Dear Kingsmead Community,
I hope that you enjoyed a blessed and peaceful Easter weekend and that you are ready to tackle the final few days of the first term. This week in Chapel I spoke of the link between goals and then having the commitment to see them through. It is important that we finish the term strong and maintain our commitment to all that we have signed up for, even though it has been a rather disrupted end of term.
This first term has been a wonderfully busy and successful term overall, and there have been many highlights across all the various areas of the school. Thank you to all the students who have participated in these activities; to the staff members who have been there to guide them and to the parents who have supported them in every way. You have all shown your incredible dedication to the school.
Some of the highlights include the release of the superb Class of 2023 Matric results; the major production “Ubunye;” hosting and winning the B team Tennis Inter-High; runners-up at the U17 Netball Festival; Singing Sistas; Inter-High Swimming and Diving and great water polo results; Best of the West Netball and Hockey; the St Dunstan’s Hockey Festival; Open Day; successful service activities, including a spruit clean-up and making mac and cheese; tagging of the Kingsmead trees; inter-house activities; Phyzz-Fest gold certificate and the list can go on…..
Staffing news:
We sadly bid farewell to Michael Souter (English Department) who leaves this week and to Jessica Govender (CAT Department) who left last week, as they leave to emigrate to Australia. We wish them everything of the best in their new adventures and we thank them for the role that they have played at Kingsmead over the past few years.
OISESA:
As many of you are aware, the school is undergoing an evaluation process as part of the condition of membership of the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA). Thank you to all parents, staff and students who completed the surveys. Once we have received the results, we will be conducting various focus groups around some of the main themes and trends from the surveys. These will take place early in Term II.
I wish you a good end to the term and a restful April holiday break.
Fond regards,
Lisa Palmer
Executive Head: Kingsmead College
Academics
Grade 8 Growth Curriculum
In the Grade 8 Curiouser and Curiouser module, students have been focusing on honing their critical scientific skills. In a recent project they were tasked with investigating how the design of a paper aeroplane affects how far it can fly. This project served as a culmination of their learning throughout the term, requiring them to apply their knowledge of scientific methods. The students researched, designed, and tested their own paper aeroplanes to determine the most effective design. This hands-on approach not only engaged the students but also provided them with practical experience in scientific analysis.
Carissa Pillay
HOD: Sciences
Grade 9 Adrenaline Rush module
In the Grade 9 Adrenaline Rush module this term, the students put all the various skills they learned from Natural Sciences, Economic Management Sciences, and Computer Literacy together into a final project. They collaborated in groups to build a simulated park ride in the Adrenaline Rush Theme Park. The students had 4 lessons to put this all together… Just look at how amazingly innovative and resourceful our Grade 9 students are!
Grade 9 ‘Children’s Theatre’ module
The interdisciplinary ‘Children’s Theatre’ module seamlessly integrated elements from Dramatic Arts, Music, Business Studies, and Visual Arts. Its primary objective was to reimagine various African folktales for captivating live performances. Students delved into an array of activities, including analysing theatrical music, delving into music production, crafting masks and oversized props, and rehearsing tirelessly to deliver captivating performances to live audiences. Throughout the process, students not only honed their subject-specific skills but also investigated the ethical and moral underpinnings embedded within storytelling traditions.
One noteworthy aspect was the students’ ingenious use of recycled materials for props and masks, a detail that left their teachers thoroughly impressed. Additionally, their dedication to after-school rehearsals bore fruit in the form of delightfully humorous plays that showcased their creativity and camaraderie. These original performances, marked by exceptional creativity and attention to detail, served as a testament to the students’ hard work and ingenuity in bringing these timeless tales to life on stage.
Danielle Wepener
‘Children’s Theatre’ module leader, and Grade 9 Visual Arts teacher
Grade 10 Science Experiment
In Life Sciences we have been studying the human skeletal system. Our grade was fortunate enough to look at the inside of a lamb’s bone. We felt the bone marrow (with gloves of course!) and got a closer look at the intricacies of the tissues. Whilst extremely interesting, theory can’t teach you like looking at the real deal can, which has been proven with this dissection.
Anna Hawes
Grade 10 Student
Arts & Music
The first term has been a flurry of activity in the Arts & Music department.
UBUNYE – Where there is Unity there is always victory.
After an exciting first few weeks back at school, the time finally arrived: major production season was approaching. A season quite like no other, our 2024 vibrant major production celebrated 30 years of democracy in our country. It was an unforgettable journey through our nation’s rich culture. From the charming storytelling to the electrifying music and dance. Ubunye unpacks the true meaning of being a South African. It is a musical that not only celebrates our strides as a rainbow nation but also acknowledges the tragedies rooted in our history.
The cast spent 5 weeks learning multilingual songs, dialogue, poetry, dances, and games from all our South African cultures. It was through the rehearsal process that we were able to appreciate how diverse our land truly is. As South Africans, we are born with rhythm wrapped around our ribs, every dance move is the essence of our identity. Every performance was a celebration of progress.
Community is one of the key values of our school and the Arts department. We believe that every successful aspect of life comes from building on the concept of community. Unless everyone comes together, greatness won’t be achieved. This is what makes this major production so magical. We spent almost every night together for 5 weeks laughing and crying, and most importantly, building relationships and friendships that will last many years to come. We went from being just a cast and crew to becoming a family. This is the true beauty that lies beneath major production seasons. The nature of a major production is ubunye. The memories that came with ubunye are just as special as the musical itself.
This production wouldn’t have been possible without our production team. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to this production and the enthusiasm shown throughout. For your patience over the 5 weeks in dealing with a very dramatic group of students and for making sure every performer was dressed and beautiful. A special thank you to Mrs Fourie and Mr Pillay for making this production possible. We look forward to bringing Ubunye to Europe this April.
“It is in your hands to create a better world for all those who live in it “- Nelson Mandela
Qhayiya Klaas, Head of Drama 2024
St Stithians Girls’ College Phyzz Fest
On 16 March, the Grade 11 Dramatic Arts class took to the stage at St Stithians Girls’ College Phyzz Fest to perform their physical theatre piece – Vanishing Figures. The piece explored the unexpected loss and separation of loved ones and was inspired by the tragic events of Joshlin Smith. We congratulate Jaydon Adams, Meagan Stewart and Vuyokazi Nkonyeni on achieving GOLD for Kingsmead College on their debut at Phyzz Fest.
Singing Sistas 2024
On Monday 18 March, the Senior School Choir and Glee groups performed at the annual Singing Sistas Choral event at St Mary’s. It was an absolutely brilliant evening, performing alongside Brescia and OWLAG. The Glee and Choir did Kingsmead proud, with their energetic and enthusiastic performances. Thank you to our choir members who have shown commitment this term and to the choir parents for their ongoing support.
Public Speaking Festival
This first term is always the most competitive for the Public Speaking Club as we compete in the Speech and Drama Public Speaking Inter-Schools Festival. Kingsmead enters every category in the competition to give students the opportunity to grow and develop in this discipline. This year, Kingsmead’s results were excellent, ranging between B symbols (70%) to an A+ symbol (85%). Special commendation is awarded to Ntuthuko Masetlwa for receiving an A+ in the individual speech category, in which speakers must prepare a 5-minute speech, and present a 3 minute impromptu speech after 15 minutes to prepare. Congratulations as well to the two Grade 9 teams who were respectively awarded an A and A+ symbol.
The results are as follow:
Grade 8 Prepared Team: B
Grade 9 Prepared Team 1: A
Grade 9 Prepared Team 2: A+
Grade 10 Prepared Team: B+
Grade 10 Impromptu Team: B+
Grade 11 Prepared Team: B+
Grade 11 Impromptu Team: B+
Grade 12 Impromptu team: B+
Trophy Team: B+
Individual Speaker: A+
Debating
The Debating Club has competed in two different competitions this term; the SACEE Central Debate League and the Atheneum Central Sunday League. Both senior teams who competed in SACEE Central won 3 of their 6 preliminary rounds and have progressed to the next stage of the competition. Special commendation is awarded to Hanaan Kana for ranking 36th, Shihaam Bux for ranking 43rd and Almaz Huyberechts for ranking 49th in a pool of 130 speakers.
The juniors have participated in the Atheneum Sunday league. This league has nine preliminary rounds as opposed to six. The league is currently on break and will resume in May with the last three preliminary rounds. As it stands. Kingsmead Yellow Team including Adiva Tickoo, Chloe Pon, Isabella Cadman, Josephine Less and Zahreen Moosajee has won 5 of their 6 preliminary rounds. Kingsmead Green including Amaanah Ebrahim, Esona Totshi, Kristen Benjamin and Naledi Moletsane has won 4 of their 6 preliminary rounds.
Well done to our Debating teams for their commitment and hard work this term.
Tumelo Bore, TIC Public Speaking & Debating
Kingsmead and St. David’s Debating and Public Speaking Friendly
On 20 March, our Grade 8 and 9 public speakers and debaters visited St David’s for an opportunity to further develop and practise our oratory skills. The event was marked by spirited discussions, insightful arguments, and remarkable performances from all our teams.
The motion for the friendly debate was: “THW allows parents to remove their children from specific classes at school (e.g. contact sports, religious studies, sex education, science) on moral, religious or political grounds.”
Representing Kingsmead with dedication, our debating teams showcased exceptional talent. With well-crafted arguments and compelling reasoning, they navigated through the complexities of the motion, leaving a lasting impression on the judges. Three of the four Kingsmead teams emerged victorious in their debates, and the success of our debaters is testament to the students’ hard work, preparation, and critical thinking skills. Their ability to respond swiftly and persuasively to opposing arguments reflects the strength of the debating culture at Kingsmead. Congratulations to our debaters on their outstanding performance.
Bella Mkhabela, Junior Debating Coach
Elsabé Fourie
Director of Arts & Music
Sports
Swimming
At the recent Inter High Galas, our teams competed well and achieved the following positions.
Premier Gala – 7th
A Gala – 4th
Diving
At the Inter High Diving competition, the team finished 6th overall.
Maya Rono did very well in her CGA Senior Diving Championships in the Group B Elite section.
1m – 2nd position
3m – 2nd position
Maya has been selected for the SA Nationals competitions to be held in KZN from 11-16 April
Maya will be going to Norway for competitions with 16 countries in May.
Equestrian
The Equestrian team of Amy Falcon, Sarah Florence, Hannah Cooke, Lily Yorke-Smith, Allegra Manchia, Mila Hozack, Onthatile Malakalaka, Katherine Papadopoulos and Emma Berry continue to compete at the equestrian qualifiers and achieve good results.
Netball
Our u14 netball competed at the annual Roedean festival and found the competition very tough. It was a very good learning curve for the team who will now start preparing for the league matches.
The Annual Kingsmead u17 Netball Tournament was held over the long weekend in March. We had 16 teams competing, including teams from KZN. In the final Redhill narrowly beat Kingsmead for the gold medal.
(Picture: Planet Fitness Sponsor- Deon Buirski and Kingsmead Executive Head – Ms Palmer)
Congratulations to Emma Spronk who has made it to the final round of u18 netball trials to be held in April.
At the St Andrews u16 netball festival, our team found it tough going and lost a few matches by 1 or 2 points and they too continue to prepare for the season ahead.
Hockey
Our u14 Hockey team competed at the Annual Roedean u14 festival finishing 17th out of 20 schools, with some very close results.
The u16 hockey team were competitive but drew and narrowly lost some games, finishing 13 out of 24 schools.
At The Best of the West 1st team festival our 1st team won all 5 of their matches.
St Dunstan’s Easter 1st team festival, they team won 4 matches, losing to St Dominic’s in the Final.
We are very proud to announce that the following students have been selected for the D9 hockey teams and will now attend Provincial trials in May.
Kyla Hall – u14
Olivia Turck – u14
Charlie Dalling – u16
Laila Fowler – u16
Nina Evans – u18
Nozipho Magondo – u18
Squash
The season has come to an end and our squash teams have once again achieved good results in their respective leagues.
U14 – won their section of the league but finished 4th overall.
Rebecca Donly
Mary Yiannoulakis
Olivia Cross
Chloe Schafer
Sophia Dyer
U15A – finished 2nd in their league
Neo Mkwanazi
Chloe Mandy
Thandeka Nzimakwe
Cebile Danisa
U16A – finished 4th in the league
U19C – finished 1st in their league
Matsie Mageza
Oprah Orimoloye
Thando Sibanda
Mieke Costa
Katherine De Sousa
Siyanda Mhlongo
Lwandle Nkosi
U19B – finished 4th in their league
U19A – finished 5th in their league
This past weekend our Top 6 players competed at the St Stithians Easter Squash Festival. The competition was very tough and our team equipped themselves with distinction.
Amy Falcon
Charlie Dalling
Cara Nicholson
Emelie Thompson
Kara Smith
Olivia Thompson
Water Polo
Lucy Davis (Grade 11), Masibonge Namba (Head Coach) and Muj Padayachy (TIC Water Polo) attended the Currie Cup National Water Polo Tournament in East London. Lucy Davis was part of the Central Gauteng U19A team who won a Gold medal.
Masibonge Namba was the Head Coach of the Central Gauteng U16A girls team, who won a Gold medal and Mr Padayachy was the manager of the Central Gauteng U16A boys team, who won a Bronze medal.
Running/Walking Club
Wow! Running/Walking Club has grown unbelievably in numbers this term! On a Tuesday and Friday mornings at 6am we have set off around the beautiful suburbs surrounding Kingsmead.
We have a ‘fetching’ system, which works so well…it means no one is left behind. We have solved all the world’s problems on our runs, we have laughed, we have chatted and we have definitely improved our fitness! And the walkers have become run/walkers over time! With the guidance of Ms Meyer, they’ve been striding (quickly!) through the streets of Dunkeld.
We’ve had various staff join us throughout the term, and that has been really special. A big thanks goes to Ms Rademacher, and to Mr Stroud for their involvement with our Running Club. Mr Stroud did not miss a day this term! Now that’s what commitment looks like 😉
Thank you to our wonderful Kingsmead students, that pitched up bleary eyed some mornings, and yet finished their exercise on a high. Their chatter and laughter could be heard from miles away as we headed back to school. What a fabulous way to start the day!
Well done to all of you that were part of our Running/Walking Club. We’ll be back at the start of Term 3, when it gets lighter and warmer. In the meantime, try and maintain your fitness…it really has been impressive to see how much quicker so many of you are now. You are real superstars! Keep it up!
Claire Anderson
TIC Running/Walking Club
Robert Pullen
Director of Sports
Service
As we rapidly approach the April holidays, we reflect with gratitude on the impact of Service on our community and our Service partners. Most often the benefit of volunteering is for the volunteer and the impact and awareness it brings to our lives.
Our second Buddy Reading of the term was on 16 March. It is wonderful to see the same students returning time after time to see the children that they have formed bonds with. Our volunteers arrive an hour early to make sandwiches for the children and to pack their snack packs. Two wonderful hours are spent reading, on an art activity, creating a delicious treat, and having fun playing.
Director of the Arts – Elsabe Fourie very generously offered our Service partners an invitation to Ubunye. For the Monday evening performance we invited Park Care and Kids Haven. Betheul, Natalie da Silva, Ashleigh Phiri, our Head of Service Cara Nicholson and Head of Social Service – Mieke Costa collected the residents in the Kingsmead bus and ensured that they were well cared for. For the Tuesday evening performance we invited another group of children from Kids Haven, drama students from the Windybrow Art’s Project and Fight with Insight. On both evenings we had a fantastic group of Kingsmead Ambassadors who really did us proud. All guests were given a snack pack – donated by students, and a cup cake. The feedback was phenomenal with guests asking when the next performance will be.
On 12 March we hosted a Grace Factory packing event. The Grace Factory is an NPO that gives practical assistance to moms and babies in need during the first few weeks of motherhood and infancy. Packs contain the necessities such as clothes, blankets, toiletries, nappies and a few items for the moms. The Grace Factory delivers the packs to hospitals and clincis for moms in need. We packed 100 packs in record time impacting 100 new mothers and their children.
Our Term 1 collection Share what you Can runs until 9 April. Please check in your grocery cupboards and give generously to those in need. On 9 April all items will be packed into grocery hampers and delivered to our Service partners.
Wishing you a wonderful April holiday.
Karen Landi
Director of Service
Ashleigh Phiri
Service Co Ordinator