Parel Vallei High School is a dual-medium high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 located in Parel Vallei

Parel Vallei

Parel Vallei is a suburb of Somerset West in the Western Cape, South Africa. There is a local high school, Parel Vallei High School.There is a section of upper Parel Vallei road that is known as Spook Hill. On this section of the road it appears as if downhill actually is uphill and vice versa....

, a suburb of Somerset West, which is in the Western Cape

Western Cape

The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. In summer it competes in inter schools sports activities with Hoërskool Strand

Hoërskool Strand

Hoërskool Strand is an Afrikaans high school located in Strand, South Africa. 1 097 students attend the school, mostly residents of Strand, although students from as far as Gordon's Bay, Somerset West, and even Grabouw attend the school...

 (English: Strand High School

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

) and Hottentots Holland High School

Hottentots Holland High School

Hottentots Holland High School is an Afrikaans- and English-speaking school in the Western Cape in South Africa, situated between the towns of Somerset West and Strand. The parallel-medium, co-educational school, situated to the north of the N2 national road, was opened by Dr G. G. Cillie, Chairman...

. Pupils attending the school are from the surrounding towns Somerset West, Gordon's Bay and even Grabouw.

Academics

The school is well known for its quick entrance in the academic excellence. Classes are bilingually tutored and listed below are a few subjects offered by the school:

• Language, Literacy and Communication Department
  • Afrikaans First Language
  • Afrikaans Second Language
  • English First Language
  • English Second Language
  • German Third Language(After school)
  • French Third Language (After School)
• Mathematics Department
  • Mathematics
  • Mathematical Literacy
  • Additional mathematics
• Science and Biology Department
  • Physical Sciences
  • Biology
• Human and Social Sciences Department
  • History
  • Geography
  • Home Economics
• Business/Economics Department
  • Accounting
  • Business Economics
• Computer Department
  • Information Technology
  • Computer Literacy
  • Computer Sciences
• Technology
  • Enginerical Graphics and Design
  • Technology
• Life Orientation
  • Life Skills and Psychology
• Design Department
  • Visual Communication Design
  • Practical
  • Theory
• Music Department
  • Practical
  • Theory
• Drama Department
  • Practical
  • Theory

Cambridge International Examination Center

Parel Vallei High School is the only school in South Africa offering the CIE course as well as the Senior Certificate course concurrently. For the past nine years Parel Vallei have been running AS-Level and A-Level classes for pupils who want extra academic qualifications. Teachers are from the internal school or from surrounding Universities. A-Level programs are done after hours and costs extra to the school's internal fee.

Subjects offered:

• Mathematics AS-Level
  • Including Mechanics AS-level as of 2011 (previously Statistics AS-level)
• Mathematics A-Level
  • Including Mechanics A-Level as of 2011 (previously Statistics AS-level)
• Physics AS-Level
• Physics A-Level
• Biology AS-Level
• Biology A-Level
• English Literature AS-Level
• English Literature A-Level

Subjects previously offered:

• Afrikaans AS-Level (Only as a self study option available to pupils.)
• Technical Drawings AS- and A-Level. Technical problems were a limitation as this subject is now done on computers(CAD).

PV in the News

Parel Vallei was recently in the published media regarding submissions to the school. The school had a few legal issues as it did not accept applications to the school due to size limitations. The school is currently in the process of building and extending the school. In 2004, the school was briefly in the local news after the governing body presented the idea to erect a cellphone mast on the school grounds to the community.

Parel Vallei is Growing

The school has shown enormous growth in the past 20 years. Originally the facilities were designed for 750 pupils, but currently tutors 1,155 pupils. The school had recently applied for a budget of R10.25 million to be used to extend the school to accommodate 1,200 pupils comfortably. Constructions are to start in October 2007.
Plans for the future will be:

• Upgraded staff room
• New library (Opened in 2011) and office
• New Gallery to the old hall
• Improvements to the entrance and admin block
• New mini theatre and music block
• Changes to the drama department
• New outdoor theater and film venue (which is still to come)
• Changes to class rooms
• New class rooms
• New cafeteria (which is currently under renovation)
• New sports hall
• New covered verandah
• Increasing the hall's capacity(the school currently has two halls[one that was constructed recently which is used for the assemblies on Mondays and the other for special functions], to accommodate everyone.)
• New termly LAN Party
  LAN party
  A LAN party is a temporary, sometimes spontaneous, gathering of people with computers, between which they establish a local area network , primarily for the purpose of playing multiplayer computer games. The size of these networks may vary from the very small to very large installations...
  
  hosted by 6 students of the school.