Clarendon Girls High School was one of 23 schools to participate in the 21st All Girls’ National Schools’ Festival hosted by Eunice High School in Bloemfontein from April 27-29.
They entered a number of sports and cultural events where the pupils achieved good results and enjoyed the opportunity of competing, learning new skills, and making friends.
The results were:
PUBLIC SPEAKING:
Amelia Fourie (grade 12) and Zenande Mquqo (grade 9) represented Clarendon. Both performed well and Zenande won the junior division.
VISUAL ART:
Christen Joubert and Emma-Jayne van Niekerk participated in art workshops.
The theme was “Protest art: Art activism and graffiti as an art form”. They had fun spray-painting and stenciling in true street art style. Emma-Jayne received a certificate for the funkiest artwork.
MASTER CHEF:
Jessi Boettger and Abigail Willard participated in the Masterchef section.
They learned table etiquette, events management, flower arranging, and plating techniques.
They were given a mystery box of ingredients and had to create a main dish and a dessert in an hour and a half.
The last day of the tour was completed by travelling to butchery to learn how different cuts of meats are prepared.
DEBATING:
Clarendon sent five debaters — Anoyolo Lose, Elizabeth Gyan, Khazimla Macingwane, Maimouna Mbaye, and Yonwaba Mahlati.
They won three debates out of five in the round-robin stages (against Pretoria High School for Girls, Rhenish High School, and Eunice High School) and lost against Danville Park High School and Durban Girls High School.
Unfortunately, the team was unable to reach the semifinals.
However, they improved immensely throughout the tournament and made a lasting impression.
Khazimla was ranked sixth overall.
DRAMA:
Clarendon pupils who took part in the physical theatre challenge were: Grade 12s, Inati Mbundu, Shulami Ntozakhe, and Grade 11s, Bambanani Daka and Isabella Odendaal.
On the second day, pupils were given an extra challenge, to remove all verbal communication but for five words from their five-minute performances.
Although the girls did not walk away with any awards this time around, they did receive informative lessons from drama lecturers and made many friends from other girls’ schools.
CREATIVE WRITING:
The creative writing section took place in the library at Eunice High School under the incredible facilitation of Mr Orsmond — who has many years of experience.
Workshops focused on areas such as creative thinking — getting outside your box to the technical and structural aspects of planning and writing.
It was incredible to see the wealth of thought and creativity this community of schools possesses!
After the competition round of free writing, Sienna Nel was adjudged to be the winner of the prose section.
VOCAL ENSEMBLE:
Twelve members of our chamber choir spent the weekend participating in multiple workshops and skills development sessions such as African rhythms, choreography skills, music101, dramaturgy, and improvisation.
The vocal ensemble performed at two of the mealtime busking concerts, which was a new and fun experience.
To end off the weekend, the vocal ensembles all came together for a massed choir item — an African medley — where they were joined by marimba players, a live band, and guest solo artist, Jennifer Jones.
This was a truly unifying experience.
The vocal ensemble has returned having been inspired by and learned from presenters and singers alike.
CHESS:
The chess team, led by their captain Robyn Becker, played seven matches and won all seven to be crowned NGS Festival 2023 champions out of 14 teams, with Pei-Shan Wang, Tshegofatso Bixa and Megan Dove overall winners of their respective boards.
CROSS COUNTRY:
On Friday, a total of 13 cross-country teams from various schools took part in a 4km race at Brandkop estate.
In the junior division, Clarendon placed fourth overall, and in the senior division, Clarendon placed ninth.
On Saturday, the cross country team took part in an 8km relay fun race at Grey College in which Clarendon placed sixth.
On Sunday, it was an individual 4 km race at the University of the Free State.
In the junior division, Leila Schenk placed second with an outstanding time of 16 min 10 sec. Kate Booyens placed seventh in 17 min 38 sec.
In the senior division, Jessica Lloyd placed 10th overall, completing the race in 18 min 15 sec, and Saskia Dreyer placed 27th overall, completing the race in 24 min 11 sec.
TENNIS:
The first tennis team was a strong competitor in the tournament and placed fourth out of 16 schools.
SQUASH:
Four squash players, Sasha Earl, Caroline Kretzmann, Jessica Jones, and Alice Sinclair were unbeaten at the All Girls Festival.
NETBALL:
The first team was one of 23 schools that took part in the netball category. The team played against eight teams and was placed 16th overall, with some close matches.
HOCKEY:
The first team improved with each match during the festival and placed fourth out of 21 teams.
Well done to all the staff, coaches, and especially the participants for the way in which they competed and represented Clarendon over the weekend.
The school is proud of all those who took part.
