Introduction
The Elsieskraal Power Walk Series of geocaches has been prepared as an educational initiative to introduce young people to two things: types of geocache hides that they will encounter in an urban environment as they start geocache activity; and to some interesting facets of Pineland history encountered along the walk. It may assist Scouts in obtaining their geocaching badge and may be suitable as a small-group youth activity: either school of faith based.
The Power Walk is a circular trail of just under 6 km along the walkway that goes along both sides of the canal. For its entire length the walk is in a proclaimed green recreational zone.
The walk can be started at any point and the caches don't need to be found in any particular order. There are many convenient parking spots on the roads that run adjacent to the canal.
The Vista Nova Schools
Origin and Primary School
Vista Nova School strives to maximize the unique potential of learners with barriers to learning and other special needs by the provision of appropriate educational and therapeutic services.
This school was one of the three original schools for children with cerebral palsy in South Africa. The school, called the Cape School for Cerebral Palsied Children, was established by the Cerebral Palsy Association of the Western Cape in a house called “Keerweer” in Rosebank, in September 1954, with four pupils, a teacher, a nursery school teacher, a nursing sister and a school physiotherapist. In 1955 the Department of National Education was persuaded to subsidize the project. The school grew quickly, which led to the acquisition of properties in Milner Road, Rondebosch, where the new school was built. It was opened on 7 March 1967, when it was officially renamed the Vista Nova School for Cerebral Palsied Pupils. At present, it is known as Vista Nova School.
In Rondebosch the school started admitting learners with various learning disabilities, as no other facility was able to cater for them. Success at a school like Vista Nova is not measured by means of scholastic results alone. Each learner is treated as an individual and is developed to his or her highest potential. Success might be the achievement of good academic results, the development of self-esteem, the ability to relate to others on a social level, the ability to communicate effectively, the ability to walk, the ability to proceed to Further or Higher Education, or the ability to return to a mainstream school.
From humble beginnings Vista Nova has grown to an enrolment of over 420 pupils, some 120 staff members and a full time bus service provided by a fleet of 6 busses. It is a remarkable story of how a need developed into an educational service to an entire city.
The High School
Vista Nova is a Public Special School offering a multi-disciplinary team approach to the holistic education of the children attending the school. The children are accepted on the basis that they have certain barriers to learning which need to be overcome. A steady annual increase in learner numbers and a growing waiting list necessitated the establishment of a separate High School campus in 1989. This campus is located in Pinelands and the school's playing fields are passed on the Elsieskraal Power Walk.
The pupils follow the same Western cape Education Department curriculum as mainstream schools. The pupils in Grade Twelve write the same external examination, the National Senior Certificate. Some children who need to be placed at Vista Nova due to their diagnosis, and who cannot cope with the national curriculum, are offered an adapted curriculum to suit their needs. The size of the classes varies between twelve and sixteen in the Primary School while some classes at the High School are slightly larger. On average, ten percent of the sachool's pupils leave Vista Nova each year to return to mainstream schools.