Special Mentions and Achievements

We always love hearing what our Grovites achieve outside of school! Send through the information to Mrs Botha (reception@thegrove.co.za) for a special mention!

🏅 Karate Champs! 🥋
A big congratulations to Alayna and Umar who represented the Western Cape at the WUKF SA National Karate Tournament in Port Elizabeth from 4–6 April at the Boardwalk Hotel Convention Centre.

🥇 Alayna – Gold for Kata
🥈 Umar – Silver for Kata

We’re incredibly proud of both of them for their achievements and for earning their Western Cape colours! 👏💪
Check out their proud smiles and medals! 😊

23 March

Hannah Shapiro participated in the Cape Town Chess Open Festival 2025 this past weekend. She came 4th in the U12 Open section, and in addition she was awarded the sportsmanship prize for her exceptional conduct over the 2 day tournament. ♟️⭐

We are so proud of you, Hannah!

This past Sunday, March 9th, some of our talented young hockey players took part in the PSI Indoor Intercity Hockey Tournament, competing against teams from across the region.

👏 Ben Curling played for the Seals, who dominated their matches and remained unbeaten, ultimately winning the U13 category—an incredible achievement!

🔥 Jonah-Kai Tchimbioputo also showcased his skills, representing the Southern Peninsula team in the tournament.

Well done to both players for their dedication and sportsmanship! 💪🏑

4 March 2025

Hannah Shapiro, showcase her skills at the prestigious Cape Town Metro Closed Chess Tournament this past weekend! 🌟

Competing in the U13 section, Hannah secured an impressive 8th place in a highly competitive field, demonstrating her hard work, strategy, and determination.

Her outstanding performance has earned her a spot on the Western Province Metro team, and she will now advance to the Western Cape Trials later this year! 🎉

We are incredibly proud of Hannah’s achievements and can’t wait to see her continue to shine.

Best of luck at the Western Cape Trials, Hannah! 👏♟️

🥋 Karate Champions Alert! 🏆

Huge congratulations to our Grovites who competed in the Boland Dragons League Tournament and the WUKF SA Western Cape Provincial Championship over the past two weeks! 🎖️👏

Our talented athletes brought home an incredible haul of gold, silver, and bronze medals, showcasing their dedication and skill! 🥇🥈🥉

Well done to Umar Mather, Alayna Mather, Imaan Tambe, Zakiya Suleman, Zaakir Suleman, and Hannah Motala—Hard work pays off! Go Grovites!🌟💪

MATHLETICS

We’re excited to celebrate two of our outstanding learners, Ansh Arora and Dhara Nandha, who each earned 50 certificates on Mathletics last year! This means they consistently earned 1000 points every week, even during the holidays, out of a possible 52 weeks! 🏅

They were among only 11 students in South Africa to reach this milestone, and as a recognition of their hard work, they received a special award from Mrs. Kendal Bennie, representing Mathletics SA, at our school assembly. 🎉

We hope their dedication inspires more of our Grade 3-7 learners to aim for the same achievement this year. Keep up the great work, and let's make 2025 another year of success! 💪📚

🥇 Gold for Kalev! 🏆

Congratulations to Kalev Broes in Grade 6 for winning Gold at the ADCC Africa World Submission Fighting Federation event in Cape Town on 16 February! 💪🔥

His dedication and hard work led to a thrilling final, where he triumphed over the previous year's gold medallist! An incredible achievement—well done, Kalev! 🎉👏

Congratulations to Hannah for being selected to participate in the Cape Town Schools Metro Schools Chess Trials—by invitation only!

After her outstanding performance at the Central District Trials in February, she has earned this well-deserved opportunity to compete at the next level in early March.

We are so proud of you, Hannah! Keep shining and representing The Grove with pride! 💙💛

This past Saturday Aeryn in Grade 6, earned her Junior Black Belt 1st Dan in Karate (KSI) after 8 years of dedication and hard work! 💪🏅 The last few months have been especially challenging as she balanced intense karate training with preparing for her school tests. The grading itself was a 5-hour test of both physical and mental endurance, and Aeryn handled it with amazing strength and resilience.

We’re incredibly proud of her! 🌟

During the school holidays, Sasha Johnson competed at Nationals for gymnastics and was awarded Western Cape colours! She was also placed 26th overall in level 4 WAG age 12 years. What an incredible accomplishment all due to her hard work and dedication. It’s wonderful to celebrate achievements🎉

September 2024

The Cape Town Premier League (CPL) Hockey tournament selects some of the best junior hockey players from across Cape Town, Paarl, Stellenbosch and Somerset West to play in 6 different franchise teams across 2 or 3 different sections; Cup, Bowl + Plate. Grove students who participated were:

U14 - Ray-Luca Tchimbioputo, Leah Johnson, Luke Evans and Ben Maree

U12 - Ben Curling and Jonah-Kai Tchimbioputo

Ray-Luca’s team The Raiders won their u14 Bowl section

Ben Curling’s team The Heat won their u12 Cup section

September 2024

This past weekend, Elaina in Grade 3, earned herself gold status (85%-100%) for her tap dancing solo at the regional Theatre Dance Association competition. Great news Elaina!!

August 2024

MCED Spelling Bee Finalists

Our school entered 6 of our Grade 6 learners into the WCED Central District Spelling Bee competition and 2 of our learners - Adam Rabinowitz and Milisuthando Tyoda - have qualified for the next round which will take place at the beginning of October. Qualifying for the next round of the Spelling Bee is no small feat. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students.

That’s a wonderful achievement! Will keep you posted on the next round results....

Amy Casper's Dance Stars at the Cape Dance Festival Results:

High merit 75-79%

Honours 80-84%

High honours 85-89%

Diploma 90-100%

8yr set solo:

Amelia Faure - high honours

9yr set solo:

Sarah Johanson - high honours

Megan Gordon - high honours

Avalon Leclezio - high honours

Edyth Molver - Diploma (to finals)

10yr set solo:

Dhara Nandha - honours

Olivia Burwitz - diploma (to finals)

11yr set solo:

Paige Staak - high merit

Hazel George - high merit

Thato Nkgudi - high merit

Sophie Horwitz - high merit

Francie Duk - high merit

Mila Hoepner - diploma (to finals)

11yr character set solo:

Gabriella Flash - high honours

Ashley Paxton - high honours

Mila Hoepner - high honours

12yr set solo:

Sophie Stocks - honours

12yr musical theatre own choice

Amelie Viljoen - Diploma (to finals) FINALS WINNER

Cape Dance Festival Results

13yr set solo

Amelie Viljoen - diploma (to finals) FINALS WINNER

7-8yr large group - diploma (to finals) FINALS WINNER

Amelia Faure

Emma Louw

9-10yr large group - high honours (to finals)

Megan Gordon

Avalon Leclezio

Edyth Molver

Sarah Johanson

Rio Simone

Olivia Burwitz

Dhara Nandha

11-12yr large group - high honours

Gabriella Flash

Ashley Paxton

Charlie de Wet

Sarah Macnamara

11-12yr large group - high honours (to finals) FINALS WINNER

Paige Staak

Francie Duk

Hazel George

Thato Nkgudi

Sophie Horwitz

11-12yr small group - diploma (to finals)

Anjali Dhanjee

Mila Hoepner

Sophie Stocks

13-14yr silver small group - diploma (to finals)

Amelie Viljoen

Congratulations to Tallulah and Alice for making it to the finals and earning a diploma for their dance at the ballet eisteddfod they recently participated in. We've heard that they really enjoyed the experience and loved being on stage.

We hope you are proud of yourselves because we sure are! 🩰

Earlier in August Hannah Shapiro participated in the Young Minds Classic Chess Tournament, and came second place, and best female in the junior section.

Securing second place and being recognized as the best female in the junior section at the Young Minds Classic Chess Tournament is a testament to her skill and dedication.♟

What an impressive accomplishment Hannah!

July 2024

On Friday 19th and Saturday 20th July, 3 of our learners, namely, Jonah-Kai Tchimbioputo, Laetitia Meneka and Ben Curling (captain) participated in the Western Province under 12 Zonal hockey tournament at De Hoop primary school in Somerset West.

The tournament brings 2 teams from each of the 3 Western Province zones, South, North and Helderberg to compete against one another. This is a recent development to help Western Province identify players in advance of the first age group selection at u13 level. All 3 played for the South zone A teams.

The boys section was dominated by the Helderberg A team. The South zone A team did well to see off the North zone A team in their final match and come second over all. The girls South zone A team played very well throughout the tournament but lost a closely fought final match to the North zone A team and did themselves proud coming second.

We are so proud of your all and your incredible achievements!

July 2024

On Saturday 20 July, Amanda Vermaaak competed in the Cape Town Gymnastics Trampoline and Tumbling competition.

She competed in Level 3 age 9-10 years in Tumbling. In this level they receive a medal according the the score that they achieve. Amanda achieved a gold medal.

She then competed in Double-Mini Level 4 age 9-10. In this level they award medals only for the top 3 places. Amanda performed all 4 of her passed beautifully and won the gold medal, winning her section.

We wish Amanda all the best as she will now move on to taking part in the Western Cape Championships from 9-11 August where her goal will be to make the Western Cape team to Nationals in Double-Mini.

We're cheering you on all the way, Amanda!

July 2024

Jashan Arora in Grade 3 participated in the Golden Star Awards competition arranged by Brawns Gymnastics, and blew everyone away by receiving all six star awards, which is the maximum accolade possible in this competition! What a hugely significant achievement!

Her family as well as all her Grove friends are incredibly proud of Jashan's dedication and achievement in this event.

June 2024

The following girls represented the Cape Town District at the Western Cape level 1 – 3 WAG Championships in June, and have been awarded their Cape Town District colours for WAG (women’s artistic gymnastics):

LEVEL 1

Krysten Hall – silver medal in age 7 – 8 years

LEVEL 2

Amanda Vermaak – silver medal in age 9 – 10 years

Diya Dhanjee – silver medal in age 11 – 12 years

We are so proud of them and their incredible achievements!

June 2024

Amanda took part at the Level 1-3 Western Cape Championships in Artistic Gymnastics in Saldanha Bay on Saturday 8 June. Amanda had a wonderful competition in the Level 2, 9-10 age group, scoring 9.0 for beam, 9.2 for floor, 8.45 for vault and 9.15 for bar. Her average score resulted in her winning a gold medal at the competition.

Most importantly Amanda had a whole morning of fun! Well done!

June 2024

Skyla Kotsedi in Grade 7 competed in the at the Regionals Karate Championships last week Saturday, and earned herself 2 Gold medals! One Gold for Kata and one Gold for Kumite. Proud of you Skyla!

May 2024

On the last weekend in May a number of our learners put their kit on and represented our school proudly in the Western Cape School Mountain Biking event at the Spice Route.

Well done to all who took part in this exciting event!

May 2024

Amanda competed at the Cape Town Gymnastics District Trials for Women's Artistic Gymnastics in the Level 2 age 9-10 year category. She scored 8.45 for beam, 8.6 for floor, 8.85 for vault and 8.5 for bar. Her average score earned her a silver medal at the competition (medals are given in accordance to average scores) and she has qualified to represent Cape Town Gymnastics at the Western Cape Gymnastic Championships in Saldanha from 7-9 June 2024.

We are very proud of you Amanda!

May 2024

Amelie Viljoen in Grade 7, will be representing South Africa at the prestigious Dance Stars Masters Final event in Croatia later this month. There will be dancers from 28 countries across the world taking to the stage to compete with more than 4,000 dancers competing, making new friends and having fun while sharing the same passion for dance.

Amelie received her South Africa dance gear this past weekend and will be sure to make her family, friends and school very proud on the stage! Good Luck Amelie!

April 2024

Lexi in Grade 4, recently competed in Western Cape Aquatics inter-district Level 1 champs competition.

She competed in:

50m fly - silver

50m breast - bronze

100m breast - silver

We are very proud of the hard work that Lexi has put into her swimming, which shows such great results! Well done Lexi!

16 MARCH 2024

CHESS: Hannah Shapiro took part in the Cape Town Open this past weekend, and she placed 2nd in the U12 girls. We are very proud of her achievement!

MARCH 2024

Jion Karate Dojo would like to share some wonderful news about the following Grovites:

On Saturday, 09 March, The Cape Town Summer Challenge Invitational was held at DF Malan High School in Belville. There were 407 entries from 13 dojos. The following Grovites made their dojo proud by achieving medals:

Imaan Tambe (1C) Bronze – Kata, Bronze – Kumite (fighting)

Umar Mather (2B) Bronze – Kata

Alayna Mather (2C) 4th - Kata

Zaakir Suleman (4B) Silver – Kata

Hanna Motala (5B) Bronze – Kata

Maryam Motala (7B) Silver – Kata, Gold – Kumite (fighting)

Also, on the 25th February the Boland Dragon’s League was held in Wellington. Alayna Mather (2D) did very well by achieving Gold for Kata and Bronze for Kumite (fighting).

Interesting to note is that the teams are fortunate to be coached by former Grovite: Bhavir Kooverjee who holds the title of Black Belt, 2nd Dan

FEBRUARY 2024

The Western Cape Karate League was held over the past weekend in Wellington and the following Grovites achieved such great results and have made us so proud!

RESULTS:

Zakiya Suleman (grade 6) - GOLD individual kata, BRONZE team kata

Zaakir Suleman (grade 4) - BRONZE individual kata

Maryam Motala (grade 7) - SILVER in kumite (fighting)

Hanna Motala (Grade 5) - 4th in kata

Imaan Tambe (Grade 1) - bronze for kumite (fighting)

FEBRUARY 2024

DISTRICT CHESS TRIALS

Hannah Shapiro participated in the schools central district trials at the beginning of February and qualified to represent The Grove and central district at the Metro Trails to be held at the beginning of March. Well done Hannah!

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