Farmers turn thespians at Speech and Drama Festival

 

“I’m blown away by some of the talent that I’ve seen here today,” Mrs Shirley Wade, the National Speech and Drama adjudicator exclaimed last Thursday, as farmers turned thespians for a few magical hours.

The sixth annual Speech and Drama festival took place at school on August 11. Learners recited poetry, mostly in English but some in isiZulu and in Afrikaans as well. Nomvuyo’s rendition of the poem “Slow Burn” impressed Mrs Wade deeply and she described it as one of the best she has ever heard in all the years she has been adjudicating.

The Grade 10 girls performed their choral verse “Macavity” by TS Elliot with great panache and were awarded an A+. Well done.

Learners delivered speeches and monologues as well as doing sight reading.

Kudos to Ms Maureen Mbatha with her Zulu play, a touching portrayal of the power of prayer in a small Zulu community. Our head girl, Ntobeko Ndebele and her group amazed us with their theme programme based on Life and Death. This was a wonderful effort, one which moved us all to tears.

This year Mrs Wade awarded a total of 17 A+ symbols, nine A symbols and 14 B+ symbols. The school’s average score was just over 60 % which is only 2% lower than the KZN average.

Our thanks to our principal, Mrs A van Niekerk, for her enthusiastic support of the festival. Thank you to Ms Mbatha and Mrs Tasseron for the hours of coaching and planning. But the loudest applause is for Mrs Linda Pieters. She managed the vast, complex maze of paperwork that goes with the festival and she still found time to coach learners in the evening before study. Thank you, Linda. It would have been impossible to do this without you.

And again, to all those who participated, take a bow and congratulations on your wonderful performances.

English Olympiad 2016: Eight Landbou learners entered the prestigious English Olympiad, under the auspices of the South African Council for English Education.

This year the topic was a really challenging one. Titled ‘The Heart of Darkness,’ learners were required to read texts from Joseph Conrad and Mary Shelley, among others.

When they enter the Olympiad, they realised that most of their preparation will be self-study, and I was impressed by the diligence and insight of most of the learners. We did have a few seminar sessions but basically they were on their own.

The paper was written in March, a very demanding three-hour paper. One of the girls remarked that this was “real English!”

Imagine our joy and pride when the results were posted on the website: Four merit certificates (50-59%): Luyanda Khumalo, Ntobeko Ndebele, Bongokuhle Nkosi and Avuyile Fuzane; Three bronze certificates (60-69%): Abongile Buthelezi, Thalente Khumalo and Bongeka Kunene and, for the first time since we started participating, a silver award for Thando Gama (70-79%).

Our heartfelt congratulations to all of you.

If you have any interesting stories please send them to: estella@caxton.co.za or Contact us on: 034 981 3930.

Also Find us on: Facebook, Twitter, and on WhatsApp 060 986 0731.