12, 13) @VP
Friday, 27 February	Founders’ Assembly @08:30. Parents & past pupils welcome.
Saturday, 28 February	Alice in Wonderland rehearsal (Scene 1-5) 09:00 -13:00 B-League gala in Gqeberha.

The GC Makhanda Nite Race 2026

Somerset Field, Graeme College on Wednesday, 4 March 2026

Registration: 16:30 | Race Start: 17:30

Distance: 8km

Delicious food, ice-cold drinks and awesome prizes

Bring your friends, bring your family, and support their 1st XI Hockey team while enjoying a fantastic night out in Makhanda!

Tickets: R20 Scholars R30 Adults

Tickets are also available on Quicket.

VP Newsletter 13 February 2026

13th Feb 2026 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

A special thank you to all our parents who joined us at the Botanical Gardens last Friday, our ‘SIlent Bookclub’ was enjoyed by all! I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Valentine’s Day tomorrow. May your Saturday be filled with love and meaningful connections.

Always remember to show your precious daughters just how loved she is.

Adapted from: https://rainforestlearningcentre.ca/5-significant-ways-to-show-children-they-are-loved-and-why-its-important/

Children really need their ‘love tank’ filled – not just this Valentine’s Day but every day! They need to know, through actions and words, that they are loved (and thus safe, and secure). If they don’t get enough visible love, they suffer. Quite literally – it affects their mentality and behaviour.

So, how can we as parents show children they are loved? Here are five simple ways:

1) Ensure children get plenty of physical touch; kisses, hugs, back-rubs, hair strokes and hand holding are key to showing love.

2) Spend quality time with your daughters, giving them undivided attention, to show them you love them.

When we say “quality time,” we don’t mean watching T.V. together. This is also not about taking them somewhere so you can use your phone while they play with friends. It’s not taking them to the Pick ‘n Pay with you. The so-called, ‘must do’ errand is the child. It’s not the child plus something else.

We mean, really, take the time to interact with them. For hours. And regularly. In your schedule.

3) Tell children you love them.

Don’t assume that actions are enough. Sometimes, children need to be told they are loved.

4) Show appreciation for how they love you back, and for who they are.

Be sure that you thank them for the little things they do for you- their acts of love and thank them for simply being who they are – that they are unconditionally loved and accepted.

5) Performacts of service for your children, so that they know they are loved and that you care about what’s important to them.

This is simply put – “showing up.” It means that you make it to the play they spent weeks preparing for. You come to the hockey game and school events. You are there for them, during the events of life that are important to them. But it may also mean that you make them their favourite meal, ‘just because’. You teach them how to do things like ride a bike or bake a cake- those are the ‘big’ things in their life, even though they seem small to you. So, show them you care by doing those things with them.

Assembly

On Monday, 16 February Grade 7C will present our assembly. Parents are welcome to attend. Assembly starts at 10:15

Personality of the Week

Congratulations to our two girls who received their POW Certificates at Monday’s assembly; Simo Dyaloyi for Taking Initiative and for Helpfulness and to Unakho Maxhaulana for Honesty. Thank you for being an example to others, girls! We are also proud of Ms Makeba who also received a POW certificate for Courage. Thank you for setting such a courageous example for our girls, Ms Makeba!

Worker of the Week

Well done to Yusrah Suleman for her excellent work in Natural Sciences. Keep it up, Yusrah!

Swimming

Well done to all the girls who travelled to Gqeberha last Saturday to compete at the B-League gala. It was a long day and the girls swam beautifully.

Much fun was had at the Graeme Relay Gala on Tuesday, where all our swimmers showed dedication and resilience. We are so proud of all of you! A special mention must go to the U9 relay teams who won all their races, even beating some of the boys teams! You go girls!

Best of luck to the girls selected to participate in the Sarah Baartman Primary Schools’ Trials Gala next Tuesday at DSG. These girls have received a letter with more details.

Tennis request

We are reaching out to anyone who may have tennis racquets that they are able to donate to VP. We are specifically looking for bigger-sized racquets. Thank you in advance for your support.

Athletics

This week was our last week of athletics practice for our girls that have been qualifying after each round.

Today, 7 selected girls went off to Gqeberha to participate at the Sarah Baartman District trials! To Amahle and Kaya in Grade 4, Emihle, Nalu and Etinosa in Grade 6 and Siphesihle and Akum in Grade 7, you were in our thoughts all day! We can’t wait to hear your results. We know that you’ll carry our Victoria Primary School flag high! Safe travels back!

Easter Egg Hamper – VPV Fundraiser

Rehearsals

Please note the dates of the rehearsals for Alice in Wonderland, coming up in February:

14 February (Scene 5-8) 09:00-12:00
21 February (Scene 7-10) 09:00-12:00
28 February (Scene 1-5) 09:00-12:00

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to the following teachers and girls who celebrated this week: Mrs Mgogo, Ms Miskin, Tamera Ngwalase, Shameega Khohliso, Neo Molefe, Kazlin De Maar, Elamibhongo Sidima and Amahle Mchunu. We hope you had a very special birthday!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Dates to remember
Saturday, 14 February	Alice in Wonderland rehearsal (Scene 5-8) @09:00-12:00
Monday, 16 February	Grade 7C assembly @10:15
Tuesday, 17 February	Sarah Baartman District Gala
Friday, 20 February	Boarders’ Leave Out
Saturday, 21 February	Alice in Wonderland rehearsal (Scene 7-10) 09:00-12:00
Sunday, 22 February	Boarders’ return

VP Newsletter 6 February 2026

6th Feb 2026 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office
What a lovely week we have had celebrating the joy of reading and storytelling with our girls. The ‘my favourite book character’outifts were just delightful and I hope you have had a chance to view them on our closed Facebook page. I am looking forward to enjoying some quiet time reading with the VP community this afternoon in BOTS and we hope to see you there! Please don’t limit your family reading to this week only – make it a daily event when you share the joy of reading and books as a family (just before bedtime is the absolute best!) – these special times are what childhood dreams and happy memories are made of.

I would also like to share this note from the EC School managers group which links beautifully to our theme this year:

If you want to raise a strong child:
1. Don’t raise perfect children – raise honest, kind, and brave ones.
2. Listen to their small stories now, or they won’t share the big ones later.
3. Correct them gently, harsh words stay in their hearts longer than you think.
4. Teach them values, not pressure – grades fade, character stays.
5. Let them fail sometimes; confidence grows from ‘I survived that’.
6. Spend time, not money – memories matter more than things.
7. Appreciate their efforts, not just their results.
8. Be the parent they can come to, not the one they hide from.
9. Your child doesn’t need a perfect parent – just a present one.
10. One day they will grow up…but the way
you loved them will stay with them forever.

Reading in Unusual Places Competition
We were thrilled with the number of entries we received and the wonderfully creative photos sent in. It was an incredibly difficult decision to choose our winners as each entry was amazing in its own way. Congratulations to the following girls:
Tied for 3rd – Avethandwa Mxo and Kenzeigh Scear
2nd – Alexis Muller
1st – Nkwenkwezi Mtakati
A video of all our entries has been posted on the Facebook page.

Assembly
Grade 7V will be presenting their assembly on Monday. Parents are welcome to attend. The assembly will start at 10:15

SPCA Book sale
We were delighted with the wonderful collection of books that were on sale for our girls for very reasonable prices on Tuesday. The SPCA sent a letter of thanks for our support and they managed to raise R2647.00. I encourage you to visit the SPCA shop in High Street as they have a wonderful array of books to choose from for your girls.

Worker of the Week
Well done to Ezokuhle Kewuti for her lovely work in Natural Sciences. Keep it up

Uniform/ VP Flip Flops
Please note that girls may wear their VP flip flops with their sports clothes to school. FP have their designated sports clothes days and IP girls may only wear their sports clothes to school on the days that they have LSPE or LSPA on their timetable. When girls are in their school uniform they may wear their flip flops with their school uniform while on campus but they have to put their school shoes and socks on when they leave campus.

Valentine’s Day civvies
On Friday, 13 February we will have a Valentine’s Day themed civvies day (red, white and pink). The cost is R10. There will also be a tuckshop available.

Spur Voucher
Girls have all received a gift voucher which can be used at Spur restaurants.

Eye Screening
The team from Dr Davies’ Optometrists will be at VP on Monday and Tuesday doing the eye screenings.

Swimming
B-League Gala
On Saturday selected swimmers will take part in the B-League gala at the Newton Park swimming pool in Gqeberha. Good luck and travel safely!

Relay Gala
On Tuesday, 10 February our swimming team will participate in the GC Relay gala at 14:00. Girls participating in both galas have received letters. Swim well, girls!

Marimbas
We are very pleased with the level of interest in the marimbas. All the girls who have signed up will have auditions, which will take place next week during the marimba slots on the extramural timetable:
Monday 14:00-15:00 Grade 7
Tuesday 14:00-15:00 Grade 4
Wednesday 14:00-15:00 Grade 5
Thursday 14:00-15:00 Grade 6

Tennis request
We are reaching out to anyone who may have tennis racquets that they are able to donate to VP. We are specifically looking for bigger-sized racquets. Thank you in advance for your support.

Athletics
Our athletics team has had a busy week! On Wednesday, our field athletes took part in their first meet of the year which was held at PJ Olivier Hoerskool. We want to congratulate all of our girls who took part.
Special congratulations goes out to the following girls who placed first, second or third in their respective events:
U/10 Amahle Mchunu;
U/11 Mivuyo Santi;
U/12 Nalu Mfiki, Emihle Kulati and Etinosa Nini;
U/13 Lunje Manzana, Siphesihle Chrisjan and Chrissy Moriarty.
A select group of our track athletes participated in the Makhanda Finals today. We wish them a weekend of rest and await their results in anticipation!

Rehearsals
Please note the dates of the rehearsals for Alice in Wonderland coming up in February:
• 7 February (Scene 3-6) 09:00-12:00
• 14 February (Scene 5-8) 09:00-12:00
• 21 February (Scene 7-10) 09:00-12:00
• 28 February (Scene 1-5) 09:00-12:00

WhatsApp Broadcast Groups
Please let the office know (i.lang@victoriaprimary.co.za) or call 046 622 4850 or send a WhatsApp to 0834682706 if you are not receiving WhatsApp messages as yet and you requested to be added to the grade group.

Statements
Please note: Accounts for January 2026 were emailed out on Thursday. If you did not receive yours please send an email to Mrs Terblanche (t.terblanche@victoriaprimary.co.za)
to ensure you receive yours going forward.

VPV Meeting
We will be having a VPV meeting in the hall on Thursday, 12 February at 17:15 to discuss our fundraiser in more detail. Please join us if you are able!

Stockist
We have just been informed that one of our uniform stockists, Heinen Embroidery is closing down with immediate effect. Please note that Xtreme Embroidery and Birches still stock our clothing.

Birthday wishes
Happy birthday to the following girls who celebrated this week: Ngcwalisa Mbambo, Ncumolwam Mrwetyana, Hlumisa Piti, Nakhane Klei, Inam Toll, Zingce Pilisani, Onwaba Hoyi, Mizaan Marcus, Gabriella Cervati, Zizo Zomelele and Zenazi Mqoboli. We hope you had a very special birthday!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty
PRINCIPAL

Dates to remember
Saturday, 7 February: Alice in Wonderland rehearsal (Scene 3-6) @09:00-12:00 & B-League gala at the Newton Park pool in Gqeberha.

Monday, 9 February Gr 7V assembly @10:15. Parents welcome.

Tuesday, 10 February GC Relay Gala @14:00 & Pre-Primary workshop on Early Learning and Literacy @17:15-18:00

Wednesday, 11 February SGB meeting

Thursday, 12 February VPV meeting @17:15

Friday, 13 February Valentine’s Civvies Day (R10). Tuckshop available & Gr 7 Committee meetings 13:00-13:30

Saturday, 14 February Alice in Wonderland rehearsal (Scene 5-8) @09:00-12:00

VP Newsletter 30 January 202

30th Jan 2026 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

As we spend the week celebrating World Read Aloud Day, I’d like to encourage you to bring books to life in your homes too. Find the time to read to each other, to have a quiet time at home when everyone is enjoying a good book and nurture the love of books and reading in your homes. While you are doing that, here are some tips to use this week (and every day after that) to enhance the experience.

Reading at home will help your daughter build vocabulary and critical reading skills. Some ways you can help are: (https://www.mcbe.net/article/1513622)

Help Improve her Comprehension:

After reading a book with your child, ask her to tell you what the book was about. Being able to remember and restate important details of a story are key to reading comprehension.

Ask questions like:

What do you think will happen next?
What would you do?
How would you feel?
Why do you think the character did that?
How does the character feel in this picture?
What did you like about this book?

Mix it Up (but not too much):

Make reading fun by picking out new books at the library or book shop (or SPCA book sale), but don’t forget about your old books. While new books can be fun, rereading a favourite book can help children work on pronouncing words properly and reading in a smoother tone.

Help Decode Unknown Words:

Help your daughter decode unfamiliar words by sounding them out, and by using clues from other parts of the sentence or story. You may also help your child look up new words in a printed or online dictionary.

Some important things to consider:

*Children who were read to at least three times a week are twice as likely to score in the top 25% of reading scores.

*The number of books in the home correlates significantly with higher reading test scores.

*Children’s books contain 50% more rare words than you can get from TV.

Reading improves concentration, helps develop language skills, fosters curiosity about the world we live in, and helps your daughter do better in all subjects.

World Read Aloud Plans for next week

Date	Event	Details
Monday, 2 February	Assembly @ 09h50	Read Aloud Assembly with special guests Presentation of ‘Reading in unusual places’ entrants and announcement of the winners.
Tuesday, 3 February		SPCA Book sale from 10:45-14:30.
Wednesday, 4 February	Reading in pairs	Girls come dressed as their favourite book character and pay R10 which will go towards ‘Friends of Bots’(If possible bring the book to school and tell your class all about him/her). ALL grades
Wednesday, 4 February	Reading in pairs		Friday, 6 February	Silent reading Club – Grade 1-7 All families invited. BOTS 13:00-14:00	Girls come to school in their sports clothes Walk girls to BOTS at 12:50 and back again at 13:50. Girls to be fetched from school at 14:00.

Personality of the Week

Congratulations to Andisiwe Mraji for being the first POW this year for displaying Compassion to a fellow classmate. Thank you, Andi!

Worker of the Week

Well done to Maham Rizvi who is our WOW this week for her beautiful work in EMS.

Athletics

Congratulations to all of our girls who took part in their first Athletics meet for 2026. The event was held at Rhodes University and our girls competed against a number of different schools. A special congratulations to the following girls who placed first, second or third in their events:

U10 – Kaya Jones, Amahle Mchunu and Leah Flotman

U11 – Alunamida Jakavula

U12 – Akum Mxo, Siphe Lande, Nalu Mfiki and Nazley Gabriel

U/13 – Esona Makabe.

We await finalised results to see if any of the above learners have made it through to the second round of trials that will take place in Gqeberha.

Tennis

We wish Halle Orsmond all of the best for the Inter Districts Tennis Tournament on Tuesday, 3 February.

We are reaching out to anyone who may have tennis racquets that they are able to donate to VP. We are specifically looking for bigger-sized racquets. Thank you in advance for your support.

Lifesaving

Well done to Leah Fox in Grade 3 who successfully passed her Level 1 Lifesaving Test with Lifesaving South Africa. She will be competing in the EC Lifesaving Champs at Jeffrey’s Bay on 14 and 15 February and we wish her well. We are very proud of you, Leah!

Swimming

Our team swimmers had a fantastic first gala at Kingswood yesterday! They all swam exceptionally well and made us proud – well done!

Chess

We wish the following girls all the very best as they head into their first round of trials for 2026 tomorrow: Bridget Akpeng, Ella Radovic, Lusenathi Ntoyanto, Makatendeka Chakona, Bubele Mvula, Lunje Tshiki, Katherine Marais, Zaya Dembaza, Tehillah Dingani, and Teia van Rooyen.

They will be playing at PJ Olivier from 08h30 through to late afternoon. It’s a long, grueling, and mentally demanding day ahead may they stay focused, resilient, and confident as they give it their all.

Marimba

Our marimbas arrive today and we are so excited to start playing them. Marimba band rehearsals will commence soon and girls are requested to express their interest using the sign-up sheets that will be available next week.

Rehearsals

Please note the dates of the rehearsals for Alice in Wonderland coming up for January and February:

31 January (Scene 1-4) 09:00-12:00. Backstage crew & Gr 4, 6 & 7 dancers to attend from 09:00-11:00
7 February (Scene 3-6)
14 February (Scene 5-8)
21 February (Scene 7-10)
28 February (Scene 1-5)

HPV Vaccine

Grade 5 girls have all received forms from the Department of Health to complete. This is for consent for the girls to receive the first of two HPV vaccines. Please complete the form and send it back to school with your daughter. We will let parents know as soon as we have the date of the vaccination so that you can send her vaccine record book to school. The HPV vaccine is given to protect girls from cervical cancer.

Victoria Primary Facebook Page

Please note that the VP Facebook page is a closed group. This is to protect our girls’ identities, as many of the visuals shared include their faces and school activities. Parents are welcome to request to join the Facebook page in order to stay updated on activities and events.

Valentine’s fundraiser

Your daughter has received an order form for our Valentine’s fundraiser. We hope that you are able to support us and provide your daughter with a lovely little treat on Valentine’s Day!

VPV (Victoria Primary Village – PKA: PTA)

We were thrilled with the turnout and enthusiasm of parents and staff who arrived for our first VPV meeting on Tuesday.

We congratulate Ms Cloete who is our chairperson, Mrs Olivier our deputy chair and Mrs Marais our secretary. If you were unable to attend but would still like to join our village, please send your request and cell number to Ms Lang (admin@victoriaprimary.co.za) to join our Whatsapp group. We have some exciting ideas for fundraisers this year. If you do not wish to be part of our Whatsapp Group, please check our weekly newsletters for any upcoming events and help in any way you can, however big or small – everyone’s contribution can make a big difference.

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to the following staff and girls who celebrated this week: Ms Lang, Mrs Sauls, Ms Jamela, Ms Purdon, Lulama Joe, Obendalo Mdilitwana, Khanyile Gaxa, MacKenzie Phelan, Rebecca Berriman, Marabel Kuja, Oyintando Gumenge, Sesona Mnqinana, Tshiamo Moleko, Ntsako Shingange, Iyana Daweti, Kailani Mcuba and Ezokuhle Giyam.

We hope you had a very special birthday!

Please note that we have received new stock of our VP school bags (R750) and Swimma Caps (R140).

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Dates to remember
Saturday, 31 January	Alice in Wonderland rehearsal (Scene 1-4) @09:00-12:00 Backstage crew & Gr 4, 6 & 7 dancers to attend from 09:00-11:00.
Monday, 2 February	World Read Aloud Day Assembly @09:30
Tuesday, 3 February	SPCA Bookshop 10:00-14:00. All welcome.
Wednesday, 4 February	· Come to school dressed as your favourite book character (Grade 00-7) · Inter schools Field Events (selected girls have received letters)
Friday, 6 February	· ‘Silent book club’ at the Botanical Gardens @13:00-14:00 (Grade 1-7) ALL girls to be fetched from school @14:00 · Finals for inter schools track events (selected learners will receive letters on Monday)
Saturday, 7 February	· Alice in Wonderland rehearsal (Scene 3-6) @09:00-12:00 · B-League gala at the Newton Park pool in Gqeberha.
Upcoming events	4 February 2026: Inter schools Field Events (selected girls have received letters)

VP Newsletter 23 January 2026

23rd Jan 2026 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office
Our motto for 2026 is ‘Strong Minds. Kind Hearts. Real Connections’.

Our focus is to develop girls who are resilient and possess a positive mind set and who show empathy and compassion to each other. We are also making it our aim to grow and nurture healthy human connections within VP – connections between our girls, the staff and our girls and the connections between our staff and you as the parents and even between all our parents as a VP community – all of which are essential to building girls who feel seen, heard, safe and validated.

PTA/VPV
Motivated by our focus on strengthening meaningful human connections this year, our staff have been exploring new ways to bring our school community closer together. From this thinking, we are excited to introduce a new approach to parent involvement: the Victoria Primary Village (VPV).

We understand that committing to a formal committee can feel daunting, particularly for young families. The fear of committing and then not being able to follow through is a very real dilemma many parents face. The VPV has been created with this in mind.

While the VPV will have a small core group overseeing fundraising and planning, it will be open and flexible. Parents will be able to join a specific event or committee that aligns with their availability or even with something their daughter is already participating in. This means you can volunteer for one event, perhaps one you would already be attending, without the pressure of long-term commitment.

Our VPV welcomes all forms of involvement; whether that is making a donation, sourcing donations, or physically assisting at events. Every contribution, big or small, helps strengthen our school community.

We invite all parents (Grade 00-7) to attend the first VPV meeting on Tuesday, 27 January at 17h15. You may choose to be part of the core group or simply join a community that supports a particular event and connect with fellow moms and dads at the same time.

We truly hope you will consider being part of our VPV as we work together to support our girls and our school.

Transport
I am sure that you are aware of the devastating news of 14 young learners who lost their lives in a private school transport accident this week. I implore you to not compromise on the safety of your daughter’s transport to school. All too often girls are dropped off in the mornings in clearly overloaded vehicles, without safety belts and often the learners are crammed like sardines into the boot of a hatchback or bakkie. Please ensure that your daughter’s transport is safe; that the vehicle’s roadworthy certificate is up to date, the driver has a PDP (Professional Driver’s Permit Licence) and that it is not expired, and that your daughter gets buckled up and has her own seat. Accidents happen, but if your daughter is not strapped in and she is in an overcrowded vehicle the chances of tragedy are quadrupled. Let’s keep our precious girls safe.

Message from the SGB Chairperson
Welcome Back to the New Academic Year
As the School Governing Body, we warmly welcome our school community to the new academic year. We hope the holiday break brought rest, laughter, and special moments with loved ones, and that everyone returns refreshed and hopeful. It is heart-warming to see our girls settling with confidence, parents reconnecting with the school, and staff returning with care and dedication.
At the start of the year, it is important to remember that creating a safe, nurturing, and disciplined environment is a shared responsibility. When parents, teachers, and staff work together, our girls feel supported, confident, and free to learn, grow, and dream. Every word of encouragement and every act of care helps shape not only strong learners, but confident and compassionate young girls.

Secondly, our girls are at the heart of everything we do. A strong partnership between home and school allows them to flourish. Being present, staying involved, and meeting our shared responsibilities, including the payment of school fees, helps ensure that the school remains a place of opportunity, stability, and growth for every child.

Finally, we look ahead with hope and optimism. We wish you all a fulfilling and successful year and extend our warmest wishes to our entire school family for a year filled with joy, growth, and shared achievement. May this be a year where love, care, and unity guide us in all that we do for our girls.
Mrs Thando Qeqe
Chairperson of the School Governing Body

Smartphones @VP
A reminder of our school’s stance on children under the age of 16 not having access to smartphones. We believe that smartphones and access to social media and the internet are damaging young lives. The process is largely unseen and silent. Additionally, the after effects of access to online bullying, inappropriate social pressure and harmful content is not only damaging but often has a knock-on effect of discipline and other issues we are
expected to then deal with at school. Smartphones are exposing our children to social contexts that they are simply not mature enough to process – and as children, never will be.
We have made a call for parents and guardians to:
• not purchase a smartphone for their child until they are 14 years of age
• not allow their children access to social media until they are 16 years of age
We appeal to our VP parents to commit to this call to ensure that their girls have healthier, less stressful childhoods. If more of our parents stand up and say no, the more it will become the norm, the healthier (socially, mentally, socially and physically) our girls will be.

Assembly
We have our first class, Grade 7S, presenting their assembly on Monday, 26 January. Parents are welcome to attend. The assembly starts at 10:15.

Worker of the Week
Well done to Anna Malamis who is our WOW this week for her lovely Maths cover. Keep up the good work, Anna!

Eye screenings
The EyeStore and Dr Davies Optometrists will visit from 9-13 February. The Grade 1s and all new girls will receive basic visual screening which will test their visual clarity from a distance, this is free of charge. A more comprehensive test will also be on offer at a cost of R55, for all parents to take advantage of, should you wish to do so. A letter will be sent home next week which must be completed and returned, including the fee if you would like a more comprehensive test for your daughter.
Kingswood College Short Course Gala
On Thursday, 29 January we will participate in the Kingswood College Short Course gala at Kingswood College swimming pool. The event begins at 14:00. Girls who will be swimming will receive a letter with more details.

B-League Gala
The third B-league Age Group gala for the season will be taking place on Saturday, 7 February 2026 at the Newton Park Swimming Pool in Gqeberha. Girls involved will receive a letter with more details.

Athletics – Zone 1 Makhanda Trials
Congratulations to the girls who have been selected to attend the Zone 1 Makhanda Athletics Trials taking place on Wednesday, 28 January 2026 at Rhodes Prospect field. The selected athletes have received their official letters. We wish all the girls the very best of luck and trust that they will represent the school with pride.

Reminder of arrangements for World Read Aloud Day
During the week of 2-6 February, we will be celebrating World Read Aloud Day. As part of this celebration we would like to run a photo competition. Girls are ncouraged to send in photos to school of themselves reading in unusual places. On 2 February we will show all our entries at our assembly and the winners will be announced. Entries can be emailed to admin@victoriaprimary.co.za. Winners stand to win a Bargain Books gift voucher. Closing date for all entries is on Thursday, 29 January – which is just around the corner so don’t leave it too late!

• On Wednesday, 4 February, we will have a paired reading day and our girls are encouraged to come to school dressed as their favourite book character. As part of our community outreach, girls are to pay R10 to dress up. All funds raised will be donated to Friends of Bots, a cause dedicated to maintaining and beautifying our Botanical Gardens.

• On Friday, 6 February we will have a ‘silent bookclub’ which all girls Grade 1-7 will participate in. This will be a compulsory event for our girls but we would love all our VP families and extended families and friends to join us. We will be walking down to the Botanical Gardens for 13:00 and will read there for 45 minutes until we walk back to school. Girls will get books from their teachers but are welcome to bring a book of their own too! Girls can bring a blanket to lie on and they may sit with their friends or families and enjoy a quiet time reading in the beautiful gardens. If you are able to join us during your lunch hour we would love to have you. Girls must come to school on this Friday dressed in their sports clothes (black shorts, navy golf shirt and takkies or VP flipflips) – the VP cap/hat and suntan cream is a good idea too! Please collect your daughter’s at school at 14:00.

Rehearsals Please note the dates of the rehearsals for Alice in Wonderland coming up for January and February:

24 January (Scene 1-2 – ALL to attend) -09:00-12:00
31 January (Scene 3-4)
7 February (Scene 5-6)
14 February (Scene 7-8)
21 February (Scene 9-10)
28 February (Scene 1-5)

Birthdays
Girls are allowed to come dressed in their civvies clothes on their birthdays. If their birthday falls over the weekend they can choose to wear their civvies either on a Friday or Monday. If girls have their birthdays over the holidays, they can wear their civvies on the first day back the following term as we have an academic assembly on the last day of term. We will have special assemblies where we will request that all girls are dressed in their full school uniform – they can then wear their civvies the following day. If the girls have LSPE or LSPA on that day they will still be required to bring the necessary clothes and change for those lessons.

Birthday wishes
Happy birthday to the following girls who celebrated this week: Lulo Ponoshe. Zingcwele Mangali, Isla Orsmond, Aliyah Swartz, Luné Coetzee and Rebecca Phillip.
We hope you had a very special birthday!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty
PRINCIPAL

Dates to remember
Saturday, 24 January Alice in Wonderland rehearsal @09:00-12:00
Monday, 26 January Grade 7S Assembly @10:15
Tuesday, 27 January VPV meeting @17:15
Wednesday, 28 January Athletics Zonal trials
Thursday, 29 January • World Read Aloud day photo competition ends
• KC Short Course Gala @14:00
Saturday, 31 January Wonderland Rehearsal (Scene 3-4)
Upcoming • Come to school dressed as your favourite book character on Wednesday, 4 February (R10)
• ‘Silent bookclub’ at the Botanical Gardens Friday, 6 February @13:00-14:00 (Grade 1-7)

VP Newsletter 16 January 2026

16th Jan 2026 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office 16 January 2026
A very warm welcome back to school to all our VP families for 2026. A special welcome to our new families who have joined us this year. Our first day back on Wednesday was marked with such excitement and it was a joy to see our girls and staff so happy to be back at school. Our little Grade Ones slotted into ‘big school’ with such ease and I am sure they will have a happy year.

On a much sadder note, we extend our heartfelt condolences and thoughts to the Skeyi family on the tragic passing of Linomtha Skeyi, a former VP girl and a member of our hostel community. We honoured her memory with a moment of silence at our assembly this week, and we continue to keep her family and loved ones in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Staff News
We’d like to congratulate Mr Buka who was awarded his masters in Art – we are so proud of him! We are also thrilled for Ms Songongo, one of our interns, who was placed on the Dean’s Merit list for the outstanding results she achieved this year for her teaching studies. We are also very excited for Ms Le Roux who finished her studies last year and is now officially a qualified teacher AND she got engaged this past holiday! Whoop whoop!

I would also like to officially welcome Ms Leppan onto our staff – she is already getting stuck into our library with much enthusiasm. We welcome three new interns; Ms Yawa, Ms Quza and Ms Mbebe who are all in the pre-primary. We are certain that they will learn a lot and we are delighted to have them at VP!

Worker of the Week: Well done to Nevaya Jacobs in Grade 2 who is our first Worker of the Week for 2026. She has already received two Principal’s stickers!

PTA AGM: Please note that we will have our PTA AGM on Tuesday, 20 January. We appeal to all parents from Grade 2-7 to attend this very informative meeting on Tuesday, 21 January @17:15. Parents are to please meet in the school hall first and thereafter they will move to their child’s classes where the Grade teachers will inform you of the expectations for the year ahead. Your daughter does not need to attend.

PTA Meeting: Please note that we will have our first PTA meeting on Tuesday, 27 January at 17:15 in the school hall. All parents (moms and dads) who would like to serve on this committee and help fundraise for our school, are invited to attend this meeting.

WhatsApp group: We have given all the girls a notice that parents can complete to be added to the VP Whatsapp groups. During next week we will capture this information. Please ensure that you have the VP cellphone number (0834682706) as a contact on your phone so that you can be added. A reminder that if you have an enquiry you must please call the office 046 622 4850 not the cellphone. This is for information sharing from the school side only.

School Hours:

Pre-primary 07:30-12:30

Grade 1, 2 & 3 07:25-13:00 (extramurals until 14:00)

Grade 4-7 07:25-14:00

Grade 1-7 Friday school ends at 13:00

Late Collection
• Please note that the FP (Grade 1-3) girls are dropped off between 07:15 and 07:20 at the Huntley Street gate. An FP teacher will be present at the gate from 07:15. If FP girls arrive before or after this time or with older siblings in the morning they must use the Beaufort street entrance.
• All IP (Grade 4-7) children are to use the Beaufort Street gate and will need to be collected from there.
• Grade 1-3 finish their school day at 14:00 (Monday-Thursday) once extramurals end. The girls are then taken to the Huntley Street gate for collection between 14:00-14:15. On Friday, girls finish at 13:00 and will be at the Huntley Street gate from 13:00 to 13:15.
FP children who are collected after this time must be fetched from the Beaufort Street Gate. We keep a close eye on our girls and make sure that they are safe while waiting for collection. The Huntley Street gate is not manned after these hours.

Our office closes at 16:30 (Monday-Thursday) and 15:00 on Friday. If children are still not collected by this time, they will be sent to Aftercare. They can be collected from the Aftercare facility which is accessed via the hostel entrance in Hill Street. Please note that while we understand that some days don’t run as expected, if we notice repeated late collection or the collection is later than our aftercare hours, parents will be charged aftercare fees to their account. Please ensure that you have arranged safe and reliable transport for your daughters.

Aftercare: If you would like to send your daughter to Aftercare please collect a form from the office and return it as soon as possible. If she attended Aftercare last year we still require a form to be completed this year.

Access to Campus: Please note that all visitors must report to the school office. Parents may not gain access through the side door (Beaufort Street entrance) or the Huntley Street gate – these are for our pupils only. This is for our children and staff’s safety. If you would like to meet with a teacher, please make an appointment either via email to the class teacher or the school office (admin@victoriaprimary.co.za) or make a note in your child’s diary. Please report to the office for the appointment. No teacher will be able to meet with parents during school hours unless there was a prior arrangement made. If you have any questions or concerns please email the school office or call on 0466224850 and we will endeavour to assist you.

Absenteeism and late arrivals: Please note the following as per our school policy:
It is the parent’s responsibility to ensure that children arrive on time and are not disadvantaged by missing parts of lessons. Our school bell rings at 07:25 in the morning. Girls should be dropped off at least 5 minutes before this.
Absenteeism
It is the responsibility of the parents to see that their children attend school. If a child is absent, the parents need to inform the office by no later than 09:00 on the first day of absenteeism. A letter of explanation needs to be submitted on the learners’ return to the school. Medical and personal appointments, where possible, are to be made outside school hours. Medical certificates are expected if the learner is absent for tests or exams and if absent from school for more than 2 days.
• When a learner is absent, a note explaining why the learner was absent must be handed to the class teacher immediately upon return to school.
• Parent(s)/Guardian(s) may email the class teacher or the office for the reason for the absence.
• A medical certificate must be provided if a learner misses an examination or a test contributing to the year mark; or is absent for three days or longer.
If a learner is feeling ill at school the office will contact her parent(s)/guardian(s) to take the learner home.
Administering medication at school: Whenever possible please ensure that you administer medication at home. Girls may not have any medication (prescribed and over-the-counter) on their person or in their school bag while at school. If it becomes necessary for prescription medication to be administered during school hours please request the form from the office and return it with a copy of the prescription and the relevant medication. The daily dosage will then be administered from the office.

Extramurals
Extramurals start on Monday, 19 January. Your daughter received her extramural programme on her first day back at school. It is compulsory for your daughter to do at least 2 hours of sport a week but she is welcome to do more (Choir is not a sport). Please read through the programme with your daughter and make sure that she has packed all she needs for her activity. Please also ensure that your transport is organised accordingly. Please note that if it rains or is extremely hot we DO NOT CANCEL. Girls will be supervised in the classrooms until their extramurals would have ended.
Marimba band: The music staff are incredibly excited that our Marimbas will be arriving in the next few weeks! As they are not yet here, Marimba Band as scheduled on the extra-mural timetable, will only begin once we receive our order. We will continue to keep you up updated, and as soon as they arrive Marimba Band will become another exciting part of our extramural programme!
Reading Club Change: Please note that the Reading Club has been moved from Tuesdays (15:30 – 16:15) to Wednesdays (15:00 – 16:00). This is by invitation only.

Hair and Uniform: Please note the school rules for hair and jewellery and ensure that your daughter is abiding by them:
Hair guidelines
1. Hair must be neat and appropriate for girls in uniform.
2. If hair is over shoulder length it must all be tied up (no half ponies). Hair must be away from face.
3. Hair and extensions should be your natural hair colour.
4. Extensions and braids are allowed.
5. All corn rows must be neatly plaited and tied back.
6. Clips and hair accessories must be black, green or navy. (No decorative accessories, such as beads, are to be worn)
Jewelry
1. Watches may be worn, if desired. Children are responsible for their own watches.
2. Earrings – girls may have their ears pierced. Only studs or sleepers (small) may be worn. No coloured earrings are allowed. Only one earring may be worn in each earlobe.
3. No bracelets, neck or ankle-chains are allowed, unless the bracelets or chain bears a ‘Medicalert’ disc.
4. All school badges may be worn on the blazer lapel. No badges other than school badges may be worn while in school uniform.
Uniform
Please note the uniform and hair rules and ensure that your daughter is dressed accordingly. Please note that the girls are currently in summer uniform. On colder days they may wear a jersey and/or windbreaker and blazer – no winter uniform please. Please also ensure that your daughter is dressed smartly and remains in her full uniform when in town or out in public. The school flip flops can be purchased from the office and may be worn with the sports clothes. The flip flops may be worn with their school uniform at school but she will need to put her school socks and shoes back on with her school uniform once she leaves the campus.

VP Diaries: All girls Gr 3-7 received our new VP diaries this week. If your daughter loses her diary she will have to pay R50 for a replacement, however we have limited replacements so please ensure that she looks after hers. No other diaries are to be used for school.

Labelling of items & Lost Property: All your daughter’s possessions from pencils to blazers must be clearly labelled with her name and surname. We cannot be expected to search for items that are not labelled. Lost items will be handed to Lost Property, either with Mrs Orsmond (FP) or Mrs Sauls (IP). We endeavour to return items straight away if they are labelled. Unlabelled items must be collected from Lost Property by your daughter during school hours.

Dropping off items at school: As we enter the second week of school, girls must please be encouraged to get organised and not expect items to be delivered to school by parents. Our office staff is inundated with items being dropped off. Please note that only birthday cupcakes, deliveries for boarders and items specifically requested by teachers may be dropped off at the office for your daughter during the school day.

Medical Forms: Medical Forms have been handed out to the girls. Please complete them and send the necessary accompanying documents if relevant. If you don’t have medical aid you still need to fill in the form as it is vital for our sport and school trips.

World Read Aloud Day
During the week of 2-6 February we will be celebrating World Read Aloud Day. As part of this celebration we would like to run a photo competition. Girls are encouraged to send in photos to school of themselves reading in unusual places. On 2 February we will show all our entries at our assembly and the winners will be announced. Entries can be emailed to admin@victoriaprimary.co.za. Winners stand to win a Bargain Books gift voucher. Closing date for all entries is on Thursday, 29 January – which is just around the corner so don’t leave it too late!
• On Wednesday, 4 February, we will have a paired reading day and our girls are encouraged to come to school dressed as their favourite book character. As part of our community outreach, girls are to pay R10 to dress up. All funds raised will be donated to Friends of Bots, a cause dedicated to maintaining and beautifying our Botanical Gardens.
• On Friday, 6 February we will have a ‘silent bookclub’ which all girls Grade 1-7 will participate in. This will be a compulsory event for our girls but we would love all our VP families and extended families and friends to join us. We will be walking down to the Botanical Gardens for 13:00 and will read there for 45 minutes until we walk back to school. Girls will get books from their teachers but are welcome to bring a book of their own too! Girls can bring a blanket to lie on and they may sit with their friends or families and enjoy a quiet time reading in the beautiful gardens. If you are able to join us during your lunch hour we would love to have you. Girls must come to school on this Friday dressed in their sports clothes (black shorts, navy golf shirt and takkies or VP flipflips) – the VP cap/hat and suntan cream is a good idea too! Please collect your daughter’s at school at 14:00.

Alice in Wonderland rehearsals
Rehearsals for Alice will begin next Saturday. The schedule for January is as follows:
Wonderland Rehearsal (Scene 1-2 – ALL to attend) – 24 January (09:00-12:00)
Wonderland Rehearsal (Scene 3-4) – 31 January

Chess Trials and Practice Sessions – Sarah Baartman Team Selection
The following chess trial dates have been scheduled in Makhanda:
31 January, 14 March, and 18 April. Please note that these are three of the nine total trial dates.
The remaining trials will be held in Jeffrey’s Bay and Graaff-Reinet. To be considered for selection for the Sarah Baartman Chess Team, a player is required to attend at least three (3) of the nine (9) trial dates. If your daughter would like to compete but is unable to attend one of the listed trial dates, please email Ms Miskin (l.miskin@victoriaprimary.co.za) to enquire about alternative dates, which will also take place in the locations mentioned above.
Please remember that chess practice takes place every Monday, with a second session held every Thursday. Players are welcome to attend one or both sessions. We encourage everyone to participate whenever possible and fit in a few chess moves where they can.

Birthday wishes
We wish the girls who celebrated their birthdays so far this year a very happy birthday!
Ronay Francis, Lima Tukula, Willow Hector, Ingcali-Yomso Mani, Asante Nyenzane, Lunje Peter, Likamvelihle Dyibishe, Buhlebenkosi Mapitsha, Oyahuma Renene, Ahlumile Vusani, Kungothando Nzuzo, Langa Mtakati, Sizoluhle Matswele, Caitlyn Bodill, Mbalentle Dyaloyi, Oyintando Nkatazo, Zelné Leach, Akum Mxo, Ayazi Klei, Sama Torweni, Bongamusa Louw, Inamandla Mnyapa, Isipho Nelana, Nalu Matshaya, Giselle Peters, Owam Bebeto, Imboyothando Ngcala and Ladine van Wyk.

Regards

Mrs Rafferty
PRINCIPAL

Dates to remember

PTA AGM and Class visits (Gr 2-7) Tuesday, 20 January @17:15

PTA meeting on Tuesday, 27 January @17:15

World Read Aloud events:

Closing date for all photo competition entries is on Thursday, 29 January
Come to school dressed as your favourite book character on Wednesday, 4 February (R10)
‘Silent bookclub’ at the Botanical Gardens Friday, 6 February @13:00-14:00 (Grade 1-7)

Alice rehearsals: Saturday, 24 January @09:00-12:00

VP Newsletter 14 November 2025

14th Nov 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

This will be our second last newsletter before the final one shared with reports. We have a very full programme for the next two weeks and school attendance is compulsory until your daughter’s grade’s prizegiving. The girls will be fully engaged in many activities including preparing for their respective prizegivings, our carol service and the Grade 7 valedictory.

Please review the events in our newsletter and prepare for each exciting day ahead.

Grade 1-7 times will be 07:25-13:00 every day. If girls have trials they must please bring the required sports clothes/equipment to school. Please return all Library books and readers. Books not returned will be charged to your child’s account.

Mon. 17 November

Class parties & Grade 7 Fun Day

Girls can come to school in civvies. Each teacher will let their girls know what their plans are.

Tues. 18 November

10:30-11:30 U13 Netball trials for 2026.

11:30-12:30 Grade 6 tennis trials.

11:30-13:00: Grade 3-6 girls are invited to audition for our 2026 Production.

15:00: The orchestra and chamber choir members will perform for the residents at Brookshaw. Girls must be collected from the VP office entrance at 16:00.

Wed. 19 November

11:30-13:00: Grade 3-6 girls are invited to audition for our 2026 Production.

11:30-12:30: Grade 4&5 tennis trials.

10:30-11:30 U13 Netball trials for 2026.

Thurs. 20 November

Get into the Christmas spirit and join us for our Carol Service at 17:30. All welcome. Come dressed for Christmas (preferably in keeping with our green/red Christmas theme).

All three choirs (junior, senior and chamber), as well as the Orchestra will be performing in the service.

In the charitable spirit of the occasion, we will be collecting second-hand clothing, so please consider bringing second-hand clothing in good condition, including non-branded school uniform items. These donations will be delivered to learners in need, and to the SPCA charity shop.

Orchestra to arrive at 16:30. Choir to arrive at 17:00. Parents and girls to be seated by 17:30. If you are dropping your daughter off please collect her at 18:30.

Last day for books to be returned (readers & library books).

Fri. 21 November

Grade 7 Valedictory at 08:30-09:30

Grade 1- 6 to attend. All parents and extended families are welcome to join us.

11:15: Leavers’ Tunnel.

11:30-13:00: Grade 7 Leavers’ Lunch (girls only).

Mon. 24 November

Grade 4s write the National Assessment Natural Sciences

2026 Production auditions (TBC)

Tues. 25 November

Grade 4s write the National Assessment Mathematics

2026 Production auditions (TBC)

Wed. 26 November

09:00: Pre-Primary and Grade 1 Prizegiving. Parents invited.

11:00: Grade 2&3 Prizegiving. Parents invited.

Last day of school for PP & FP. They may leave for their holiday after their Prizegiving

Thurs. 27 November

08:00: Grade 4&5 Prizegiving. Parents invited.

11:00: Grade 6&7 Prize Giving at 11:00. Parents invited.

Last day of school for IP. They may leave for their holiday after their Prizegiving

Hostel closes at 15:00

Your daughter must be dressed smartly in her summer uniform for all prizegivings and her hairstyle must be in accordance with our school rules.

Grade 4-7 girls must wear their blazers to their Prizegiving.

All Indlulamthi & Merit badges must be returned. R50 will be charged for lost badges.

Wed. 3 December

Report Collection 07:30-08:30

Grade 00&R: Beaufort Street, Pre-Primary entrance.

Grade 1-7: Beaufort Street, Office entrance

Worker of the Week

Our WOW is Avethandwa Mxo for getting full marks for her spelling test this week – and for her friendly smile. Well done, Ave!

Birthday wishes

We wish the following girls a very happy birthday for the rest of November: Lerato Racoco, Simosihle Dyaloyi, Mariam Moorad, Lucy Bennett, Zoey Riddin, Owekhethelo Gongqa, Maham Rizvi, Iminqweno Qalani, Oluhle Mpati, Tessanne Arries, Hannah Wessels, Kelly Smith, Linomtha Gonyela, Madison Conroy and Amvuyele Mlungu.

We hope you have a lovely day!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

VP Newsletter 31 October 2025

31st Oct 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

For the next two weeks our focus will be on exams and studying for our Grade 4-7 girls. As you are aware VP advocates for a cell phone/smart phone free childhood and we especially stress the importance of not having screen time to distract your girls when they are trying to study – not to mention the impact it can have on a good night’s sleep. Now more than ever, although they may not agree, it is important for you, to parent, and to take away that distraction from your girls for their benefit. This includes the TV (as well as the loud volume while you may be watching) and computers. It is the small sacrifices we all make as a family which stresses the importance for education, exam time and school performance. Give your girls a fighting chance and support their learning in every way possible for the next two weeks. NB!!! It is important as parents to remember that NOT all things are negotiable.

School and Office Hours

A reminder that school will end at 13:00 during exams and that there will be NO extramurals besides choir and orchestra practice. Please make arrangements for your daughter to be fetched at 13:00 so that she can have a short break at home before settling down and preparing for her next exam. We do not want children wasting an afternoon away waiting for their lift when they could be studying.

Please note the change in office hours for the rest of the year:

Monday to Thursday 07:00-15:30

Friday: 07:00-14:30.

There should be no children waiting outside school after the office closes as that would mean they have wasted two to two and a half hours of study time!

Please note that there will be NO newsletter on Friday, 7 November.

Music & Chamber Choir

Although there will be no extramurals during the exam period, Orchestra and Chamber Choir will continue, running from 13:00 to 14:00 on Fridays.

Farewell and Welcome back

We say farewell to Ms Trollip today who filled in for Mrs Dewey while she was on maternity leave. Thank you for the love and support you showed our girls, Ms Trollip. We warmly welcome Mrs Dewey back on Monday.

Exam timetable:

Girls must return their textbooks after each exam. Damaged and lost textbooks will be charged for. Any outstanding library books and readers need to be returned too.

Mon.3/11	Eng/FAL Creative Writing
Tues.4/11	Life Orientation (Grade 7) Eng/FAL Creative Writing
Wed.5/11	FAL Language & Comprehension (Grade 6&7) English Language & Comprehension (Grade 4&5) Technology (Grade 7)
Thurs.6/11	Geography (Grade 4-7) FAL Language & Comprehension (Grade 4&5) English Language & Comprehension (Grade 6&7)
Fri7/11	Art & LSPA (Grade 4-6) Maths Paper 1 (Grade 4-7)
Mon.10/11	EMS (Grade 7) Maths Paper 2 (Grade 4-7) NS Grade 4 DOE Common test (TBC)
Tues.11/11	Natural Sciences (Grade 4-7)
Wed.12/11	History (Grade 4-7) Maths Grade 4 DOE Common Test (TBC)
Thurs.13/11	LSPA Theory & Practical (Gr 7) Art Theory (Grade 7) Life Skills (Grade 4-6)

Stationery Top Ups for Exams

A reminder that girls are not allowed to share any stationery during exams.

Grade 6&7: Please make sure that your daughter has her own standard Maths set.

Grade 4-7 also need two pens, two HB pencils, a sharpener, eraser, ruler and colouring-in pencils.

All Grade 4-7 girls will need coloured khoki’s or colouring-in pencils for their Art exam.

Grade 7 Portfolio announcements:

Congratulations to our Grade 7 girls and the announcement of their respective committees. It was wonderful to see the excitement and enthusiasm on the day.

Congratulations to the house captains and Sport and Cultural captains who were announced too. The committee heads and the Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl will be announced at the end of Term 1 in 2026.

House Captains for 2026:

Aloe: Amari Funani

Arum: Siphesihle Chrisjan

Disa: Akum Mxo

Fern: Kungothando Ngangani

Sport and Cultural Captains for 2026:

Hockey: Lunje Manzana

Netball: Siphesihle Chrisjan

Athletics: Lunje Manzana

Tennis: Lunje Tshiki

Swimming: Anathi Mbandlakazi

Choir: Christelle Moriarity

Orchestra: Kungothando Ngangani

Congratulations, girls!

Indlulamthi Badges

Congratulations to Taylynne Thomas and Ayomide Booi who were awarded their Indlulamthi Badges at Monday’s assembly. We are so proud of you both.

Worker of the Week

Our WOW this week is Madison Conroy for her beautiful and creative LSPA Term 4 cover. Well done, Madison!

Conquesta 2025 Results

Congratulations and well done to all the girls who entered Conquesta this year. VP achieved a wonderful set of results and special mention must be made of our Diamond Achievement (79%) in Social Sciences and Gold Achievement (71%) in Life Skills.

The following girls received over 70 percent in their respective subjects. Well done, girls!

Grade 4:

Anopa-Nyasha Thondla: English and Life Skills

Chanelle Musarurwa: English

Andisiwe Mraji: Social Sciences

Aliyah Swart: English

Arya Ritchie: Life Skills

Grade 5:

Linomtha Gonyela: English and Social Sciences

Cayden Strauss: English

Isla Orsmond: English

Asivuse Shumane: Social Sciences

Lulo Ponoshe: English

Sama Torweni: English

Grade 6:

Christelle Moriarty: English and Life Skills 1+2.

Grade 7

Uzosule Kanana: English and Social Sciences

Alibongwe Mthembu: Bible Study

Grade 1, 2 & 3 swimming

Please note that although school will end at 13:00 from next week onwards, the Gr 1, 2 & 3s will continue their morning intramural programme. They will wear sports clothes everyday, except on Friday when they wear their formal school uniform.

Swimming days are as follows:

Monday Grade 3; Tuesday Grade 2; Wednesday Grade 3.

Gala News

Well done to our swimming team that participated in the Dolphin Shield Gala yesterday. Everyone swam their hearts out and made VP proud.

Next Saturday, 8 November, team swimmers will be heading to Gqeberha to take part in the B-League gala, our last gala for the year. Swim well girls and have fun!

Plans for after exams

(Mon. 17/11-Thurs. 27/11):

Please note that girls are expected to come to school every day even if no event is highlighted on a specific date, we will be practising and rehearsing for our Carol Service, Prizegivings and Grade 7s will need to rehearse for their Valedictory. Grade 1-7 times will be 07:25-13:00 every day.

Date:	Event:
Fri. 7/11	PP, Grade 1 & Grade 2 Sports Day
Mon. 17/11	Class parties & Grade 7 Fun Day Girls can come in civvies on this day. Each teacher will let their girls know what their plans are.
Thurs. 20/11	Get into the Christmas spirit and join us for our Carol Service at 17:30- All welcome. Come dressed for Christmas.
Fri. 21/11	Grade 7 Valedictory at 08:30-09:30 Grade 1- 6 to attend. All parents and extended families are welcome to join us. Grade 7 Leavers’ Lunch at 11:00-13:00 (Girls only).
Wed. 26/11	Pre-Primary and Grade 1 Prize Giving at 09:00 Grade 2&3 Prize Giving at 11:00. Parents invited. Last day of school for PP & FP. They may leave for their holiday after their Prize Giving
Thurs. 27/11	Grade 4&5 Prize Giving at 08:00 Grade 6&7 Prize Giving at 11:00. Parents invited. Last day of school for IP. They may leave for their holiday after their Prizegiving
Wed. 3/12	Collect reports from school 07:30-08:30

VP Visitor

We will be visited by well-know children’s author, Refiloe Moahloli on Wednesday, 5 November. Her books will be on sale on the Pre-primary verandah from 12:30 to 13:15. Please feel free to come and have a look (and buy) when you collect your daughters.

Birthday wishes

We wish the following girls a very happy birthday for this week and the next two weeks: Lily Walwyn. Azachume Manganya, Asaya Diniso, Sithe-Nkosi Busakwe, Ezokuhle Kewuti, Kwakhanya Kondile, Ciana Moodie, Sesisiphho Mbaba, Thandolwam Mpati, Kayla Kalimani, Isabella Tladi, Teia van Rooyen, Mbali-Entle Fex, Arabella Appollis, Esosa Egbe, Buhle Mamase, Ngozichukwuka Edozeem, Ava Sauls, Lunathi Makasi and Sambesiwe Dyantyi. We hope you have a lovely day!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Upcoming events

Fri

31/10

Grade 7 Committee meetings (Grade 6&7s to attend) 13:00-13:30

Mon

3/11

Exams begin.

Grade 1-7 school finishes at 13:00.

No extramurals.

Office closes at 15:30.

Fri

7/11

Pre-Primary, Grade 1 & 2 Sports Day.

No newsletter.

VP Newsletter 24 October 2025

24th Oct 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

On Monday we will be announcing our Grade 7 Committees and House Captains at assembly at 10:00. Parents are welcome to join us.

2026 will be the third year that we have implemented our committees and they have proved to be a valuable platform for all our Grade 7 girls to learn communication skills, team work, and how to collaborate with each other, and their teachers, in order to make a meaningful impact in their final year of primary school. I have been very impressed and proud of our Grade 7s this year and the various projects, fundraisers and initiatives they have implemented. I am certain that our 2026 Grade 7s will learn and grow in their respective committees next year and we look forward to seeing what ideas and projects they may be inspired to bring to fruition.

“Real leadership is leaders recognizing that they serve the people that they lead.” — Pete Hoekstra

We only have one more week of class teaching and extramurals before our Grade 4-7s start writing exams. I trust that your daughter has been working hard in preparation for her final examinations of the year.

Please note that the school will end at 13:00 as from Monday, 3 November for Grade 1-7. I request that you make the necessary arrangements for your daughter to be collected promptly so that she can go home and start preparing for her exams the next day.

Uniform

Please note that girls should all be in full summer uniform now. No long-sleeved shirts, stockings, trousers and long socks. Please no long-sleeved vests under the short-sleeved shirts.

Worker of the Week

Congratulations to Rose Jordaan who is our WOW. She came to see me a few times this week for her lovely work. Well done, Rose.

Music

Music pupils are reminded that they will play their scales tests next week. The Term 4 assessments will be scheduled for the following week, from 3-7 November.

Creative Arts Practice (Grade 7)

There will be a compulsory practice for Dance & Music groups on Saturday, 25 October from 09:00-12:00. Girls must please enter and exit from the Pre-Primary gate. Please ensure you drop off and collect your daughter on time at the Pre-Primary Gate. Once the rehearsal time slot has started no one will be at the gate to let them in.

The Grade 7 Drama groups will have their compulsory practice on Saturday, 1 November.

Swimming news!

Best of luck to our 11 swimmers who are travelling to Gqeberha on Saturday to participate in the 1st B-League gala of the season. Have fun, girls!

Next week Thursday, 30 October, select team swimmers will be participating in the Dolphin Shield Gala at DSG. These girls will receive a letter with more details. Parents are welcome to come and support.

Civvies Day

On Friday, 31 October we will have a civvies day. Girls must pay R10 (or more). The funds will go towards our support staff’s (ground staff and cleaners) Christmas vouchers, in thanks for all the hard work they do for our girls throughout the year.

Grade 4-7 Exam Timetable

From Monday, 3 November until the end of the term Grade 4-7 school times will be 07:25-13:00. No extramurals.

Girls must return their textbooks after each exam. Damaged and lost textbooks will be charged for. Any outstanding library books and readers need to be returned too.

Mon.3/11	Eng/FAL Creative Writing
Tues.4/11	Life Orientation (Grade 7) Eng/FAL Creative Writing
Wed.5/11	FAL Language & Comprehension (Grade 6&7) English Language & Comprehension (Grade 4&5) Technology (Grade 7)
Thurs.6/11	Geography (Grade 4-7) FAL Language & Comprehension (Grade 4&5) English Language & Comprehension (Grade 6&7)
Fri.7/11	Art & LSPA (Grade 4-6) Maths Paper 1 (Grade 4-7)
Mon.10/11	EMS (Grade 7) Maths Paper 2 (Grade 4-7) NS Grade 4 DOE Common test (TBC)
Tues.11/11	Natural Sciences (Grade 4-7)
Wed.12/11	History (Grade 4-7) Maths Grade 4 DOE Common Test (TBC)
Thurs.13/11	LSPA Theory & Practical (Gr 7) Art Theory (Grade 7) Life Skills (Grade 4-6)

Stationery Top Ups for Exams

A reminder that girls are not allowed to share any stationery during exams.

Grade 6&7: Please make sure that your daughter has her own standard Maths set.

Grade 4-7 also need two pens, two HB pencils, a sharpener, eraser, ruler and colouring-in pencils.

All Grade 4-7 girls will need coloured khoki’s or colouring-in pencils for their Art exam.

Checkers “Little Shop” toys

If you have been receiving the latest Checkers give-away toys with your shopping, please consider donating them to our Pre-Primary for use in class. They are used for fantasy play, counting and many other fun activities.

Birthday wishes

We wish the following girls a very happy birthday for this week: Lusanele Matya, Limnandi Zweni and Asipithemba Thomas. We hope you have a lovely day!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Upcoming events

Fri 24/10	No Chamber Choir & Orchestra
Sat 25/10	Grade 7 Dance & Music groups workshop 09:00-12:00 B-League Gala in Gqeberha
Mon 27/10	House Assembly @10:00. Announcement of 2026 House committees and House Captains.
Thurs 30/10	Dolphin Shield gala @DSG
Fri 31/10	Civvies Day Last day of Grade 4-7 extramurals
Sat 1/11	Grade 7 Drama groups workshop 09:00-12:00
Mon 3/11	Exams begin. Grade 1-7 school finishes at 13:00. No extramurals.

VP Newsletter 17 October 2025

17th Oct 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

We have come to the end of our final term of 2025. We have two short weeks until our girls will start writing their exams. It is time for our girls to settle and focus on their studies. I ask that you provide your girls with a quiet home that supports their learning and limits distractions. This is their short last stretch.

Grade 4-7 Exam Tmetable: School will end at 13:00 for Grade 4-7. No extramurals.

Mon. 3/11	Eng/FAL Creative Writing
Tues. 4/11	Life Orientation (Grade 7) Eng/FAL Creative Writing
Wed. 5/11	FAL Language & Comprehension (Grade 6&7) English Language & Comprehension (Grade 4&5) Technology (Grade 7)
Thurs.6/11	Geography (Grade 4-7) FAL Language & Comprehension (Grade 4&5) English Language & Comprehension (Grade 6&7)
Fri.7/11	Art & LSPA (Grade 4-6) Maths Paper 1 (Grade 4-7)
Mon.10/11	EMS (Grade 7) Maths Paper 2 (Grade 4-7) NS Grade 4 DOE Common test (TBC)
Tues.11/11	Natural Sciences (Grade 4-7)
Wed.12/11	History (Grade 4-7) Maths Grade 4 DOE Common Test (TBC)
Thurs.13/11	LSPA Theory & Practical (Gr 7) Art Theory (Grade 7) Life Skills (Grade 4-6)

POW

Well done to Lili Nkayi who was our Personality of the Week for her brave and impressive performance in the Foundation Phase play of Mirror, Mirror of Glennie Hall. We are proud of you, Lili.

WOW

Well done to Wuve Ngqingili for her wonderful holiday news. Keep up the good work, Wuve!

Merit Achiever

Well done Zothando Mzileni who has received over 250 merits so far this year.

Stationery Top Ups for Exams

A reminder that girls are not allowed to share any stationery during exams.

Grade 6&7: Please make sure that your daughter has her own standard Maths set.

Grade 4-7 also need two pens, two HB pencils, a sharpener, eraser, ruler and colouring-in pencils.

All Grade 4-7 girls will need coloured khoki’s or colouring-in pencil for their Art exam.

KFC Cricket Course

We are glad to have and host our first KFC Mini Cricket course for 2025 here at Victoria Primary this year.

Good luck to our Foundation Phase Educators part taking in this growing opportunity.

NumberSense Workshop

The FP teachers will be attending a NumberSense Course on Monday, 20 October. Pick up time for Grade 1-3 will be at 13:00 at the Pre-Primary gate in Beaufort Street.

Extramural change: Please note that as the coach will be away Orange Dot tennis (14:00-15:00) is cancelled on Monday.

Grade R Museum outing

On Thursday, 23 October, the Grade Rs will be visiting the Albany Natural History Museum to explore the dinosaur exhibition and learn some more interesting facts about these creatures. They will walk there and back. Children can be collected from the Pre-Primary gate at 12:30 as usual and Aftercare will also continue as usual. We wish them a happy visit!

Thank You to Three Valleys

The Grade 4 learners of Victoria Primary School would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to Three Valleys for hosting us and providing such an enriching learning experience.

Our visit to the Protea and Predator Sanctuary was both exciting and educational. The learners thoroughly enjoyed discovering more about the fascinating world of proteas, their habitats, and the important role of their predators in maintaining balance in nature.

We are so grateful to the Three Valleys team for sharing their knowledge, enthusiasm, and care for the environment. It was a truly memorable outing that inspired us all to appreciate and protect our natural surroundings.

School closing time

The main gate on Beaufort Street will be locked at 16:30 (Monday-Thursday) and 15:00 on Friday. If children are not collected by this time, they will be sent to Aftercare. They can be collected from the Aftercare facility which is accessed via the hostel entrance in Hill Street. Please note that while we understand that some days don’t run as expected, if we notice repeated late collection or the collection is later than our aftercare hours, parents will be charged aftercare fees to their account. Please ensure that you have arranged safe and reliable transport for your daughters.

Dropping off items at the office

Please ensure that your daughter brings all items required for her day to school with her in the morning. Limit drop offs at the office to cupcakes and birthday treats only.

Checkers “Little Shop” toys

Birthday wishes

We wish the following staff and girls a very happy birthday for this week: Ms Vongo, Milani Phillip, Mary-Kate Februarie, Kganya Lentsa, Alunamda Yapi, Glennis Chakurungama, Anam Makaphela and Othawe Mjekula. We hope you have a lovely day!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Upcoming events

Fri17/10	Committee meetings
Mon20/10	NO EXTRAMURALS FOR Grade 1-3. Please collect girls at 13:00
Sat25/10	B-League Gala in Gqeberha
Mon27/10	House Assembly. Announcement of 2026 House committees and House Captains.

VP Newsletter 19 September 2025

19th Sep 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

On Monday our Grade 4s presented a delightful assembly on Kindness. They shared their Kindness Campaign with the rest of the school and each VP girl received a bracelet. Our girls are encouraged to wear their bracelets to school until at least the end of the term as a reminder of how we want to treat each other both at home and school. Kindness Matters!

Staff News

We wish Ms McNamara best wishes as she gets married this Saturday. When she returns she will be Mrs Volschenk. May you have a wonderful day of many blessings, Miss Mac!

We also wish Mrs Britz-Nel all the best as she goes on maternity leave today. We can’t wait for the announcement of the arrival of her son into this world. We welcome Ms van Heerden who joined us this week and will be substituting for Mrs Britz-Nel while she is on maternity leave. We hope Ms van Heerden enjoys her time with us!

Trolley Dash

We thank all our parents who sold trolley dash booklets for our PTA fundraiser. The class who sold the most booklets was Grade 6P (43 booklets in total). Well done to the pupil who sold the most booklets; Maham Rizvi who sold 13 booklets! Thank you.

We had our draw on Wednesday and the following five finalists were drawn: Leah Doyle, Leliwe Kanyiwe, Maham Rizvi, Nomsa Ngqakayi, Sokhana Makuleni.

All five finalists are to please report to Pick’n Pay on Monday, 22 September at 17:50. The draw will take place at 18:00. The four runners up will receive a R250 voucher from Pick’n Pay and the winner will then be able to take part in the 90 seconds dash. Come dressed to run!

Worker of the Week: Well done to Ciana Moodie who is our WOW this week for our delightful robot made out of 3D shapes. Good job, Ciana.

Merit Achievement: Well done, Zamatshawe Nkatsha, Aliyah Bezuidenhout and Lakhe Jubase who have received over 250 merits so far this year.

Photo Day is on Thursday, 25 Sept.

Family photos will be taken from 07:30 to 08:00.

Family/Individual photos

Dress: Civvies or school uniform (uniform as listed below). If you are opting for civvies your daughter may come to school dressed in civvies and

can change into her school uniform after the photo has been taken.

Uniform for photos

Grade 00: Civvies

Grade R: Navy golf shirt, black/navy jeans/leggings or rugby shorts

Grade 1-3: Winter uniform (skirt), navy tights, navy jersey

Grade 4-7: Winter uniform (skirt), navy tights and blazers

Sport team photos

U13A netball: Green dresses, white socks and takkies

U13A hockey: Green Toyota dresses, green socks and hockey takkies/boots

Athletics team/ tennis team/ swimming team: Full tracksuits

SGB AGM

A reminder that we will be having the School Governing Body, Annual General Meeting on Monday, 22 September at 14:00 in the Glennie Hall. The 2026 Budget has been available at the school office for viewing since Monday, 8 September 2025.

Extramurals

The extramurals for the rest of the term, for Grade 4-7, are listed at the end of this newsletter. Please note that this has been updated since last week as Chess is now finished for this term and school will close at 10:30 on Friday, 3 October as we have condensed our Cultural Day celebration to accommodate those who will be travelling afar. The listed extramurals are the only afternoon events and girls not involved must please be collected directly after school.

Music – Choir Concert

The Junior, Senior and Chamber choirs will perform alongside the Herbert Hurd choir on Monday, 29 September, in our school hall. The girls must report to the hall at 17:00 and the concert starts at 17:30. All performers are to wear their winter uniform (blazers for Gr. 4-7 girls, jerseys for Gr. 3 girls). Entrance is free.

Everyone is welcome to join us.

Heritage Day celebration

On Friday, 3 October, we will celebrate Heritage Day. Girls may pay R10 and come to school in their heritage dress, but academic achievers will need to arrive in uniform with their blazers and change after assembly. We will have a tuckshop selling traditional food and a showcase of some heritage-themed performances.

24 Maths Club Competition

The 24 Maths Club will be hosting an exciting competition to crown the ultimate Junior and Senior Champion!

Who can enter? All Grade 4–7 girls
How to enter?Add your name to the list outside Ms Miskin’s classroom
When? Friday, 26 September, from 13h30–15h00
Where? The School Library

There will be spot prizes, as well as first, second, and third prizes in each category. Come and test your maths skills, challenge your friends, and have lots of fun!

Grade 5 Amakhala Outing

Our Grade 5s are looking forward to a very exciting trip to Amakhala just before the end of the term.

Grade 5Mwill go on 1 October
Grade 5Kwill go on 2 October

This annual outing gives the girls the opportunity to learn from animals in their natural habitat while also appreciating the natural beauty that surrounds us.

A reminder to all Grade 5 parents: please complete and return the permission form your daughters received so that she is able to attend.

IsiXhosa Eisteddfod

On Friday, 26 September we will have our very first collaborative Eisteddfod between VP and Oatlands Preparatory. Selected girls will participate and have received a letter.

Foundation Phase Production

We are excited to present Mirror, Mirror

In Glennie Hall.

We will have two shows:

Wednesday, 1 October at 13:00
Thursday, 2 October at 13:00.

Tickets will be sold at the door

R10 for children
R20 for adults

Please note that pick up times for the Foundation Phase on these two days will be at 14:30 from the Pre-Primary gate.

Triangular results

On Tuesday, 16 September we competed in a Triangular athletics competition with DSG/Prep and Kingswood College. Our girls tried their very best and made us proud! Our results were as follows:

Triangular 2025 Results (VP)
Event	Name	Position
U9/A 100m	A.Mchunu	2nd
U9/A 100m	N.Mvula	3rd
U9/B 100m	L.Flotman	1st
U9/B 100m	B.Louw	3rd
U9A 400m	A.Mchunu	2nd
U9B 400m	K.Jones	1st
U9 Relay	N.Mvula, L.Flotman, A.Mchunu, B.Louw	2nd
U10 100m	A.Jakavula	1st
U10 100m	T.Thomas	3rd
U11 100m	N.Mfiki	3rd
U10 200m	A.Jakavula	2nd
U10 200m	L.Hashe	3rd
U10 400m	O.Mpati	3rd
U10 Cricket Ball	Z.Mzileni	2nd
U10 Long Jump	M.Santi	3rd
U10 High Jump	A.Thondhlana	2nd
U10 Relay	T.Thomas, Hashe, S.Matswele, A.Jakavula	1st
U11 200m	N.Mfiki	3rd
U11 400m	N.Gabriel	2nd
U11 Cricket Ball	I.Orsmond	2nd
U11 Cricket Ball	E.Kulati	3rd
U11 Long Jump	E.Kulati	3rd
U11 High Jump	E.Nini	1st
U11 High Jump	E.Kulati	3rd
U11 Relay	N.Mfiki, N.Gabriel, L.Makasi, S.Lande	2nd
U12 400m	L.Manzana	2nd
U12 800m	E.Makabe	3rd
U12 Cricket Ball	L.Manzana	1st
U12 Cricket Ball	S.Chrisjan	2nd
U12 High Jump	L.Tshiki	2nd
U12 Relay	E.Makabe, L.Manzana, M.Rizvi, M.Nongxaza	3rd
U13 100m	M.Daniels	3rd
U13 800m	A.Mbandlakazi	2nd
U13 800m	L.Benyane	3rd
U13 1 500m	E.Makabe	2nd
U13 1 500m	L.Manzana	3rd
U13 Long Jump	I.Tladi	3rd
U13 Relay	M.Daniels, K.Doyle, L.Benyane, N.Mthetho	2nd

Please note that we will not have a newsletter next week and the final one for this term will be sent out with reports.

Report Collection

Reports will be handed out to the girls at school on Friday, 3 Octoberat 10:30. No reports will be issued before then.

Birthday wishes

We wish the following girls a very happy birthday for this week: Alunamda Mpambani, Ivakele Teyi, Zaya Dembaza and Ziyana Nombewu. We hope you have a lovely day!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Upcoming events

Fri 19/09	Grade 7 outing
Mon 22/09	SGB AGM @14:00 Glennie Hall Trolley Dash @18:00
Tues 23/09	Grade R farm outing
Wed 24/09	Heritage Day – Public holiday
Thurs 25/09	Photo Day
Fri 26/09	Maths 24 Club 13:30-15:00 IsiXhosa Eistedfodd

Extramurals Grade 4-7 Monday, 23 September – Friday, 3 October

Mon 29 Sept

Tues 30 Sept

Wed 1 Oct

Thursday, 2 Oct

Friday, 3 Oct

Chamber Choir

07:30-08:00

Team Swimming (selected girls)

14:00-14:30

Senior Choir

07:15-07:45

Team Swimming (selected girls)

14:00-14:30

Senior Choir

07:15-07:45

Possible second SGB AGM if quorum is not met 14:00-15:00

Junior Choir

07:30-08:00

Senior Choir

07:15-07:45

Junior Choir

07:30-08:00

Academic Assembly 08:30

CAM Heritage Day Celebrations

09:30-10:30

Report handout to pupils@10:30

School Closes for holiday

@10:30

Mon 22 Sept

Tues 23 Sept

Wed 24 Sept

Thurs 25 Sept

Fri 26 Sept

Chamber Choir

07:30-08:00

SGB AGM 14:00-15:00

Trolley Dash @18:00@PnP

Senior Choir

07:15-07:45

Junior Choir

07.30-08:00

Detention

14:00-15:00

Team Tennis with Mr Thiart 14:00-15:30

Team Swimming (selected girls)

14:00-14:30

Heritage Day/ Public Holiday

Senior Choir

07:15-07:45

Junior Choir

7.30-08:00

Chamber Choir

14:00-14:45

Team Swimming (selected girls)

14:00-14:30

Grade 5 Maths Interventions

14:00 to 15:00

Orchestra

13:00-14:00

Chamber Choir

13:00-14:00

VP Newsletter 12 September 2025

12th Sep 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

Finances are never a pleasant topic of discussion, but they are always a necessary one. Having recently completed the 2026 budget, we are deeply concerned about the amount of outstanding school fees and the growing number of bad debts.

There also seems to be a misconception that, when parents do not pay their fees, the Department of Education covers the shortfall. This is far from the truth. At present, our school receives just R203 per child per year (Grade 1-7 only) and currently only 12 of our 26 teachers are paid by the Department of Education. Beyond this allocation, the school relies entirely on school fees to maintain the high standard of education and facilities that Victoria Primary is known for.

School fees are due monthly, termly, or in full at the beginning of the year, and they must be fully paid by 7 November 2025. Unfortunately, a number of parents are in arrears and are then surprised when further action is taken to recover the outstanding amounts. We ask these parents to reflect: who do you expect to pay for your child’s education if not you?

Victoria Primary is a school of choice because of its smaller classes, excellent extramural programme, and well-maintained campus. However, we cannot sustain this without fees being paid. Without fee income, we will not be able to afford SGB-paid teachers, and classes of 37- 40 children per class will become unavoidable. Every parent who enrols their child at VP signs a contract acknowledging that this is a fee-paying school and commits to paying those fees. Yet, too often, other expenses and luxuries are prioritised above a child’s education.

In addition, the PTA works hard to raise funds for projects that fall outside the school fee budget. In recent years, PTA fundraising has provided rain tanks, an inverter and solar panels, and the creative space – all of which benefit every child. These initiatives are only possible when parents support them. At present, our Trolley Dash fundraiser is underway. We ask that each family sells at least one booklet. This is a small amount of effort with a big impact. (Please remember that all booklets and payments are due on Monday).

We appeal to all parents to honour their commitments and support both the school fee structure and PTA initiatives. Together, we can ensure that Victoria Primary remains the special place it is for every child.

SGB AGM

Worker of the Week

Well done to Kaya Jones for her lovely work in isiXhosa. Keep up the good work, Kaya!

Rhythmic Gymnastics

Congratulation to Mary-Kate Ferbruarie and Kazlin de Maar who participated in the Eastern Cape District Rhythmic Gymnastics trials on Saturday, 30 August. Mary-Kate received an overall 6^th place and Kazlin an overall 2^nd placing. They both received their district colours in Rhythmic Gymnastics.

Well done, Kazlin and Mary-Kate!

Highland Dancing

On Saturday, 6 September, Libby Everton competed in the 92nd South African Highland Dancing Championship in Gauteng. She received three bronze ribbons and two fourths. In addition, the studio she dances for won the award as the second-best studio at the competition. Well done, Libby!

Grade 7 Outing

On Friday, 19 September, our Grade 7 girls will enjoy a special outing to Boknes at the coast, where they will participate in an educational walk to Dias Cross.

This outing provides a wonderful opportunity for the girls to be active, appreciate the outdoors, and strengthen friendships in a fun and healthy setting.

Parents are kindly reminded to ensure that the girls bring a sun hat, sunscreen, a water bottle, and their own packed lunch for the day. Comfortable walking shoes are also highly recommended. Learners should be picked up promptly at 16:00 from the Pre-primary gate.

Music

We are thrilled to be hosting the ABRSM examiner next week, and we wish our musicians the best of luck for their exams. As part of their tour of our region, the examiner would like to engage with music teachers, parents and learners to discuss the ABRSM exams and answer our questions in an informal setting. Please feel free to join us for this discussion, which will take place in the school hall on Monday afternoon, 15 September at 16:00.

Interhouse Athletics 2025

Congratulations to our girls on a wonderful interhouse athletics day and a special thanks to Ms Britz-Nel for organising the event. Thank you to the many parents who supported us on the day.

A special mention to our Fern relay team who broke the U11 relay record consisting of Nalu Mfiki, Lunathi Makasi, Phumelela Nikelo and Emihle Kulati

Well done to the winners of the various events:

Ladder Relay

Aloe First 1:44:17

4 x 100 Relay

U9 Arum 1:19:41
U10 Arum 1:11:13
U11 Fern 1:06:80
U12 Disa 1:07:17
U13 Fern 1:05:31

80m

U9 Amahle Mchunu 15:11
U10 Alunamida Jakavula t 14:13
U11 Nalu Mfiki 13:35
U12 Bridget Akpeng 14:14

100m

U9 Ndalo Mvula 18.691
U10 Taylynne Thomas 17.76
U11 Nalu Mfiki 16:25
U12 Lunje Manzana 16:58
U13 Micarlin Daniels 16:96

150m

U9 Amahle Mchunu 25:10
U10 Alunamida Jakavula 23:21
U11 Nalu Mfiki 22:26

200m

U12 Lunje Manzana 32:47
U13 Micarlin Daniels 31.26

U14 Iviwe Masoma 39:76

400m

U9 Amahle Mchunu 1:25:88
U10 Oluhle Mpati 1:22:89
U11 Nalu Mfiki 1:23:64
U12 Lunje Manzana 1:17:50
U13 Micarlin Daniels 1:18:29
U14 Oyintando Sinam 2:03:14

800m

U10 Mivuyo Santi 3:16:55
U11 Nalu Mfiki First 3:11:35
U12 Siarra Appollis 3:01:41
U13 Micarlin Daniels 3:03:54
U14 Zazi Gqamana 4:04:24

1200 m

U10 Oluhle Mpati 5:09:21
U11 Nalu Mfiki 5:16:35

1500m

U12 Esona Makabe 6:19:01
U13 Anathi Mbandlakazi 6:38:07
U14 Zazi Gqamana 9:09:03

Individual Awards:

Top Points Achievers:

U9 Amahle Mchunu
U10 Taylynne Thomas
U11 Nalu Mfiki
U12 Lunje Manzana
U13 Micarlin Daniels
U14 Zazi Gqamana

Best Track Athlete

U9 Amahle Mchunu
U10 Alunamida Jakavula
U11 Nalu Mfiki
U12 Lunje Manzana
U13 Micarlin Daniels
U14 Zazi Gqamana

Best Field Athletes

U9 Amahle Mchunu
U10 Taylynne Thomas
U11 Emihle Kulati
U12 Lunje Manzana
U13 Kayleah Evans
U14 Zazi Gqamana

Trophies

Victrix Ludorum

U9 Amahle Mchunu
Junior: Nalu Mfiki
Senior: Lunje Manzana
Best Overall Field Athlete:

Amahla Mchunu and Emihle Kulati

Best Overall Track Athlete:

Nalu Mfiki

Most Courageous Athlete: Annabelle Olivier

Interhouse Athletics Positions

1st Fern

2nd Arum

3rd Aloe

4th Disa

Extramurals Grade 4-7

Please see the schedule for the next two weeks at the end of this newsletter. There will be no other extramurals.

Triangular Athletics

On Tuesday, 16 September VP will compete against DSG/Prep and Kingswood in our annual Triangular Athletics at Kingswood College. A reminder that the girls need to wear their match shirts, black short, short white socks and takkies under their school tracksuit.

The girls will be transported to Kingswood at 13:00 and the program will start at 14:00. Girls must please be collected from Kingswood at 16:00. The girls involved have received a letter.

Birthday wishes

We wish the following girls a very happy birthday for this week: Lolwethu Makana, Olothando Kanyiwe, Aleah Molefe, Iris Patel, Cayden Strauss, Ntandoyenkosi Tyelbooi, Waishe Magadza, Lisakhanya Mjoli and Hlalumi Mali. We hope you have a lovely day!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Upcoming events

Mon

15/09

Grade 4 assembly @10:15

Tues

16/09

Athletics Triangular @KC at 14:00

Fri

19/09

Grade 7 outing

Extramural programme Grade 4-7 (15 September – 3 October)

Monday 15 Sept	Tuesday 16 Sept	Wednesday 17 Sept	Thursday Sept	Friday 19 Sept
Chamber Choir 07:30-08:00 Team Swimming (selected girls) 14:00-14:30 Chess: 14h00 – 15h00	Senior Choir 07:15-07:45 Trolley Dash Draw @ 1st Break Triangular Athletics 14:00-16:00 Team Tennis with Mr Thiart 14:00-15:30 (Triangular takes preference)	Senior Choir 07:15-07:45 Junior Choir 07:30-08:00 Team Swimming (selected girls) 14:00-14:30 Grade 5 Maths interventions 14:00-15:00	Senior Choir 07:15-07:45 Junior Choir 07:30-08:00 Outreach committee Meeting. 14h00 to 15h00	Grade 7 Outing Orchestra 13:00-14:00 No Chamber Choir(due to Gr7 outing)
Monday 22 Sept	Tuesday 23 Sept	Wednesday 24 Sept	Thursday 25 Sept	Friday 26 Sept
Chamber Choir 07:30-08:00 SGB AGM 14:00-15:00 Trolley Dash @ 18:00@ PnP	Senior Choir 07:15-07:45 Junior Choir 07.30-08:00 Detention 14:00-15:00 Team Tennis with Mr Thiart 14:00-15:30 Team Swimming (selected girls) 14:00-14:30 Chess: 14:00 to 15:00	Heritage Day/ Public Holiday	Senior Choir 07:15-07:45 Junior Choir 7.30-08:00 Chamber Choir 14:00-14:45 Team Swimming (selected girls) 14:00-14:30 Grade 5 Maths Interventions 14:00 to 15:00	Orchestra 13:00-14:00 Chamber Choir 13:00-14:00
Monday 29 Sept	Tuesday 30 Sept	Wednesday, 1 Oct	Thursday, 2 Oct	Friday, 3 Oct
Chamber Choir 07:30-08:00 Team Swimming (selected girls) 14:00-14:30 Chess research on Chromebooks. 14:00 to 14:30 (Bring earphones)	Senior Choir 07:15-07:45 Team Swimming (selected girls) 14:00-14:30 Chess research on Chromebooks. 14:00 to 14:30 (Bring earphones)	Senior Choir 07:15-07:45 Possible second SGB AGM if quorum is not met 14:00-15:00 Junior Choir 07:30-08:00	Senior Choir 07:15-07:45 Junior Choir 07:30-08:00	Academic Assembly 08:30 CAM Heritage Day Celebrations 09:30-11:30 Report handout to pupils.11:30-12:00 School Closes for holiday @ 12:00

VP Newsletter 5 September 2025

5th Sep 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

I was so immensely proud of our interhouse and best speakers competitors, not because we won both categories (okay a little because of that) but mostly because of how incredibly poised and confident our girls were when presenting themselves. They truly were wonderful ambassadors for our school. They also displayed wonderful camaraderie and support for each other, they were engaging with those around them, and also added in some delightful humour. I was so proud.

What can we do to ensure that our daughters grow to be self-assured young women who are accepting of themselves and present themselves confidently? I love this advice from

https://www.myparenttoolkit.com/blog/raising-confident-girls

Show her you notice and are listening

If we are our daughters’ number one role models (at least in their earlier years), then we need to ensure that we have a strong, positive relationship with them. They need to feel they can trust us, that we are reliable and they can come to us WHENEVER. And that when they do come to us, we take the time to notice them and truly listen to what they have to say.That sends them the message that they are important and that what they have to say matters.

Don’t try to fix her problems

Our daughters often are looking for their feelings to be validated. In these situations, it’s our role to help them understand their emotions and help them learn how to process and manage them. Sometimes they don’t need any particular reaction, comment or advice. They just want to get it out and have an audience. It might be processing something that has happened, processing a thought or an emotion or just wanting to share a story.

If she asks, help her brainstorm solutions. If talking about friendships or social issues, offer to help role-play difficult situations. If she can practice talking and asserting herself with you at home, she will feel more confident doing so in front of her peers.

Encourage a Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is a belief that your capabilities and talents can be developed through practice and effort. Children with a growth mindset believe that by trying, they can improve and achieve. Such children display qualities such as measured risk-taking and perseverance.They embrace challenges. Rather than internalise and personalise mistakes, they learn from them and try differently the next time.

Having a growth mindset leads to higher self-esteem, which is a core belief about your own value, your strengths and weaknesses. A strong self-esteem stems primarily from parental involvement in childhood that approves, acknowledges and accepts the child for who they are, their efforts and strategies.

Mama, model a healthy self-esteem

It starts with you. You need to believe you are good enough. That you are a strong, intelligent, capable, loving, kind, compassionate, beautiful woman. Your words and body language scream out how you feel about yourself.

Look after yourself. Stay active, physically strong to show you respect your body and health.

Discourage Comparison

Help your daughter feel unique. Don’t compare her to others. Notice her for who she IS, not who you expect her to be.

Tell her that you believe in her. Just. As. She. Is. She needs to receive that message repeatedly from you.

Building confidence in your daughter isn’t a linear path. Your daughter is her beautiful, unique self and her path to figuring out who she is and what she stands for will be her own individual journey. You are there to guide her. To give her that unconditional love and approval that tells her that she’s okay. That you’re there for her no matter what. That she is loved no matter what.

“I think the best role models for women are people who are fruitfully and confidently themselves, who bring light into the world.” – Meryl Streep

We wish our girls all the best for interhouse athletics today. Run well, girls! Thank you to our parents for their support.

Worker/s of the Week

Well done to Caitlin Bodill, Madison Conroy, Zoë Butters, Leah Doyle and Tessanne Arries who will share the Worker of the Week this week for their group project on dance in LSPA (Ballet). Good job, girls!

Personality of the Week

Congratulations to Oyi Sinam for being our POW this week for her Positive Attitude. Keep it up, Oyi.

Merit Achievers

Well done to Silubonile Royi and Riekie Mabaso who have received over 250 merits so far this year.

Mathematics Challenge

It is our pleasure to congratulate Anna Malamis in Grade 4 and Makatendeka Chakona in Grade 6, on obtaining bronze certificates in the second round of the 2025 South African Mathematics Challenge. Well done, girls!

Eastern Cape Chess

We are proud to announce that Ella Radovic, Alibongwe Mthembu, Bridget Akpeng, and Lusenathi Ntoyanto will be representing us at the Eastern Cape Chess Championships in Gqeberha on 6-7 September.

It’s going to be a challenging two days filled with brainpower, strategy, and focus – and we couldn’t be prouder of their dedication and hard work. No matter the outcome, participating in this prestigious competition is already a remarkable achievement. We wish them all the very best for an exciting and rewarding tournament!

Cross Country

Congratulations to Lunje Manzana who represented Sarah Baartman in Port St Johns on Saturday, 30 August. The competition was tough but she finished strong. We are proud of you, Lunje!

Grade 6&7 Social

Our much anticipated Grade 6 and 7 VP/Graeme Social is set to happen tonight Friday, 5 September at Graeme College. The event starts at 18:00 and ends at 20:55. Your daughter must be fetched promptly at 21:00. Please enter through the top main gate and exit through the hostel bottom gate in Templeton Drive. There is a R20 entrance fee and a tuckshop will be available.

A reminder that cellphones are not permitted. Please ensure that your daughter is dressed appropriately.

We are certain that this will bring much excitement in your home and we hope for it to be a fun-filled and memorable evening for your daughter.

MUSIC

Save the date

The Junior, Senior and Chamber choirs will perform at a concert on Monday, 29 September at 17:30. The programme will include the Herbert Hurd choir, which will be on tour.

Reminder

Parent musicians (string and woodwind) are encouraged to join us for the Carol Service on Thursday, 20 November. If you are interested, or if you would like to know more, please contact Dr. Wynne at d.wynne@victoriaprimary.co.za

SGB AGM

A reminder that we will be having the School Governing Body, Annual General Meeting on Monday, 22 September at 14:00 in the Glennie Hall. The 2026 Budget will be available at the school office for viewing as from Monday, 8 September 2025.

Trolley Dash

Please encourage your daughter to sell her Trolley Dash tickets. The booklets and money must please be returned to school by Monday, 15 September. If your family have already sold one booklet your daughter is welcome to collect more booklets to sell from her class teacher. Five lucky finalists will be drawn on Wednesday, 17 September; four will receive a Pick ‘n Pay voucher and one lucky winner stands a chance to win a 90 seconds Trolley Dash at Pick ‘n Pay on Monday, 22 September at 18:00. This is always such an exciting fundraiser. Please sell to all your family and friends.

Athletics programme Grade 3-7

The girls who are selected for the Athletics Triangular will receive their letters and a programme on Monday.

The rest of the girls are expected to do fitness on their specific days as listed below. Chess, Library, Reading, Art Club, Interventions, Chamber Choir and Orchestra will carry on as usual.

Mon

Tues

Wed

Thurs

No Sport

U10/U11/U12/U13

High Jump

14:15-15:00

KC/

Coetzee/

Daniels

U10/U11/U12/U13

Long Jump

15:00-15:45

Sauls/

Vongo/

Siyazi

Team Tennis

14:00-15:30

U9/U10/U11/U12/U13

Cricket Ball 14:15-15:00

Goodes/

Mgogo/

Ntabeni

U12/U13

Shotput

14:15-14:45

Christian

U9/U10/U11/U12/U13

Long distance running with Mrs Rafferty @ Rhodes

15:00-16:00

U9/U10/U11/U12/U13

14:15-15:00

Relay teams

Britz-Nel/

Christian/

Le Roux

U10/U11

Running

Mc Namara

14:15-15:15

Team Tennis

14:00-15:00

Open Tennis

15h00-16h00

Fitness

Grade 4- 5

Stirk/De Klerk/

Du Plooy

Fitness

Grade 6

Songongo/

De Klerk/ Stirk

Fitness

Grade 7

Kruger/

Du Plooy/

Siyazi

Birthday wishes

We wish the following girls a very happy birthday for this week: Zamaleta Ngesi, Naima Ntsepo, Tawana-Nyasha Thondlana, Ukum Pikoli, Lakhe Jubase, Grace Ruwanza, Ophilayo Same and Lulo Adam. We hope you have a lovely day!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Upcoming events

Fri 5/09

Interhouse Athletics @Rhodes track (all Gr. 3-7s)

No extramurals

Grade 6&7 Social @GC

VP Newsletter 29 August 2025

29th Aug 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

I can’t believe Monday is the first day of September and Spring Day! I am glad to see the end of winter but can’t believe how quickly the weeks and months have gone by this year.

I love spring as it comes with a renewed sense of joy and excitement, and days filled with brightness and warmth! I look forward to our school being filled with our beautiful girls covered in colour and blossoms on Monday! Happy spring to all our VP families!

Worker of the Week

Well done to Zintle Magongo in Grade 7 for her excellent article on Sustainable Energy of NS. Keep up the good work, Zintle.

Personality of the Week

Congratulations to Rose Chirombo who was presented her POW certificate in assembly for her Honesty. Thank you, Rose.

Merit Achievers

Lianke Cordier and Lulo Adam have received over 250 merits so far this year! Keep up the hard work, girls!

Assembly

We have our last class presenting their assembly on Monday. We look forward to the Grade 1Cs presentation. Parents are most welcome to join us. The assembly will start at 10:15.

Interschool Best Speakers & General Knowledge

Last night Graeme College hosted VP for our annual inter-schools Best Speaker and General Knowledge competition. The evening was filled with excellent orators, interesting perspectives on their topics, and an incredibly close and exciting General Knowledge session! Well done to our Best Speakers who took part, and a special congratulations to Luhle Songongo who tied for First Place in Grade 4, to Bridget Akpeng for First Place in Grade 6, and Mila McConnachie for First Place in Grade 7!

A big congratulations also goes to our General Knowledge team: Aliyah Bezuidenhout, Mila Nongubo, Uzosule Kanana, and Iviwe Jakavula, who won the evening by one point allowing us to bring the General Knowledge trophy back home!

Well done again to all involved, and thank you to our parents for your continued support and encouragement!

Grade 6&7 Social

Our much anticipated Grade 6 & 7 VP/Graeme Social is set to happen on Friday, 5 September at Graeme College. The event starts at 18:00 and your daughter needs to be fetched promptly at 21:00.

Athletics Pre-event results 2025

We had the finals for our four field events this week. Well done to our Top 3 in each event

Shot Put

U/12

Moriarty, Christelle
Chrisjan, Siphesihle
Nongxaza, Mivuyo

U/13

Dyantyi, Lulo
Williams, Junaid
Nkatsha, Zama

U/14

Gqamana, Zazi
Makeba, Aligugu
Masoma, Iviwe

Cricket Ball

U/9

Evans, Alegra
Mchunu, Amahle
Orsmond, Halle

U/10

Thomas, Taylynne
Mzileni, Zothando
Kewuti, Ezokuhle

U/11

Kulati, Emihle
Orsmond, Isla
Lande, Siphesihle

U/12

Chrisjan, Siphesihle
Manzana, Lunje
Khila, Ndaloentle

U/13

Nongubo, Mila
Stamper, Esethu
Evans, Kayleah

U/14

Gqamana, Zazi
Masoma, Iviwe
Makeba, Aligugu

Long Jump

U/9

Mchunu, Amahle
Mani, Ingcali-Yomso
Orsmond, Halle

U/10

Peter, Lunje
Santi, Mivuyo
Swart, Aliyah

U/11

Mfiki, Nalo
Kulati, Emihle
Orsmond, Isla

U/12

Apakeng, Bridget
Ndebele, Siseko
Apreku, Michelle

U/13

Tladi, Isabella
Benyane, Liyabona
Evans, Kayleah

U/14

Gqamana, Zazi

High Jump

U/9

Mani,Ingcali-Yomso
Mchunu, Amahle
Orsmond, Halle

U/10

Musarurwa,Chanelle
Thondhlana,Anopa
Swartz, Aliyah

U/11

Nini, Etinosa
Kulati, Emihle
Chrisjan, Kendra

U/12

Manzana, Lunje
Tshiki, Lunje
Mvula, Bubele

U/13

Daniels, Micarlin
Evans, Kayleah
Zweni, Limnandi

U/14

Masoma, Iviwe

1200m

U/10

Mpati, Oluhle
Santi, Mivuyo
Frazer, Carla

U/11

Mfiki, Nalu
Orsmond, Isla
Kulati, Emihle

1500m

U/12

Makabe, Esona
Manzana, Lunje
Appollis, Siarra

U/13

Mbandlakazi, Anathi
Evans, Kayleah
Benyane, Liyabona

U/14

Gqamana, Zazi
Sinam, Oyintando
Masoma, Iviwe

Interhouse Athletics day

The track events will take place at the Rhodes Prospect Field on Friday, 5 September. All Grade 3-7 girls must be dropped off directly at the Rhodes Track at 07:30 and be collected at 13:00.

Girls are to be dressed in their black shorts (NO SKORTS) and official house shirts under their tracksuits. Please ensure that your daughter has a well-fitting supportive sports bra, if she requires one, so that she is able to run with confidence.

Girls must have lunch and snacks and enough water for the day. There will be no tuckshop. Girls also need to wear sunscreen and a school cap.

Athletics schedule for next week:

Monday, 1 September 2025

U9/U10/U11 80m, 100m, 150m,200m @14h00-14h45 – Mrs Britz-Nel/Ms Christian/Miss Le Roux

Fitness Grade 3 & 4 @14h00-15h00 – Ms Stirk/Ms de Klerk/Ms Siyazi

Long Jump Top 3 U9/U10/U11 @14h15-15h00 Mrs Sauls/Ms Vongo
High Jump Top 3 U9/U10/U11 @14h15-15h00 Ms Knott-Craig/ Mrs Coetzee/ Mr Daniels
U12/U13 running Miss Mc Namara @14h15-15h15

Tuesday, 2 September 2025

U12/U13/U14 80m, 100m, 150m,200m @14h00-14h45 – Mrs Britz-Nel/Ms Christian/Ms Le Roux

Cricket Ball top and Shot put Top 3 U12/U13 @14h15-15h00 – Mrs Mgogo/Mrs Goodes/Ms Ntabeni

Fitness Grade 6 @14h00-15h00 – Ms Stirk/Ms de Klerk/Ms Siyazi

Team Tennis @14h00-15h30

Wednesday, 3 September 2025

U9/U10/U11/U12/U13 @14h00-15h00 Relay teams: Mrs Britz-Nel/Ms Christian/Ms Le Roux/ Mr Daniels
Fitness Grade 5 @14h00-15h00 – Mrs Goodes/Mrs Mgogo/Mrs Kruger/Ms Songongo

No Art Club this week

No Rhodes track this week

Thursday, 4 September 2025

Fitness Grade 7 @14h00-15h00 – Mrs Kruger/Ms Songongo

Long Jump Top 3 U12/U13 @14h15-15h00 – Mrs Sauls/Ms Vongo

High Jump Top 3 U12/U13 @14h15-15h00 – Ms Knott-Craig/ Mrs Coetzee

Open Tennis with Miss Purdon @14h00-15h00
U10/U11 running Miss Mc Namara @14h15-15h15

Friday, 5 September 2025

07:30-13:00 Interhouse athletics @Rhodes track

All Grade 3-7s. No extramurals.

Netball

On Saturday, 23 August, our juniors wrapped up their season with great spirit. The U10 and U11 teams took part in the Citrus Sports Day at Sunday’s River Primary, while the U9s competed at the DJ Malan Netball Day in Fort Beaufort. Despite tough matches, our girls showed resilience and determination, with the U11s finishing strong against Innes Primary.

A big thank you to our coaches, VP staff, and community for their support throughout the season. Congratulations to Mbalentle Niwa (U10) and Zenkosi Mati (U11), who were named Players of the Match in their respective teams!

Interdistrict Cross Country

Good luck to Lunje Manzana as she represents the Sarah Baartman district in Port St John’s tomorrow. Run well Lunje, we are proud of you.

U10 Graaff-Reinet tournament

We wish our U10 A&B hockey teams all the best for their tournament this week at Union High. Travel safely and have fun, girls!

Netball coaching course

Mr Buka, Mrs Mgogo, Ms Casling and Ms Vongo will be attending a Level 1 netball coaching course in Somerset East this weekend. We are sure that this will be a valuable course and will be beneficial to our girls. Travel safely!

Chess

Congratulations to Lusenathi Ntoyanto, Ella Radovic and Bridget Akpeng who have made it throught to the EC Closed Chess Championships. Well done!

Shoot for the Moon production

Our girls will all be treated to another delightful Shoot for the Moon production on Thursday, 4 September. This term they will be seeing Fantastic, Fearless Woman.

Trolley Dash

Birthday wishes

We wish the following staff member and girls a very happy birthday for this week: Ms Songongo, Siarra Appollis, Balelihle Jadi, Abigail Jojo, Thorin Prince, Lunje Tshiki, Lianke Cordier, Christelle Moriarty, Likuwe Qononda, Sibongakonke Zigayi and Yumna Suleman. We hope you have a lovely day!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Upcoming events

Fri 29/08	Boarders’ Leave Out
Sat 30/08	U10 Mini Hockey Festival Interdistricts Cross Country
Sun 31/08	Boarders return to hostel
Mon 1/09	Spring Day Civvies (R10) Grade 1C present assembly @10:15
Thurs 4/09	Shoot for the Moon production
Fri 5/09	Interhouse Athletics @Rhodes track (all Gr. 3-7s) Grade 6&7 Social @GC

VP Newsletter 22 August 2025

22nd Aug 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

I came across this article and thought it was important to share.

Dr. Ovidio, Pediatric Neurologist, warns about a silent tragedy unfolding in our homes today.

There is a silent tragedy unfolding in our homes today, and it concerns our most precious jewels: our children. Our children are in a devastating emotional state! Over the past 15 years, researchers have gifted us increasingly alarming statistics about an acute and steady increase in childhood mental illness that is now reaching epidemic proportions:

The statistics don’t lie:

1 in 5 children has mental health problems
A 43% increase in ADHD has been noticed
A 37% increase in teenage depression has been noticed
A 200% increase in the suicide rate in children aged 10 to 14 has been noticed

What is going on and what are we doing wrong?

Children today are being over-stimulated and over-gifted with material objects, but are deprived of the fundamentals of a healthy childhood, such as:

Emotionally available parents
Clearly Defined Boundaries
Responsibilities
Balanced nutrition and adequate sleep
Movement in general but especially outdoors
Creative play, social interaction, unstructured play opportunities and spaces for boredom

On the other hand, these last few years have been filled with children of:

Digitally Distracted Parents
Forgiving and permissive parents who let children “rule the world” and be the ones who make the rules
A sense of entitlement, of deserving everything without earning it or being responsible for getting it
Poor sleep and unbalanced nutrition
A sedentary lifestyle
Endless stimulation, technological nannies, instant gratification and absence of dull moments

What to do?

If we want our children to be happy and healthy individuals, we need to wake up and get back to the basics. It’s still possible! Many families see immediate improvement after weeks of implementing the following recommendations:

Set limits and remember that you are the captain of the ship. Your kids will feel safer knowing you have the control of the helm.
Offer children a balanced lifestyle full of what children NEED, not just what they WANT. Don’t be afraid to say “no” to your kids if what they want isn’t what they need.
Provide nutritious food and limit junk food.
Spend at least one hour a day outdoors doing activities such as: cycling, hiking, fishing, bird/insect watching
Enjoy a daily family dinner without smartphones or technology distracting them.
Play board games as a family or if the children are too young for board games, let them lead their interests and let them be the ones who rule the game
Involve your children in some task or household chores according to their age (folding clothes, sorting toys, hanging clothes, unpacking groceries, setting the table, feeding the dog, etc.)
Implement a consistent sleep routine to ensure your child gets enough sleep. The timetables will be even more important for school-age children.

Teach responsibility and independence. Don’t overprotect them against any frustration or any mistake. Making mistakes will help you develop resilience and learn to overcome life’s challenges,
Do not carry your children’s backpack, do not take their backpacks, do not take them the homework they forgot, do not peel their bananas or oranges if they can do it by themselves (4-5 years). Instead of giving them the fish, teach them how to fish.
Teach them to wait and delay gratification.
Provide opportunities for “boredom”, because boredom is the moment when creativity awakens. Doesn’t feel responsible for always keeping the kids entertained.
Do not use technology as a cure for boredom, nor offer it to the first second of inactivity.
Avoid the use of technology during meals, in cars, restaurants, shopping centers. Use these moments as opportunities to socialize by training the brains to know how to function when they are in the mood: “boredom”
Help them create a “jar of boredom” with activity ideas for when they are bored.
Be emotionally available to connect with children and teach them self-regulation and social skills
Turn off phones at night when kids have to go to bed to avoid digital distraction.
Become an emotional regulator or coach for your children. Teach them to acknowledge and manage their own frustrations and anger.
Teach them to greet, to take turns, to share without anything, to say thank you and please, to acknowledge the mistake and apologise, be a model of all those values you instill.
Connect emotionally – smile, hug, kiss, tickle, read, dance, jump, play or crawl with them.

Article written by Dr. Luis Rojas Marcos, Psychiatrist.

Worker of the Week

Well done to Audrey Matanda in Grade 2 for her lovely creative story in English. Keep up the good work, Audrey!

Personality of the Week

Well done to Zothando Mzileni who received her certificate for POW at our assembly for the camaraderie that she displays to her classmates. Thank you for being a good friend, Zothando!

Merit Achiever

Well done to Kulowo Msipa who has received over 250 merits so far this year.

Assembly

On Monday Grade 1O will present their assembly. The assembly starts at 10:15. Parents are welcome to join us.

Music

Music pupils are reminded that they will play their scales tests next week, and their Term 3 assessments the week after.

Interschool Best Speakers and General Knowledge competitions

Please join us on Thursday, 28 August at Graeme College Hall at 17:30 for our annual inter-schools Best Speakers and General Knowledge competition! The General Knowledge will follow on after Best Speakers and we expect to end at 19:00. The VP Best Speakers are: Luhle Songongo (Grade 4); Emihle Kulati (Grade 5); Bridget Akpeng (Grade 6); and Mila McConnachie (Grade 7).

Our General Knowledge team is made up of the following girls: Aliyah Bezuidenhout; Iviwe Jakavula; Mila Nongubo; Uzosule Kanana. Reserve: Isabella Tladi

Parents are very welcome. Your support would mean so much to our girls! Good luck to our speakers and GK team!

District Cross Country Championships – Jeffrey’s Bay

Twelve of our learners proudly represented the school at the District Cross Country Championships in Jeffrey’s Bay. Isla Orsmond, Nalu Mfiki, Esona Makabe, Siarra Appollis, and Lunje Manzana all finished in the top 10 of their races. A special congratulations goes to Lunje Manzana, who placed 3rd and qualified for the Provincial Championships on 29–30 August.

We are also delighted to announce that Half Colours for Cross Country will be awarded to Micarlin Daniels, Liyabona Benyane, Anathi Mbandlakazi, Esona Makabe and Siarra Appollis, while Full Colours will be awarded to Lunje Manzana.

Well done to all our participants on this outstanding achievement!

We wish Lunje all the best as she participates in the national cross-country event in Port Shepstone on Saturday, 30 August. She will travel with Ms Christian who is the district cross-country manager. Safe travels to you both.

Dance

On Friday, 15 August six VP girls took part in The Kings School Port Alfred, Eisteddfod.

Amari Funani received a Silver Award in the contemporary solo category.

Ngcwele Manyati received Gold for her performance in the Jazz solo category.

Siyasisanda Nene received Gold for her contemporary solo performance.

Amari and Ngwele received a Gold Award in the contemporary trio category.

Christelle Moriarty received a Silver for her group performance.

A ballet group performance including Amari, Ngcwele, Siyasisanda and Christelle received a Gold Award.

Alibongwe Mthembu received a Merit award for her ballet solo.

Alibongwe and Zaya Dembaza received a Merit Award for their ballet trio performance.

Well done, girls!

Trolley Dash

Please encourage your daughter to sell her Trolley Dash tickets. The booklets and money must please be returned to

school by Monday, 15 September. If your family have already sold one booklet your daughter is welcome to collect more booklets to sell from her class teacher. Five lucky finalists will be drawn on Wednesday, 17 September; four will receive a Pick ‘n Pay voucher and one lucky winner stands a chance to win a 90 seconds Trolley Dash at Pick ‘n Pay on Monday, 22 September at 18:00. This is always such an exciting fundraiser. Please sell to all your family and friends.

Athletics Finals 25-29th August 2025

Next week we will have our Athletics Field event finals. The following sport extramurals will take place for the selected U9-U14. Cultural, library and intervention extramurals will continue as usual. Girls must please check the notice board to see whether they are in the athletics final.

Monday: 14h00-16h00 High Jump: U9/U10/U11- Mrs Coetzee/Ms KC/Mr Daniels & Long jump: U12/U13/U14 – Mrs Britz-Nel/Mrs Sauls/Ms Vongo/Ms du Plooy

14h00-15h00 Fitness: U9/U10/U11 – Ms Siyazi/Ms de Klerk/Ms Le Roux/Ms Mc Namara

14:00-15:00 U10 Graaff-Reinet team practice – Ms Stirk

Tuesday: 14h00-16h00 Cricket Ball: U12/U13/U14 – Mrs Goodes/Mrs Mgogo/ Ms Ntabeni & Shot put: U12/U13/U14 – Ms Christian/Ms Songongo/Ms Makeba

14h00-15h00 Fitness: U12/U13/U14 – Ms Stirk/Ms Siyazi/Ms de Klerk/Ms Le Roux

14h00-15h30 Team Tennis (Athletics finals will take preference)

Wednesday: 14h00-15h30 Cricket Ball: U9/U10/U11 – Mrs Goodes/Mrs Mgogo/Ms Christian/

14h00-15h00 Fitness: U9/U10/U11 – Mrs Kruger/Ms Songongo/Ms Mc Namara

14h00-15h00 U10 Graaff-Reinet team practice – Ms Knott Craig

15h00-16h00 Long Distance: U9-U14 – Mrs Rafferty

Thursday: 14h00-16h00 High Jump: U12/U13/U14 – Mrs Coetzee/Ms Knott-Craig/Mr Daniels & Long jump: U9/U10/U11 – Mrs Britz-Nel/Mrs Sauls/Ms Vongo/Ms du Plooy

14h00-15h00 Fitness: U12/U13/U14 – Ms Songongo/Mrs Kruger/Ms Casling

Friday: 07h30 1200/1500m final- Rhodes Prospect field

Birthday wishes

We wish Ms R. Coetzee a very happy birthday for last week and celebrate this week with Ms Delport, Sibabalwe Kulati, Nalu Mfiki, Aaliyah Mntungwa, Konwaba Qononda, Sibabalwe Sokhanyile, Ndaloyothando Koza, Unakho Fetsha, Amila Ndandani, Alunamda Rafa and McKenzie Pringle. We hope you have a lovely day!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Upcoming events

Fri 22/08 No Chamber Choir & Orchestra & Grade 7 Committee meetings

Sat 23/08 U9A&B Netball DJ Malan Sports Day @Fort Beaufort & U10&U11 Netball Citrus Festival @Sundays River

Mon 25/08 Assembly 1O @10:15

Tues 26/08 PTA meeting

Thurs 28/08 Interschool Best Speakers & General Knowledge

Fri 29/08 Boarders’ Leave Out

Sat 30/08 U10 Mini Hockey Festival & Provincial Cross Country

Sun 31/08 Boarders’ return to hostel

Mon 1/09 Spring Day – Civvies Day (R10)

VP Newsletter 15 August 2025

15th Aug 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

This past week I finally plucked up the courage to watch the series of Adolescence. Amongst all the hype, I did not have the nerve to watch it, but I finally did. What a heart-wrenching series! Yes, because I am an educator who works with children every day but more so, I felt it as a mother. I can’t imagine that the series left anyone unaffected as it poses many pertinent parenting questions that linger in your thoughts for days after.

What struck me the most is that we need to take the responsibility of being the adults in our children’s lives very seriously – seems obvious but it doesn’t always happen. We have to make difficult decisions on behalf of our children as we should and do know better and we should love them enough to do so even if they think it is being unkind or unfair and even if their friend’s parents are doing things differently. If we are choosing the easier option for ourselves or to avoid conflict, then we need to take responsibility and be accountable for the outcomes of giving in to our children when we shouldn’t, and the more often we do give in, the harder it is to keep our boundaries.

VP took the stand to advocate for no smart phones for children under the age of 14. This is to protect them from what they can be exposed to online (on any screen), to the bullying that can happen on social media, the unrealistic expectation that they are exposed to and the complete breakdown of their childhood innocence because they are simply too young to make informed decisions to protect themselves. If we reduce our children’s sugar intake they may have a tantrum because they are addicted to it – but we would do it because we know it is good for their health. The same should apply to cellphone use and allowing our children access to the internet. I do not believe that children have a right to their privacy when it comes to cellphone use, if you have decided to allow them to have one – you should be monitoring what is happening on their phones – otherwise it is pretty much like giving your child a massive bag of sweets and expecting them to be wise with them.

We must be involved in our children’s lives, we must have rules and we must protect our children’s childhood and innocence – we must be the adult. If we don’t, who else will? And if we choose to give in and give them free reign, don’t point fingers at their peers, school or others when the wheels come off. We as parents need to know that our actions (or lack of actions) can have a deep impact on our children’s lives, their social interactions and skills, their self-esteem and future. Love them enough to say no.

For more information regarding our children’s digital safety see the following links https://www.sfc-sa.co.za/

https://sfcsouthafrica.substack.com/p/turning-the-tide?r=4l36tn

Worker of the Week

Well done to Yusrah Suleman for her wonderful work in Social Sciences. Keep up the hard work, Yusrah!

Indlulamthi Badges

Congratulations to Halle Orsmond, Amahle Mchunu and Tehillah Dingani who were all presented with their badges at Monday’s assembly. Thank you for the wonderful example you set girls!

Personality of the Week

Well done to Mivuyo Santi who was our POW for Honesty. Thank you, Mivuyo!

Merit achievers

The following girls have received over 250 merits this year: Alunamda Rafa, Abongile Mazitshana and Phumelela Macetyana. Keep it up, girls!

Extramural changes

Please note that there will be NO EXTRAMURALS for Grade 4-7 on Thursday, 21 August as the staff will be attending training in the afternoon. Please arrange for transport to collect your daughters at the end of their academic school day.
Grade 7 Maths Interventions will be on a Wednesday from 14:00 – 15:00 (not on a Tuesday) from next week.

Assembly

On Monday, 18 August Grade 2C will present their assembly. The assembly will start at 10:15. Parents are most welcome to join us.

Music

Please note that there will be no rehearsals for the Chamber Choir and Orchestra next Friday, 22 August.

Calling all parent musicians!

We would like to include parents in our orchestra for the Carol Service on Thursday, 20 November. If you play a string or woodwind instrument (even if you haven’t played in a long time), please consider joining us. If you are interested, or if you would like to know more, please contact Dr. Wynne at d.wynne@victoriaprimary.co.za

Grade 5 – Vaccinations

The Health Department is coming to VP to do Grade 5 vaccinations on Wednesday, 20 August 2025. Please ensure your daughter brings her clinic card to school on this day.

Conquesta 2025

All learners who have entered Conquesta this year will be writing their papers on the following dates.

Tuesday, 19 August – Grade 4 & Grade 5

Wednesday, 20 August – Grade 6 & Grade 7

The assessments will take place from 14:00 to 15:00 in Mrs. Sauls’ classroom. Please ensure that your daughter has a black/blue pen.

Cross Country Championships

We would like to wish the following girls: Oluhle Mpati, Mivuyo Santi, Chanelle Musarurwa, Carla Frazer, Isla Orsmond, Nalu Mfiki, Lunje Manzana, Siarra Appollis, Esona Makabe, Liyabona Benyane, Micarlin Daniels and Anathi Mbandlakazi the best of luck as they represent Makana in the District Cross Country Championships to be held on Saturday, 16 August in Jeffrey’s Bay. Good luck, girls!

Trolley Dash

Our next PTA Fundraiser is our annual Trolley Dash. The girls have received a booklet today. They are expected to sell one book each by Monday, 15 September but are welcome to collect more booklets to sell from their class teacher. Five lucky finalists will be drawn on Wednesday, 17 September; four will receive a Pick ‘n Pay voucher and one lucky winner stands a chance to win a 90 seconds Trolley Dash at Pick ‘n Pay on Monday, 22 September at 18:00. This is always such an exciting fundraiser. Please sell to all your family and friends.

Lost property

Please encourage your daughter to check lost property for missing items – we are currently so overwhelmed with lost items that we will have to transfer them to the Clothing Exchange if not collected by the end of next week. Parents are most welcome to come and check lost property during the afternoon next week.

Birthday wishes

This week we celebrated with Imibongo Mgqobele, Lilithaletu Nkayi, Amari Funani, Akuve Manyati, Luniko Mzolo, Hlaluminathi Menzi, Zinwezenkosi Mqubuli, Zimingo Tyali, Anania Vutha and Olumiyo-Uthando Xalu. We hope you have a lovely day!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Upcoming events:

Fri

15/08

Grade 7 Committee meetings

Community Outreach Committee to visit Home of Joy

Sat

16/08

Cross Country Championships

@ Jeffrey’s Bay

Mon

18/08

Assembly 2C @10:15

Thurs

21/08

Grade 4-7 NO EXTRAMURALS due to staff training

Fri

22/08

No Chamber Choir & Orchestra

Grade 7 Committee meetings

Sat

23/08

U9A&B Netball DJ Malan Sports Day @Fort Beaufort

U10&U11 Netball Citrus Festival @Sundays River

VP newsletter 8 August 2025

8th Aug 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

I wish you all a happy Women’s Day on Saturday. At our morning lines on Monday, Mrs Goodes spoke to our girls about the history of Women’s Day; that 20 000 women from all backgrounds protested against the pass laws that were in place at the time. Sixty-nine years have passed since that day and we can thank those strong women who stood together to fight the injustices at the time. Although the protest was a stand for both men and women, they showed that a combined women’s voice has great strength.

Victoria Primary School and Victoria Girls High School are both exceptional platforms to grow girls in knowledge, strength, and courage from all walks of life and in an environment where girls learn to support each other across cultures just like they did back in 1956.

We need to teach our girls to have the strength to speak their minds and let their voices be heard and to speak up if they see injustices happening both to themselves and to others – just like the women in 1956. But we also need to teach them that there is strength in allowing others to express themselves, respecting and accepting that others may not have the same opinion as they do and that they don’t always have to have everyone agree with them. They need to learn to have conversations and remain calm and not lose their temper or raise their voice, as it is with this composure that they can learn to truly hear and understand others. We must teach our girls to show kindness and love to the underdog and lonely – and that showing others that sort of acceptance and respect – takes immense strength and courage. We don’t have to sacrifice the compassionate essence of a woman to show our strength. Strength and gentleness are not mutually exclusive, showing grace, understanding and empathy is part of being an undeniably strong woman.

Assembly

On Monday, 11 August Grade 2O will present their assembly. The assembly will start at 10:15. Parents are most welcome to join us.

Indlulamthi Badges

Congratulations to the recipients of the Indlulamthi Badge at our assembly on Monday: Emihle Kulati, Lusenathi Ntoyanto, Amila Ndandani and Glennis Chakarungama. We are so proud of you!

A special mention must be made to Maham Rizvi and Owekhethelo Gongqa who received their Gold Honours Indlulamthi badges as this was their fourth year being awarded their badge (Grade 3-6 or Grade 4-7).

Well done, girls.

Personality of the Week

Congratulations to Esona Makabe who was awarded the POW at Monday’s assembly for her resilience during interhouse hockey. Well done, Esona.

Sportsmanship Trophy

Congratulations to Lunje Manzana for her incredible work rate and determination throughout the hockey season.

Worker of the Week

Congratulations to Phumelela Macetyana for her beautiful Term 3 Maths page. Keep up the good work!

Chess Achiever

Lusenathi Ntoyanto has qualified for the Eastern Cape Closed Chess Championship, set to take place in Nelson Mandela Bay from the 5-7 September 2025. Her journey to this stage has been marked by true grit, determination, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Through hours of learning new strategies and mastering complex moves, Lusenathi has quietly but consistently risen through the ranks, showing remarkable growth in her Under-12 age group. We are so proud of your achievements and can’t wait to see you shine at the championship. Go, Lusenathi!

Best Speakers

Yesterday we held our annual Best Speakers competition and we would like to congratulate our top three finalists and winners in each grade. The girls prepared well, and presented interesting and well thought out orals according to their topics. Our top three speakers in each grade were:

Grade 4: Anania Vutha, Anopa Thondlana, and Luhle Songongo.

Grade 5: Misha Potts, Azoma Magopeni, and Emihle Kulati.

Grade 6: Haset Sintayehu, Yusrah Suleman, and Bridget Akpeng.

Grade 7: Uzosule Kanana, Saairah Govender, and Mila McConnachie.

Congratulations to all the girls who took part and special congratulations to our first place winners, Luhle, Emihle, Bridget, and Mila.

Thank you to our judges; Mrs Debbie Matthee, and Ms Ruth Trollip for adjudicating, and to our parents and teachers for their support!

Interhouse General Knowledge Results

After 3 rounds of questions from a variety of general knowledge topics, the Interhouse General Knowledge results were as follows:

Aloe – 33 points

Arum – 30 points

Disa – 25 points

Fern – 20 points

Congratulations to Aloe on achieving this impressive victory.

Interschool General Knowledge Team

Based on their performance during the Interhouse Quiz, the following girls have been selected to represent VP on Thursday, 28 August in the Interschool Quiz hosted by Graeme College: Aliyah Bezuidenhout, Isabella Tladi, Iviwe Jakavula, Mila Nongubo and Uzosule Kanana.

Congratulations to these girls. We wish them all the best for the event.

Colour Run

It was wonderful to have a colourful Monday with all our girls enjoying their day at our Colour Run. Thank you to all our parents who joined us at this fun event especially as it was on a Monday afternoon! Our PTA raised R10 707 from this event!

Astroquiz news

Best of luck to the Victoria Comets (Aliyah Bezuidenhout, Iviwe Jakavula, Christelle Ruwanza and Avethandwa Hambaze) who are taking part in Round 3 (provincial) of the SAASTA Astroquiz on Thursday, 14 August. The sky is the limit!

Trolley Dash

Our next PTA Fundraiser is our annual Trolley Dash. The girls will each receive a booklet during the course of next week. Girls are expected to sell one book each by Monday, 15 September but are welcome to collect more booklets to sell from their class teacher. Five lucky finalists will be drawn on Wednesday, 17 September; four will receive a Pick ‘n Pay voucher and one lucky winner stands a chance to win a 90 seconds Trolley Dash at Pick ‘n Pay on Monday, 22 September at 18:00. This is always such an exciting fundraiser. Please sell to all your family and friends.

Hockey vs Herbert Hurd

On Saturday, 2 August our hockey girls travelled to Gqeberha for our annual derby day vs Herbert Hurd. What a lovely morning we had in Gqeberha. The girls played their best and the scores were as follows:

U9A won 1-0; U9B drew 2-2; U10A drew 1-1; U10B won 4-1; U13B drew 0-0; U13A drew 1-1

A big thank you to all the hockey coaches for the ongoing support and coaching. Thank you must also go to all our parents for their support when travelling and at home games. It really means a lot to the staff and the girls.

Netball news

On Saturday, 2 August, our U10–U13 teams travelled to Gqeberha to face Herbert Hurd Primary in one of our final fixtures. It was a tough day of netball, but all teams played with heart, supporting one another until the very end. A special well done to the U13s, who played their first full 32-minute match! This marked the end of an amazing season for the U7s, U8s, U12s and 13s.

Good luck to the U9s who are taking part in a Sports event at Fort Beaufort, and U10 and U11 teams who will be playing their final matches at the Citrus Sports Day at Sundays River Primary, both on Saturday, 23 August.

Thank you to our coaches, staff, and parents for your incredible support throughout the season!

Dassie Netball Tournament Highlights

Last Saturday, U8 and U9 netball girls participated in the Dassie Tournament – and what a fantastic day it was! The morning was filled with excitement, fun, and some tough challenges, but our girls played like true champions.

We are proud to share that the U8s were awarded best team of the tournament, and the U9s won 5 out of 6 games, an incredible achievement!

A big thank you to PJ for hosting us so warmly, and our heartfelt appreciation goes to all the parents who came out to cheer and support the teams. Your encouragement made a huge difference!

Well done, girls – we’re proud of you all!

Grade 7 Community Outreach Committee Visit to Home of Joy

Our Grade 7 Community Outreach Committee is eagerly looking forward to their upcoming visit to the Home of Joy Foundation. The Grade 7s are especially excited to go shopping and select special gifts, something meaningful for each child to treasure and call their own. They’ve enjoyed the process of raising funds, knowing that their efforts will help make a small but significant difference. The visit promises not only to be a heartfelt experience, but also an opportunity to spend quality time with the children at Home of Joy. The visit is scheduled for Friday, 15 August, and the committee is counting down the days.

Birthday wishes

We wish Mr Florence happy birthday for last weekend. This week we celebrated with Mr Nell, Phumelela Nikelo, Joslyn Mager, Arya Miles, Ululothando Pini, Awethu Tshisani, Elizabeth Adlem, Liyabona Benyane, Larmika Govender, Siphesihle Chrisjan and Kyrah-Leigh Cannon-Wessels. We hope you have a lovely day!

Health warning

Please note that we have been informed by the Health Department that there has been a confirmed case of Meningococcal Meningitis in Makhanda. Please read the information below. If your daughter is ill please keep her at home and if necessary consult your doctor or clinic.

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Upcoming events:

Fri

8/08

Entrepreneurs’ Day for Grade 7s

Sat

9/08

National Women’s Day

Mon

11/08

Assembly 2O @10:15

Thurs

14/08

Astroquiz (Grade 7)

Fri

15/08

Grade 7 Committee meetings

Community Outreach Committee to visit Home of Joy

VP Newsletter 1 August 2025

1st Aug 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

I wish to encourage all our parents to be involved in every aspect of their daughter’s education; this includes being involved in and supporting our school’s fundraising efforts, supporting on the side of the sports field, assisting and monitoring your daughter’s homework and academic progress, ensuring that you pay your school fees and even reading the weekly newsletter (so that you are aware of what your daughter is involved in) as this is critical to your daughter’s success at school.

There is a strong correlation between parental involvement and your child’s academic success, her willingness to participate in extramural activities, and her overall motivation and confidence – all of which are closely intertwined. More often than not, when a child is disinterested, unmotivated and has poor school attendance it is due to her guardians showing little or no interest in her schooling which is very sad when you consider the privilege it is to attend a school like VP and how many other children (and their parents) would do anything to be afforded the same opportunity.

It is never too late to make a concerted effort to be more engaged with your daughter’s schooling. Please communicate and work with her class teachers to ensure that she is given every opportunity to achieve her full potential and thrive. To those parents who are engaged, supportive and committed to their daughter’s education and experience at VP, and who pay their school fees, please continue to do what you are doing as your daughter’s success and ours as a school, is very much reliant on you – we thank you!

Worker of the Week

Congratulations to Liyabona Benyane for her beautiful isXhosa Term 3 page.

Colour Run

We will be having our Colour Run Monday, 4 August. All family and friends are welcome to join us. Please enter through the office entrance on Beaufort Street. On Monday girls must come to school dressed in their clothes that they will wear to the Colour Run. Please note that these must be clothes that they are prepared to have stained with colours! White always works well! The times for the different age groups will be as follow:

Grade 00&R @12:00-12:45; Grade 1-3 @12:45-13:30; Grade 4-7 @13:30-14:30

Extramurals

On Monday there will be no extramurals due to the Colour Run. All girls have received a new extramural programme for the athletics season. Please take note of your daughter’s new pick-up times.

Assembly: On Monday, 4 August, Grade 3D will present their assembly. Parents are most welcome to join us. The assembly starts at 09:30.

Best Speakers

On Thursday, 7 August we will have our Best Speakers. The Best Speaker contestants will start the event off at 08:30. The girls who are selected to present their orals will receive letters. Parents are welcome to attend.

Interhouse General Knowledge

On Thursday, 7 August at 10:30 we will be holding our annual Interhouse General Knowledge Quiz. The top-performing girls from the interhouse quiz will then represent VP in the quiz against Graeme College on Thursday, 28 August.

The Interhouse Teams are as follows:

Arum: Isabella Tladi, Iviwe Jakavula, Oluthando Tube, Christelle Ruwanza, Sibonokuhle Benge (reserve).

Aloe: Aliyah Bezuidenhout, Tandolwetu Ketwa, Alibongwe Mthembu, Lashante Rama, Liyabona Benyane (reserve).

Disa: Mila Nongubo, Imanathi Mcophele, Sairaah Govender, Nakweziphi Mthetho, Unakho Fetsha (reserve).

Fern: Uzosule Kanana, Esethu Stamper, Avethandwa Hambaze, Lulo Adam, Chikhilupiriro Mithochi (reserve).

We wish the teams all the best for what promises to be a fun educational event.

Interhouse Hockey

On Tuesday the 29th July our girls participated in the annual Interhouse Hockey. What a fun afternoon it was watching our gitld showcasing their hockey skills. A big thank you to the netball girls for helping their houses when players were needed. A big thank you to all the staff for their support and help on Tuesday. To the hockey coaches, thank you for a wonderful season. It was truly amazing seeing all the girls displaying their skills and enjoying hockey.

The results are as follows:

Winners Snr teams: 1st Aloe; 2nd Disa; 3rd Fern; 4th Arum

Winners Jnr teams: 1st Disa; 2nd Arum; 3rd Fern; 4th Aloe

Overall winners are: 1st Disa; 2nd Fern; 3rd Aloe; 4th Arum

Interhouse Netball

On Wednesday, 30 July, we enjoyed a fun and spirited Interhouse event — a great way to close the season! Well done to all the houses for their enthusiasm and effort, and a special thank you to the house captains, coaches, staff, and parents for their continued support.

Final Results (based on points and number of wins): 3rd – Aloe; 2nd – Disa & Arum; 1st – Fern

Dassie Tournament

Our U8s and U9s have been invited to play in the very first Dassie Tournament hosted by PJ Olivier on Saturday, 2 August 2025. The girls have received letters and are excited to end the season.

The program is as follows:

VP U9s vs PJ 09h00

VP U8s vs Good Shepherd 09h15

VP U9s vs St Marys 09h45

VP U8s vs PJ 10h00

VP U9s vs Oatlands 11h00

VP U9s vs Good Shepherd 11h45

Good luck, girls!

Hockey vs Herbert Hurd

Fixtures for hockey and netball vs Herbert Hurd on Saturday, 2 August. Girls involved have received a letter with details.

Hockey (Birkholz Field)

Time Teams

10:00 U9B/ U10B

10:30 U9A/ U10A

11:00 U13B

11:45 U13A

Netball

Time Teams

09:00 U10A

09:00 U11A

09:00 U12A

09:30 U13A

Entrepreneurs’ Day

Next week, Friday, 8 August is our annual Entrepreneurs’ Day! The different grades will be given an opportunity to support our hardworking Grade 7s who will be selling their products from 10:00-12:00. Parents are welcome to join us and support them.

Birthday wishes

We wish the following staff and girls happy birthday for this week: Mrs Terblanche, Joy Torweni, Berlynn Willemse, Libby Everton, Zintle Magongo, Ababalwe Ngwetsheni, Musa Jojo and Lelona Manyati. We hope you have a lovely day!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Please support our Sports Committee in collecting toiletries:

Upcoming events:

Fri

1/08

Orchestra & Chamber Choir 13:30-14:30

Sat

2/08

Hockey & Netball vs Herbert Hurd

Dassie Netball Tournament @PJ for U8 & U9s

Mon

4/08

Assembly Grade 3D/T @09:30

VP Colour Run

Grade 00&R @12:00-12:45

Grade 1-3 @12:45-13:30

Grade 4-7 @13:30-14:30

NO OTHER EXTRAMURALS

Tues

5/08

Athletics season begins (please refer to extramural programme sent home today)

Thurs

7/08

Best Speakers @08:30 and Interhouse General Knowledge@10:30. Parents welcome. Please use Beaufort Street entrance.

Fri

8/08

Entrepreneurs Day for Grade 7s

VP Newsletter 25 July 2025

25th Jul 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

A friend once said to me that the thing she enjoys most about school holidays is not having to make her children a packed lunch! For me, it is not having to wake up early and rush – I am not a morning person! Although holidays are something we all look forward to, it is finding the joy in the mundane and routine that is essential to a happy life. Now that we are back at school and trying our best to adjust to a routine again, let’s make an effort to notice and appreciate the small joys that the school term brings; whether it is seeing your daughter’s reading progress each day, her delight in telling you about her new friend or about something funny that happened at school or just the short but precious time that you and your daughter get to chat on your way to school. Our term days are busy but they do not lack small moments of joy that we can celebrate each day – the delights of life are all around us if we stop to appreciate them and recognise that they are but a fleeting moment that will pass quickly. Enjoy each day that Term 3 brings and a warm welcome back to all our families!

“Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Worker of the Week

Well done to Uzu Gongqoba who is our WOW this week. She received her sticker before 09:00 on Tuesday morning for her work in isiXhosa. A pretty impressive start to Term 3, Uzu. Keep it up!

Colour Run

We will be having our Colour Run next Friday, 1 August. All family and friends are welcome to join us. The PTA will be pre-ordering hotdogs for the day. Your daughter has received a pamphlet with the entry form. Girls must come to school dressed in their clothes that they will wear to the Colour Run. Please note that these must be clothes that they are prepared to have stained with colours! White always works well!

Kind Club

The Kind Club will be raising funds at the Colour Run by having a colour hairspraying stall. For a cost of R10, girls can have a colour sprayed on their hair. We would like to encourage the girls to pre-order to avoid disappointment. Money is to be paid to class teachers by Thursday, 31 July.

Assembly

On Monday, 28 July, Grade 3M will present their assembly. Parents are most welcome to join us. The assembly starts at 10:15.

Extramurals

Please note that we will only have the following extramurals next week – all other practices will fall away. This is the last week of winter sport (hockey and netball). There will be NO OTHER extramurals (including Team Tennis and Debating). Choir will continue as usual in the morning.

Interhouse Hockey and Netball

(Grade 4-7)

Interhouse Hockey will take place on Tuesday, 29 July from 14:00- 16:15 and Interhouse Netball will take place on Wednesday, 30 July from 14:00- 16:15. It is COMPULSORY for ALL girls in Grades 4-7 to ATTEND BOTH afternoons for the entire DURATION of the afternoon. Register will be taken. Girls are to come to school on both days dressed in their black shorts or skorts and house shirts to play and to support.

Next week’s extramural schedule Grade 1-3

Monday, 28 July

13:00-14:00 – U9 Interhouse Hockey

13h00-14h00 – Grade 1 netball practice

Grade 2 fitness

Tuesday, 29 July

13:00-14:00 – Grade 1 fun netball day 13:00-14:00 – Grade 2 hockey fun day 13:00-14:00 – Grade 3 fitness

Wednesday, 30 July

13:00-14:00 – Netball fun day Grade 2

Grade 1s Hockey practice

Grade 3 fitness

Thursday, 31 July

13:00-14:00 – Grade 1 Open Hockey day

U9 Interhouse netball

Grade 2 fitness

Grade 4-7

Tuesday, 29 July

14:00-16:15 – Interhouse Hockey

Wednesday, 30 July

14:00-16:15 – Interhouse Netball

Thursday, 31 July

14:00-15:00 – Grade 5 Maths

Interventions

Cross Country

Friday, 1 August

12:00-14:30 – Colour Run

Chess

This Saturday, 26 July, six talented chess girls will represent us at the Sarah Baartman District Schools Chess Play-offs at PJ Olivier. We are incredibly proud and excited to see their strategic brilliance in action! Wishing a jam-packed day of brain power, focus, and success to our champions:

U11: Arya Ritchie

U13: Lusenathi Ntoyanto, Ella Radovic, Bridget Akpeng, Makatendeka Chakona, Katherine Marias

U15: Alibongwe Mthembu

Go show them what you’re made of!

Hockey vs Herbert Hurd

Fixtures for hockey and netball vs Herbert Hurd on Saturday, 2 August. Girls involved have received a letter with details.

Hockey (Birkholz Field)

Time Teams

10:00 U9B/ U10B

10:30 U9A/ U10A

11:00 U13B

11:45 U13A

Netball

Time Teams

09:00 U10A

09:00 U11A

09:00 U12A

09:30 U13A

Swimming

During the holidays Lilani Wolmarans participated in the PEA winter gala swimming event in Gqeberha. Lilani entered the following events: 50m & 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 50 and 200m freestyle and 50m butterfly all with PBs. She also participated in the 50 m breaststroke.

Lilani then attended the 1st A League gala and improved her 200m Individual Medley time. She has now qualified for Level 2 status in most of her events. We are super proud of you! Well done, Lilani.

Hockey report

Our U13A girls had a fantastic first weekend of their holiday participating in the Anne Beagley Hockey Festival, hosted by Union High School in Graaff-Reinet. The girls played with heart, gained valuable experience and made wonderful memories. Here are the weekends results:

VP vs Cradock lost 3-1

VP vs Sunridge lost 3-0

VP vs Erica drew 0-0

VP vs Clarendon drew 0-0

VP vs Stirling 1 lost 2-0

A huge thank you to Ms Christian and Mr Daniels for coaching the team, driving the bus and taking such great care of the girls. Thank you also to our amazing parents who travelled all the way to support- your encouragement means the world to us.

Netball

On Wednesday, 23 July, the netball girls played a match against Good Shepherd and the results were as follows:

U9B won 7 – 0; – U9A won 7 – 4

U10B won 4 – 2; U10A lost 4 – 1

U11B won 5 – 0; U11A won 3 – 0

U12B won 8 – 3; U12A lost 8 – 7

U13B won 7 – 4; U13A lost 7 – 4

Well done to the girls for these amazing results, just on their return back from holidays!

A pat on the back goes to the coaches for encouraging and pushing the girl to do their best during the matches and the parents for their continuous support.

Cross Country

On Thursday, 24 July, the VP Cross Country Team took place in the first round of the Makana trials. The results were as follows:

U10

Mivuyo Santi
Oluhle Mpati
Chanelle Musarurwa
Carla Frazer

U11

Isla Orsmond
Nalu Mfiki
Lunathi Makasi

U12

Esona Makabe
Lunje Manzana
Siarra Appollis

U13

Micarlin Daniels
Liyabona Benyane
Anathi Mbandlakazi
Lulo Adam

The next round is on Thursday, 31 July, and we would like to wish them all the best of luck.

Music

Victoria in Concert was a great success, and we extend our heartfelt appreciation to our parent body for attending the concert and participating in this annual collaboration between our two music departments. The variety and quality of the performances were indicative of the amazing work being done in fostering the talents of our girls. We are so proud of our young musicians!

National Arts Festival Stars!

We would like to acknowledge and applaud two of our VP girls, Isabella Tladi and Mila McConnachie, who performed with the Prestige School of Dance in productions in the National Arts Festival.

Mila McConnachie performed in Echoes of a Century, and Isabella Tladi performed in both Echoes of a Century and the Ovation Award winning Liminal. Isabella was even fortunate to perform for Morning Live.

The preparations, performances, and promotions were gruelling, but what an incredible opportunity.

We are very proud of them both.

Grade 7 Presentation

We’re excited to have Captain Benn visiting our Grade 7 learners on Tuesday, 29 July. He will be leading them in an informational session focused on substance abuse, which ties in with this term’s Life Orientation curriculum. This promises to be an informative and meaningful experience for our learners.

Dropping items at school

We appeal once again to parents not to drop off items for your daughter at the office unless it is requested by the teacher or you are delivering her birthday cupcakes. The office in inundated with lunch, sports clothes etc dropped off every day. Please assist us by making sure your daughter packs items for school the night before – including for her extramurals. If items are dropped off at the office we cannot take responsibility that they will be delivered timeously.

Birthday wishes

We wish the following girls happy birthday for this week: Nalikhaya Diniso, Zozibini Dondashe, Iyeva Heshu, Aligugu Makeba, Mbalentle Niwa, Anastasia Apreku, Ava Peters, Lugcobolwelnkosi Qeqe, Zinathi Ntloko and Andisubabalo Dike. We hope you have a lovely day!

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Please support our Sports Committee in collecting toiletries:

Upcoming events:

Sat

26/07

Chess – Sarah Baartman Chess playoffs at PJ Olivier

Mon

28/07

Grade 3M assembly @10:15

U9 Interhouse Hockey @13:00-14:00

Grade 1 netball practice @13h00-14h00

Grade 2 fitness @13:00-14:00

Tues

29/07

Interhouse hockey Grade 4-7@14:00-16:15

Grade 1 fun netball day@13:00-14:00

Grade 2 hockey fun day@13:00-14:00

Grade 3 fitness@13:00-14:00 –

Wed

30/07

Interhouse netball Grade 4-7@14:00-16:15

Netball fun day Grade 2@13:00-14:00 Grade 1s Hockey practice@13:00-14:00

Grade 3 fitness@13:00-14:00

Thurs

31/07

Grade 1 Open Hockey day@13:00-14:00

U9 Interhouse netball@13:00-14:00

Grade 2 fitness@13:00-14:00

Cross Country @Botanical Gardens

14:00-15:00 Gr 5 Maths interventions

Fri

1/08

VP Colour Run

Grade 00&R @12:00-12:45

Grade 1-3 @12:45-13:30

Grade 4-7 @13:30-14:30

Sat

2/08

Hockey & Netball vs Herbert Hurd (see fixtures above)

26th Jun 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

VP Newsletter 25 June 2025

VP Newsletter 13 June 2025

13th Jun 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

I sneaked into the hall to watch a few of the auditions this week and I am so excited for our VP’s Got Talent show as the calibre was most impressive. I am so proud of each one of our girls for being brave enough to stand on stage and give it a bash. Even if they didn’t get selected to perform in the final show, they can be immensely chuffed with themselves!

I know I’ve said this often but the confidence that our girls display on a daily basis at school, continues to amaze me. I am so very proud of how confident our girls are! Research says that girls’ confidence generally takes a dive from around age 8 as they become more aware of themselves and others. Although this is not the case for everyone, and no one is confident all the time in every setting, I see the opposite happening in many of our girls. I love that our girls grasp opportunities offered at school and feel safe to try.

The quote below, which refers to girls’ confidence, and stated by the author of the book; “The Confidence Code for Girls” is so important for us to note, because as parents to young girls, we often want to protect them from failure, when their experiences regardless of the outcome, can be a positive personal formative journey for them.

‘Confidence hinges on action. It’s the quality that literally turns our thoughts into action, taking them from random mental impulses to actual deeds. And that process, which usually involves some struggle and failure as well, is what creates more confidence. When girls try NEW things, hard things, their confidence grows. If they play it safe and only do the things that they are good at doing, they won’t grow in confidence.

It’s impossible to build confidence staying in a comfort zone, only doing what you are already good at doing.’’

Well done to our Confidence Growers for auditioning this week! We’re incredibly proud of the courage and enthusiasm you’ve shown.

If you haven’t yet bought a ticket, please don’t wait too long as I have no doubt we will be sold out before the final show.

VP’s Got Talent

✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬

We would like to thank all the girls that entered into the VP’s Got Talent contest. There were some incredible performances and we certainly have talented young ladies at our school. Congratulations to the finalists who will be performing on Thursday, 19 June at 17:30 in the Glennie Hall.

VP’s Got Talent Finalists

Libby Everton – Dance
Chikhulupiriro Mitochi – Dance
Isla Orsmond & Lunje Tshiki – Dance
Asante Tetani – Dance
Lamela & Lucan Funani – Dance
Emihle & Sibabalwe Kulati – Dance
Lulo Dyantyi, Oyithando Sinam, Awethu Tshisani, Siyasisanda Nene, Zintle Magongo, Unakho Fetsha, Uminathi Kate & Aligugu Makeba – Dance
Isabella Tladi & Uzosule Kanana – Dance
Christelle & Grace Ruwanza, Mukundi & Anopa Thondhlana – Dance
Rose Jordaan – Musical instrument
Annabelle Olivier & Nicole Joka – Dance
Riley-Anne Knott-Craig – Singing
Isabella Tladi – Singing
Mila McConnachie – Singing
Sambesiwe Dyantyi – Singing
Teia van Rooyen & Halle Orsmond – Singing
Lashante Rama, Mila McConnachie, Iminathi Mgwebi & Kelly Doyle – Singing
Ababalwe Ngwetsheni – Poetry
Iminathi Mgwebi – Singing
Lashante Rama & Mila McConnachie – Singing
Chikhulupiriro Mitochi – Musical instrument
Amy Mlambo – Magic
Kazlin de Maar – Contortion

All Artworks submitted will be displayed and adjudicated on the 19 June in the Glennie Hall Foyer.

✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬

Tickets for the show can be bought from the office at R30 a ticket. Please pre-order your boerewors rolls from your daughter’s class teacher for R30 each by Tuesday, 17 June @ 10:00. These will be served prior to the start of the show from 16:30.
A tuckshop will be open from 16:30 (including tea/coffee/hot chocolate and cupcakes). Girls may wear their civvies clothes to the event. If you are not attending with your daughter please make sure you fetch her from the Beaufort Street entrance by 19:30. Entrance and exit will be from Beaufort Street. Huntley Street will not be open.

Worker of the Week

Well done to Balelihle Jadi for her lovely Term 3 page for NS. Keep up the good work, Balelihle.

Indlulamthi Badges

Congratulations to Chloe Jeggels and Mukundi Thondhlana who were presented their badges this week. We are so proud of both of you!

Merit Achievers

The following girls have received over 250 merits so far this year: Alexis Killian, Lelona Manyati, Owami Shabalala, Mbalentle Dyaloyi, Misha Potts, Lusenathi Ntoyanto, Olothando Kanyiwe, Madison Conroy, Libby Everton, Leah Doyle, Tessanne Arries, Milisa Limba, Siarra Appolis, Gabriella Cervati and Caitlyn Bodill. Keep it up, girls!

K-Day

If your daughter is supporting K-Day this weekend, she is expected to be in full school uniform (with a blazer from Grade 4-7).

Cross-Country

We had a fun day of running this morning. Thank you to all our parents for their support. The results will be in next week’s newsletter.

Interhouse Singing

Our girls have been hard at work practising their songs. The girls will compete against each other in their houses next week Wednesday from 13:00-14:00 in the hall. Parents are welcome to support. Please note that the school day will end at 14:00.

Academic Assembly

We have our Academic Assembly on Friday, 20 June at 08:30. Parents are welcome to join us. Girls who are receiving an academic certificate will receive letters.

Grade 4 Fundraiser

Next week, Wednesday and Thursday, the Grade 4s will be selling toasted cheese sandwiches and hot chocolate as their grade fundraiser. R30 for the combo or R20 for hot chocolate and R20 for a toasted sandwich.

Please note that 16th June is a public Holiday (Youth Day) and school will be closed.

End of Term arrangements

Please note that as per our term calendar, the last day of term for our girls is Wednesday, 25 June as our campus will be taken over by the National Arts Festival. The school day will end at 13:00 for FP (Grade 1-3) and at 13:45 for IP (Grade 4-7). Aftercare will still be open on this day. Reports will be handed out to the girls on this day. Please DO NOT come to the office to collect your daughter’s report as the office will not have the reports prior to 14:30 on this day and teachers will NOT be interrupted during lessons. Your daughter should be at school to collect her report.

Our next newsletter will be the final one for the term and will be included in the report envelope on Wednesday, 25 June and sent out electronically.

Hockey vs Union on Saturday, 21 June

Please note that transporting our girls to fixtures is a great expense to our school. We have appealed to parents that if they are going to Graaff-Reinet themselves that they are to please take their daughter with them. If for whatever reason, you are now able to take your daughter yourself, please let Ms Christian know asap so that we can then take more staff. If your daughter goes to Union on the bus, she will be expected to return on the bus.

It will be an early start on Saturday morning. Girls going on the bus must be dropped off at the Huntley Street Gate by 04:00. We will be taking register before leaving and on departure from Union for our girls’ safety. All girls involved have received letters.

If you are traveling there yourself please ensure that your daughter arrives at least 30 minutes before the start of her game. We expect to be back at the HOSTEL ENTRANCE in Hill Street by 16:30. We will keep parents updated on the Whatsapp group.

The fixtures vs Union are as follows:

Union Prep Astro		Union High School Astro
Time:	Team	Time	Team
09h00	U10B	10h00	U13C
09h30	U8B	11h00	U13B
10h00	U9B	12h00	U13A
10h30	U8A
11h00	U9A
11h30	U10A

St Andrew’s Prep Hockey & Netball festival – Friday, 20 June

Good luck to the U9 hockey and netball girls involved in the Prep festival on Friday, 20 June. Girls involved have received a letter. We will leave VP at 12:45 and girls are to be picked up from Prep at 15:00. Fixtures vs Prep are as follows:

Time	Hockey		Netball
	Field 1	Field 2	Field 1	Field 2
13:00-13:12	–	–	VP A vs PA A	VP B vs BCC B
13:20-13:32	BCC A vs VP A	–	–	–
13:40-13:52	–	PA B vs VP B	–	–
14:00-14:12	Oat A vs VP A	Prep B vs VP B	–	–
14:20-14:32	–	–	Prep A vs VP A	–
14:40-14:52	VP A vs Prep A	VP B vs BCC B	–	–

Sports Results

Hockey vs Gill: U13B drew 2-2; U13A drew 0-0

Netball vs Westering: U10A won 10-0; U11A won 2-0; U12B won 9-0; U12A won 7-3; U13B won 15-3; U13A won 13-1

Hockey vs Westering: U8B drew 0-0; U8A lost 0-6; U9B won 2-1; U9A won 4-0; U10B lost 3-0; U10A won 3-1; U13B lost 1-0; U13A lost 2-0

Well done to everyone involved and thank you to our parents for their support on the day.

Birthday wishes

We wish the following staff members and girls who celebrated their birthdays this week a very happy birthday: Ms Casling, Mr Buka, Siphesihle Lande, Iyizwile Nomkonwana, Lundanele Tyhali, Elizabeth Wicks, Mercy Mooya, Bridget Akpeng, Asali Dude and Sitha Mkolo. Last week Esona Mali celebrated her birthday but she was left off the newsletter – we hope you had a very special birthday, Esona.

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Upcoming events:

Monday

16/06

Youth Day – public holiday

Tuesday

17/06

Last boerewors roll orders must be in today @10:00

Wed

18/06

Interhouse Singing 13:00-14:00. Parents welcome. School day ends at 14:00.

Thursday

19/06

VP’s Got Talent final show 17:30-19:30

Friday

20/06

Academic Assembly @08:30

Grade 7 Committee meetings 13:00-13:30

Hostel closes

Saturday

21/06

Hockey vs Union @Union

Monday

23/06

No extramurals this week.

Wed

25/06

Last day of term

Reports handed out in class

School finishes at usual time:

FP – 13:00 IP – 13:45

Aftercare will be open until 17:00

Thursday

26/06

National Arts Festival begins

Friday

27/06

U13A Hockey team leaves for the Anne Beagley Hockey tournament in Graaff-Reinet

Monday

30/06

U13A Hockey team return to Makhanda

VP Newsletter 6 June 2025

6th Jun 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

Exams are over!! I am certain that you are just as relieved as your daughters are. No more tiptoeing around the house! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend full of fun and lazy activities. You all deserve it!

This past week Ms Knott-Craig, Mrs Orsmond and I attended the South African All Girls Schools’ Association (SAGSA) Conference here in Makhanda hosted by DSG.

One of the dynamic presenters was a psychologist and speaker named Naomi Holdt. She spoke about working with a purpose and ‘knowing your why’ – why do we get up each morning and do what we do? This certainly resonated with us.

She spoke about us being intentional in how we connect and make others (particularly our girls) feel seen, heard and feel significant in order to increase their self worth by showing compassion and cultivating a sense of belonging and sense of family. This echoes our theme for the year, ‘You Belong’. But this is certainly something that can be nurtured at home too!

Here are 5 Tips to Help Your Daughter Feel Seen, Heard, and Supported

(Extracted from https://c-suitenetwork.com/articles/5-tips-to-help-your-child-feel-seen-heard-and-supported/)

Apologise

Apologies are powerful catalysts for healing. Even though you didn’t mean to make your daughter feel ignored or neglected, let her know how sorry you are that her feelings are hurt.

Stop what you’re doing and listen

The next time your daughter demands your attention, step back and observe your reaction. Are you tapping your foot or looking at your phone? Did you even look up from your computer screen and make eye contact? Give your girls at least a minute or two of your undivided attention when they need something. And if you’re just too busy at that particular moment, schedule a “Mommy and Me” time later in the day.

Acknowledge what she’s saying

Problem-solving is certainly one of our most valuable skills as parents, but don’t be so quick to find a solution that you dismiss what your child is trying to say.Validate how she feels: “Are you feeling sad? Do you want to tell me why? Is there anything I can do to make it better?”

Raising self-assured children begins with teaching them that it’s important to acknowledge whatever emotion they’re feeling – so they can let it go when they’re ready.

Set reasonable boundaries

As important as it is for children to acknowledge their feelings, it’s equally essential for them to connect their feelings to their underlying unmet needs. Now is when they can learn that they don’t need to be overwhelmed by their emotions and can be with them rather than be overwhelmed by them. It’s never too early to teach children that negative feelings don’t have to translate into bad behaviour.

Put yourself in your child’s shoes

Let’s be honest: sometimes it’s hard to understand why a child could get so upset over being asked to shower or make their bed for example. The next time your daughter is upset, practice empathy to understand where she’s really coming from.

Staff News

We wish Mrs Dewey all the best as she leaves to go on her maternity leave today. We will miss her and are eagerly awaiting news of the arrival of her precious second child. We welcome Ms Trollip who is filling in for her. Ms Trollip taught at VP a number of years ago and has recently returned to Makhanda to study. We are most fortunate to have her back – I know that Grade 3D has already bonded with her!

Worker of the Week

Congratulations to Lebogang Mogale for the lovely sentences she made in English and the delightful pictures she drew! Keep up the good work, Lebo!

Assembly

On Monday, 9 June Grade 4D will present their assembly. Parents are welcome to join us. Assembly will start at 10:15.

VP’s Got Talent

Next week our girls will be auditioning for the final VP’s Got Talent show that is taking place on 19 June at 17:30.

✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬

AUDITIONS

Girls who entered will need to audition on the following days:

Monday, 9 June: Dance

Tuesday, 10 June: Music (singing, musical instruments and poetry)

Wednesday, 11 June: Open for any individual/group who did not get to audition on Monday or Tuesday.

Auditions will take place from 14:00-16:00 on each afternoon. Girls must come prepared (clothes, instruments, music etc.). If they have an extramural that must take priority and girls can audition before or after their extramurals.

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Tickets will be on sale at R30 from the office as from Monday. Please buy your tickets sooner rather than later as we don’t want to have to turn people away at the door like we did last year.

✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬✩♬

PLEASE NOTE: There will be NO Strength Training on Tuesday as the hall is being used for auditions.

Grade 4 History outing

Please note that this has been moved to Thursday, 12 June. The outing will take place in Makhanda and we expect to be back at school by 14:30.

*Please note that there will be no U10 Hockey practice on this afternoon.

Interhouse Cross Country

On Friday, 13 June we will have our annual Interhouse Cross Country event. Parents are welcome to attend.

The Pre-Primary, Grade 1&2s will be running on Fergusson Field from 12:00- 12:45.

Pre-Primary – 12:00-12:15

Grade 1 – 12:15-12:30

Grade 2 – 12:30-12:45

We kindly request that all PP&FP parents enter through the Beaufort Street office entrance as the Huntley Street entrance will be locked and will not be opened.

The Grade 3-7 girls will walk to the Botanical Gardens and start running at

10:30. First off will be the Grade 3s, followed by Grade 4&5s and finally Grade 6&7s. Girls can be collected from school at 13:00 as usual.

Pre-Primary girls must wear a shirt in their house colour and black shorts, socks and takkies.

The Grade 1-7 girls must come to school dressed in their house shirt, black shorts, white socks, and takkies.

Please also send a bottle of water, sunscreen and her VP hat/peak.

House shirts can be bought from Extreme Embroidery or Heinen Embroidery. Only official house shirts may be worn. If your daughter does not have an official house shirt she must wear her VP navy blue golf shirt.

Interhouse singing

Our Interhouse Singing competition will take place on Wednesday, 18 June from 13:00-14:00. Parents are most welcome!

Upcoming fixtures

Hockey vs Gill

The U13A and B hockey teams will be playing a hockey match vs Gill at Victoria Primary School today.

The U13B match will start at 12:30 and U13A match will start at 13:15. Good luck, girls!

Netball vs Westering Saturday, 7 June @VP

	Netball
	Court A	Court B
09:00	U13A	U12A
09:30	U13B	U12B
10:00	U11A	U10A

Hockey vs Westering Saturday, 7 June @VP

Top field A		Top field B		Top field C
09:00	U10B	09:00	U9B	09:00	U8B
09:30	U10A	09:30	U9A	09:30	U8A
Fergusson field: bottom field
10:00-10:45		U13B
10:50-11:35		U13A

Girls participating have all received letters. Please make sure that your daughter is dropped off at least 30 minutes before the start of her game. All girls must be fetched by 11:45. We will have a tuckshop available and will be selling pancakes and boerewors rolls. Please support our PTA. Major Frazer’s Barista will be selling coffee. Access can be made either via the Huntley Street gate or the Pre-primary gate in Beaufort Street. Please park cars in the street.

Birthday wishes

We wish the following staff member and girls who celebrated their birthdays this week a very happy birthday: Ms Knott-Craig, Lulo Dyantyi, Asante Sankqela, Mihle Mgwebi, Zenkosi Mati and Indiphile Mdlalana.

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Upcoming events:

Friday

06/06

U13A&B Hockey vs Gill @VP

Saturday

07/06

Hockey & Netball vs Westering @VP

Monday

9/06

Assembly presented by 4D at 10:15. Parents welcome

Auditions: Dance 14:00-16:00

Tuesday

10/06

Auditions: Music (singing, musical instruments & poetry) 14:00-16:00

Wed

11/06

Auditions: Overflow 14:00-16:00

Thursday

12/06

Grade 4 History outing

No U10 hockey practice

Friday

13/06

Interhouse Cross Country

Wed

18/06

Interhouse Singing 13:00-14:00. Parents welcome.

Thursday

19/06

VP’s Got Talent final show

VP Newsletter 30 June 2025

30th May 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

As the only primary school that was invited to sing at the DSG/St Andrew’s Music Festival’s final gala event on Thursday night last week, our Chamber Choir made us so proud. The talent that was on display at the concert was phenomenal and certainly showcased what amazing work is happening at all the schools in Makhanda. We were so proud to be part of it. Well done to all our music girls and choirs who participated in the festival. Many of our old VP girls were part of numerous final shows from the various schools both playing instruments and singing. This is a testament to our dedicated music teachers who nurture our girls’ talents with much passion and enthusiasm. I noted a number of our VP parents at the various evenings, and we thank them for their support.

Our cultural and arts programme, whether it be Music, Dance or Drama, driven by incredibly talented teachers, is certainly a strength at VP. Events as small as our class assemblies, our Grade 7 LSPA practicals to our Mulan production, to mention a few, continue to amaze me. The confidence that these activities instill in our girls and the talent that it cultivates is exceptional. I am looking forward to VP’s Got Talent at the end of the term and to the Victoria in Concert early next term – I am sure these will be further showcases of our girls’ talents and the wonderful work that has been done at VP.

Worker of the Week

Well done to Olibango Ngabaza for coming to see me twice this week – for English and isiXhosa. Well done! Keep up the good work!!

Teddies

We only have 11 VP teddies left who are looking for loving homes and warm cuddles at night. Adoption fee is R100.

Exams

We move into our second week of exams and we encourage continued focus and discipline – keep at it girls! You can do it!
Exam Timetable

Monday, 2 June:

Maths Paper 2 (Grade 4-7)
EMS (Grade 7)

Tuesday, 3 June:

Natural Sciences (Grade 4-7)
Art (Grade 7)
LSPA Theory (Grade 7)

Wednesday, 4 June:

LSPA Practical (Grade 7)
SS History (Grade 4-7)

Thursday, 5 June:

Life Skills (Grade 4-6)

School Times

School will continue with exam times from Monday, 2 June until Friday, 6 June ie. the academic school day will end at 13:00 and the extramural programme will run from 13:00-14:00, to accommodate the writing of examinations by Grade 4-7 and to ensure that girls still remain active.

Please ensure that arrangements have been made for your daughter to go home promptly at 14:00 (or 13:00 if she is not doing extramurals) every day to prepare for her next exam.

Please note this change is only for Grade 4-7. Grade 1-3 will continue with extramurals until 14:00, as usual -except for interventions which end at 14:30.

Visit to Amazwi

The Grade 3s and the Grade 5s enjoyed an Interactive Reading of “Popcorn” by Naomi Holdt on Wednesday at Amazwi. The girls enjoyed discussing the story and answering questions. The story reminded them to always remain hopeful.

Interhouse Cross Country

On Friday, 13 June we will have our annual Interhouse Cross Country event. Parents are welcome to attend.

The Pre-Primary, Grade 1&2s will be running on Fergusson Field from 12:00- 12:45.

Pre-Primary – 12:00-12:15

Grade 1 – 12:15-12:30

Grade 2 – 12:30-12:45

We kindly request that all PP&FP parents enter through the Beaufort Street office entrance as the Huntley Street entrance will be locked and will not be opened.

The Grade 3-7 girls will walk to the Botanical Gardens and start running at 10:30. First off will be the Grade 3s, followed by Grade 4&5s and finally Grade 6&7s. Girls can be collected from school at 13:00 as usual. Pre-Primary girls must wear a shirt in their house colour and black shorts, socks and takkies. The Grade 1-7 girls must come to school dressed in their house shirt, black shorts, white socks, and takkies. Please also send a bottle of water, sunscreen and her VP hat/peak. House shirts can be bought from Extreme Embroidery or Heinen Embroidery. Only official house shirts may be worn.

Results

Tennis

Our team tennis girls played in the Rising Stars Tennis tournament at DSG on the 25th of May. The competition was tough, the games were fun and the learning experience was epic. Well done to all of you!

Netball

On Monday, 26 May, the U12 (at VP) and 13A (at PJ) played in the last round of Makana Round Robbin and the results were as follows:

U12A: VP vs Tantyi Lower won 7-1; VP vs Oatlands won 5-2

U13A: VP vs PJ won 3-2; VP vs Oatlands lost 1-5

On Wednesday, 28 May, we played a mini netball home match against St Andrew’s Prep at VP. The scores were as follows:

U8A lost 3-0; U9A won 7-5; U9B won 6-1

Thank you so much to everyone for the continued support. Well done to our players and coaches!

Upcoming fixtures

Hockey vs Gill

Friday, 6 June the U13A and B hockey teams will be playing a hockey match vs Gill at Victoria Primary School.

The U13B match will start at 12:30 and U13A match will start at 13:15. Good luck, girls!

Netball vs Westering Saturday, 7 June @VP

Girls participating have received a letter.

	Netball
	Court A	Court B
09:00	U13A	U12A
09:30	U13B	U12B
10:00	U11A	U10A

Hockey vs Westering Saturday, 7 June @VP

Girls participating have received a letter.

Top field A		Top field B		Top field C
09:00	U10B	09:00	U9B	09:00	U8B
09:30	U10A	09:30	U9A	09:30	U8A
Fergusson field: bottom field
10:00-10:45		U13B
10:50-11:35		U13A

PTA 75th VP Recipe Book

Don’t forget to order your recipe book before the 6^th of June. The cost is R150 and you can order via your daughter’s teacher.

Birthday wishes

We wish the following staff and girls who celebrated their birthdays this week a very happy birthday: Mr Majiba, Alwaba Ndawuni, Leah Doyle, Lihle Balintulo, Chloe de Beer, Azizipho Ngindana, Kelly Doyle, Chanelle Musarurwa, Emily Doyle and Olubanzi Zabo.

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Upcoming Events

Monday

02/06

Exams:

· Maths Paper 2

(Grade 4-7)

· EMS (Grade 7)

Tuesday

03/06

Exams:

· Natural Sciences

(Grade 4-7)

· Art (Grade 7)

· LSPA Theory (Grade 7)

Wednesday

04/06

Exams:

· LSPA Practical (Grade 7)

· SS History (Grade 4-7)

Thursday

05/06

Exam: Life Skills (Grade 4-6)

Friday

06/06

U13A&B Hockey vs Gill @VP

Saturday

07/06

Hockey & Netball vs Westering @VP

VP Newsletter 23 May 2025

23rd May 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

Exams start on Monday for Grade 4-7 and I am sure that your daughters have already started making her notes and begun revising. I appeal to you to make your home a place that is conducive to learning and limit the distractions for the next two weeks so that your daughter can be provided with a space that will help her focus while studying. Please limit the noise level (especially TV) and take all technology away for the next few weeks. Limit visitors and make sure that your next two weekends are not too hectic.

Breaks are essential as is keeping active during this time. That is why we are still continuing with our extramural programme from 13:00-14:00. Please read the exam extramural program closely with your daughter to make sure that she knows when her extramural is scheduled for during exam time. It is compulsory for your daughter to attend her extramural sessions. She will only be at school an extra 15 minutes more than she would be on a normal school day and exercise will help boost her energy levels and reduces stress. It is a good, healthy break for her. We request that all girls be fetched by 14:00 during exams so that they can go home to study.

The best thing we can do to assist our girls is to show our support in every way we can and that includes making a few sacrifices ourselves. Be encouraging and supportive. Don’t put excessive pressure on your daughters to perform well as this can create anxiety. Let them know you love them and that you are in this together!

Exam Timetable

Monday, 26 May:

English & FAL Creative Writing (Grade 4-7)

Tuesday, 27 May:

English & FAL Creative Writing (Grade 4-7)

Wednesday, 28 May:

FAL Language & Comprehension (Grade 6&7)
English Language & Comprehension (Grade 4&5)
Life Orientation (Grade 7)

Thursday, 29 May:

FAL Language & Comprehension (Grade 4&5)
English Language and Comprehension (Grade 6&7)
SS Geography (Grade 4-7)

Friday, 30 May:

Art & LSPA (Grade 4-6)
Maths Paper 1 (Grade 4-7)
Technology (Grade 7)

Monday, 2 June:

Maths Paper 2 (Grade 4-7)
EMS (Grade 7)

Tuesday, 3 June:

Natural Sciences (Grade 4-7)
Art (Grade 7)
LSPA Theory (Grade 7)

Wednesday, 4 June:

LSPA Practical (Grade 7)
SS History (Grade 4-7)

Thursday, 5 June:

Life Skills (Grade 4-6)

School Times

As from Monday, 25 May until Friday, 6 June the academic school day will end at 13:00 and the extramural programme will run from 13:00-14:00, to accommodate the writing of

examinations by Grade 4-7 and to ensure that girls still remain active.

Please ensure that arrangements have been made for your daughter to go home promptly at 14:00 (or 13:00 if she is not doing extramurals) every day to prepare for her next exam. The revised extramural programme for these two weeks accompanies this newsletter.

Please note this change is only for Grade 4-7. Grade 1-3 will continue with extramurals until 14:00, as usual -except for interventions which end at 14:30.

Astroquiz results

Congratulations to the Victoria Meteors (Aliyah Bezuidenhout, Avethandwa Hambaze, Iviwe Jakavula and Christelle Ruwanza) for making it through to the 3rd (provincial) round of the SAASTA Astroquiz to take place on 14 August. You girls are stars!

Worker of the Week

Well done to Taylyn Thomas for her excellent work in Maths. Keep it up, Taylyn!

Indlulamthi Badge

We congratulate Imanathi Mcophele for being one of our first recipients for our Honours Ndlulamthi Badge. Well done, Iminathi. Thank you for the positive contribution you make towards VP.

ABRSM exams

Girls who are eligible for these practical exams received their letters last week. Kindly note that the entries close on 30 May, and please forward entry confirmation to Dr. Wynne.

Mini Maestros

Seventeen of our young musicians participated in this music competition last Friday, and we are so proud of each of these girls for so bravely managing their nerves and performing so well. Congratulations to Isla Orsmond and Lulama Joe, who each received medals in their categories. The adjudicator gave the performers some valuable feedback and made special mention of Riley-Anne Knott-Craig and Amyoli Loli, whose performances were “highly commended”. Well done, girls!

DSG/SAC Music Festival

Our choirs, orchestra and soloists had a busy week, performing in the SAC/DSG Music Festival that showcases the amazing talent being developed in our schools. We are immensely proud of them for performing for mixed audiences from the broader Makhanda schools community. Congratulations to our Chamber Choir, who were invited to perform at the Gala Concert last night, which celebrated the week’s highlights. We are super proud of our girls and we thank Dr Wynne and Mr Florence for the amazing work they do in our Music Department.

Moon Youth Theatre Company visit VP

On Thursday morning our girls were treated to a visit from the Ticket to the Moon Youth Theatre Company. The Pre-Primary and Foundation Phase saw Goldilocks and the Three Bears, with a 21st century twist and the Intersen Phase watched Billy Goat Gruff We were all thoroughly entertained!

Chess

We are delighted to share some fantastic news—the Sarah Baartman District Chess Committee has decided to include both an A Team and a B Team in this year’s competitions! This wonderful development allows even more talented players to showcase their skills on the board. We are proud to announce the following girls who will be representing the district in the upcoming matches:

U12 A Team
Lusenathi Ntoyanto

U14 A Team
Bridget Akpeng & Ella Radovic

U14 B Team
Alibongwe Mthembu, Katherine Marias & Makatendeka Chakona

Tennis results

Our tennis girls played a match against DSG on 20 May. We lost overall but good fun was had by all. Well done, girls!

Upcoming tennis fixture

On Sunday, 25 May, some of our tennis girls will be participating in the Rising Stars Tennis Tournament at DSG. All the best and play well girls!

Hockey vs St Dominics Priory

U9A won 7-0; U9B won 3-0; U9C drew 1-1; U10A lost 0-1; U10B won 1-0; U10C drew 1-1; U13C won 1-0; U13B lost 1-0;

U13A lost 1-0

Hockey vs SAC Prep

U8 won 3-2; U9A lost 0-5; U9B won 4-1

Netball Results

What a busy past two weeks it’s been:

On Friday, 13 May we played matches against Kingswood. The scores were:

U9B won 9–0; U9A won 5-3; U10B won 3–1; U10A won 6-1; U11B won 7–1; U11A lost 5-1

On Saturday, 14 May we welcomed Kenton-on-sea (KOS) and Kowie Foundation (KF) Primary School for a lovely morning of netball. The matches were a fantastic display of developing talent, played with plenty of heart and enthusiasm from everyone. The scores were: U8A vs KOS lost 7 – 1

U9B vs KF won 8 – 0; U9A vs KOS won 4 – 2; U10A vs KOS drew 4 – 4; U11B vs KF won 3 – 0;

U11A vs KOS lost 2 – 0; U12A vs KOS lost 4 – 3; U13B vs KF won 15 – 0; U13A vs KOS won 16 – 5

On Wednesday, 21 May, we played a match against St. Andrew’s Prep and DSG. The scores were as follows:

U8 won 3-2; U9A won 6-2; U9B lost 7-2; U10B drew 1-1; U10A lost 6-0; U11B drew 1-1; U11A lost 5-0

U12C won 5-1; U12B lost 4-3; U12A lost 16-4; U13D lost 4-3; U13C lost 13-1; U13B won 8-7; U13A lost 20-3

To all the players and coaches, you can pat yourself on the back – well done on this exceptional work!

Makana Round Robin

The U12A and U13A girls are participating in the last round of our Round Robins on Monday, 26 May. The U12s will be playing at VP and U13s at PJ. Your support would be highly appreciated. Letters have been sent to girls involved. Girls can be fetched after their last game.

PTA 75th VP Recipe Book

Don’t forget to order your recipe book before the 6^th of June. The cost is R150 and you can order via your daughter’s teacher.

75th Teddies

We still have a handful of 75th teddies for sale (R100). They have been such a hit! Once these are sold there will be no more! Please purchase from the office before it is too late!

Slipper Day

Girls can still purchase a sticker for R20 from Mrs Mgogo and will then be allowed to wear slippers at school on Friday, 30 May! If you would like to bring slippers to school to wear for the day without buying a sticker you may do so for a R10 donation. All proceeds will go towards Reach for a Dream, an organisation that strives to fulfil the dreams of children who are suffering from life threatening illnesses.

Birthday wishes

We wish the following staff and girls who celebrated their birthdays this week a very happy birthday: Ms Stirk, Misha Potts, Sibabalwe Hanisi, Kylleigh Williams, Rose Jordaan, Zingce Tanga, Riley-Anne Knott-Craig, Emihle Kulati, Riley-Jo Potts and Rose Chirombo.

Regards

Mrs Rafferty

PRINCIPAL

Upcoming Events

Saturday

24/05

Compulsory Grade 7 Creative Arts workshop 08:45-12:00. Letters were sent home.

Monday

26/05

Exams begin for Grade 4-7

Exam: English & FAL Creative Writing (Gr 4-7)

School finishes at 13:00. Extramurals finish at 14:00

Makana Round Robin @VP&PJ

Tuesday

27/05

Exam: English Creative Writing and FAL Creative Writing (Gr 4-7)

Wednesday

28/05

Exam: FAL Lang. & Comp. (Grade 6&7)

Exam: Eng. Lang. & Comp (Grade 4&5)

Exam: Life Orientation (Gr 7)

Thursday

29/05

Exam: FAL Lang. & Comp. (Gr 4&5)

Exam: Eng. Lang. & Comp. (Gr 6&7)

Exam: SS Geography (Gr 4-7)

Friday

30/05

Exam: Art & LSPA (Gr 4-6)

Exam: Maths P1 (Gr 4-7)

Exam: Technology (Gr 7)

_________________________________________________________________________

VP Recipe Book Order:

Please can I order VP’s 75th Recipe Book for R150

Name: _________________________________________ Grade :_____________

Payment: Cash / EFT / Credit card (please attach POP or receipt)

Signed:

VP Newsletter 16 May 2025

16th May 2025 Ilza Lang No Comments

Message from the office

On Monday Grade 4KC presented a lovely assembly on Respect. Their message was on respecting yourself, others and your environment and this message was discussed at our morning lines too.

Respecting (and being kind) to ourselves is often a challenge for young girls and even grown women. It is important as parents to guide and encourage self-love and acceptance in our girls especially with social pressure and media bombarding us daily to behave and look a certain way.

It is critical for us to nurture self-respect and self-love and acceptance in our daughters from a young age and to highlight to our daughters that their uniqueness is what makes them special.

A reminder of all we can do to build confident and happy girls:

(https://mindfulstl.com/teaching-your-tween-girl-self-confidence/)

Model body positivity
Teach boundaries (and how to say no)
Balance the type of compliments you give (don’t only give superficial compliments)
Praise effort rather than outcome
Encourage new opportunities
Model positive self-talk
Model confidence

Newsletter Survey

In an effort to reduce our paper and printing costs we wish to ascertain what format would best suit our parent body to receive the newsletter each week. We also want to make sure that we do not exclude anyone from getting all the information that we share. We request that you complete the questionnaire at the end of this newsletter as a survey. It is imperative that all parents complete this. We thank you for your assistance.

VP’s Got Talent

After last year’s great success, we are excited to be having our second VP’s Got Talent in 2025. We encourage all girls who may be interested to enter to audition. Entry forms can be obtained from the school office. Start practising!!!!

PTA 75th VP Recipe Book

Don’t forget to order your recipe book before the 6^th of June. The cost is R150 and you can order via your daughter’s teacher.

75th Teddies

We still have a handful of 75th teddies for sale (R100). They have been such a hit! Once these are sold there will be no more! Please purchase from the office before it is too late!

Worker of the Week

There were just so many wonderful Grade 4 projects on the Water Cycle that this week’s WOW was a tough one! Well done to Carla Frazer for her amazing 3D water cycle box. I am certain all the Grade 4s will know their Water Cycle by heart for exams!

Merit Achievers

Mila Nongubo, Amyoli Loli, Owekhethelo Gongqa and Amari Funani have received over 250 merits so far this year. Well done!

Music

Final DSG/SAC reminder

Please take note of the final arrangements for next week’s music festival:

Solo categories: Monday, 19 May (08:30). Girls will travel in the school bus.
Choir festival: Monday, 19 May (16:00). Compulsory for all choirs. We’ll meet in the quad at 15:00 and walk to the Centenary Hall together. Please collect your daughter at the Centenary Hall at 18:30.
Orchestra festival: Wednesday, 21 May (18:30). Orchestra members must arrive at the Centenary Hall by 18:00. Please collect your daughter at 20:00.
Gala evening: Thursday, 22 May (18:30). Individuals/groups will be selected from the week’s performances to participate.

PLEASE NOTE: There will be no extramurals for Grade 3-7 on Monday afternoon (as the majority of our girls are involved in the St Andrew’s Music Festival on Monday afternoon). If your daughter is not involved please arrange to fetch your daughter after her school day at 13:45.

Music Assessments

All music pupils will play their Term 2 music assessments next week. Keep up the good work, girls and GOOD LUCK!

Chess

Congratulations to all the girls who travelled to Graaff-Reinet last weekend.

They showed incredible resilience and determination, competing in some tough and mentally taxing matches. Well done to Ella Radovic and Bridget Akpeng on their selection to represent the Sarah Baartman District team – a well-deserved achievement!

Highland dancing

On Saturday, 10 May Libby Everton competed in the Border Highland Dancing Festival in East London. Libby danced in the Novice All Ages section and was awarded two gold medals, two silver medals and a 4th place. As a result, she was runner up for both the Highland and National sections of the competition. Well done, Libby!

Gymnastics

Congratulations to Mary-Kate Februarie who received two bronze and a silver medal and Lulu Qeqe who received a bronze medal at the Rhythmic Gymnastics Competition in Port Alfred. We are proud of you!

Hockey results vs Erica

U13A won 1-0; U13B lost 3-2; U13C drew 0-0

U10A lost 4-0

U9A 1-1; U9B won 1-0

Hockey results vs Kingswood

U13A lost 4-0; U13B lost 3-0; U13C drew 0-0

U10A lost 8-0; U10 B lost 6-0

U9A drew 2-2; U9B lost 1-0

Well done to all our hockey teams!

Hockey & Netball fixture

On Saturday, 17 May VP will be hosting Kenton Primary, Kowie Foundation and St Dominics Priory for fun filled hockey and netball fixtures. All girls involved have received letters.

Please note that access to our campus on Saturday morning can be made at Huntley Street or the Pre-Primary entrance on Saturday. You may then park in either Huntley Street or in Beaufort Street.

The PTA will have a tuckshop available on Saturday and will be selling breakfast buns, pancakes and cheese toasties. Major Frazer’s barista will also be there selling their delicious coffee. Treat yourself and support our PTA! (Cash and card accepted)

Hockey fixtures vs Priory on Saturday, 17 May at VP

Fergusson Field
09:00	U13B
09:45	U13C
10:30	U13A
Top field
Field A		Field B
09:00	U10C	09:00	U9C
09:25	U10B	09:25	U9B
09:50	U10A	09:50	U9A

Hockey fixtures vs SAC Prep on Thursday, 22 May @Prep

Match Time	Team	Venue
13h30	Prep U9B vs VP U9B	Retief
13h30	Prep U9A vs VP U9A	Retief
13h30	Prep U8 vs VP U8	Retief
13h30	Hockey Clinic Prep & VP	Retief
13h45	Prep U9B vs VP U9A	Retief
13h45	Prep U9A vs U9B	Retief

Hockey fixtures vs DSG Thursday, 22 May @DSG

Time	Court 1	Court 2	Court 3	Court 4	Court 5
14:00	U13A	U12A	U11A	U13D	U10A
14:30	U13B	U12B	U11B	U13C	U10B
15:00				U12C

Netball Results

It’s been a busy season already and the girls are thrilled to have been taking part in different matches and leagues. The following are scores for the fixtures we have had this week:

Saturday,10 May – VP vs Erica Derby Day:

U9A won 3 – 1; U10A lost 12 – 3

U11A lost 4 – 0; U12A won 9 – 2

U13A won 10 – 6

Monday, 12 May – Makana Round Robin:

U12A lost VP 2 – 5 PJ

U12A won VP 5 – 1 C.M.Vellem

U13A won VP 6 – 1 Tantyi Lower

Wednesday, 14 May – VP vs PAHS:

U8A won 1 – 0; U9A won 2 – 1;

U10A lost 4 – 8; U11A lost 0 – 4

U12A lost 3 – 6; U13A lost 5 – 6

Well done, girls!

Netball fixture vs KC @KC today

FIXTURE

COURT A

FIXTURE

COURT B