Department 88 / / 89
Adult Classes Dance Troupe With 2017 being the second year for the Pretoria School Dance Troupe, the managing teacher, Ms. Hsiao, and I decided to allow new students from Grade 4 onwards to join the club. We were delighted to have a large group of enthusiastic girls from Grade 4 and 5 join the team. the whole Dance Troupe, including the drumming team, to perform at their Casual Day event on 1 September. The students displayed professionalism and presented their performances flawlessly. They were also good representatives of PCS and even participated in the event s festivities. The girls first performance was on 30 May, at the school s Dragon Boat Festival celebration. The younger girls from Grade 4 in particular were very excited for their first dance performance, and showed great energy on stage with their Bell Dance. On the other hand, the older girls from Grades 5 to 7 showed off their experience with a charming and charismatic performance of the Money Sticks Dance. The older girls and the drumming team were invited to perform the Money Sticks Dance and a thrilling drum performance by the Taipei Liaison Office on 9 October at the Centurion Country Club. The audience was impressed by their performance and the students also enjoyed themselves at the event. The Dragon Boat Festival celebration was also attended by several special guest from Alma School, who were so impressed with all the performances. They invited 90 / It was a busy year for the Pretoria Dance Troupe, and I m very honoured to have been a part of this team. Miss Shinny Chen / 91
Bridge Competition Our Bridge journey started when we auditioned at the school to represent the school. The selected students started working hard, studying hard, practicing their talent performances and learning their speeches. Soon enough it was time for the preliminary contest in Pretoria. After completing the test and presenting our speeches and performances, we were the winners of the contest and became the new representatives of South Africa at the international Bridge Competition in China. Now it was the time to start our journey to China. Ntsatsi Mabokano (Grade 10) China: in my eyes, the land of dreams and a country I will never forget. It sometimes still feels like a dream. We were treated like royalty: from the airport where we were designated our very own chauffeur, to the five star hotel that we slept in where we had amazing food, to the amazing tourist attractions that we visited. We stayed in Beijing for three days, where it was simply about the experience more than the actual competition. There we got to visit many places such as the Great Wall of China and Tian An Men Square and had the adventures of traveling to different restaurants that were specially planned for us. Yes, it was the best three days of my life. Don t think I experienced this memorable time alone. Besides my partner and my amazing teacher I made friends from all over the world and they all added to this experience and what s funny is, each and every one of them was different and played a different role within the two and a half weeks. I have been blessed with friends from countries such as Namibia, Congo, Australia, Italy, England, Barbados, Grenada, Vanuatu and many more. Have you ever heard of Vanuatu or Grenada? Don t worry I didn t too. Can you only imagine how it feels meeting people from countries you didn t even know existed? Priceless I tell you, just priceless. I cannot wait to go back in 2019! We then left to Yunnan, which is a province in China, where the actual competition was held. Playtime was over and now it was competition time a very tense but exciting time. On the first day, we started off with a computerised test, followed by the second day where we had to present our speeches, followed by a talent performance on the third day. We worked HARD and we did fairly well in all three divisions and I can safely say I am proud of Ntsatsi and myself! A very special thank you to the high school teachers who were patient and understanding and very supportive with us (especially since the competition was held during exam time), Pretoria School for presenting us with the opportunity, our teachers for their hard work in the preparations, our parents for their support and kindness and our friends for their support and last but not least, the Confucius Institute for everything! If I had to speak about the experiences I gained in Yunnan, I would fill this whole year book. Though, there are two experiences that hold a special place in my heart and I think they do because I didn t feel like a foreigner but rather a citizen of the country and oh boy, that s a special feeling! This was when we were presented with families to go and visit for the day. We were warmly welcomed by two families who took Ntsatsi and me in as their very own. The second experience is when Ntsatsi and I were specially invited by the student mentors for a Saturday night hot pot date. I think I cherish it so much because it was a private invite just for South African students. It was amazing. Lebone Kgengwenyane (Grade 11) 92 / / 93
New Year The year 2017 is the Year of the Rooster. The school held a celebration to celebrate the New Year on the 27th of January, where many activities were held. The program started off with three Grade 12 students, Wei Lin, Michelle Cen and Lisa Lee, introducing the story and background of the New Year. Thereafter, the program proceeded with a Drum Performance that was presented by Grade 6 pupils, followed by Dancing and Singing, performed by various pupils. The greatest highlight of the day was the handing out of the red envelopes, where each pupil received lucky money in the red envelopes from their teachers. people believe this lucky money will bring you good luck for the New Year. Dragon Boat Festival Many parents also participated and enjoyed the function together with the whole school. Mrs Julie Hwang The celebration for the Dragon Boat Festival as well as the Characters & Culture Festival was held on Tuesday 30th May. We were very honoured to invite the members of governing body, Board of Executives, and other guests including Acting Representative Richard Shih from Taipei Liaison Office, a group of ladies from Pretoria International Circle of Friends (women from different embassies and foreign businesses), Professor Norma Nel from UNISA, and teachers and children from Alma School. The programme included a video on the legend and the customs behind the Dragon Boat Festival, a talk on the theme Martial Arts & Dancing, and various performances, including drumming, dancing, a Tai Chi sword performance etc. A prizegiving took place to announce the winners of the various competitions related to the festival, namely a colour-in competition for Junior Prep. phase, dragon boat design for Senior Prep. phase and Martial Arts & Dancing characters design for College phase. Delicious rice dumplings were handed out to the whole school as well as the guests after the assembly ended. 94 / The guests from Pretoria International Circle of Friends also visited some of the classes, and were exceptionally impressed with the pupils and how well they could learn. The Department worked extremely hard to prepare this celebration and we were absolutely proud of our pupils who made so much effort to participate in the competitions and performances. It was a day full of excitement and a delightful atmosphere, and it was wonderful to be able to share these special moments with so many people. Ms Angela Liu / 95
Winter Dance Feast 96 / / 97
Co-curricular Culture Club Co-curricular Culture Club JUNIOR-PREP Welcome to Culture Club! That s what I want to say to my old club members, new members and even to future members! It has always been a thrilling experience for me to have so many children willing to learn more about culture even after their daily lesson. For club time, we have so much fun through different hands-on activities, such as traditional opera mask making, character collages and many more. The Culture Club tries to offer a different variety of activities each year and through all these elements slowly figure out the bigger picture for our students what culture is all about. Seeing our students embrace, enjoy and respect differences in cultures make me proud to be their teacher and glad to share every moment with them. To enjoy life is to be active in every aspect of it, being involved and enjoying it are the best way to learn about the culture! Ms Nicole Hsiao 98 / / 99