Dear Parents
The Junior School is alive with activity. The girls remain fully engaged in their learning and extracurricular involvement despite the winter chill.
I am happy to confirm that the decision has been made regarding the girls wearing tracksuits in winter. Girls are permitted to wear full tracksuits with their PE kit on days when PE lessons are scheduled. Should the maximum temperature reach 14 degrees Celsius – the girls are also permitted to wear a tracksuit to school. The girls may wear the green or white sports shirts. No house t-shirts are permitted under the tracksuit. Thank you for ensuring that the girls are dressed smartly in their tracksuits.
Thank you to the PTA representatives who are managing the lost property this year. This is an enormous task for which we are very grateful. A reminder to please label every item of clothing very carefully so that lost items find its way to your daughters quickly.
In the final day of the first term, we celebrated our Advanced Thinking Accreditation during assembly. Each girl was presented a new Inyoni badge to be worn with their uniform in celebration of this collective achievement. The NEST students designed the badge as follows:
Stars represent
- Journey
- Our 3 school phases
- Responding with Wonderment and Awe
Birds represent
- Growth,
- 2 colours for diversity
Triangle represents
- Kingsmead Green
- Strength together
- Student-parent-teacher team
Gold rim:
- Celebrate Thinking School Advanced Accreditation
- Award of Excellence
Student-led Conferences
Kingsmead College considers the relationship between students’ families and the school to be of paramount importance. At three times during the school year, the school invites students and their families to attend formal conferences during which verbal feedback is given/received.
We have scheduled Student- led Conferences to take place from grade 4-7 before half term. Please look out for parent correspondence regarding reports and discussions during the course of next week.
Student-led Conferences replace the traditional parent-teacher conference. They are attended by the student, parent/guardian, LEAD teacher, and other adults the student would like present. The LEAD teacher chairs the meeting, but the student facilitates the conversation pertaining to her learning progress.
During the conference, students explain their progress toward and mastery of both academic (content/skill) and character learning goals (habits of work and learning, as well as socio-emotional and leadership development). Students justify their progress by leading their families through a collection of tasks/assignments gleaned from academic, cultural, PE and other lessons/activities.
At Kingsmead, we base our work and learning upon our school ethos: courage, happiness, possibility, purpose, responsibility and service. As such, our pedagogy is grounded upon a Growth Mindset philosophy together with the explicit teaching and development of the 16 Habits of Mind and thinking tools and strategies which empower students to become effective, critical learners who contribute to society. The grade 4 – 7 will hold their first SLCs on 19 June.
We look forward to this progressive approach to receiving and giving feedback.
Sensory garden update
We are so excited with the current installation of our sensory garden in the Grade 0 areas. A sensory garden is an environment that is designed to stimulate the senses by way of textures, sounds, smells, sight and taste. A garden of this sort can be therapeutic for children as it is a soothing place for them to explore their senses in a calm and gentle way and also allows them to interact with the environment around them. Work on the sensory garden began during the April school holidays. Preparation and levelling of the site had to take place as well as moving the rope swings and monkey bars.
Once this was completed, the mapping out of the various areas took place and then the installation of the pathways began. Each pathway consists of different textures such as pebbles, logs and rounded stones and it took some time to design the various sections. The planting is still to be done and then the final touches will take place. It has been wonderful watching the day to day progress of the garden and as new areas emerge, we are feeling a growing excitement to see this initiative completed. The girls are looking forward to exploring their new garden and we are grateful and blessed that we have been able to provide this for their development and enjoyment with the assistance of the Kingsmead PTA.
Wishing our families a wonderful week ahead.
Kim Lowman and the Executive Team.
WEEK AHEAD
Tuesday, 22 May
- 09:00 – 12:00 Grade 5 visit to the Planetarium
Wednesday, 23 May
- Grade 6 selling Hot chocolate
- 18:00 – 19:00 Grade 3 Choir “Let the children sing” at St John’s
Friday, 25 May
- 07:30 – PTA General meeting
- 07:45 – JP Assembly
- 10:45 – SP Grade 4 & 5 Chapel/Grade 6 & 7 Hymns
- 13:15 – JS Netball Matches
Saturday, 26 May
- Grade 3 and 4 (A/B) Netball Festival @ Holy Rosary
Tuck shop protocol
In the interest of creating a more efficient tuckshop and hot lunch experience for all our students, the Grade 7 Tuckshop Committee, together with Mrs Church, have asked for your support in following the protocol as outlined below:
- Purchasing items from the tuckshop from Monday to Friday at tea-break is a Grade 7 privilege. This is in an effort to alleviate pressure experienced by the whole school at that time.
- Grades 3 – 7 may go to the tuckshop before school from 7:00 to 7:30, lunch breaks and after school on any day.
- Grades 000 – 2 need to be accompanied by an adult when visiting the tuckshop before or after school.
The committee have identified ways in which to assist students to receive their lunches as quickly as possible. We thank them for their insight, interest and help in making the process as efficient as possible.
Lisakhanya Ikusasa Reading Club
We received a lovely message from Nhlanhla Mchunu thanking us for the books she received from percentage of the sales earned by the Travelling Bookshop. Nhlanhla is an amazing young lady who, although she is in the middle of her studies at UJ, still uses her time and energy to foster a love of reading in the children of Alexandra. She started the Lisakhanya Ikusasa Reading Club at the age of 19 which meets at the Alexandra Library. She is now 21 and the reading club is still going strong. She brought a group of 18 children to experience the Kingsmead Book Fair and was prepared to pay for them out of her own pocket. Fortunately, Rizwana Bawa came to the rescue and we found entrance tickets for all the children. They had a wonderful day!
A note from Nhlanhla:
“Thank you, Kingsmead and the Travelling Bookshop very much. I am very grateful that you helped us again this year. I am sure the kids will be happy to get new books and new stories they can learn from. On behalf of all of us thank you, thank you! Indeed it is a dawn of new adventures for Lisakhanya Ikusasa Reading Club. Share a book, give love!”
“The kids had fun and learned a lot at the Book Fair, they were able to experience something different. Thank you to everyone who donated tickets for us and the lady that gave us a free pass. Thank you, we are really grateful!”
MUSIC NEWS
‘Let the Children Sing’ Choir Festival
Please note the details regarding the Grade 3 girls performance at the annual ‘Let the Children Sing’ Choir Festival at St John’s College on Wednesday 23 May.
Girls need to wear their winter uniform with a shirt- or long sleeve white shirt, navy pants, blazers, navy socks and school shoes. Please let Ms Muller know if your daughter will not make use of the bus please. There will be no bus transportation back to school after the event.
- 15h30 Bus leaves from Kingsmead for St John’s College (Cecil Avenue gate)
- 16h00 Girls who do not make use of the bus transportation to arrive at Rene England Hall
- 16h15 Rehearsal of massed item
- 17h15 Refreshment for pupils and tea for parents and invited guests
- 17h45 Line up and seating
- 18h00 Concert starts
- 19h00 Concert finishes
The girls will have a snack at St John’s but perhaps you can pack something extra in her lunchbox as it will be a long day for them. Tickets are not required, and seating will be on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
Tuesday 29 May Music performances
Instead of participating in the Jan Celliers Eisteddfod on the 29th of May as per the calendar, we will take our Grade 4-7 Choir, and some ensembles to an Old Age home to perform on this day. More details to follow.
Wednesday 6 June: ABRSM Theory Examinations
The Theory examinations will take place in the Macroom in the Learning Centre. Candidates who are entered to write these exams, must leave class at 13h30, register at the venue at 14h00 and start writing at 14h30. The length of the examination depends on the grade they are writing.
Singing Sistas Choir evening Wednesday 6 June
The Grade 4-7 Choir and Glee group will be performing at the annual ‘Singing Sistas choir evening‘ at St Mary’s School Waverley on Wednesday 6 June. Please let Mrs Loock know if your daughter will not make use of the bus please.
- Venue: The Edge auditorium, St Mary’s School
- Time: 15h30 Buses leaves from Kingsmead
- 16h15 Schools arrive and get settled in the auditorium
- 16h30-17h15 Combined choirs rehearsal
- 17h15-18h00 Refreshments served to the children and parents
- 18h00-19h30 Concert
- Only ONE bus will return to Kingsmead
Entrance tickets for audience members are complimentary. Although refreshments will be served, please make sure your daughter packs an extra snack for after school and a water bottle as it will be a long day. The girls are to wear their Winter school uniform and look smart.
Please diarise:
- Saturday 9 June: Kingsmead Eisteddfod – individual musicians
- Tuesday 12 June: Jan Celliers Music Concert – Orchestra to participate
- Wednesday 13 June: ABRSM Practical Examinations
- Friday 15 June: Trinity Practical Examinations
Elsabé Fourie – Director of Arts & Music efourie@kingsmead.co.za
SPORTS NEWS
WEEK’S OVERVIEW
Congratulations to all our girls who participated in very intensive week of Netball fixtures and a special thank you to our parents who braved the cold chill at Holy Rosary.
Whilst we did record some victories, I am not blind to the detail that we did not get right this week with regards to Netball especially. With that in mind, I will be in meetings with the relevant heads to discuss our departure times especially when the schools are not in our close proximity. I am also meeting all Netball coaches and managers to discuss the challenges they are facing so we can find solutions that will enable us to finish our season on a positive note. I believe in ‘Failing Forward’. We can only learn from our mistakes and adapt accordingly to do better in the future.
Below is a notification posted on the school app last week with regards to Netball team selection. Our aim to get our team selection right so that there is minimal movement of players across the teams which is causing anxiety amongst the players.
We are excited with the increase in numbers of players who are attending the weekly practices. The number of teams has increased tremendously and this has caused a challenge with regards to team selections. Exacerbating this challenge is the number of players who are unable to fulfil the fixtures once selected. In order to ensure transparency and consistency; we would like to use the practice times stated below to confirm our teams for each week’s fixtures as of Monday 21st May 2018. Unfortunately, those not present will not be eligible to play.
- Grade 3 Wednesday 14h00 – 14h45
- Grade 4 Monday 14h30 – 15h30
- Grade 5 Tuesday 15h00 – 16h00
- Grade 6 Tuesday 14h30 – 15h30
- Grade 7 Monday 15h30 – 16h30
We trust that this will assist us in managing our numbers and enable our coaches to plan accordingly. We thank you for your support in this regard.
I am also currently looking at our dress code in the sports department and I hope to unveil our new look in the new future. I am grateful to all those parents who have managed to make time to either chat to me in person or via email to highlight their concerns. I do indeed value your input.
Teams will be finalized on Tuesday and will be on the Notice board and APP on
Wednesday 23rd May.
26th May: Holy Rosary
Grade 3(1 & 2) and Grade 4A/B Teams will participate in the Holy Rosary A/B
Festival. The players will all receive their letters regarding the festival on Monday, 21st May.
HOCKEY
Hockey trials for all grade 4 – 7 will be held in Physical Education classes next week. Teams will be finalised by Wednesday 6 June 2018.
The updated co-curricular will be posted by Wednesday 30Th May 2018.
EQUESTRIAN NEWS
SANESA Qualifier 3 – 19th and 20th of May
The Kingsmead Equestrian Prep Team had 11 girls that competed at Kyalami Equestrian Park across a range of disciplines: Francesca Logan, Jade Anderson, Jessica Schroeder, Katherine Papadopoulos, Leeya Motara, Lesedi Moloi, Makhutsi Moloi, Paula Prinsloo, Rania Motara, Taylor Prinsloo and Zuhayra Ebrahim.
Particular congratulations to the following girls for being placed in the top third of their classes (based on size classes) and earning extra points for the Kingsmead Prep Team:
Jade Anderson: 4th in Level 3 Prix Caprilli Test A, riding Galaxy Man and 5th riding Surprise. 1st in Level 3 Prix Caprilli Test B, riding Galaxy Man. 8th in Level 1 Show Jumping Round 1 and 5th in Level 1 Show Jumping Round 2 riding Surprise. 2nd in Level 1 Dressage Test A riding Surprise. 3rd in Level 2 Dressage Test A and 1st in Level 2 Dressage Test B riding Galaxy Man. 1st in Level 1 Performance Riding with Galaxy Man and 5th with Surprise.
Paula Prinsloo: 5th in Level 1 Prix Capilli Test A and 2nd in Level 1 Working Riding riding Nemo.
Rania Motara: 3rd in Level 1 Dressage Test A riding Bedazzled.
Taylor Prinsloo: 4th in Level 0 Show Jumping Round 1 riding Komati.
Zuhayra Ebrahim: 7th in Level 1 Show Jumping Round 2 riding Regents Polo Power.
Well done girls!
Pic caption: Leeya Motara riding Lady, Rania Motara riding Bedazzled and Zuhayra Ebrahim riding Kinsale
Sheillah Denenga – Head of Junior School Sport sdenenga@kingsmead.co.za
