It’s Spring – a time of reawakening, renewal and growth
Photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash
Even though we expected the warmth of the last days of August to welcome us back to school, the past week was certainly a very cold start to our term. Scientifically, Spring begins on 22 September 2020 at 13:31 – the Spring Equinox. This is ‘the moment at which the centre of the visible sun is directly above the Equator’ (wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox). It is nature’s time of reawakening, renewal and growth, and is often reflected in our more buoyant spirits as we notice the budding bright green leaves and blossoms emerge on the trees and plants around us.
The Kingsmead staff began the term with an insightful, inspirational day of deep introspection and grappling around transformation and inclusion. We spent time understanding what it means to develop our ability to adapt and grow through listening and being curious about each other – to not make assumptions, thereby limiting our understanding of ‘the other’. Quintessentially, adaptability equates to growth which might be defined by our ability to learn, unlearn and relearn. This ongoing work is testament to the growth-oriented philosophy of our school community.
Developing an increasingly growth-oriented mindset is not a panacea, or an indication for the path ahead to be obvious or uncomplicated, rather, it seeks our continued commitment, energy and willingness to reflect and then act mindfully on our personal areas of improvement. In this way, we will find ways to connect and heal, to learn more effectively and to create hope for ourselves, our loved ones and our society.
In his book PEAK, (Published: 11th April 2017 ISBN: 9780544947221) Anders Ericsson referred to his research pertaining to the ‘Science of Expertise’ showing that “learning isn’t a way of reaching our potential, but rather a way of developing it. We can create our own potential”. What a wonderfully ‘hopeful’ revelation – something that is within our sphere of influence that we can act upon and realise for ourselves. As your daughter’s teachers, we do not merely want our students to ‘reach their potential’, we want them to choose to grow their potential, and we will support them to develop and practise the strategies to do so.
On Wednesday afternoon, 9 September, five of our Grade 7 members of NEST (Now Eagerly Start Thinking – our student Thinking Drive Team), together with Tarryn McLaren and Ingrid Beekhuizen, will participate in hosting an online webinar for TSSA – Thinking Schools South Africa. These students will be sharing their insights and experiences regarding their learning aligned with the Growth Mindset Continuum, with educators across South Africa. We will be joined by the creator of the Mindset Continuum, author and international thought-leader, James Anderson, from Australia. The talk is titled: Growth Mindset Theory and Practice.
NEST students and teachers participating in the webinar:
Karabo Matsoso, Bibi-Fatima Peer, Zia Dasoo, Amy Flacon and Rachael Fifield, Ingrid Beekhuizen, and Tarryn McLaren (not pictured).
With love and Courage
Ingrid Beekhuizen
Book Week
SERVICE
The Kingsmead College annual goodwill celebrations are around the corner! The programme will be released next week, but in the meantime, we would like to ask the community to spring clean their cupboards and shelves in preparation for our Clothes To Good and Book Collection that will start next week.
Be a fashion recycler and receive a 15% H&M discount voucher when you donate a bag of clothes. The Clothes To Good collection programme is an initiative that works to prevent unwanted clothes and textiles from going to landfills. Clothes To Good use recycled clothes to create value for as many people as possible by creating inclusive jobs and micro-businesses.
Jenny Venter
Director of Service
ARTS & MUSIC
MUSIC DEPARTMENT
Welcome back! We are super excited to have our students back on campus and gradually return to our lessons and activities. It is wonderful to hear music in our Arts & Music building again.
WELCOME
We have welcomed two new teachers to the department during lockdown:
Justin Wardle – Piano
Abraham Mennen – Saxophone
We hope they will both have a long and happy association with Kingsmead.
Music lessons on campus
Music lessons have resumed on campus from this week. Please take note of the following:
- Only piano, strings (including guitar) and drum kit lessons may take place on the school campus for the moment.
- Junior School students must meet their teachers in the foyer of the music department before their lesson. Students will be signed in, screened and hands sanitised before each lesson. The pianos and music stands will also be sanitised between lessons.
- There are blue plastic chairs in the foyer for students who are a few minutes early/need to wait to be collected. This is for short periods and only until 16h00. After 16h00, students must please not be left in the foyer without an adult present.
- Maintain a distance of 1.5m between you and the teacher and wear your mask for the duration of the lesson.
- No lessons before 06h45 or after 18h00.
- The upstairs doors will be kept locked so everyone must use the main entrance into the department.
- No eating or drinking in the music department.
- Students who need to use a studio for an online lesson/a piano to practise, need to sign in with Thato Makae in reception and sanitise before going upstairs and let Ms Makae know when they leave. This is not available after 16h00.
- Music Theory lessons will remain online for the rest of the year – please communicate with your theory teacher.
Extra-Curricular Programme
Keep an eye on the Kingsmead App for more details regarding the new extra-curricular programme, which will be sent out week by week.
- At this stage the programme will only include marimbas and physical education sessions (strength training and conditioning).
- All sessions on this schedule are optional and on a 1st come 1st served basis.
- Students (or their parents) must sign up for all sessions on an online form no later than two days before the day they want to attend. The link will be sent out on the App.
- There is limited space available and only students whose names are on the list will be allowed in a session.
- If a session is oversubscribed, you will be notified if your daughter is not able to attend.
- Activities offered by external service providers are not yet offered on campus.
- ALL activities will take place with a mask and participants will go through screening at the beginning of each session.
The term ahead in Arts & Music
More information regarding Arts & Music events and plans for the term ahead will be communicated on the App and in the newsletter as the term progresses. Watch this space, we have some GREAT things coming up…
We wish all our music families a happy and blessed term ahead!
Elsabé Fourie Mia Loock
Director of Arts & Music Head of Junior School Music
efourie@kingsmead.co.za mloock@kingsmead.co.za
REMINDER:
Students are to wear their Summer uniform from Monday, 14th September. Blazers should NOT be worn. Students may choose between their full summer uniform, sports kit or tracksuit, a combination may not be worn. Uniforms must be worn in adherence with our dress code.