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)