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Kingsmead Newsletter March 2021

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Dear Kingsmead Community,

I cannot believe that we have come to the end of the first term of the year. Thank you for your patience while we navigated the first two weeks of the term online; a massive hole outside our Tyrwhitt gate and adjusted protocols.

We have just received the updated Government Gazette containing further information pertaining to schools specifically. We are hoping to give you updates with regards to school sport and extra-curricular activities; gatherings and parents coming onto the property. Our new protocols will be put in place from Term II. In the interim we will be following all the same protocols that we have put in place. Any changes will be communicated to you ASAP.

My recent Chapel service was about finding joy as lately I have found myself dwelling on the negative things happening in the world and have forgotten about anything positive.

The suggestion is to try to find meaning and joy in the smaller moments and things, like a good cup of coffee in the morning or finding a way to zone into little moments that give joy and not to wait for the larger moments only. Laughing out loud is also a wonderful way to experience joy and when we release these endorphins into our bodies, we can experience health benefits.

I hope that you find many opportunities to experience real joy this holiday. I also pray that we all find some joy and peace in the month ahead and I also pray that the number of Covid cases do not increase and that our community is kept healthy and safe during this time.

Fond regards,

Lisa Palmer
Executive Head: Kingsmead College

Arts News

MUSIC

The Music department has loved getting back to rehearsals, albeit in a very different way from what we were used to. The Choirs, Orchestras and Bands have all worked hard to learn new music to prepare for our events planned for the 2nd term. Dates for weekend workshops and events next term will be posted on the App in the Arts & Music folder before the end of the term – please diarise these important dates.

We are fortunate to have had three ‘live’ concerts which we are excited to share with you on YouTube:
Click on the link below:

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Senior School Concert 10 March 2021 Instrumental Programme
Senior School Music Concert 10 March 2021 Vocal Programme
Grade 4-7 Music Concert 15 March 2021 Instrumental Programme
Grade 4-7 Music Concert 15 March 2021 Contemporary Programme

Visit the Kingsmead College Arts & Music YouTube channel, Like and Subscribe!

Click here to visit our YouTube channel, Like and Subscribe!

The Drum Gym is back to business, having fun making music again!

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Congratulations to Medha Gupta in Grade 12 who qualified for the Quarter-Finals of the National Eisteddfod Young Performer’s Award in the Free-Verse Poetry section.

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Medha Gupta (Grade 12 Student)

PUBLIC SPEAKING

Public Speaking is about more than speaking in public. It is about thinking, reflecting and taking note of issues that impact all of us; sharing your opinion and listening to those of others. The Head of Public Speaking, Nivarya Naidoo started a platform for students to share their ideas and thoughts, utilising an old noticeboard close to the Languages department.

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Thank you for your continued support of the Kingsmead Arts & Music Department. Have a blessed happy April holiday!

Elsabé Fourie
Director of Arts & Music

Sport News

NETBALL

Emma Spronk has been selected for the Central Gauteng Indoor Netball U15B team – which will play in July 2021.

Emma Spronk 1 Kingsmead College

Emma Spronk

SWIMMING

Christy completed a three day Swim South Africa (SSA) Level 3 Champs event at Hillcrest Pools in Pretoria and she achieved two Gold Medals!

Her times where as follows:
50 free 30;4
50 back 32;28 – Gold first place for Gauteng in her age group
100 back 1:09;63 (South African Senior Nationals qualifying time) – Gold first place for Gauteng in her age group.

Christy Anne Peers Kingsmead College

Christy-Anne Peers

SQUASH

Leah Falcon, Natalie Solomon and Rachel Shannon participated in the 2021 Joburg Junior Squash Open Tournament on 6th and 7th February 2021. Leah Falcon placed 7th in the U16 section, Natalie Solomon placed 14th and Rachel Shannon placed 1st in the U19 section of the tournament.

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Leah Falcon

Natalie Solomon Kingsmead College

Natalie Solomon

Rachel Shannon Kingsmead College

Rachel Shannon

Amy Falcon and Emma Shannon participated in the 2021 Joburg Junior Squash Open Graded Tournament on Saturday, 13 March 2021. Amy Falcon placed 2nd in the U14 section and Emma Shannon placed 1st in the U16.

Amy Falcon Kingsmead College

Amy Falcon

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Emma Shannon

Amy Falcon played in the central Gauteng graded squash tournament and was placed 9th on the ladder. She lost one and won 5 matches so came top of her pool.

Amy Falcon Kingsmead College

FIGURE SKATING

Cheryl Smith will represent Gauteng North at the Kwa-Zulu Natal Inter Provincial Figure Skating Championships in Amanzimtoti from 19-21 March 2021. We wish her good luck for the event.

Cheryl Smith Kingsmead College

Robert Pullen
Director of Sport

Academic News

GROWTH CURRICULUM

Curiouser and Curiouser

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Curiouser and curiouser was an incredibly fun module! It was a great module to start off our journey with the Growth Curriculum. It included Geography, Natural Sciences and Computer Literacy, the perfect combination to mimic the idea of exploration found in Alice in Wonderland.

To start off the module, we worked on perfecting our map skills and learning the basic geography map rules that Miss Rademacher patiently walked us through.

In Computer Literacy, Mrs Govender taught us about navigating PowerPoint to make our presentations flawless and beautiful. We then started on some coding which was very exciting.

In Natural Science, Miss Minnie and Miss Pillay took us step-by-step through the scientific method so that any experiment we conduct will be accurate and most importantly, fun. Once we had mastered these skills, we started with our main project.

Our main project was to choose an experiment and use the scientific method in order to carry out our investigations. We made a digital diary to showcase the process of our projects. We could crash cars, blow up balloons, cook food in an eco-friendly oven or freeze it in an eco-friendly freezer to try and find solutions to world-wide problems that are affecting us more than we realise. We made our experiments original and learned so much, all while having a great time.

Curiouser and Curiouser was a super fun module and we learned so much, we can’t wait to see what will be in store for us next term!

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Morgan Bunkell
Grade 8 Student

Foodology

The Grade 9s have been practising their practical skills this past month, particularly in their Natural Science & Computer Literacy lessons. They have discovered how to use a variety of indicators to test if a substance is an acid or a base and what the exact pH value is for each substance. They have also learnt that using a taste test is never a good idea for differentiating between acids and bases! The students even made their own red cabbage indicator, which was a success as they got to see colour change. The Grade 9s also learnt how to test for the presence of different food groups (starch, glucose, protein & fats) in a variety of foodstuffs. At the end of the module, they had fun using a block coding method to code spheros, as a simulation for the pathway of a piece of food through the digestive system.

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Angela Norman-Smith
HOD: Science

LIFE SCIENCES

Grade 10 Life Sciences

Grade 10 biology is an incredibly fun and interactive subject that constantly keeps its students engaged and ready to learn. Throughout the term we have participated in a variety of connective activities but what stood out above the rest was our recent topic where we delved into connective tissues. Instead of just reading from a textbook we interacted with these tissues on a physical level. All the complex terminology and concepts were made easy through creating physical models of the different types of connective tissues. Each group of girls thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of creating the models and analysing slides of real material.

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Ilani-Mari Prinsloo and Chloe Taylor-Smith
Grade 10 Students

Green News

The Green Team created awareness about 2 important environmental days this term.

WORLD WATER DAY

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This was celebrated on Monday 22 March. The theme for 2021 is “valuing water”.
Fresh water means different things to different people. In households, schools and workplaces, water can mean health, hygiene, dignity and productivity. In cultural, religious and spiritual places, water can mean a connection with creation, community and oneself.
In natural spaces, water can mean peace, harmony and preservation. Today, water is under extreme threat from a growing population, increasing demands of agriculture and industry, and the worsening impacts of climate change.

EARTH HOUR

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Every year, people across the globe celebrate Earth Hour and take one iconic action: switch off the lights. But it is so much more than that. It is a symbol of unity. It is a symbol of hope. It is a symbol of power in collective action for nature. Earth Hour aims to increase awareness and spark global conversations on protecting nature not only to combat the climate crisis, but to ensure our own health, happiness, prosperity and even survival.

Angela Norman-Smith
HOD: Science

Service News

JUNIOR SCHOOL SERVICE MORNINGS

It is exciting to be able to host Service mornings in the Junior School again and we have had visits from South African Guide Dogs Association (Grade 1), Bunny Hop Haven (Grade 2), Owl Rescue Centre (Grade 3), Fight with Insight (Grade 4), Sunshine Association (Grade 5) and JAM (Grade 6). The Grade 7s have spent their Service morning writing to a friend at Isipho Primary. We are thrilled to maintain the relationship with all our community partners and look forward to visiting them soon.

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PARTNERSHIP WITH ISIPHO PRIMARY SCHOOL

The Senior School students donated stationery packs and water bottles to Isipho Primary. Furthermore, Senior School students created alphabet flash cards in English, isiZulu and Afrikaans to donate to the junior students at Isipho Primary. We are also thrilled to donate Kingsmead roses to brighten up the gardens at Isipho.

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PARTNERSHIP WITH HOTEL HOPE

Hotel Hope also received beautiful Kingsmead roses to plant in their gardens. Thank you to everyone who donated a towards the Hotel Hope gardens.

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Jenny Venter
Director of Service

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