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CHINESE DEPARTMENT - CHINESE DEPARTMENT -

Our school was very privileged to be visited by a few groups of distinguished guests in 2015.

Representatives from the Department of Basic Education paid their first official visit on Thursday 21 May, accompanied by Mr Song Bo from the education section of the Embassy of People’s Republic of China. They were all extremely impressed with the performances and class visits of different phases of the school.

A group photo of representatives from Department of Basic Education, Chinese Embassy, Board of Executives and the school.

Ambassador Chen Chung from the Taipei Liaison Office also paid his first official visit to our school on Wednesday 3 June. He was amazed to learn that Chinese is made compulsory for all the pupils at school. He praised the pupils for their singing, dancing and speaking ability for the Chinese language and culture.

Several overseas dignitaries visited our school on Saturday 25 July. Mr Leu Yuan-Rong, the Vice Minister of Overseas Community Affairs Council from Republic of China, Taiwan; Mr Liu Shie-Lin, President of World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce; Ms Emily Tsay, Supervisor General of World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce and Mr Ying Tseng Hoei, also from World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce, were accompanied by Director Yang Hsien Yaw from Taipei Liaison Office in South Africa. They were all impressed with the dedication and achievements of our school, especially regarding the Chinese education for all of our pupils.

Mr Liu Shie-Lin, President of World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce, made a very generous donation to our school.

Ms Angela Liu

HIGHLIGHTS | OffICIAL VISITS by DISTINGuISHED GuESTS

The school was visited by Ambassador Chen Chung and Director Yang Hsien Yaw from Taipei Liaison office.

Official Visits by Distinguished Guests

HIGHLIGHTS | OffICIAL VISITS by DISTINGuISHED GuESTS

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CHINESE DEPARTMENT - CHINESE DEPARTMENT -

Once we arrived in Beijing, we got ready for the photo-shoot. Here I made my first foreign friend and my day just got better. We received our 83 possible speech topics – no pressure, and as this started to build, our hours of sleep decreased. Luckily, I had Nikita and Lusanda with me for emotional support. The next day, we visited The Great Wall of China, which was a great day to start off the trip. The climb was extremely tiring but so worth it! The tour of The Forbidden City was very interesting and I learnt so much. Seeing the pandas at the zoo was a highlight for me because it made what we had seen in movies and in pictures, so real for me.

One of my many favourite memories was while waiting at the airport to leave for Yun Nan. The “Latinos” started playing

HIGHLIGHTS | CHINESE bRIDGE COMPETITION

Great Wall of China

Giant Panda

Forb

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ty S

elfie

Top 10 Finalists

Firstly, thank you to all the Chinese teachers for their patience, time and effort. Secondly, thank you to my family and friends for their support, and for all their effort in getting me to over 4 500 votes!

Selycia Curwen Grade 11HHan Yu Qiao 2015

HIGHLIGHTS | CHINESE bRIDGE COMPETITION

The “Balloon” Ceremony

Our volunteer, Chiu Jiu

My roommate and me at theballoon ceremony

Tree planting

One of my many favourite memories was while waiting at the airport to leave for Yun Nan. The “Latinos” started playing their instruments and sang a string of Spanish songs. I had so much fun joining in in the sing along even though I did not know what they were singing.

Once in Yun Nan, the Observing and Competing teams were separated and we met our volunteers who would assist us for the rest of our stay. We settled into our very fancy hotels, and I met my roommate from the Dominican Republic. All

the teams got together the next day for the Opening Ceremony, which we called the “balloon” ceremony. We made more friends from other countries like America, Nepal and New Zealand. We danced in a circle and I proudly held up the South African flag as we danced. We then went on to the traditional tree-planting ceremonies and took a few selfies with our “neighbours” from Romania.

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CHINESE DEPARTMENT - CHINESE DEPARTMENT - HIGHLIGHTS | CHINESE bRIDGE COMPETITION

Tallent improvised speech, one of 83 topics

Talent

The Guild, day 1 The Guild, and more...

The Last day

After the talent round, we celebrated my team mate’s 16th birthday. We got all the competing teams together to sing Happy Birthday for Albertus in their mother tongue. That was the day our movie group, “The Guild” started. We made time to watch movies every night from then on. We plan to have a “reunion” over Skype in the December holidays, to watch a movie, of course.

HIGHLIGHTS | CHINESE bRIDGE COMPETITION

Top 17

Wa Zu traditional dress

Albe

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and

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Unfortunately, we did not make the Top 5. The teams chosen were America, Malawi, Thailand, New Zealand and Russia, but we gained so much from the experience.

The top 17 teams were split by continent and were allocated a minority with three challenges to complete. This would eliminate teams to get the top two teams per continent. Africa went to the Wa Zu minority and I had to play their traditional drum called the mugu. We had to put on their traditional clothing as quick as we could. Albertus had to match missing characters to pictures on a board. Malawi and South Africa made it to the Top 10. The Top 10 competing teams and their observing teams went to Da Li, which was a six hour bus ride. We settled into our hotels on arrival there and started working once again. Each team received a topic for a 3-minute speech which could only be said after we participated in the activity. We received Sandao Cha, which was a bai zu traditional tea drinking ceremony. We were fortunate enough to be among very few people who got to experience this ceremony with the only family who knows, or who is “authorised” to do this ceremony. The ceremony was separated into 3 tasting and drinking parts, the bitter, then the sweet and then the bitter-sweet. These parts represent the different aspects of life, the good and the bad.

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CHINESE DEPARTMENT - CHINESE DEPARTMENT -

Closing ceremony outfit

Closing ceremony

HIGHLIGHTS | CHINESE bRIDGE COMPETITION

Top 10 (Elimination)

Students were selected to perform in the closing ceremony which was to take place 5 days later. I was selected with a group of 12 girls to perform a traditional dance from the Yizu, a minority community. Seeing as we had some time off in the meantime, we went shopping while also watching movies every night with “The Guild”. The day of the closing ceremony was exciting because we all had our hair and make-up done professionally. Once the ceremony was over and Thailand won, we all stayed a while to say our goodbyes and we shed many farewell tears. It was very sad to have to leave some amazing life-long friends. That night “The Guild” decided to stay up and enjoy our last few moments together . . . We got up to some mischief which won’t be disclosed here.

Once we arrived in Beijing, we got ready for the photo-shoot. Here I made my first foreign friend and my day just got better. We received our 83 possible speech topics – no

Rave night Yi zu dance

Back in Yun Nan, we had the award ceremony and received a trophy for the best performing team as well as a 6 month scholarship to study in China. Soon after, all the teams danced, partied and performed. Our “rave” continued for hours, right into the night back at the hotel.

HIGHLIGHTS | CHINESE bRIDGE COMPETITION

My proudest moment

China together with South Africa

Once again as the buses arrived to take our teams to the airport, we cried and said our final goodbyes. Han Yu Qiao has taught me many things. I learnt about the cultures of the minorities and how to cope out of my comfort zone. I made many friends from all across the world and I learned to seize all opportunities. Although I was disappointed that we did not make the Top 5, I was fortunate to be able to participate in the closing ceremony and I had so much fun in the last few days with all my new-found friends. I don’t think many people can say that they personally know someone from every single continent!

Han Yu Qiao is, and will be a long-lasting memory for everyone who was there. This article only touched on the basics of the event and I hope that whoever goes next, will have as much fun as I did. I wish them all the best of luck!

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CHINESE DEPARTMENT - CHINESE DEPARTMENT -HIGHLIGHTS | CHINESE bRIDGE COMPETITION

Before we left for China, I was very worried and nervous, because I did not think that my Mandarin was good enough to have a proper conversation in Mandarin with a Chinese person. I thought that I was lucky to come second, because I would not have to speak as much Mandarin as Selycia, but I was wrong.

We left South Africa on the 15th of October and landed in Hong Kong on the 16th. It was the longest flight I’ve ever been on: a total of fourteen hours. After we arrived in Hong Kong we took another 4 hour flight to Beijing. When we arrived in Beijing, we stayed at the Golden Dragon Hotel and we received really cool free green jackets and a nice bag. On the 17th of October we went to the Great Wall of China; it was an amazing experience but also extremely tiring climbing up those steep steps. I enjoyed it so much; it was such a fun experience. As we walked up the Great Wall, we met new people and got to know them and take a lot of random pictures with them. Later on we had lunch and went to the Chinese headquarters of Henbane and a museum where we saw a lot of Chinese culture. We went to the Forbidden City on the 18th of October, where we learnt a lot about Chinese history and culture and the history of each building in the Forbidden City. After the Forbidden City we went to the zoo, where I saw a panda for the first time! It was so exciting and the pandas were adorable. That same day, we left Beijing and flew to Kunming. Beijing was really nice, it was more of a traditional city than Kunming. However, everywhere I went in China, there were always people who were looking at me and wanting to feel my hair. People wanted to take pictures with me, which felt good at first, like I was a celebrity, but after a while it got a bit too much. Once we arrived in Kunming, Selycia and I were separated into different hotels, which was so sad but I survived. The visiting team, which I was a part of, stayed at the Maple Hotel.

The opening ceremony took place on the 19th. Everyone was dancing and singing and throwing balloons up into the sky; it was beautiful. Each country had to plant a tree and each tree had a board with the country’s flag and the student’s names on it. After that all the students in the visiting teams were split into different classes; I was in class five, and we had to say a self-introductory speech in Chinese. We also went to the Yunnan University’s library. The Yunnan University is so big. It’s the biggest university I have ever seen. It has everything you can imagine inside the university campus.

Lusanda Mthembu Grade 11 HIGHLIGHTS | CHINESE bRIDGE COMPETITION

The 20th is when the competition began. On the 22nd we went to a Chinese market, which was great. We did a lot of shopping and nothing was expensive, and I tried some weird food that I didn’t know – it was delicious though. We also watched a Chinese opera. On the 23rd we visited a Chinese private school. It was a nice school but they work too hard. Their school day stars at six in the morning and ends at ten o’clock at night, and they still have homework on top of that. I would not survive. We made it to the Top Ten of the competition, so we went to Da Li for the weekend. However, we did not make it the Top Five of the competition, and we only came second place in Africa. Unfortunately Malawi beat South Africa, but Selycia and Alby did their best.

On the 29th of October we had a show, where all the classes performed and we got to wear our traditional attire. It was great, performing on stage with my class and just having fun. Afterwards we had a rave party; it was so much fun. On the 30th of November we dedicated the whole day to shopping and getting souvenirs for our friends, families and teachers. The final competition took place on the 31st. The stage was huge and lit with so many lights, and filled with all the flags from the different countries. It was beautiful and the performances were amazing. The 31st was also the saddest day. At this point, you had gotten to know so many different people and you had made good friends, but

now it was time to say goodbye. Everybody was standing on the big stage and a lot of tears were shed and everyone was so sad. I’d made such good friends that I might never see again.I’d like to thank all the Chinese teachers at the Pretoria Chinese School for letting me participate in this competition and helping me to come second. Thank you to Liu Lao Shi for supporting me and believing in me, Miranda Lao Shi for helping me with my speech, saying it over and over again, and Nico Lao Shi for really helping me with my dancing and singing, which I know was the most difficult part. Even though I didn’t come first in this competition, it really was an amazing experience that I will never forget. I’ve learned so many new things about the Chinese culture and my Chinese has really improved. If I wasn’t in Matric next year I would enter again to compete.

Lusanda Mthembu (Grade 11)

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China has close to five thousand years worth of history, a figure which Chinese people can be proud of. These thousands of years of history have contributed to the progress of human civilization, having a profound effect not only on the past, but also on modern society. The four great inventions of China, namely the compass, gunpowder, paper and printing, laid the foundations for science, technology, military development and industrial arts. The great philosopher Lao Zi, the most well-known educator and mentor Confucius and the military strategist Sun Zi, among others, are still sources of wisdom for modern people. The unique specialities of Chinese culture include Tai Chi, Chinese medical treatment, the lunar calendar system, traditional Chinese music, Chinese food and so forth; they not only form a part of the daily lives of Chinese people today, but have also earned the love and appreciation from people who

practise them all over the world. Even though China is such an old nation, it is by no means dreary and lifeless; on the contrary, it is like a mighty dragon, full of vibrant energy and vigour, and holds a significant role in the future of many aspects such as the economy and commercial trade, the military and diplomatic affairs etc. Starting from next year, South Africa will officially recognize Mandarin Second Additional Language as one of the official matric subjects for 2018. This is an extraordinary opportunity for a more profound and personal understanding and connection with Chinese language and culture.

Ms Angela Liu

HIGHLIGHTS | MAGICAL CHINESE

Magical Chinese

ACTIVITIES | CHINESE NEW yEAR

Chinese New Year

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CHINESE DEPARTMENT - CHINESE DEPARTMENT -ACTIVITIES | ADuLT CLASSES PRIzE-GIVING & PRESENTATION

Our school has been offering Adult Mandarin Classes on Saturday mornings for many years, which have been well attended by the enthusastic grown-ups. The course is based on the conversational programme. Characters and cultural information are explained and activities are practised as part of the programme offered. Certificates of participation are issued annually. Currently we have 2 Chinese teachers available and 3 existing adult classes of different levels. Students between the ages of 16 to 60 attend the classes, demonstrating that one can never be too young or too old to learn.

Chinese proficiency skills have definitely become high in demand in the working environment. Parents at our school are encouraged to enrol in the adult classes so they can demonstrate to their children the importance of learning this language as well as being able to assist them with their homework in this subject.

Adult Classes Prize-giving & Presentation

A prize-giving and presentation event for the adult classes is held annually, with the aim to motivate the students to persevere with their study of Chinese. This year’s ceremony took place on 18 April, and each student had to make a speech in Chinese. The topics included self-introduction, learning experience or reading ancient poems. The students were greatly supported by their family members and friends.

Ms Angela Liu

ACTIVITIES | ADuLT CLASSES PRIzE-GIVING & PRESENTATION

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CHINESE DEPARTMENT - CHINESE DEPARTMENT -ACTIVITIES | DRAGON bOAT fESTIVAL

The Dragon Boat Festival Celebration was held in the auditorium of the school on the morning of June 19. The program included lots of different performances such as The Origin of the Dragon Boat, the Story of Festival, Chinese songs and Chinese dance etc. The program was guided by the teachers in Chinese Department. The students from grade 8 to 11 were involved in the program. They all played with excellent performances and won the applause of the audience. Finally, the teachers and students enjoyed the taste of rice dumplings. The festival ended with Chinese culture and a pleasant atmosphere.

Mrs Julie Hwang

The Dragon Boat Festival

Chin

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Primary Students

High School students enjoyed the rice dumplings

Enjoying Rice Dumplings

Dragon Boat Festival celebration

Chinese Characters & Culture Festival

ACTIVITIES | CHINESE CHARACTERS & CuLTuRE fESTIVAL

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CHINESE DEPARTMENT - CHINESE DEPARTMENT -ACTIVITIES | CuLTuRAL CAMP

The 4th Chinese cultural camp was held from 23 to 26 November at school, and it was a great success. For this year’s camp, group of teachers from China presented lessons on Chinese drums, hand puppets, Chinese tea, paper cutting, martial arts, calligraphy and painting. The pupils from Grade 0~11 were allocated to different activities, and it was amazing to see how children participated so enthusiastically in these activities. Furthermore, they could go onstage and perform in front of the whole school at the closing ceremony after only a few hours of training.

We were very privileged to receive professional training from these Chinese teachers and to have the opportunity to learn from the different exposure that they bring us. I am glad that our children enjoyed this unique experience thoroughly.

I would like to say a BIG thank you to the following

Cultural Camp

parties: the Chinese Language and Culture Education Foundation of China as well as the Fujian overseas Exchanges Association for organizing this event; the teachers from China for training our pupils and managing to do such a good job; All-Africa Association for Peaceful Reunification of China for their generous support, and our Chinese staff for their assistance and always working together as a great team.I am looking forward to seeing more great events like this in the future.

Ms Angela Liu

ACTIVITIES | CuLTuRAL CAMP

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CHINESE DEPARTMENT - CHINESE DEPARTMENT -CO-CuRRICuLAR PROGRAMME | CHINESE CuLTuRE CLub -GRADE 00

The Grade 00 class is the youngest group at the school. They get to learn Mandarin for the first time, and also get exposure to various cultural activities.

The Grade 00 children learned a lot at Chinese culture club throughout this year. For example: Chinese toys, sports, group games, story telling, using chopsticks, making tiger masks, watching videos etc. It’s always fun in Chinese culture club!

Ms Angela Liu

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Co-Curricular ProgrammeGrade 00 Chinese Culture Club

Alshandra Duarte E Sousa learning how to use chopsticks (kuai zi).

Jessica Earle playing mini golf with animal holes

Yan-Zuo Chen enjoyed the “top” (tuo luo). Han-Wei Fang was good

at the fishing game.

CO-CuRRICuLAR PROGRAMME | CHINESE CuLTuRE CLub -GRADE 00

Taariq Govind made a mouse after listening to an interesting story.

Cancy Ilunga enjoyed the different type of top (tuo luo).

Oliver Jacobs loved the wooden spinner (mu di lei).

Kiash Jaimungal was a master at shuttlecock (jian zi)

Rachel Lachenicht loved the bamboo toys.

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Aidan Larsen playing with the wooden spinner (mu di lei).

Milan Nel made a lovely tiger mask.

Jayden Newey enjoyed rolling the steel ring (gun tie huan).

Ngozi Nwankwo learning to play with the top (tuo luo).

Wandile Nzimakwe playing the flag raising game after learning about the Dragon Boat Festival.

Dakota Saffy enjoyed the fishing game.

Samantha Snyman spinning the top (tuo luo).

Lisa Van Der Walt loved the bamboo toys.

CO-CuRRICuLAR PROGRAMME | CHINESE CuLTuRE CLub -GRADE 00 CO-CuRRICuLAR PROGRAMME | CHINESE CuLTuRE CLub – JP

JP Chinese Culture Club

From Grade 3N Zahara Alladin

I have done Chinese culture club since Grade 0, because it is a lot of fun. We get to make lanterns, decorate Chinese fans and learn Chinese dances and games.

Grade 2R Mia Jayne Phillips

Grade 2M Aphelele Pearl Soga

I like Chinese culture club because we do a lot of fun staff. Chinese culture club is also nice because we dance, we play games, it is ……..AMAZING!!From Grade 3N Narice De Swardt

Grade 2 & 3 Chinese Fans

Chinese culture club is cool because we do Chinese dances and art like fans, dragons and a lot of other things. We have the best Chinese teacher ever and the best Chinese fun. I love Chinese culture club so much.From Grade 3N Chloe Alexandra Andonopoulos

I like Chinese culture club because our teacher is kind and funny. The best part this year, was playing outside with flyers and doing sand art. We also learnt a dance. I also like Chinese culture club because our teacher is the best Chinese teacher ever!!Thank you xiāo lǎo shī.From Grade 3N Zinoyolo Lukhanyiso Gungqwa

I like Chinese culture club because it’s so much fun. My favourite part this year was when we played outside and did sand art. Thank you xiāo lǎo shī for starting Chinese culture club and you are the best lǎo shī. I really love Chinese culture club and I love you too, lǎo shī.Grade 3D Khumo Mhlamvu

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CHINESE DEPARTMENT - CHINESE DEPARTMENT -CO-CuRRICuLAR PROGRAMME | CHINESE CuLTuRE CLub – JP CO-CuRRICuLAR PROGRAMME | CHINESE CuLTuRE CLub – JP

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CHINESE DEPARTMENT - CHINESE DEPARTMENT -CO-CuRRICuLAR PROGRAMME | CHINESE DANCE GROuP – COLLEGE

Chinese Dance Group – College (TCA performance)CO-CuRRICuLAR PROGRAMME | CHINESE DANCE GROuP – COLLEGE

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JuNIOR PREPARATORy - CHINESE DEPARTMENT - PuPILS’ WORk

Ismael Poopedi in Grade 11 always produces the neatest hand-writing in Chinese.

Amaan Alladin in Grade 0V did this artistic piece after learning about the Dragon Boat Festival.

Pupils’ Work GENERAL OVERVIEW

The Junior Preparatory Phase once again had an action-packed and

fun filled 2015! We worked and played hard and grew in every way! We welcomed Mrs Susan van Rooyen into the Grade 0 Bee class and Ms Chanet Niemandt into the Grade 1 class.

Ms Niemandt became Mrs van Rooyen in February and we were all very excited with her for her wedding day. Sadly, Mrs van Rooyen then left us in September to relocate to Qatar with her husband. Mrs van Rooyen

was a real asset to our school and she will be missed.

The year was filled with activities, from excellent class work to several educational shows, a visit to Sammy Marks Museum and the People’s Theatre in Johannesburg and ending off with a wonderful Christmas Puppet show.

We also hosted a whole lot of our own activities. The pupils eagerly participated in the Art Exhibition. It was amazing to see the children’s creativity.

The different grades had numerous activities throughout the year, which re-enforced the content taught in class. Thank you to all the staff and parents for making all of these events into lasting memories for our children.

At the end of 2015, we had to say goodbye to three of our Junior Preparatory teachers:Mrs Susan van Rooyen (Grade 0 Bee class), who has accepted a position

General Overviewat Tygervalley College to accommodate her son better.

Ms Monique Marx, who has decided to start her own business.

Mrs Natalie Newey, who has accepted a position at Cornwall Hill College.

After serving PCS for 13 years in the Junior Preparatory Phase, I have also decided to spread my wings a bit further and accepted a position in Midrand from 2016. It was my privilege and honour to serve the pupils and parents of PCS throughout the last 13 years and I will surely miss all the little faces I have taught through the years. I wish the school all the best for the future.

Through this year, I have been very proud of the staff and children in the Junior Preparatory Phase.

Mrs Elmarie SchorrDeputy PrincipalJunior Preparatory Phase