The School Corridor Tatler

The Drilling Squad competition of the Steenberg-Lavender Hill schools was held today on the sports field adjacent to Floreat Primary School.  SAPS, who run these drilling teams as their outreach programme to schools, organized this historic Steenberg-Lavender Hill Drilling competition. The trophies for the various categories The schools that participated were: Steenberg High School, Lavender Hill High School, Sibelius High School, Hillwood Primary School, Levana Primary School, Sullivan Primary School, Lourier Primary School and Delta Primary School. SAPS members and two of our school heads, Hilton Palanyandi (Delta) and Noel Isaacs (Floreat) All the cadets were well disciplined. It was fascinating to watch the young drill squad captains taking their squads through their paces. The camaraderie was amazing. Delta Drill Squad was the overall winner. Most of the schools won various awards for best drilling, best dressed, exhibition and march catego...

Annelize Robson, the Deputy Principal and Tourism teacher at Lavender Hill High School, has won the prestigious national Tourism Teacher of the Year Award. The Tourism Teacher of the Year Award was developed by Global Travel and Tourism Partnership - South Africa (GTTP-SA). The Award Ceremony was held at the National Careers Expo Gala Event in Bloemfontein on 02 October, 2015. This award gives national recognition to Tourism teachers who make a difference in the lives of the learners, the school and the community where he or she teaches. The Tourism and Travel Subject adviser, Ms Sharmini Naidoo and the principal of the school, Faseeg Manie, must be on top of the world for having their nominee for the Tourism Teacher of the Year Award confirmed to be the best on a national platform. Profile of Annelize Robson Annelize Robson has been teaching at Lavender Hill High School for decades. As the Tourism teacher, she has received excellent results for her subject, Tourism, at the ...

Ernest Moore with the school choir on the stage Sullivan Primary School Hall Opening Ceremony On Saturday, I was as excited as a child having a birthday party. Sullivan Primary School celebrated the opening of their school hall, thanks to the generosity of the main sponsor, The Archway Foundation. Everything was fabulous, from the superb, engaging master of ceremonies, Aden Thomas, the highly engaging speeches, the entertainment, right to the food provided by local caterer, Jeremy. This is what I like about community celebrations: the collective joy to embrace and acknowledge your neighbour's achievement. Prior to the event, facebook was already buzzing with 'high fives' and 'vivas' to wish Ernest Moore and his community well. When Ernest posted that he had picked up someone else's" ball of nerves", he was probably spot on. That is just how the community DNA works - everybody feels your joy, pain or nerves! And the new school hall was worthy o...

T Grade 12 learners have been learning how to switch on their brains today. Levona, a physiotherapist, has volunteered to demonstrate how learners can improve their concentration. Simple exercises were done with the enthusiastic learners. They were showed how to march and do crossovers to activate their brains. Learners were surprised to hear that sipping water regularly helps keep the brain alert.  When the learners did the deep breathing exercises, they found the leg and hand crossovers fascinating. Loud breathing could be heard in the school's makeshift hall. "The brain is our engine. We are learning to develop new habits. We have to learn how to eat properly, learn how to relax and how to concentrate. You are as gifted and as talented as any other learner at other schools. All we have to do is harness our energies and make the commitment to retrain our brains. That is the secret,"said Levona. The group of learners were amazingly attentive and willing to try the exerci...

A few of the Lavender Hill High Grade 12s Lavender Hill Grade 12 learners themselves have amazing inspirational power. Today, we met the 126 Matric students, the class of 2014. A well-mannered group of young people who still have a sparkle in their eyes. The fact that these learners reached grade 12 despite their hardships and their daily grind to protect their souls and their integrity, is a morale booster for folk who have been spared such trauma. Despite their lived wisdom of how to overcome adversity, these very learners need a constant feed of motivation to remind them of their awesome power. Domingo sharing his " work-in-progress" journey with the learners Today it was Domingo's privilege to meet these future trendsetters and to add a nugget of hope. Like his audience, Domingo too attended a school in the "ghettoes" as he put it. He was here to share his journey of carving a new life for himself. Domingo entitled his talk "Against all odds". ...