Dear Kingsmead Community
There has been a great focus lately – both internationally and nationally – on teacher wellbeing and we are most cognisant of this issue at Kingsmead, as our staff is our most valuable resource. More and more schools are putting Parent Codes of Conduct into place to ameliorate parent behaviour. Staff retention and wellbeing are items on our strategic plan and I am sure that they are going to gain greater focus in our planning phase that will begin in 2020.
In an article in this month’s “Teacher Magazine,” the author – Dominique Russell – writes about “Teacher targeted bullying and harassment.”
The author quotes staggering statistics from recent research showing how many teachers feel that they have been bullied or harassed at schools by parents, in particular. She says that a total of 83.1 percent of educators have considered leaving the profession due to parent and student harassment and bullying. And, although this is an Australian publication, I am sure that many of our own teachers would concur with these findings.
The Chief Researcher of the study and Lecturer in Sociology at La Trobe University, Dr Paulina Billett told “Teacher Magazine” that “there is a problem in our schools which needs urgent addressing.”
At Kingsmead, I encourage parents to treat our teachers as professionals and to follow the correct procedures that have been clearly set out to ensure that any issues are dealt with immediately and fairly.
Thank you for your ongoing support of the school and for your co-operation in this regard. At the end of the day, I believe that we are all working together for the good of the girls in our wonderful school.
Fond regards
Lisa Kaplan
Head: Kingsmead College
Sports News
HOCKEY
The u16 Hockey team that won the SPAR Hockey challenge. The team beat Beaulieu in the Final. Congratulations to coaches Alridge Louw and Bronwyn Leeming.
NETBALL
Our 1st netball team won the Redhill Youth Festival 2 weeks ago and also qualified for play-offs with their 2nd team. congratulations to coaches Miss T. Minnie and Miss B. Dibetswa for an outstanding season.
EQUESTRIAN
Hannah Buttifant-Sewel
6th & 5th – Dressage
3rd – Performance Riding
Sarah Warren
11th & 12th – Novice Dressage
4th – Performance Riding
5th – Working Riding
1st – Equitation
3rd & 7th – Prix Caprilli
2nd – In-hand Utility
Ella Hunt
3rd – Novice Dressage
6th – Show Jumping Competition
Mia Oliver
7th & 7th – Prelim Dressage
Paula Prinsloo
2nd & 9th – Show Jumping
1st – Handy Hunter
2nd – Working Hunter
6th – Working Riding
10th – Equitation
Leeya Motara
1st – Working Riding
2nd – Performance Riding
3rd – In-hand Utility
Annabel Dennison
6th – Equitation
Mia Byrne
3rd – Working Hunter
9th – Show Jumping Accumulator
Overall School Standings:
4th in our category
The following girls have qualified for Regionals in August.
Sarah Warren (A team)
Hannah Buttifant-Sewel (A team)
Leeya Motara (A and B team)
Olivia Hinde (A team)
Ella Hunt (A and B team)
Mia Byrne (A and B team)
Paula Prinsloo (B team)
Lesedi Moloi (B team)
Mia Oliver (reserve)
DIVING
Julia Vincent, Kingsmead OLD Girls was placed 4th in the 1m preliminary round of the Fina World Championships in Gwangju in Korea. There will still be a final round, but this is an outstanding achievement!
BIATHLE
Isabella and Helen Cockeran represented Gauteng in the SA Biathle championships in Durban on Saturday the 15th of June.
Isabella placed 9th in the girls under 17 event – 1200m run / 200m swim / 1200m run;
Helen placed 7th in the girls under 15 event – 800m run / 100m swim / 800m run.
KARATE
Soultana Tzitzivacos, a Grade 8 pupil, was graded and awarded her Black Belt in Karate becoming a 1st Dan. A huge achievement at her age.
Arts News
ART
- Our Grade 12 Visual Art students recently exhibited their work in the Learning Centre and Music Reception. These works pursued the theme of ‘Outside the Centre’.
- The Grade 11 Visual Arts students have worked hard on their Site Specific art, this can be found all around the school.
- Art Club continues to be enjoyed by the girls and they love the opportunity to create interesting and innovative pieces of art.
GRADE 7 PRODUCTION
The annual Grade 7 production, ‘Drought Breaker’, was a wonderful showcase of our Grade 7 girls’ many talents. The girls confidently brought an African tale to life with colourful costumes, beautiful make-up and wonderful music.
MUSIC
On 18 July, our Junior School Orchestra, Drum Gym Group and Grade 4-7 Choir performed at the annual Magic of Music Evening at the Linder Auditorium. Our girls performed with confidence and flair and did Kingsmead very proud. Well done to our enthusiastic musicians and thank you to our music parents for their continued support and encouragement.
Music Concerts
Our recent Grade 1-7 Music concerts were a wonderful celebration of music and a showcase of the fantastic talent in our school. It is always a delight to witness the number of girls taking up the opportunities made available to them by our incredibly strong and dedicated music teachers!
The concerts included a range of interesting items and variety in style and genre of music. Some highlights include some interesting group performances – a narrated duet, a piece for 8 hands at the piano, a Senior & Junior School sister collaboration and an exquisite own composition. The audiences were treated to a range of instruments from the violin to the electric guitar, impressive drumming and beautiful singing.
It was remarkable to witness the confidence of our girls as they took to the floor, some conquering long-held performance anxiety, and holding their space with pride and courage.
We are so proud of each and every musician in our school, for taking on the challenge to perform in public, face their fears and share their talents with their friends and family. We are proud of your growth, your attitude to embracing learning and development, your determination and persistence.
Elsabé Fourie
Director of Arts & Music
Academic News
GROWTH CURRICULUM
Adrenaline Rush
As a part of our Adrenaline Rush module this term, the Grade 9s had the privilege of learning about the Circulatory System. To enhance our learning, we dissected an ox & pig heart that are similar in structure to that of the human heart. The ox heart is more than 6 times larger than our own. Although many of us were quite nervous and hesitant about this process, at the end of it the majority seemed very keen to get their hands dirty and really engage with the organs.
I definitely enjoyed this amazing experience, as it put all the content we had learnt about the heart into a reality.
Jessica Bennett
Grade 9 Student
GEOGRAPHY
Grade 11 Geography Field Trip
The Grade 11 Geography students went on a field trip to explore the Witwatersrand ridge that runs through Melville Koppies and Northcliff Ridge. This field trip was in preparation for their module on Structural Geomorphology, which looks at the geology behind different landscapes. At Melville Koppies we were taken on a hike to see the quartzite ridges and different examples of rock types by Wendy Carstens, the chairperson of Melville Koppies and Tam Scheidegger, retired teacher and tour guide. We finished our tour with far views across the northern and eastern parts of Johannesburg from the top of Northcliff Ridge.
Bianca Rademacher
HOD Accounting, Geography and History
ENGLISH
The English Olympiad
The English Olympiad aims to enrich young people through the study of English, while at the same time encouraging learners to explore the English language and its literature beyond the scope of the school curriculum. In so doing, the English Olympiad encourages learners to:
• Take responsibility for their own learning;
• Be empowered in the rigours of academic writing;
• Think critically and creatively;
• See the relevance of what they study – to themselves and the world around them;
• Question their assumptions and explore alternative ways of thinking and experiencing the world in which they live;
• Express those experiences in critically and creatively written responses to the English Olympiad exam questions;
• Substantiate their opinions with close reference to the texts prescribed for the Olympiad.
The literature section of the 2019 English Olympiad was based on an anthology of short stories entitled A Twist in the Tale, with the theme ‘Hidden Truths’. The language section was based on a section of punctuation included in the Study Guide.
The exam was written on Tuesday 5 March 2019 at Kingsmead, after the candidates had participated in two workshops. (adapted from the English Olympiad information brochure).
We are so proud of the Kingsmead candidates, who fared very well in the 2019 English Olympiad. Most notably, Eryn La Fleur’s paper was ranked 41st. She and Yusaira Mayet were awarded Gold certificates, and the following candidates were awarded Silver certificates: Raeesa Jadwat, Sarah Smith, Adiya Pillay, Tahiya Mayet, Rafealla Clegg, Chloe van Beukering, Naseeha Jhavary, Annabel Dennison and Amaarah Waddee. Well done, Kingsmead!
Lisa Pienaar
English Teacher and Grade 10 Co-ordinator
Young Readers Award
Our Grade 10s recently completed the annual Young Readers’ Award. This competition gives our girls the opportunity to showcase their creative talents and to develop their enthusiasm for reading. It also provides a wonderful platform for critical thinking and thinking beyond the curriculum. The novels and autobiographies selected deal with many diverse issues and themes.
The YRA culminated in a Prize-giving on 23 May, at which girls were privileged to listen to author, Dudu Busani-Dube. Dudu is the author of the popular Hlomu series of self-published novels, being Hlomu the Wife, Zandile the Resolute, and Naledi his Love, which has sold tens of thousands of copies. Her latest book, Zulu Wedding (2018) is based on the popular film by the same name, which she wrote at the request of the film’s creator and producer, Lineo Sekeleoane. Busani-Dube is also a journalist based in Johannesburg and is currently completing the fourth and final book in the Hlomu series.
Congratulations to Raeesah Jadwat, who was this year’s recipient of “The Lovatt YRA Trophy”, which is awarded to the pupil who produces the highest overall result for all aspects of the project.
This project once again proved to be a beneficial and rewarding experience for all involved.
Janine Lovatt
Grade 11 Co-Ordinator and Senior English Teacher
Service News
Kingsmead College, in collaboration with Community Hours, hosted a Make-and-Donate-a-Sleeping-Bag event on Mandela Day (18 July 2019). Kingsmead College students, staff and volunteers from the community made 167 sleeping bags from newspaper and recycled plastic. A handmade scarf was placed in every sleeping bag. These scarves were made by the Kingsmead College Senior School students during a sleep out event they had to raise awareness for homelessness. The sleeping bags and scarves will be distributed to the homeless in the inner city by Dollar and a Dream.
VENDOR INVITATION TO GOODWILL DAY 2019
Kingsmead College’s annual Goodwill Day is a day of engaging with the various organisations we support. This day will include various activities that will benefit and showcase these organisations. We will also celebrate Kingsmead College’s 86th birthday. The day will start at 08h00 and end at 13h30 on Saturday 5 October.
Stalls can be reserved at a cost of R400. Please contact us if you would like to book a stall. The booking form, payment details and more information will be then be forwarded to you.
Craft stalls: Maureen Ellis maureen52ellis@gmail.com 0829013437
Food stalls: Thato Makae service@kingsmead.co.za 0117317315
We look forward to hosting you at Goodwill Day 2019.
Jenny Venter
Director of Service
KINGSMEAD DONATES 10TH WHEELCHAIR
The collection of 508kg of bottle tops, collected by the whole Kingsmead College community was sold privately to a plastic recycling company, and the proceeds were used to buy a wheelchair at Dischem Pharmacy.
The 10th wheelchair recipient is a staff member’s uncle, residing in Plumtree Zimbabwe. Mr Kendy Moyo, uncle to Mildred Sibanda one of our Crèche staff, had an unfortunate stroke in January this year. He was discharged in March to his rural home with only his wife caring for him. Their son, who contributed financially was recently retrenched.
The family were confronted with several life changing adjustments, one being hiring a car to travel the 89km to hospital on a monthly basis. Mildred approached Kingsmead for a wheelchair to make life easier for the family. She will surprise the family with the wheelchair when she goes home for the August holidays.
The decision to run our bread tag and bottle tops for wheelchairs project independently from the Sweethearts Foundation was taken due to the infrequent supply of wheelchairs from the company supplying the Foundation. The Foundation resorted to selling all donated tops and bread tags privately and using the money to buy wheelchairs.
Kingsmead’s contribution was being pooled with other collector’s tops and tags and wheelchair recipients had to be registered on their website waiting list. This meant that the hard work from our collections was not benefiting Kingsmead directly. Kingsmead’s bread tags and bottle tops are now sold to two different companies.
The company buying our bottle tops, who requested to remain anonymous, pay R3.00/kg of bottle tops.
Our bread tags, a high-density polystyrene product, are sold to Zibo, who offers us R8.00/kg. Kingsmead College will stay independent and combine the bread tag and bottle top funds in a service account, and source cost effective wheelchairs when enough money has been raised.
Thank you for all your efforts in making this a worthwhile project.
Monica Loubser
Medical Centre
The President’s Award
THE PRESIDENT’S AWARD ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY
Over the half-term, Robyn Sanderson and I left in a bus that would take us to beautiful Waterval Boven. In the bus, there were participants from The President’s Award from different schools that we would get to know well over the course of four days. We spent our days rock climbing, cycling, abseiling and, of course, hiking. The nights, while very cold, were spent cooking and bonding with the other participants. Through sweat, chills and a lot of laughs, we were able to persevere. The views were stunning and the memories are unforgettable. It was overall, an amazing experience.
Sophia Camacaro
Grade 9 Student
Green News
GREENPOP FESTIVAL OF ACTION
Over June half-term, I was privileged to attend the Greenpop Eden Festival of Action in Nature’s Valley. In total, we planted 1501 trees and cleared 1200 square metres of alien vegetation. We planted trees at the Heartlands school of self-sufficiency, the George Botanical Gardens and Raphaeli Waldorf School. We had workshops on permaculture, eco-enterprise, the importance of bees and plant-based eating. Even though it was really cold, I cannot think of a better way to have spent my half-term. I’m already planning to go next year again and I would highly recommend the experience to anyone who is interested in helping our environment.
Carys du Toit
Grade 9 Student