FINALLY THE DAY ARRIVED : 'RIDE THE 1965 RIDE'

Well done to all the cyclist and walkers on their great achievement at the "Ride the 1965 Ride" fundraiser for Girls' High School and Queen's College. Gill Mager, Chairperson of the GHS Governing Body, cycled 163km, being one of the few women to cycle the full distance. Des Corné, Lucy Lyons, Ettie Wienekus as well as our head girl, Morgan Bolze, cycled 65km. Our girls, Nicole Mager, Kelly Bouwer, Kayla McEwan, Janine Sahd, Maryke Coetzee, Jennifer Cloete, Megan Miles, Alice Miles, Jess Beal-Preston, Amy Bradfield and Tessa Haggard cycled the last 10 km and we were proud to see them cycle in at the end.

Debbie Love, Ronel Harvey, Laura Harvey and Melissa Tompson walked over 100km for their old school and we are extremely proud of their dedication and grateful to them for their commitment to their alma mater.

We will receive a full list of participants later. If there are any participants who have been omitted here, they are to please contact the school so that we can accord the due recognition. Thanks to all the cyclist, walkers and sponsors for your outstanding effort!

ROB TAYLOR HOCKEY FESTIVAL - by Saskia Neethling

Our u/14 Hockey team participated in the Rob Taylor Hockey Festival held at Clarendon. We arrived in East London at 08H00 and went straight to the Clarendon Hostels to unpack. After that we went to the Astro where our first match was against Stirling. We were full of smiles when we saw Mr and Mrs Taylor, as well as boys from our brother school, supporting us from the stands! We went onto the field full of confidence but lost 1 - 2. Our team hung around till our next match against Clarendon, which was a very tough game. We managed to keep the game scoreless until they scored in the last minute and we lost 0 - 1. We spent the evening at Hemingways with the Queenians.

The next morning we were fortunate enough to be able to sleep in and we played against Cambridge drawing 0 - 0. Mrs Bredenkamp thought we all deserved an outing to the beach after our match so we arrived for our Pearson game fairly sandy. The rain came down during our game and the results was a 1 - 2 loss. The girls were all very disappointed in our performance but there is nothing a 'disco' can not fix.

On the final day of the festival, we packed our bags and set off to play our last match. I do not know if it was the beach or the vibe at the 'disco' that had an effect on our team...but we won 4 - 0 against Krugersdorp. Due to our results, we convinced Mrs Bredenkamp and Miss Roodt that we should go tubing before we go home. We all know that we still need a great amount of polishing but despite what the scoreboard said we had lots of fun, made new friends and grew as individuals and as a team. Thank you to Mrs Bredenkamp for driving us around and supporting us all the time. Thank you to Miss Roodt, our cheerleader, for coming with us. Thank you also to Mr Taylor, for allowing us to attend the Festival and to all the staff who helped organise everything. A big 'UP' to the u/14 A team; through tough times we still supported each other and showed true sportmanship.

'RIDE THE 1965 RIDE' FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE

In 2011 a group of amateur cyclists (under the direction of 1965 Vintage Queen's College Old Boys) cycled from Johannesburg to Queenstown raising over R300 000 for Queen's College. This year they are doing it again - and we want to join them! Groups of riders and walkers will be covering the 850km route (or part thereof) from Thursday 12 April to Thursday 19 April 2012. Girls' High School has been invited to participate in this incredible adventure filled with good people, fine food and many laughs - it promises to be the ride of your life.

Yonela Titi, a matriculant of 1998, became the first old-girl to be involved as a sponsor. Yoni, who boasts a MBA (Edinburgh) B Com (Law) (Unisa) Dip Corp Law (UJ), has specialized in International Business. She was also the recipient of the prestigious Nelson Mandela Scholarship as well as the British Council Chevening Scholarship. Yoni runs a successful business focusing on Executive Search for top SA companies as well as on Graduate Training and Development. It is wonderful to hear that our old-girls are doing well and getting involved with Girls' High.

Enter either as participants or sponsors. All funds generated by those affiliated to Girls' High School will benefit our school. Anyone interested in becoming involved in this most worthwhile venture can contact the school.

A CHALLENGE TO ALL OLD GIRLS AND PARENTS OF GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL

Ronell Harvey and her daughter, Laura (who attended Girls' High School), are walking 100km as part of the 'Ride the 1965 Ride' to raise funds for Girls' High School and Queen's College.

Each walker is trying to raise R25 000 each and they are appealing for you to assist in sponsoring this walk! Any amount, no matter how big or how small will be appreciated. You can either contact Ronell directly or make contact with Alastair MacDonald on mac@mactax.co.za or Arlene Rossouw on admin@qtghs.co.za for more information. Please indicate that your sponsorship is for Ronell and Laura Harvey and whether your contribution must go to Girls' High School or Queen's College.

Any old girls, parents or learners who what to take up this challenge and join the walk, please contact the school.

MATRIC DANCE

At the Matric Dance held for the 'Class of 2012', the girls all looked very glamorous and both they and their distinguished escorts enjoyed an evening of delicious food, good music and much fun. The Grade 11's had chosen "Las Vegas" as the theme and had worked very hard to conjour up a classy casino-type atmosphere in a normally empty hall. They are congratulated on a job well done. The foyer welcomed the Matrics to "Las Vegas" in no uncertain terms with flashing lights and signboards, the theme was continued inside with cards, dice and roulette wheels on display.

A sincere thank you to the conveners, Mrs Helen Bradley and Mrs Nicolette Stone, as well as to Mrs Hanneke Coetzee (Grade 12 Head), Mr Michael Watson and to the Hostel Matrons and staff for the wonderful spread of finger foods. Also thank you to Mrs Petro Barnes for assisting with the eats and Mrs Arlene Rossouw for making sure our premises were secure. A big thanks also to the Camera Club and Mrs Christine Maclean for capturing the wonderful memories.

REPORT ON SANBS DINNER

The SANBS peer group representatives Anjalay Hughes, Nana Tachie, Abulele Motile and Nandi Tyaliti, accompanied by Mrs Bredenkamp and Mrs Watson, attended a dinner at the Queenstown Golf Club hosted by the SANBS - "Heart of SANBS, Pumping Blood".

At the door, they were warmly welcomed by Mr Thorndike, the Chairman of the Donor Committee in East London, who has given over 200 units of blood, has a wicked sense of humour and urged the girls to mingle with the Queen's College peer group representatives who were also invited to the dinner.

René Vice welcomed all the guests and she informed us not only about the importance of donating blood, but also the reason for the entire evening which was to congratulate and thank the milestone donors of Queenstown as well as the respective companies and schools. SANBS counts on these people to donate blood, for without them, SANBS will be nothing.

The starter was served, and thereafter Mr Thorndike took the floor. He stated the statistics of all the towns in the region and how many units were donated respectively. He emphasized the fact that Queenstown had donated over 4700 units of blood, which exceeded that of Beacon Bay, Berea and Umtata!

After the main meal, awards were handed out! All present received something - from 15 to 150 units! After this ceremony, dessert was served. The evening was thoroughly enjoyed in the presence of Mr Thorndike with his jokes and insight, Mrs Watson and Mrs Bredenkamp with their unmistakable wit and charm and the peer group reps who laughed and nodded the whole way through.

EILEEN KABA : TOP SPEAKER

Eileen Kaba started her climb to the top of the public speaking domain by winning the Queenstown Schools round of the "State of the Province Address" held at J J Serfontein recently. The topic for this round was "The Building of Social and Economic Infrastructure" and Eileen came first in the English Home Language division. After this she automatically progressed to the regional round which she also won.

In February Eileen got the wonderful opportunity to attend the Legislature in Bisho as a VIP. Here she got to listen to the Premier's 2012 State of the Province Address and she found it very interesting to see Government in action. In March Eileen took part in the provincial round of the "State of the Province Speech Competition" which was held at the Legislature in Bisho. The topic for this final round was 'The Fight against Crime and Corruption' and Eileen once again won the English Home Language division. This is a wonderful achievement and we are extremely proud of Eileen.

LINDSAY DELL - ROTARY EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

Lindsay Dell, a Grade 11 learner at Queenstown Girls' High School, was fortunate enough to be accepted to go on a six-week exchange to Germany in December. This short-term exchange program was organised by Rotary. This is life in Germany according to Lindsay :

"I was very well matched to my exchange sister, Roswitha Kloidt, who came to stay with me in the winter of 2011. Both Roswitha's stay in South Africa and my stay in Germany were incredible experiences for me. Despite the language difference we became such good friends.

It was very interesting to learn about the German culture and to be a part of their way of life. In some ways it was extremely different to the South African culture and in some ways it was very similar. The biggest shock after spending my first week there was the freezing cold weather and the challenge of understanding nothing of the German language. Fitting in was difficult at first , but I had a very patient and loving host family that made me feel at home in no time. During the six week visit I attended school for two weeks, which was nothing like Girls' High at all, and I also went on a seven day tour of Germany with forty other Rotary exchange students. I made unforgettable friends, learnt an incredible amount in the short time I was there and visited some of the most beautiful places in the world.

A highlight has to be risking my life on the ski slopes in Austria while skiing for two days. It was so much fun and definitely something I would do again if I got the chance. Another highlight was going by train to Kφhn to spend New Years on the Rhine River and being able to watch the famous fireworks display which was absolutely breathtaking.

Among other things I learnt to be independent and responsible and to cope with problems I have never been faced with before in a completely new environment. I learnt to try new things and have an open mind and to take each day as it comes and treat it as an experience. I have benefitted greatly from the exchange program and am so grateful for the opportunity I was given.'

SPORT

Jenna Lucas participated in an Endurance Race held in Middleburg, Northern Cape.  She came 2nd overall in the 86km with a time of 4h22.  This is an excellent achievement considering the heat she and her horse had to deal with during the race.

NEW STAFF

Girls' High School welcomed Mrs Nonkoliseko Mtwana from Cape Town at the start of the new school year. Mrs Mtwana, who holds a number of post graduate qualifications, is a highly experienced teacher and will be joining the school's growing Xhosa Department. Mrs Mtwana previously taught at Christel House, an independent school in the Western Cape. Girls' High School also welcomed well-known local educator Mrs Margaret Dreyer onto the teaching staff. Mrs Dreyer will be assisting in the English Department. The Eastern Cape Education Department has still to resolve the filling of substantive vacancies.