Dear Kingsmead Community,
We seem to be hurtling towards the end of the year at the speed of light and I often catch myself wondering where this year has gone. Our Matrics have started their Final Examinations and we wish them every success as they write these exams. We have also welcomed parents back on to our campus under the gazetted regulations and it really has been wonderful to see our community interacting again.
I was a part of the Grade 8 2022 Orientation afternoon last week and was again struck when Mr Allen and Ms Banwa addressed the parents and guardians about the Growth Curriculum. It is such an innovative and well-researched curriculum and it is one that is bespoke for Kingsmead. Many parents came to us afterwards to express how grateful they are that their daughters will be studying in this way next year and one of our parents, who teaches in higher education, was most complimentary and said that this is exactly what is needed for our students to succeed in higher education.
Our new Head Girl for 2022 also addressed the Grade 12 Class of 2026:
Excerpt from Tayyeba Peer’s Speech at the Grade 8 2022 Orientation:
“What I have discovered and sincerely rejoiced in is Kingsmead’s ability to develop and grow the individual. Whether you are musical, dramatic, scientific or mathematical Kingsmead excels at generating an all rounded person by balancing steadily between focusing on your strengths and maturing the areas that need improvement.
How do we do this? Well in my opinion it is mostly due to trial and error and the willingness of the individual to participate.
We encourage every girl to join a club, do service, participate in a sport and play an instrument. Not only will it diversify their capabilities but create networking and relationships between the different grades and themselves.
A big part of my grades’ goal for the coming year is to bring back some of the joy and devotion of coming to school that was lost during the pandemic. We’re trying to create an even greater sense of community and sisterhood within our school, and we also just want to have some fun.
Today you will get a sneak peak into this magical community.
High school is daunting, we’ve all been there. But this community is here for you. To guide you and nudge you along the way, help you when you fall down and to support you always.
I cannot begin to account for the amount of excitement I feel receiving our Grade 12s of 2026. I wish you all a year of success, discovery and adventure. Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your heart on fire.”
Lisa Palmer
Executive Head
2021 Kingfisher Awards
The Kingfisher Awards, a module which aims to mirror the advertising depth of the Loerie Awards, is an annual English department and Growth Curriculum initiative. Combining the subject of English with the interdisciplinary range of Visual Arts; Computer Literacy; Music and Economic and Management Sciences. Students were treated to workshops and Q&A sessions with experts in the advertising field: Kayla Roelofsz and Kgaugelo Mokgehle. The theme of this year’s Kingfisher module, asked students to create an advertisement for a particular ‘hidden’ female figure who has had an impact on our society and has not received the recognition that they deserved. We hope that this vast array of global female heroines have inspired our students. The Awards were judged by our experts in the field, and as such the Kingfisher team would like to extend an enormous note of gratitude to Kayla Roelofsz, Kgaugelo Mokgehle and Alex Hitzeroth for their input and dedication to the judging process. The Awards were hosted via Zoom on Friday 29 October, and there were a number of interesting and exciting submissions: students dared to animate aspects of their advertisements, and really extended themselves across the different categories. The category of “Best Overall Advertisement” was awarded to Team 4 who created an advertisement for the figure of Sau Lan Wu. Kayla and Kgaugelo had the following to say about this winning advertisement: “After hours of deliberation, we looked at whether the brief was answered and how well it was answered across different categories. Did the team identify a hidden figure in their ad? What story did they tell about this figure? Did they tell the story in an interesting way that relates to everyday people? Did they tell viewers what they want them to act on or be aware of, after watching the ad? These are all important questions that we thought Team 4 resolved in a simple, human and effective way. Overall, the work was impressive and we’re incredibly delighted to see the talent coming from young creatives who will, one day, make a necessary impact in the industry. Well done to all teams!”
A huge congratulations to all Grade 9s and a very big thank you to all the staff involved in this immense module!
Best Overall Advert Winners: Team 4 – Emma Keast, Naledi Mthembu and Kate Chapman
Danielle Wepener
Senior School English and Art Teacher
South African Council for English Education
The 2021 South African Council for English Education’ annual Creative Writing Competition, judged by the esteemed writer and editor, Jane Fox, received over three hundred entries this year. Congratulations to Leah Falcon who won first prize in the Senior Monologue category, and to Lusanda Twala and Kira King who both achieved Bronze certificates in the Junior Short Story category. This is an outstanding achievement as the quality of writing across all competing schools is of an exceptional standard. We look forward to more entrants next year as the English Department continues to raise the profile of Creative Writing at Kingsmead College.
Leah Falcon
Young Reader’s Award
The Grade 10 Young Reader’s Award (YRA) is a unique reading project designed to support reading for enjoyment, introduce different genres and authors to students beyond the curriculum, and to improve reading, writing and critical thinking skills. The goal of the YRA competition is to read as many of the selected 20 books as possible in Term 2 and win the title of ‘Most Prolific Reader of Grade 10, 2021’ and the Vicky Sekgoela Trophy. The English Department is proud to announce Leah Falcon the winner of the YRA contest this year. Leah read all twenty novels – she has distinguished herself as the most prolific reader by far. In second place is Tyla Kassen who read twelve novels, and in third place, Samantha Greyling-Nassi, who read nine novels. Congratulations to all who took part. Next year will see a new collection of titles for the Young Reader’s Award, with the theme ‘Proudly South African’.
Leah Falcon
Samantha Greyling-Nassi
Jacqui Aires
Senior School English Teacher
Arts News
DANCE FESTIVALS
Kirsten Botha in Grade 9, competed in the Gauteng Dance Festival on 21 October. She managed to keep her energy levels up after returning from the OutVenture camp and scored A+ in Solo, A in Duet, A+ Groups and A Group. Congratulation on your achievements Kirsten!
MUSIC FESTIVALS
Last month was a very exciting one for the Music department. After a year of no music festivals, we held our 16th annual Senior Schools Ensembles Festival, 9th annual Junior Schools Ensembles Festival and launched our brand new Choir Festival: ‘Masicule Sonke’ for Junior and Senior schools online!
Every school overcame the challenges we have faced in their own way. It was so special to see the variety of musical styles and genres young musicians from our neighbouring schools have learned and enjoyed playing.
At Kingsmead we believe that music comes alive when we play or sing together. We endeavour to create opportunities for musicians to make music together from early in their school career and experience the magic that happens on stage when it all falls into place.
Watch our events by clicking on the links below. Note that these events are unlisted videos on YouTube so can only be accessed with the link and not by searching for the event on YouTube.
Choir Festivals:
Masicule Sonke Junior School Choir Festival
Masicule Sonke Senior School Choir Festival 2021
Ensemble Festivals:
Junior Schools Ensemble Festival: Orchestra, Ensemble & Band Edition
Junior Schools Ensemble Festival: African Music & Marimba Edition
Senior Schools Ensemble Festival 1st Event
Senior Schools Ensemble Festival 2nd Event
Elsabé Fourie
Director of Arts & Music
Sports News
DIVING
Congratulations to the following students who participated in the Gauteng Schools Diving Trials and were selected for the Gauteng team to compete in Durban this December.
15-Years Elite
1st – Anna Eyles
2nd – Andza Mbelengwa
15-Years Novice
1st – Kirsten Botha
16-Years Elite
1st – Katherine Jones
GOLF
WATERPOLO
Our u14 Waterpolo team participated in the Annual Roedean festival where they achieved some mixed results. The team comprised of Grade 6, 7 and 8 players.
Our 1st team participated in the Annual St Stithians festival where they achieved some mixed results.
Caitlin Stott represented the South African schools u17 Waterpolo team that competed in the Czech Republic where their team won a Gold medal.
The following players have made the following GSWP (Gauteng Schools Water Polo) Teams for the SWPSA Inter Provincial Tournament (“IPT”) taking place in Cape Town from 15 to 19 December 2021:
U19 Squad:
Kate Galloway
Caitlin Stott
Meghan Eddison (Reserve)
Caroline Spronk (Reserve)
U16A:
Alison Gace
U16B:
Amy Dickinson
Scarlett Muirhead
Hannah Daniels (Reserve)
U15A:
Kate Chapman
U15B:
Kagano Khoncha
U15C:
Olivia Cooke
Emma De Kock
Emma Spronk
U14A:
Lucy Davis
U14B:
Francesca Druce
Hannah Schwegmann (Reserve)
U13B:
Jessica Galloway
Lola-Rose Jooste
Amy Oberholzer
Elena Rovelli
Kate Sardi
Ariana Boyd (Reserve)
U12A:
Emily Kennedy
Katherine Raats
Chloe Chapman (Reserve)
Hannah Cooke (Reserve)
EQUESTRIAN
The following students represented the Gauteng team to compete at Nationals. They achieved the following results:
EVENTING / STADIUM EVENTING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – 2-4 OCTOBER 2021
Ella Hunt
Gold Medal – 1st place in Stadium Eventing
5th place in Eventing
CORE LEAGUE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – 5-9 OCTOBER 2021
Rania Motara
Silver Medal – 2nd place in Working Riding Level 3
4th place in Performance Riding Level 3
7th place in Dressage B Level 1
Sarah Warren
10th place in Working Hunter Level 3
GYMNASTICS
Maia and Meera Luksmidas competed at the SA Gym Games (nationals), both achieving great results.
Meera placed third in rope, fifth in ball and third overall in her age group of 22 competitors for Level 8.
Maia competed in the Senior Olympic category and finished in the top nine in the country from a group of 18 competitors. Maia placed fourth in clubs and sixth in ribbon.
Maia was also invited to participate in the #Perfect10: a multi-disciplinary team event featuring SA’s top competitors from all gymnastics disciplines. The recorded interviews and routines will be broadcast later this month.
Maia Luksmidas
Meera Luksmidas
SWIMMING
Congratulations to the following students who competed at the Aquatics Gauteng Swim Stars Gala which was held this past weekend and achieved personal best times in the 50m and 100m races. All three have been selected for the OR Tambo Gauteng Schools team.
Jade Hunt
Isabella Cockeran
Helen Cockeran
INTER-HIGH ATHLETICS
Kingsmead competed on 20 October at Boksburg stadium. Without their Grade 9 athletes who were on camp, the team certainly gave their best.
Congratulations to the following athletes on their achievements.
Haala Hassim
2nd in u14 long Jump
2nd in u14 Hurdles
Rachel Shannon
1st in Senior Long Jump
1st in Open Hurdles
2nd in Open 200m
Rachel Shannon, Elizabeth Oelofsen, Alexia Jeffrey and Lara Gush 2nd in Open relay.
NETBALL
Basetsane Dibetswe attended the recent Inter Provincial Netball Tournament where she achieved her C grading in umpiring.
Robert Pullen
Director of Sports
Academic News
FRENCH
Nouvelles du Département de Français
For the Festival du Français, our Grade 10 and 11 students had to write poems, perform songs using their own lyrics (Sympathique – Pink Martini) and design posters inspired by Apollinaire’s poem, lt is time to reignite the stars and le Petit Prince of Saint Exupéry.
We wish them all the best for this exciting competition.
Leah Falcon and Alethea Wilson
Ella Hunt
Jade Hunt
Catherine Gallagher
Joelle Harding
Senior School French Teacher
GROWTH CURRICULUM
The Excellence in Education Awards
We are proud to share that one of the winning advertisements created in the Growth Curriculum for the 2020 Kingfisher Awards has gone on to win the ‘Curriculum Challenge’ category of the 2021 Excellence in Education Awards. The Excellence in Education Awards rewards educators and students who creatively use Apple technology to bring learning to life. The awards celebrate excellence in leading students to critical thinking, innovation, and collaboration. We are exceptionally proud of Julia Aspoas, Margot Covary and Hannah Jadwat. You can watch their impressive advertisement here: Changing Electricity
Danielle Wepener
Senior School English and Art Teacher
BUSINESS STUDIES
The Retail Industry is our theme in Business Studies and the Grade 10 students pretended to be one of Gauteng’s top retail store designers. They designed the exterior and interior for a new retail store using boxes. They had to present their retail box to the class and explain their target market and store layout design.
Liezel van Lith
Senior School Business Studies and EMS Teacher
ACCOUNTING AND BUSINESS STUDIES OLYMPIAD
Congratulations to the following Grade 10 and Grade 11 students for completing the final round of the Proverto National High School Olympiad in August 2021:
Accounting
| Student name | Student Surname | Grade |
| Jessica | Bennett | 11 |
| Nazrana | Jhavary | 11 |
| Lami’a | Mohammed | 11 |
| Hanan | Mastenbroek | 11 |
| Aliza | Peer | 11 |
| Isabella | Cockeran | 11 |
Business Studies
| Student name | Student Surname | Grade |
| Helen | Cockeran | 10 |
| Mitali | Lalla | 10 |
| Chiara | Losciale | 10 |
| Hameeda | Malik | 10 |
| Faatimah | Mayet | 10 |
| Mbali | Ndlela | 10 |
| Sihle | Ngumbela | 10 |
| Emma | Proudfoot | 10 |
| Kate | Ramsbotham | 10 |
| Ella | Barker | 10 |
| Ariella | Fenster | 10 |
| Jenna | Olitzki | 10 |
| Keratile | Maboka | 10 |
| Keitumetse | Makhanya | 10 |
| Lihlikhaya | Ndebele | 10 |
| Elis | O’Mara | 10 |
| Mia | Stuart | 10 |
| Lisa | Tucker | 10 |
| Sinead | Erasmus | 10 |
| Alison | Gace | 10 |
| Sameeha | Gangat | 10 |
| Gillian | Henning | 10 |
| Leeya | Motara | 10 |
| Scarlett | Muirhead | 10 |
| Jessica | Bennett | 11 |
| Tiya | Patel | 11 |
| Nazrana | Jhavary | 11 |
| Rebecca | Anagnostellis | 11 |
| Kwandokuhle | Buthelezi | 11 |
| Kate | Dixon | 11 |
| Lethabo | Dube | 11 |
| Noluthando | Zwane | 11 |
| Ella-Louis | Russon | 11 |
Well done to all the participants! We are very proud of you!
Liezel van Lith
Senior School Business Studies and EMS Teacher
Karien Lay
Senior School Accounting Teacher
Service News
GOODWILL DAY
It was such a pleasure to celebrate Goodwill Day and have the community on our beautiful campus. The Ponte Tours in support of Dlala Nje was a wonderful opportunity to explore the iconic Ponte Towers and enjoy spectacular views of Johannesburg. Thank you for supporting Clothes to Godo by donating gently worn clothing.
The Walk in Colour, hosted by the PTA on our beautiful campus, raised funds for the Kingsmead Trust, whose strategic imperative is to fundraise for existing programmes to enable an education of excellence for future generations of students. The bursaries awarded by the Trust are given to deserving individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Funds raised through some of the additional activities will be shared between the Matric Dance Committee and the Kingsmead Trust.
Jenny Venter
Director of Service
Peer Promoters
Service at Kingsmead College is one of our core values. Our annual event, Goodwill Day, is specifically set aside to giving of ourselves and our time towards our community and those in need. This allows us the opportunity to be selfless and really become a member of our service communities. One such opportunity to give of ourselves is the SANBS blood drive that is coordinated by our Grade 10 and 11 Kingsmead Peer Promoters. This year’s Goodwill Day Blood Drive was especially successful considering the trying times of the pandemic. SANBS received 46 donations from our community, which means all this blood has the potential to save and improve 138 lives. This year we, the Peer Promoters, were particularly optimistic and thoughtful of the drives we hosted. Wanting to end the last drive of the year with a bit of a bang we organised some upgrades:
- We arranged for 6 beds instead of the 3 that we usually have and we opened up the area for extra space to accommodate more people and to ensure social distancing.
- We trialled booking a time slot to donate blood.
- We also launched the Blood Sister initiative; donating with a friend is more fun, so you could bring along a ‘sister’ to donate with you.
- Lastly, we created a photo booth – in which to have fun and take photos once you had donated alone or with your blood sister.
We are so proud of the difference we have made and the opportunities that have been afforded to us to still hold blood drives during the pandemic. We thank our community for all their support as we hand over the reigns to next year’s Grade 11 group.
Tayyeba Peer
Grade 11 Student
Johannesburg Junior Councillors 2022
On Sunday 24 October 2021 Mia Stuart and I had our first Johannesburg Junior Council (JJC) meeting at Saheti School. Once we arrived, we were quickly ushered to the swarm of new councillors awkwardly standing in a rather large circle where we had to introduce ourselves to the group. After the introductions had taken place, we had the task of playing a game where, in a crowd, we had to shout out consecutive numbers. The aim was being able to reach ten without anyone repeating a number. After many attempts, the highest number we reached was a whopping six! However, this greatly helped us break the ice between one another.
Once the meeting officially began, we had the privilege of listening to Dr Judy Jaye who has worked in the education field and with the Johannesburg Junior Council for many years. She explained the importance of sticking with commitments, seeing tasks through to completion, true grit and seeking out the positive in all situations; all of which will apply in our year on council. We later listened to the 2021 councillors talk about their year on council – what the Johannesburg Junior Council meant to them and what activities and events they held in 2021. We were also informed about what the JJC is all about and how it aims to change and better the lives of others.
To conclude our first meeting, we split up into smaller groups and continued with different ice breaker activities. Our first meeting has instilled much excitement within both of us. We met new people who we are thrilled to be working with in 2022 and we cannot wait to see what our year on council has in store.
Megan Taylor
Mia Stuart
Megan Taylor
JJC Councillor 2022
Covid-19 Vaccination Clinic
As soon as Covid vaccination drives at schools was given the green light, Kingsmead liaised with Clicks Balfour Park and arranged this essential service for our students and parents. Two vaccination clinics have been arranged on the 2nd and 3rd November. Clicks provided a registered nurse to administer the vaccinations (using the required technique of aspirating before the injection), and 2 pharmacists to manage the administration and registration of students on the EVDS portal.
Kingsmead provided the safest possible service for our students and arranged with Medi Response to provide a paramedic with emergency medical equipment who was stationed in the 15-minute post vaccination observation area. We also ensured that those students receiving their vaccination were excused from PE for the day!
Students were encouraged to take a picture at the selfie station to make this occasion a memorable day!
We will have administered 65 vaccines at the clinic. We hope to arrange further vaccination clinics, after the examination period, should there be demand.
Monica Loubser
Professional Nurse