October brought celebration and festivities as Kingsmead turned 89 years old! Our Kingsmead families also celebrated Yom Kippur and Diwali, the festival of lights. Our matrics prepared to write their finals exams, and some of the girls who’ve been with us since Grade 0 went back to visit the classrooms they had their very first lessons in.
We are so proud to see the accomplishments our girls have achieved – from the equestrian team, to water polo, to musical performances and photography prizes. Read our October 2022 highlights below.
Our Grade 10 students ended Heritage Month on a high note by visiting Lesedi Cultural Village to learn more about the Sotho and Zulu cultures and history.
Our Grade 3 choir had a great time performing for parents at the Grade 0 2024 Waitlist Coffee Morning. Thank you to our choir for an outstanding performance! Click below to watch the video of the Kingsmead girls singing on our Facebook page.
On 5 October we wished our Jewish families a blessed and happy Yom Kippur.
In October we celebrated the heroes who dress as teachers for World Teacher’s Day. To our phenomenal team, thank you for all you do for our students. Our PTA arranged massages and treats for our staff – just what we needed to relieve a little stress and feel pampered. To all of our teachers, we give you 5 stars!
On the 10th of October we celebrated our school – Kingsmead College turned 89. 89 years ago, Mrs D.V. Thompson shared her hope of a happy community and school. Kingsmead isn’t just a building with beautiful gardens, it has a soul created by all those who have and continue to pass through her gates. We hope that we continue to live up to the legacy that DV Thompson created.
“The image of a new ship: this school is like a ship, all new and clean, that is being pushed off from the shore today. But it is not only the ship that matters; the sailors must be brave men. When we come to harbour you must be brave, wise people, able to help others, able to do useful work in the world.”
– DV Thompson, 1934
Every year on October 11 the world celebrates International Day of the Girl Child to bring attention to the global gender inequality that girls face. On this day, the United Nations and other organisations hold events and discussions about issues such as child marriage, violence against women and access to education. Simultaneously, this day seeks to inspire through stories of changemakers and encourages girls to reach their full potential. This year marks the tenth anniversary of International Day of the Girl Child and we acknowledge the crucial role education plays in the lives of girls and the opportunities they have.
Congratulations to Emma Shannon, who competed in the 2022 SOS Joburg Junior Squash Tournament. She placed 1st in the U19 category. Well done!
Equestrian news – National championships
Congratulations to the following team members who achieved excellent results!
Rania Motara
Gold medal – 1st in Level 2 Dressage A – National Champion
Silver medal – 2nd in Level 3 Working Riding
Bronze medal – 3rd in Level 5 Performance Riding
Ella Hunt
Gold medal – 1st in Level 6 Stadium Eventing – National Champion
Bronze medal – 3rd in Level 4 Showjumping Round 1
Amy Falcon
5th in Level 3 Showjumping Round 2
10th in Level 3 Showjumping Round 1
10th in Level 3 Working Hunter
Sarah Florence
7th in Level 3 Prix Caprilli B
Congratulations to Mila Hozack, Hannah Cooke and Katherine Papadopoulos who were selected to ride for Gauteng in the SANESA Nationals. The Kingsmead Junior School riders did extremely well in the face of stiff competition from all over the country.
A big thank you to Ms Hanekom for always supporting and encouraging our riders, to Ms Mclaren and Mrs Lowman for your interest and encouragement, and to Kingsmead for sponsoring and recognising the sport.
Hannah Cooke- Pony (Firefly)
2nd – Working Riding, level 3
4th – Dressage, level 2
5th – Handy Hunter, level 1
5th – Prix Caprilli, level 1
11th – Performance Riding, level 3
16th – Jumping level 2
Katherine Papadopoulos – Horse (Going Going Gone)
1st- Handy Hunter – level 5
7th – Jumping, level 4
15th – Dressage, level 3
17th – Equitation, level 2
Mila Hozack – Pony (Pot Luck)
1st – Equitation, level 2
2nd – Handy Hunter, level 1
Our Grade 10 and 11 Geography students had a great time touring the Petra Diamond Mine, where they learned about minerals, precious stones and rock formations.
Our students loved dressing up as idioms! These were some of the very interesting and amusing costumes:
- Butterflies in my tummy
- Liyashisa ilanga likhipha inhlanzi emanzini
- Social butterfly
- Iso liwela omfula ugcwele
- Inkomo ingazala umuntu
- It’s raining cats and dogs
The Grade 10 Afrikaans students had to create junior school Afrikaans readers. The goal of this task was to encourage students to read Afrikaans. This project allowed them to be creative while also using the Afrikaans language beyond the classroom. We are extremely proud of their outstanding efforts.
Our soccer, hockey, and netball teams participated in the Parktown Sports Festival this month. We’re proud of their final results:
Soccer: 6th out of 10
Hockey: 7th out of 14
Netball: 2nd out of 12
Well done to all our players for playing their hearts out in the heat!
Junior School Diving
Congratulations to the students who competed in the South African Schools Diving Championships on Saturday, October 15:
Jada Williams – 3rd place
Maya Rono – 1st place
Olona Mbele – 2nd place
Kylie Dugmore – 3rd place
Parents of students in Grades 1–3 had a wonderful morning this month supporting and watching their children perform. What a joy to see our students express themselves through music, art, and dance!
We wished all of our Hindu families a bright, fun-filled, and dazzling festival of lights. Happy Diwali!
Junior School Water Polo
Congratulations to the following students for being selected for the Gauteng Water Polo teams:
U13B:
Jenna Askew
Chloe Chapman
Hannah Cooke
Emily Kennedy
U12A:
Zoe Kennedy
Erin Boyd (Non-Travelling Reserve)
Emma Clowes (Non-Travelling Reserve)
Senior School Water Polo
Congratulations to the following girls who have been selected for the Gauteng Schools Waterpolo teams to participate in the Interprovincial Tournament in Durban in December:
U19:
Caitlin Stott
Non Travelling Reserve- Alison Gace
U16A:
Kate Chapman
U16B:
Olivia Cooke
Kagano Khoncha
Non Travelling Reserve-Emma De Kock
U15A:
Lucy Davis
U15B:
Francesca Druce
Holly Franks
Annabelle Smith
U14B:
Ariana Boyd
Charlee Davis
Clea Ellens
Lola-Rose Jooste
Elena Rovelli
Bethany Sinclaire
What a special ceremony it was as the MDC handed out Matric Dance invitations to the Class of 2023. It was a beautiful moment to witness and an exciting one for our Class of 2023. We are looking forward to a magical dance!
Clothes to Good Toy Making Workshop – a meaningful impact on ECD Centres in Diepsloot. The Grade 8s created stimulation curtains, facilitated by the team from Clothes to Good. Each element on the curtain provides babies with the opportunity to watch, explore, and play, developing fine and gross motor skills over time during the critical 1000-days of brain development.
Congratulations to Melokuhle Zungu for winning the Goodwill Day Canon South Africa Digital Monocular Competition. Her prize was handed over by Ally Friedmann, photographer and Kingsmead alumna! She had this to say about the winning entry: ‘Melokuhle’s photo encapsulates the essence of Goodwill Day by making students aware of the charities involved and bringing students together for these good causes. The photo is impactful, colourful, and shows that even getting involved with such a cause can be fun. There were many really good photographs submitted by the girls, and a lot of these photos had great technical skills, showing the girls and their families having fun together, which made this a difficult decision, however, it is important to highlight what Goodwill Day is all about and Melokuhle was able to portray this in her photograph.’
On the final day of school for some of our Grade 12 students, the girls who’ve been at the school since Grade 0 visited the place where it all started. They had fun painting, watching the chicks hatch and trying out the playground with the current Grade 0s (who marveled at these ‘big’ girls!). We wish you well Class of ‘22. Thank you for choosing Kingsmead.