Dear Parents

IT IS TIME TO SHINE!

Every young girl in our care deserves to be seen, cared for and acknowledged in one way or another for the gift she shares. We hold onto the opportunities which arise for girls at Kingsmead to step up and find their time to shine. I am acutely aware of how some of these opportunities push our girls out of their comfort zones, stretch their capacity and allow them to find new gifts and talents as they explore and discover new territory.

The most fulfilling of these life events are often explored within shared experiences where each girl works toward a common purpose. An example of this, at the moment, is the involvement of our Grade 7 girls as they prepare for their annual production. Each Grade 7 student is currently working toward a current purpose, a final product, where they are able to showcase their talent, whether this is on or off the stage. I am so proud of their work ethic, their endurance and their commitment to producing something that they are collectively proud of. At the same time our girls continue to commit to their sporting, cultural and academic activities. We have many examples of this from Bluebells all the way up.

At times, we as parents and teachers try to protect our girls from failure or from over-exertion. To ensure that we foster perseverance, commitment and resilience we need to encourage our girls to push forward and work hard, stretch a little more and find the joy of success and commitment toward the common goal. It is through the struggle and hard work that our girls learn self-efficacy and the pure exhilaration of working through something difficult to find the light, joy and success on the other side.

This is when the girls actually learn. Our girls are supported to rise when they fall forward. I am confident that each girl will continue to find her time to shine!

SENSORY GARDEN

We had the privilege of officially opening our Sensory Garden this morning. Here in this garden our girls will be great friends, explorers, risk takers, detectives and creators.

We have had the opportunity to take an ordinary school space and turn it into a memorable garden with areas for discovery and reflection. A well-known educationalist, Dr Maria Montessori said this about the senses: “ The senses, being explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge. Our apparatus for educating the senses offers the child a key to guide his explorations of the world”. We have no doubt that our sensory garden will play a big part as the key to exploring the world.

This morning we gave thanks to Ms MacEwan for her vision; the Grade 0 teachers and Mrs Illsley for their innovation and commitment to making it happen; the PTA for their generous funding of the project and to the landscaper behind the project, Jenny.

We ask that this garden is blessed and is open to the joy of all children to experience the world through their senses.

Kim Lowman – Head of Junior School

WEEK AHEAD

Tuesday, 10 July

10:15 Hot chocolate sales
Grade 1 – 3 Music concert – Joel Hall

Wednesday, 11 July

Grade 4 outing to Annie

Thursday, 12 July

07:30 JS Class mothers meeting
17:00 – 19:00 Grade 7 Technical rehearsal

Friday, 13 July

JS Hockey matches vs St Stithians

Saturday, 14 July

JS Hockey festival – Grade 6B and 7B
14:30 – 17:00 Grade 7 production rehearsal

*** For all sports fixtures please see Sports News below

PTA NEWS

Grade 0 Breakfast

The Grade 0 breakfast is an annual event where each girl and her father or significant other male in her life, is able to spend special time together. This took place last Thursday. The girls decorated the tables themselves with their very own handmade placemats and flowers that they had chosen from their gardens. After a welcome by Mrs Lowman and Mrs Ilsley, the girls sang “Thank you, Daddy” with such enthusiasm and sincerity. There was hardly a dry eye in the room! A splendid spread followed which was enjoyed by all, the pancakes being a highlight amongst the girls! Thank you to everyone who attended and to all those who made the occasion so wonderful.

Click here to book your tickets

SPORTS NEWS

WEEK’S OVERVIEW

Congratulations to our Hockey players this week who braved the cold and wet weather. Our teams played against St Andrew’s on Friday 6^th July 2018. On Saturday 8^th July, we participated in the grade 4 festival at St Mary’s and grade 5 festival at St Andrew’s. Below were our results:

Grade	A	B	C
7	Won 3-0	Lost 0-1	Lost
6	Lost 0-1	Drew 0-0
5	Lost 2-3	Won 1-0	Won 1-0
4	Lost 0-1	Won 2-0	Lost 3-4
3	Won 6-2	Won 6-2	Won 2-0

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTS – Hockey

We would like to congratulate Anne-Marie Sutherland and Natalie Morris who were selected to represent the Southern Gauteng U13A at the recent Interprovincial Tournament over the weekend. They were placed 2^nd. This is an outstanding achievement.

We wish Lillian Turvey all the best as she represents District 9 in the upcoming district tournament this week.

Equestrian

GAUTENG FINALS: SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL EQUESTRIAN SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION

The Kingsmead Junior school team as done particularly well this year. The following girls have been selected to compete for Johannesburg Central at Gauteng Finals to be held on the 28^th and 29^th July 2018.

Francesca Logan: B Team for Level 1 Working Riding and Level 1 Show Jumping.

Jade Anderson: A Team for Level 1 Show Jumping, Level 1 Performance Riding, Level 1 Dressage, Level 2 Dressage and Level 3 Prix Caprilli.

Lesedi Moloi: B Team for Level 1 Performance Riding and Level 5 Performance Riding.

Makhutsi Moloi: B Team for Level 1 Performance Riding and Level 1 Working Riding.

Leeya Motara: A Team for Level 3 In Hand Utility, B Team for Level 1 Dressage and Level 5 Performance Riding.

Rania Motara: A Team for Level 1 Dressage, Level 3 In Hand Utility, Level 5 Performance Riding and B Team for Level 3 Working Riding.

Paula Prinsloo: A Team for Level 1 Handy Hunter, Level 5 Working Hunter and B Team for Level 1 Prix Caprilli, Level 1 Working Riding, Level 5 Show Jumping and Level 6 Equitation.

We wish our riders all the very best in the upcoming competition.