Heritage Month saw Kingsmead College students and staff paying tribute to our traditions and achieving some excellent results in sports, academics and various cultural activities. Read through our September 2021 highlights below.
We are very proud of Christy-Anne Peers who was selected to be a part of the Gauteng Schools Netball U18 team.
Congratulations to Christy-Anne!
Congratulations to Nazrana Jhavary who was awarded the Merryl Neille Trophy for the Best Senior Wind Player at the South African Society of Music Teachers Festival.
She was also invited to perform at the Gala evening for this event.
We are so proud of your exceptional achievement, Nazrana!
Congratulations to the Senior School Equestrian Team that competed in the 3rd Qualifier in August. Our riders came home with outstanding results.
Rania Motara
1st in Level 3 Working Riding
1st in Level 3 Performance Riding
3rd in Level 3 In Hand Utility
Sarah Warren
2nd in Level 3 Working Hunter
Ella Hunt
3rd in Level 1 Dressage B
Helena van der Merwe
1st in Level 2 Show Jumping
We’d like to congratulate the following Kingsmead students on their achievements during the swimming winter season. Despite the holidays, cold weather and lockdown, these girls continued to show their determination and dedication to the sport as shown by their successes:
Sienna Fry
She placed 1st in the 50m Backstroke, 2nd in the 100m Freestyle and 3rd in the 50m Breaststroke at the EGA winter 1 securing a Level 2 qualifying time and only narrowly missing out on Level 3 by 0.4s. This is a phenomenal achievement in her very first season competing.
Charlee Davis
Charlee placed 2nd in 100m Freestyle and came top 5 in the 50m Breaststroke as well as the 50m Backstroke at the EGA winter. She made it into the top 8 for both the 50m and 100m Backstroke at the EGA junior winter champs and would have secured her a finals spot, unfortunately the event was timed finals due to Covid restrictions. She also achieved Level 2 qualifying times and is working hard towards qualifying for Level 3.
To the Jewish families in the Kingsmead community, we hope you had a wonderful Rosh Hashanah!
Congratulations to Anna Lipchin who participated in the Philip Moore competition during the August holiday and achieved an A+ for her outstanding performance.
Well done, Anna!
We would like to congratulate Chloe Mandy who participated in the Regional gymnastic trials during the holidays and was selected for the Central Gauteng team. She competed in the Provincial Champs on 10 September.
In September we reminisced about the time our Senior School Choir was fortunate enough to participate in the 10th World Choir Games in 2018, featuring 300 choirs and 16 000 participants from 62 countries. This was the biggest Choir Games organised outside Europe. Our Choir participated in the category ‘Folklore a capella’ and prepared a programme of five traditional songs, including: Emlanjeni, Imgoma, Siyabonga Somandla, Seteng Sediba and Hlonolofatsa.
Congratulations to Maia Luksmidas and Meera Luksmidas who represented their club, Gold Reef Rhythmic Gymnastics, at the Central Gauteng District and Gauteng Provincial competitions. Both gymnasts qualified to represent Gauteng at the National Championships.
Meera competed in the Level 8 U/15 with routines for free dance, rope and ball. Meera placed 1st overall for Central Gauteng and 3rd overall at the Gauteng Provincial competitions.
Maia competed in the Senior Olympic category with routines for ball, hoop, clubs and ribbon. Maia placed 2nd overall for Central Gauteng and 3rd overall for the Gauteng Provincial competitions.
The world triathle and biathle championships were held in Weiden, Germany from 25 to 29 August 2021. Unfortunately, due to the cancellation of the SA championships, South Africa will not be in a position to send a national team. The UIPM has informed the SA Modern Pentathlon Association that South Africa, and all other national organisations that were unable to host championships, may enter athletes that qualify on an individual basis to compete at the world championships.
Both Isabella and Helen Cockeran have qualified to compete in the elite race at the word championships in their respective categories. Helen was injured and could not compete but Isabella finished 8th in the U/19 Elite section. Congratulations Isabella!
It’s so wonderful for our students to be involved in music-making initiatives with other schools, even with Covid-19 regulations in place. Anything is possible!
We would like to congratulate Kylie Dugmore on obtaining her Central Gauteng colours for gymnastics. She also represented Central Gauteng Gymnastics at a competition in Pretoria where she got selected to participate in the National Gymnastics Competition which was being held in Pretoria from 4 to 8 October.
Congratulations to Ella van der Hijden for competing at the District Competition where she received a bronze medal for bar and beam. She then represented Central Gauteng in Provincials in Pretoria and qualified for the SA Gym Games that was held in early October.
We would like to congratulate the following girls on making it through to the National Gymnastics Champs being held in October. They did very well and placed in the top 3 of their age groups and levels:
Ella van der Hijden. – Grade 4
Stephanie Walker – Grade 5
Ella Fairlie – Grade 5
Grace Hefer – Grade 6
Chloe Mandy – Grade 6
Ziyanah Mahomed – Grade 6
Congratulations to Charlie Dalling, Luyanda Nkumane and Kate Sardi for making it through to the second round of D9 U13 Hockey trials!
Spring was definitely in the air! Our campus was looking beautiful and had a renewed energy and vibrancy with lots of sport and activity taking place once more. We were so excited for the term.
We would like to congratulate Katherine Popadopoulos on her phenomenal achievement. Katherine was ranked number 8 in the top 10 primary school riders in Johannesburg.
She is the only one of the top 10 riders who had achieved this on a stable pony which she has only ridden this year.
Well done, Katherine!
How beautiful to have celebrated our heritage with the sounds of music, which is so intrinsically linked to our cultural identity. Click below to watch the Heritage Day celebrations.
Beyond Heritage Day, we hope to continue having important conversations around who we are and everything that comes with being who we are. May we take every opportunity to not only share our own stories, but to also take time to listen to and learn about those around us. Our heritage is something to be proud of, so let us be inspired to continue paving the way to greater understanding and encouragement for people to take pride in their heritage.
Our campus came alive with colour and festivities as we celebrated our heritage on campus and embraced all the incredible cultures we have in the melting pot that is South Africa. Thank you to the Senior School photographic club for taking some of these pictures.
On 30 September, we met wonderful prospective Kingsmead families at our Grade 000-0 Open Day. Our Open Days allow parents and guardians to ask Kingsmead staff questions, and gives them a chance to view our wonderful school grounds.
We are incredibly proud of our young violinists who played in online music examinations:
- Safiya Vally achieved an exceptional result for the ABRSM Grade 3 violin examination.
- Katharine Jones passed the Grade 6 Trinity Violin examination with a fantastic result.
- Neve MacKenzie passed exceptionally well in the Trinity Grade 5 violin examination.
We also congratulate Nazrana Jhavary who participated in the SASMT Johannesburg Festival for the Advancement of Music in August and was awarded Best Senior Woodwind Player. Her video was included in the online Gala concert as one of the top achievers in this year’s festival.
