C.B.C. ST JOHN’S PARKLANDS, CAPE TOWN

www.cbcstjohns.co.za

Postnet Suite 34

Private Bag X3

Bloubergrant

7443

Telephone (021) 556-5969

Fax (021) 556-1160

senior_school@cbcstjohns.co.za

CBC St John’s Parklands is now 4 years old and growing strong. Our first group of matrics will write next year and the following year will see the College at its maximum intake.

Building Projects

The official opening of our ECD buildings will take place on Friday 23 June. In conjunction with these buildings, Science and Biology laboratories, as well as a Senior School Art room and a Senior computer room were part of the 2005 building projects.

Cultural

We have had some memorable moments since June last year. At the Cape Town Eisteddfod Art Awards we were awarded the Ford Rose Trophy for the most outstanding entries. Of the 192 art pieces entered by the College, 55 achieved Diplomas, 63 achieved Honours and 58 achieved Merit awards. 3 Diplomas, 5 Honours and 8 Merit awards were given for the Sculpture section.

Three choirs participated in the Catholic Schools Choir Festival at the Cape Town City Hall in October. The most inspiring part of the afternoon was the sound of hundreds of young voices raising the roof with two mass choir items, followed by the national anthem.

Sport

The third term of 2005 saw the completion of our long-awaited tennis courts, after dedicated fund-raising by our Parents Association. These tennis courts also serve as netball courts.

It is a credit to our staff that although our numbers are few, we offer a wide range of sports: soccer (for girls and boys), rugby, tennis, softball, cricket, surfing, netball, hockey, running and athletics.

At our swimming gala, held in March at Ouskip, Gold House walked away with the swimming trophy, after a fun day with participation by both students and staff.

Our Grades 7-9 students also took part in a mini-triathlon held at St George’s Grammar School in March.

A number of our students have excelled in gymnastics, swimming, body boarding, netball, tennis and soccer, either provincially or nationally.

Three of our students also travelled to the Western Province Atlantic Soccer zone in May. Jonathan Haulgreen-Pauli made it through to the finals, but narrowly missed being selected and our soccer coach, Mr Brandon Siljeur, was selected to coach the U17 squad.

ERS

Our two societies are currently bursting at the seams – an encouraging sign that the ethos of Edmund Rice is still relevant in Parklands in 2006. Our students facilitate the weekly meetings and all our meetings have a spiritual and lifeskills focus. We always have a social celebration. Our members take it in turns to provide refreshments.

Our main aim is to promote a culture of caring, compassion and prayer at College. Our members participate in many liturgies and outreach initiatives. We presented a Passion Play during Holy Week, which helped prepare our school community for the Easter experience. We also prepared the Mass in honour of our founder on 6 May. The ERS enacted the life of Edmund Rice. The members of the society were commissioned for another year of service.

We recently held a farewell party for Jesus just before the Feat of the Ascension. We believe that fun should be integral to our ERS experience. Our society viewed the movie The Da Vinci Code, which has provided us with a wonderful opportunity to debate and become more informed about scriptural scholarship. In June, we will attend the musical Jesus Christ Superstar.

Our society is currently preparing for the One-to-One Fair, which is held at the Good Hope Centre in August. This Fair caters for the mentally handicapped of Cape Town. Our students run a stall and provide companionship for the mentally disabled. We generally have about eighty of our students who participate in this project. We are also planning our annual “getaway”, which will take place in the September holidays.

Our society has grown from small beginnings. The ERS sees itself as being a vital force in nurturing the spirit of Edmund Rice here at CBC in Parklands. Live Jesus in our hearts FOREVER!

Past Pupils

There was great excitement at our College earlier this year when alumni Dion Bebe won the Academy award for best cinematography for the film Memoirs of a Geisha. Other films he’s been involved with have included Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and Chicago, starring Richard Gere. We are very proud of him and hope that he will bring his Oscar to visit soon.

The current focus of our Past Pupils’ Association is the updating of our database. We appeal to any past pupils from Greenpoint to contact us so that we may update their details and include them in the database.

You can e-mail this address - alisonevans@telkomsa.net

or complete the form on our website. Follow the links under “About CBC”.

We are planning to hold our first general reunion later this year, when we hope to be able to show off our new campus. The details will be posted on our website, as well as in local publications.