Dear Kingsmead Community
A special welcome to all the new girls to Kingsmead; particularly the Butterflies, Bluebells, Grade 0s and Grade 8s. We welcome you and your families and hope that you already feel a part of the Kingsmead family.
The term has started well and I thank all the parents who have come to the various Parent Information evenings over the past weeks. It has been wonderful to engage with you and to see your commitment to your daughters and to the school. The partnership that exists between the student, the parents or guardians and the school is a most important one.
On a sad note, we mourned the loss of Enock Mpianzi and we think of the entire Parktown Boys’ community at this time. We have spent time as an Executive and Council looking at our policies and procedures – particularly around risk assessment when taking girls on a camp or on an outing. We will be updating our community on this matter as soon as we have our documents finalized.
The Grade 8s enjoyed a wonderful Orientation/Introduction programme and I think that they have settled into senior school well. Thank you to Mrs van Lith and her team who guided the girls through the process.
The building of the Box Theatre will be commencing shortly and we hope to share in the excitement of this project as it takes shape. The greening of the campus is a major initiative and we hope to be communicating our plans with the community during the course of the term.
The Matric Dance will be held on Saturday 8 February and we are looking forward to seeing all our beautiful Matric girls on the evening. Thank you in advance to the Matric Dance Committee and to Ms Pillay for organizing the dance.
I wish you a wonderful term ahead!
Fond regards
Lisa Kaplan
Kingsmead College Head
Arts News
Welcome back to all our parents and students! All of us in the Arts & Music department are looking forward to an exciting, fun-filled year ahead.
DEBATING
Debating continues to be an activity that challenges and extends our students from Grade 6-12. Maxine Khumalo will coach the junior teams and Neo Masoeu the senior teams. The Debating teams will take part in the highly competitive Interschools’ SACEE Central Gauteng League.
DRAMA
2020 is a very exciting year with the building of the Kingsmead Theatre, which will provide a much-needed space for Drama students from Grade 1-12.
Drama Club (Studio Spotlight) is offered to students from Grade 1-9 at an extra cost – more details can be found on the App.
PUBLIC SPEAKING
Our Public Speaking teams will be preparing for the Speech and Drama College 59th High Schools’ Public Speaking Festival which runs in February and March. We shall enroll two teams per grade, a Trophy Team and an Individual Best Speaker. Keep an eye on the App for the dates and details – an App alert will let you know when it becomes available. Public Speaking Club proved to be popular in 2019 and we look forward to working with our new coach, Tumelo Bore this year.
MUSIC
We welcome Pascali Mokadi to our strings department this year and wish him many happy years at Kingsmead. We are also excited to have Este Meerkotter, a locum teacher last year, more involved in our Music department, teaching Grade 000-1 Music and the Grade 4-7 Choir. Priya Hollis, one of our voice teachers, is thrilled to be taking on the Junior School Glee. All teachers in charge of activities’ contact details can be found at the end of the extra-curricular schedules, in the extra-curricular folder on the App.
Our aim in the Kingsmead Music Department is for every student in our school to have the opportunity to play an instrument at some point during her school career. It is for this reason that we offer a wide range of instruments and run various instrument programmes during the year.
• Instrumental programmes where students will learn the basics of a few instruments: Grade 2: Violin; Grade 3: Flute; Grade 4: Saxophone and Brass instruments. Details regarding these instrumental programmes will be sent to the parents of the relevant grades.
• Intokozo: A creative arts programme for Grade 1-3 including dance, drama and music.
• Besides a wide range of instruments, songwriting, composition, music production and DJ courses are also available.
We also strive to make it possible for all our musicians to participate in group music making. It is when playing in an orchestra, band or singing in a choir, that music really comes alive! Students should get involved in a choir, orchestra, ensemble or a band.
Please refer to the following documents on the App:
1. Individual music lessons: use the application form on the Kingsmead App to apply for individual music lessons. The lesson fee for 2020 is R231/half hour lesson. Please read the notes on the 1st page of the form and on the online form for the charging policy.
2. Extra-curricular schedules with teachers in charge, venues as well as information flyers from all our external service providers can be found in the extra-curricular folder.
3. A detailed document explaining all Arts & Music activities is in the Arts & Music folder
4. Sign up forms for all Arts & Music, external service provider activities and music theory classes. Please note that the orchestra and ensembles are for students who can already play an instrument take individual lessons and have an instrument. Music theory classes are for students who take individual music lessons and are not beginners.
5. A summary of all music term dates is in the Arts & Music folder. Event details will be added to the live calendar.
Important upcoming event:
It is important to us that or music parents get to know the music teachers. You are invited to attend a music lesson or rehearsal to meet the people who teach your daughters, during the week of 10-14 February. On the evening of Tuesday 11 February, 18h00-19h00, you are invited to attend a cocktail party at the Arts & Music department to meet our music teachers. We hope to see many of our music parents there.
The Arts & Music team, wishes you a happy and fulfilling year ahead!
Elsabé Fourie
Director of Arts & Music
Sports News
WATER POLO
The teams have started with the second half of their season. The u15 and 2nd teams beat Beaulieu and the 1st team lost to St Dominics.
In the Old Mutual Cup, the 1st team have finished 3rd in their group.
Our partnership with Parkhurst Primary and the “Learn to Swim Programme” has resumed.
We are also proud of the following players that have been selected into their age group National training squads.
Alison Gace – u15
Caitlin Stott – u16
Kate Galloway – u17
Kim Sheridan – u18
SWIMMING
The swimming team had their 1st and 2nd galas during the past 2 weeks. In their 1st gala, the A team finished 1st and B team 4th out of 7 schools. In the 2nd gala, Kingsmead had no Grade 8 swimmers, as they were on camp, but competed well.
TENNIS
The teams have only played 1 match and achieved good results. Inter-high will be taking place on 1 February for both the A and B teams.
SQUASH
The squash league started this past week versus St Andrews. 3 out of the 4 teams winning their matches.
DIVING
Our divers will compete on the 1 February in their 1st competition in preparation for Inter-high on 4 March.
Robert Pullen
Director of Sport
Academic News
GROWTH CURRICULUM
The Growth Curriculum this year started off with a bang. Staff started by reflecting on the tremendous success we enjoyed in 2019 and identified a number of achievements of which we are particularly pleased. Among these were the rapid maturity, academic flexibility and curiosity the students have demonstrated. Staff were also excited by the opportunities to collaborate and learn from each other and from our students.
We have been busy fine-tuning and refining our modules and updating them in order to make sure these modules are as relevant, engaging and stimulating as possible. The modules that have been prepared for this term are as follows:
Grade 8
Revolution (History, Visual Art, Music and Dramatic Arts)
STEAM (Geography, Physical Science, Life Science and IT)
My New School (an extension of the orientation programme and Life Orientation).
Grade 9
Human Rights and Wrongs (History, Geography, Life Orientation and Philosophy for Children)
Children’s Theatre (Art, Drama, Enrichment and Music)
Foodology (Economic and Management Sciences, Life Science, Physical Science and Information Technology)
The Growth Curriculum teachers have their task well in hand and have a clear plan. We all look forward to a successful, exciting, engaging and stimulating term.
John Allen
Growth Curriculum Coordinator
Service News
In 2020, we will continue to strive to instill a sense of community responsibility and generosity through the various Service initiatives at Kingsmead College.
Hop-On Hop-Off Service Excursion
In the Senior School, the Grade 8s were introduced to various community partners and volunteering opportunities on the Hop-On Hop-Off Service Excursion.
INTER-HOUSE SERVICE
During Wellness Week at the start of term, the Service department hosted the first ever inter-house event (an initiative suggested by the Grade 12 leaders). Houses rotated between Sew-a-Pad, Build-a-Veggie-Crate and Pack-A-Meal activities. These activities were facilitated by Dignity Dreams, Community Hours and Rise Against Hunger.
COMMUNITY HOURS
Our continued relationship with Community Hours will enable all Grade 8-12 students to log their volunteering online. This platform provides information on extensive volunteering opportunities and enables our students to build an online profile of their community involvement.
Important dates:
5 February: Sunshine Association
13 February: Park Care
22 February: Aurora
6 March: The Bunny Hop Haven
7 March: Buddy Reading with Rays of Hope
14 March: Isipho Primary School
17 March: Hotel Hope
25 March: St Vincent’s School for the Deaf
4 April: Isipho Primary School and Buddy Reading with Rays of Hope
FOOTLOOSE FRIDAY
Share the love on Valentine’s Day (Friday 14 February) by donating your gently worn shoes for our annual Footloose Friday. Beneficiaries include Sunshine Association, St Vincent’s School for the Deaf, Fight with Insight, Isipho Primary School, Hotel Hope and Rays of Hope.
Jenny Venter
Director of Service
The President’s Award
Congratulations to the 36 Silver and Gold participants who completed the Adventurous Journey during the holidays. The journey included paddling on the Touw River and hiking the first three days of the Outeniqua trail.
The President’s Award programme remains a meaningful and relevant programme to encourage well-rounded individuals and we are proud of each and every participant who achieved an award level in 2019:
• 57 Bronze awards
• 21 Silver awards
• 23 Gold awards
Upcoming Adventurous Journeys:
Bateleur Nature Reserve Hike from 27 February – 1 March (Silver only)
Cederberg Adventurous Journey from 14-18 April (Silver and Gold)
Kingsmead College Hiking Club:
We invite all hiking enthusiasts in the Kingsmead community to join us with friends and family for the following two day hikes:
Sunday 23 February at Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve
Saturday 21 March at Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens
Jenny Venter
The President’s Award Leader
Medical News
ANTIQUE CHAIR DATING FROM 1934 STILL IN USE IN THE MEDICAL CENTRE
When Kingsmead College opened in February 1934, chairs were at a premium. In the early history film, the students carried their chair from class to class; relinquishing them to the Dining Room for mealtimes. The chairs were made of wood and raffia as it was in the days before plastic.
One of these chairs is still in daily use in the Medical Centre in Grail House, the original school Sanatorium. Sister Monica puts students on the chair to examine their aches and pains and it is the seat for adults having their blood pressure tested.
During a visit to the Medical Centre, Gillian Wilkinson recognised the well-used chair in the consultation room as one of these chairs.
This special chair has been refurbished to look like new and it has a brand new plaque, “February 1934.” Kingsmead is indeed a very special school, linking the modern up-to-date world with its unique history.
Gillian Wilkinson (The Guardian)
Sister Monica Loubser (Medical Centre)