Dear Kingsmead Community,
With just one month left before we end our school year, I have taken the time to reflect on the great privilege it has been to connect with our students onsite on a daily basis. Life is slowly starting to return to some normality. We have thoroughly enjoyed discovery learning opportunities across the grades; met prospective new families; celebrated the Grade 7 2019 Courage Always gift to the school as well as the refurbishment of the St Francis statue; experienced the JP fun sports mornings with a difference; and attended meaningful staff development workshops and online conferences.
Covid-19 reminders
Thank you for taking our precautions seriously and for assisting us in keeping school open. Please continue to follow these basic guidelines to ensure that we keep as safe as possible for the remainder of the term:
1. Wash and sanitise hands
2. Wear a mask properly
3. Keep social distancing
4. Limited social gatherings outside of school
5. Keep children at home should they display any symptoms
I want to thank parents for their consistent communication with regard to family positive cases or potential exposures and for the manner in which these have been handled. A reminder that we will communicate these cases with our entire community only if we believe these reported secondary cases to be high risk for our students and staff. Any student or staff member who has tested positive will be reported according to our Covid communication protocols.
Car Park Etiquette
A reminder too, to please observe caution and patience in our car parks during the morning and afternoon lifts. The safety and wellbeing of our students in of paramount importance.
Lost Property
Thank you to the group of parents who have assisted us in sorting through the piles of lost property. Please label items clearly so that these lost items make their way back to your daughter. All unmarked, unclaimed items will be sent to the uniform shop (after a few days) for resale.
In conclusion
We look forward to ending the year well; joining more often for celebrations and rites of passage which are so important for the closure of an academic year. A detailed list of important year end dates will be communicated with you all in the coming week.
Keep well,
Kim Lowman
Head: Junior School
The Importance of Reading
This quote by world-renowned children’s author, Dr Seuss, may seem like a cliché but it is so apt in defining some key benefits of reading – expanding our minds, becoming informed about the world and being able to function in society.
According to research, there are a wide variety of reasons why we should be encouraging children to read.
I have outlined the reasons that I have found to be the most beneficial below:
- Reading provides us with the opportunity to complete simple, daily tasks such as understanding road signs, maps, signage and other general information.
- Reading develops key language skills which are applied to other areas of schooling.
- Reading enhances phonemic awareness which assists with spelling skills as one is exposed to a variety of words when reading.
- Reading assists with developing communication skills as children listen to a story and are able to comprehend and share the content.
- Reading develops the mind by stimulating the brain which enhances memory, analytical skills and improving and expanding vocabulary. These skills are vital for children with all areas of schooling as they need to utilise a variety of skills that stem from the ability to read. For example, when answering a comprehension, they will need to analyse the text and remember what they have read or when completing maths questions, they might need to analyse a graph or diagram. Reading is vital to all areas of schooling.
- Reading develops creativity by enabling children to think about what they are reading and question what might happen next in a story or why something is happening. It also allows them to visualise what they are reading.
- Reading develops the imagination as a story takes the reader to a fictional land.
- Reading can sometimes assist learners develop their self-confidence. They become more confident as their ability to read aloud improves.
Advice for you as a parent – If a child finds reading tedious or the parents find the task of reading with a child laborious, below are a few tips to assist in making reading more fun and interesting:
- Make reading fun by changing the setting in which you read. Examples include sitting on a picnic blanket outside, setting up a reading corner which your child can decorate, sitting next to the pool or lying on their bed.
- Make the story fun by changing your voice for different characters or to emphasise certain words. This creates interest in the story and can be humorous for the child.
- Alternate the person reading – let your child read a page and then you read a page. Encourage them to adopt specific voices for the different characters in the story.
- Make reading a fun daily activity that your child looks forward to by reading a few pages from books other than school books.
- Choose books with stories that your child can relate to and understand.
Sources:
Davis, G. 2016. Why is Reading Important?. Learn to Read. https://www.learn-to-read-prince-george.com/why-is-reading-important.html Accessed: October 2020.
Lee, L. 2020. Schoolwide Strategies for Promoting a Love for Reading. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/schoolwide-strategies-promoting-love-reading . Accessed: October 2020.
Paige Finch
Remedial Therapist
iPad Code of Conduct
Upon returning to school, we would like to take the opportunity to encourage our parents to familiarise yourself with our iPad Code of Conduct. We ask that you please assist us in encouraging your daughter to be mindful of the manner in which the device is being used. No messages may be sent during the school day. Your support in this regard would be greatly appreciated.
Please visit Kingsmead College App to view our Junior School iPad Code of Conduct under the Resources for Parents Tab> IT Information.
ARTS & MUSIC
2020 has taught us… 
That Community matters.
That we are stronger together.
That we should always stand together.
Kingsmead’s frog tradition comes with two stories:
The story about the frog who persisted, making butter of the milk
And the frogs from the famous Paul McCartney song’ We all stand together’
‘WE ALL STAND TOGETHER COMMUNITY VIDEO PROJECT’
PLEASE JOIN US! It is simple:
1. Listen to the original song by clicking on the Froggie:
2. Then, record yourself singing along with the track – follow the tune played by the violin on the track singing the words on the screen. To watch the lyric video, click on this Froggie:
3. Record a video (with our without the audio) singing the song:
a. Without a mask, smiling and having fun!
b. On your own/as a group of friends/as a family/with your class/sport team – be creative!
c. Record the video while singing along to the track provided (NOT the original YouTube video) so that the audio and visuals can be matched up
4. Send the audio and/or video track to kingsmeadmusic@gmail.com
5. Any questions or queries – contact Elsabé Fourie on efourie@kingsmead.co.za or mloock@kingsmead.co.za
We look forward to receiving videos from all our Kingsmead families!
FINAL DATE for entries has been Extended to Friday 13 November
“We All Stand Together”
Win Or Lose, Sink Or Swim
One Thing Is Certain We’ll Never Give In
Side By Side, Hand In Hand
We All Stand Together
Play The Game, Fight The Fight
But What’s The Point On A Beautiful Night?
Arm In Arm, Hand In Hand
We All Stand Together
Keeping Us Warm In The Night
La La La La
Walk In The Night
You’ll Get It Right
Win Or Lose, Sink Or Swim
One Thing Is Certain We’ll Never Give In
Side By Side, Hand In Hand
We All Stand Together
Elsabé Fourie Mia Loock
Director of Arts & Music Head of Junior School Music
efourie@kingsmead.co.za mloock@kingsmead.co.za
Wonderment and Awe
Wonderment and Awe in Grade 0
This term in Grade 0 we have been enthralled by the wonders of nature and made some awesome discoveries as we have observed and researched a variety of life cycles. We started our term with an incubator full of eggs that we watched hatch into fluffy little chicks. Not only were we able to observe this miracle of nature but we also were allowed to hold the soft little bundles of feathers.
We hatched our own silkworms that we have had to feed and care for and then dug up lovely squirmy earthworms and compared the two types of worms using a Double Bubble Map.
We discovered that baby ladybirds look nothing like their mom and dad and spent many happy break times hunting for the larva, pupa and of course adult stage of the ladybird’s life cycle. We were then able to share our knowledge with the Senior School students who did not know that the spiky little bug they had seen in their gardens was in fact a baby ladybird.
We visited Kingsley’s pond and looked for tadpoles and squished and squelched frog’s eggs (chia seeds soaked in water). We then made our own representation of the life cycle of the frog out of salt dough. They were awesome!
Lisa O’Donovan
Pre-Primary School Teacher