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Introducing Mystery Class # 3
Cape Town, South Africa 33.93 S, 18.46 E
Here is our introduction:
Welcome to all the Journey North
contestants from the pupils of Bay Primary (located in Kalk Bay, a suburb
of Cape Town South Africa.) Our school is situated on a peninsula jutting out into
the Atlantic Ocean. We have a bay on each side and the area is very mountainous.
Our school actually sits on the slopes of a mountain and below us we have a view
of the harbour and False Bay.
Recently we amalgamated with a school from Fish Hoek and changed our name from Kalk
Bay to Bay Primary. This move makes us a bit unique in that the school now consists
of two campuses which are about 3km apart, the senior campus being in Kalk Bay.
Our origins go back about 125 years
in the days when whaling was still an important commercial activity. Many stories
are told of boats being towed behind whales and destroyed by sounding whales but
the name "Kalk" actually comes from the Afrikaans word which means chalk.
Prior to the era of paints, shells were collected on the beaches and ground and boiled
to form a kind of paste which was daubed onto the houses. Our class is the senior
class in the school being the grade 7's and the class teacher is Mr Shardlow. Our
whole school is approximately 340 pupils but there are only about 120 pupils at the
senior campus. Like most state schools in our country we wear a uniform.
Kalk Bay has always been a bit different from the rest of South Africa in that during
the height of apartheid, when people were being segregated into areas and evicted
from their homes, people lived harmoniously in our suburb. Because a lot of the coloured
people were fishermen they needed to be near their boats and were therefore spared
the indignation imposed on so many others. This did not mean that schools were spared
and regular check-ups ensured that the school remained white. Thankfully this situation
does not persist today!
Our school being an English medium
school does include people from various faiths but the majority would be christian.
Schools generally serve the area in which they are located and because of this most
of the pupils are reasonably well-off and from a similar cultural background, but
it can vary a lot as one moves from area to area.
During summer we experience hot days which are somewhat tempered by the SE wind which
prevails during this time. Winter sees the NW wind bring cold Antarctic weather as
the sun retreats to the north. Although it does get cold and we do get occasional
snow on the inland mountains it is generally a mild climate.
With almost all of the rain falling in winter our natural vegetation has had to adapt
to long dry summers but despite the harsh conditions the "fynbos" flourishes.
The word "fynbos" is used collectively to describe a wide range of plants
growing only in our region. The only threat to it is the alien Port Jackson plants
brought to the country years ago, from Australia, to try and stabilize the sandy
Cape Flats area.
When it comes to scenery, beaches and outdoor living there can be few places to match
us and we are justly proud of our environment.
Grade 7 class
Bay Primary
Copyright 1999 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form
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