Pinelands High School

 

Pinelands High has a caring and hardworking staff with dynamic leadership at all levels of management. Academically we have produced pupils of the highest calibre. We offer a wide range of subjects and have excellent facilities - well equipped science laboratories; art rooms for painting, graphic design and ceramics; an active media centre and library; a technologically advanced and thriving computer centre which is connected to the Internet; and a music wing with four sound-proof rooms for private tuition.

 

We are proud of our cultural tradition. The school stages annually either a play or a musical, a pupil directed one-act play festival and evenings in which pupils perform their own works. Art exhibitions and performances by music pupils are held regularly. The orchestra has brought back many a gold diploma from the Cape Town Eisteddfod while the Wind Band and have often appeared in public, not only locally, but at the Waterfront and on board the QE2. We have a female choir and a male voice ensemble. Many of our past pupils have become household names in the world of entertainment.

Pinelands High has also provided the sporting world with excellent sportsmen and women, several of them have represented South Africa as members of national teams. On the staff there are sportsmen and women of the highest calibre, many of whom have either played for or trained provincial or national teams. We have good sports facilities - a swimming pool, an indoor sports hall, rugby/hockey and cricket fields, tennis and basketball courts. Although sport is not compulsory, we strive not only for excellence but for wide pupil involvement and good sportsmanship.

The school is meeting the challenge of a changing education system with creativity and enthusiasm. By means of the Peer Counselling System we are trying to ensure that the concern for the individual is not lost as pupil teacher ratios increase. As far as leadership training is concerned Pinelands is bounds ahead of other schools. Through the Leadership Quality Circle a widely diverse and democratic leadership structure has evolved, involving matrics as Councillors, Peer Helpers and Custodians, and learners from Grades 10 to 12 as Quality Circle Representatives.

As we are beginning to implement co-operative learning in larger classes, pupils are starting to take responsibility for their own and one anothers' learning, attributes which will be invaluable when they enter adult society. Cross-curricular studies and the Grade 11 Job Shadow Project provide education beyond the classroom experience. By means of the Quality Circles we have broadened the management base of the school to involve not only staff, but also parents and pupils in the decision-making process. Pinelands High is proud to be one of the first non-independent schools to instigate a GAP Student Programme. The School also continues to host exchange students from overseas and our pupils continue to participate in exchange programmes in other countries.

The School has a proud record of serving the wider community. The popular Continuing Education Programme, launched in 1987, coordinated by staff and run by past-parents, has provided for growth and stimulation for people from all over the Peninsula. Our facilities, especially the sports and assembly halls, are regularly used by members of the public. We also boast a thriving Past Pupils' Association.

We are planning for the future, confident that Pinelands High School has a significant role to play in education.

Contact Information