Dear Parents
Mind the Gap!
One of the marvels of working in a Junior School environment is the rapid growth and development of our students over a short period of time. One minute our students are learning to read and the next they are solving geometry problems! It all seems to happen so fast and each year of primary school is distinct in terms of how we engage, teach, learn, lead and grow together.
It is imperative that as educators, we are aware of these shifts that influence our students academically, neurologically, socially and emotionally; and, importantly that we are able to support and educate the girls about what is happening to them too!
So, at the end of September, we will be hosting Enrichment Days for Grade 5-7 students, addressing study skills, wellness, examination technique and teen talks. If you were unable to join us for the Parent Information, we would like to share some insights into the programme with you. The Grade 6 and 7s will have a 2 day session, and the Grade 5s will have a 1 day session held on the 27th of September (see the * section in the table for the topics that will be covered)
At this stage, we will not be hosting a Grade 4 enrichment programme. While we have given this due consideration, we believe that this programme is most relevant from Grade 5 onward, for two particular reasons. Firstly, the Grade 4s are not exposed to formalized cycle tests or examinations yet, and secondly, most of the girls have not begun to develop. As a result, we have decided that we will offer a similar programme to the girls at the beginning of their Grade 5 year, when it will be most beneficial.
The Teen Talks run by Education for Living (FAMSA) will broadly cover the following aspects:
Grade 5:
Puberty, hormonal changes, menstruation, bodily changes.
Grade 6:
Recap of puberty, hormonal changes, menstruation, bodily changes as covered in Grade 5 Teen Talks, including bodily changes for boys.
Fertilisation, conception, pregnancy and birth, relationships.
Grade 7:
Include revision from Grade 5 and 6 Teen Talks. Contraception, STIs, HIV and AIDS. Healthy and unhealthy relationships.
The talks are focused on factual information and any values-based questions are reflected on personally. The girls are encouraged to talk about what they learn at school, with you at home following the talk. We have also deliberately provided a sound length of time prior to the talks happening at school should you wish to have any discussions at home.
We look forward to a meaningful enrichment programme and continued parent partnerships with you going forward.
Dr Marisa di Terlizzi – Head of Senior Primary
WEEK AHEAD
Tuesday, 18 September
- Grade 2 Outing to the sustainable gardens
Wednesday, 19 September
- Grade 6 High School experience Day 1
Thursday, 20 September
- 07:30 Heritage Day Assembly
- Grade 6 High School experience Day 2
- Tennis fixtures
- 18:00 Grade 6 High School experience Parents’ Evening
Friday, 21 September
- PTA General meeting
- JS Inter schools athletics
Saturday, 22 September
- U13/U14 Waterpolo Festival
*** For all sports fixtures please see Sports News below
Heritage Assembly
The Junior School will be taking part in what we hope will become an annual whole school assembly on Thursday 20 September 2018. Our theme this year is “This Is My Story”. Girls have been invited to wear any clothing that represents who they are and use this special day to tell their story. We look forward to a beautiful assembly and may we learn from the many stories shared.
GOODWILL COLOUR WALK
Gr 1 – Red
Gr 2 – Orange
Gr 3 – Yellow
Gr 4 – Green
Gr 5 – Blue
Gr 6 – Indigo
Gr 7 – Rainbow
Gr 0 – Violet / purple
Gr 00 and 000 – Rainbow ?
DR KATHIE NUNLEY
We are thrilled to be hosting Dr Kathie Nunley for a whole and neighbouring-schools professional development at the end of September. Dr Nunley is an educational psychologist, researcher and best-selling author of several books on the brain and learning in the classroom. She is an expert on understanding the development of the ‘Student Brain’ and presents an informative, down-to-earth and humorous talk for parents and other interested people. Please don’t miss this wonderful opportunity and book through the online invitation below…
Ingrid Beekhuizen – Head of Academics
AN AUTHOR VISITS KINGSMEAD
On Thursday the 13th September, Lori-Ann Preston, author of Thabo, the space dude: Log book 1: last days on earth, came and talked to us about her latest book and how to publish a book. I really loved her sense of humour and how she discovered what we love to read. I think she poured her heart and soul into the book. Not often do we South Africans have a really great person who chases their dreams and just goes for what they love and believe in. I think Lori-Ann Preston is a passionate writer and we look forward to reading her books. – Jessica Stevens (Grade 5X)
SPORTS NEWS
With the upcoming Heritage day, I got thinking on the value sport plays in our heritage. In several overseas countries, namely Canada and Britain, research is being done on the value of sport in people’s heritage as well as the role it plays in tourism. The movie Invictus, in which Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon plays Francois Pienaar tells the story of the 1995 World cup. This movie portrays this very notion of how sport is so interlinked with one’s culture. In this example we see how rugby is an integral part of the South African heritage. Below is a snippet of one of the famous dialogues in the movie which encapsulates this important notion.
However, going forward, we need to also start teaching our young people about the many other sport and games from our diverse communities. I am very excited about the Indigenous games that we will be teaching in our Physical Education programme this term mainly with the grade 7’s. I hope that this will start the many conversations and highlight the value of our differences.
RESULTS
Water polo
Congratulations to our U13 team that competed this weekend. Their results were as follows:
- Kingsmead 6 St Stithians 2
- Kingsmead 7 St Dominic’s 0
- Kingsmead 6 Randpark 0
Tennis
Kingsmead played St Peter’s and our A/B teams won but unfortunately our C/D lost. Well done to all our young and budding tennis players.
CO-CURRICULAR
Sport Practice attendance by parents.
The sports department would like to send out a plea to the parents to refrain from assisting or communicating with players during Tennis matches or practice sessions. Parental support is important to us and your children particularly at matches. However, the presence of parents at sport practices can be daunting to our young players and coaches alike. We ask that you trust that the coaches have every child’s interest at heart and in the event your child returns home with a concern, we encourage you to communicate with us without delay. To ensure the safety and privacy of our swimmers we also ask that the parents abide by the signage posted by our pool area. Only swimmers may enter and we encourage parents to take advantage of the seating areas outsides the pool area whilst they wait for their children.
Swimming
The new school swimming caps have arrived and are available at the school shop.
Please note that the optional grade 5 swimming sessions will take place on Saturday morning 07h30 – 09h00.
Grade 0 – 3 are encouraged to please wear foot wear when they walk from their classes to the pool for PE as it is bee season and we often inundated with bee stings at this time of the year.
Midmar – if there are any grade 6 or 7 swimmers who would like to participate in the Midmar 2019 please email Mrs. Hanekom at shanekom@kingsmead.co.za. We aim to leave on Friday 8th February and return on Saturday 9 February 2019. This is a first come first server basis as they are only 17 spaces available.
Tennis
Due to the positive response to the Friday tennis session we have decided to divide the groups into 2 to allow more contact time with the coaches. Grade 4&5 will train from 13h30 – 14h15 and Grade 6&7 will train from 14h00 to 15h00.
Athletics
Team list for Friday 21 September 2018 at St Stithians has been published. We are so pleased with the number of athletes attending practices thus far. However, due to programme constraints we can only field a certain number at any given Inter schools meeting. Please note that all athletes will have a chance to compete during the season.
Special Achievements
Congratulations to Grace Hefer who has qualified for the Gauteng Gym squad. She will be taking part in the nationals competition on 4th October 2018 and we wish her all the best for her upcoming competition.
WEEK AHEAD
Sheillah Denenga – Head of Junior School Sport sdenenga@kingsmead.co.za
