Dear Parents
“Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large.” Creating a sense of hope is a primary function of education. The circumstances in which we find ourselves as South Africans can sometimes lead to doubt and anxiety with regard to a hopeful future. During the past few weeks, I have been reminded of a future that has great possibility, an optimistic projection of where we as a community are moving to; we are moving forward.
In the most recent Mail and Guardian (21 September 2018), Nicola Vermooten (Industrial Psychologist) wrote an article titled ‘Better trained teachers will lead to economic transformation’. Her findings reiterate the importance of quality tertiary education and support the view that ‘prospective teachers should gain more hands-on teaching experience before entering the occupation”. At the Junior School we have the privilege of mentoring four outstanding teacher-interns through the Realema Intern Programme. We collaboratively learn from each other and welcome them into the teaching fraternity with full confidence.
Our interns, Katleho Diefo, Celiwe Magubane and Jessica Makamba-Otto started the week by presenting an assembly for all our girls. Their inspirational message was to encourage gratitude within our girls. Girls were reminded of the importance of appreciating themselves, their gifts and talents; appreciating others and appreciating their surroundings.
I also shared the importance of gratitude with our girls by suggesting that they write a gratitude journal or start a family gratitude jar. As family members, you can each write weekly gratitude reflections and place them in a large jar. Opening the jar and reading these messages on New Year’s Eve has become a family tradition of ours and one which is incredibly powerful.
Our teachers have found opportunities for our girls to continue meaningfully engaging with their community as a way to instil awareness, gratitude and hope. Our Grade 2 girls visited Siyakhana Gardens and explored the possibility of sustainable gardens and the impact on food security for our country. Our Grade 3 team invited St Vincents’ school for the deaf to share a day of games and collaboration. It was an incredible day, a highlight in our teachers’ career thus far.
Last week we invited a guest speaker, Mr Jakes Fredericks, current Head of St Stithians Boys’ Preparatory to engage in conversation with our staff regarding ‘Unconscious Bias’. This opened our conversation circles and heightened awareness for us all.
These positive, energising, thought-provoking events were just a selection of occurrences which built up to the highlight of the week- Our Whole School Heritage Assembly. In amongst the joyous cultural, dance and music celebrations, our community joined in the celebration of our individual stories. Truly sharing personal stories and journeys is the first step to deep and profound progress. Our Grade 7 girls have written extraordinary poems in this regard. We will be publishing these poems as an iBook for all to enjoy.
As we begin to prepare for Goodwill Day, another opportunity to inspire hope, I remind you that school is closed on Friday 5th October. Information regarding the flipped classroom experience on this day will be communicated. I look forward to full participation on Goodwill Day.
Yes, we are moving forward, we are instilling hope, one interaction at a time.
Kim Lowman – Head: Junior School
WEEK AHEAD:
Wednesday, 26 September
- Grade 6 and 7 Enrichment Day
Thursday, 27 September
- Grade 5 Enrichment Day
- Tennis fixtures
- 18:00 Dr Kathie Nunley Parent talk (See invitation below.
Friday, 28 September
- JS Inter-schools athletics
Saturday, 29 September
- Dr Kathie Nunley – Staff Conference
Monday, 1 October
- 07:45 Assembly
Tuesday, 2 October
- 18:00 Speech Evening (compulsory for Grade 7 – 12 students)
GRADE 2 VISIT SIYAKHANYA GARDENS
What a humbling and truly amazing experience we had with our Grade 2s at Siyakhanya Gardens last week Tuesday. We were welcomed by Michael Rudolph and his staff at the gardens with open arms. This urban vegetable garden has been created in order to assist those who are fighting hunger in Johannesburg. This vegetable garden feeds many children’s homes and these organic vegetables are a source of nutrition to many in the area. Our girls thoroughly enjoyed planting seeds and spring onions as well as picking and eating carrots and beetroots. They learnt how a wormery is designed and used in a vegetable garden for compost and mulching. The Grade 2s are learning about sustainable living and these inspirational students and volunteers at Siyakhanya Gardens were an incredible role model for our young girls.
Please see the Tedx Talk by Michael Rudolph on this initiative – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYxhVgmj0L8&feature=youtu.be
ARTS AND MUSIC NEWS
Upcoming event in September & October:
All dates, letters, invitations and updates will be posted on the app under Arts & Music.
| Thu 4 Oct | ‘The Sound of Children’ Choir Festival (Grade 3 Choir) | 18h00 –19h00 | Linder Auditorium |
| Tue 9 Oct | ABRSM Practical Examinations | 9h00 –16h00 | Beethoven Room |
| Wed 10 Oct | ABRSM Theory Exams | 14h00 –17h30 | Learning Centre |
| Thu 24 Oct | St Mary’s Ensemble Festival (JS Orchestra) | 18h00 –19h30 | St Mary’s |
| Mon 29 – Wed 31 Oct | Trinity Practical Examinations | 9h00 –16h00 | Music Dpt |
Kingsmead, The Ridge and St Katharine’s Music Evening
WELL DONE to all our Orchestra and Marimba Ensemble members who were fantastic at our combined concert! Thank you for all the support from our parents.
Grade 3 Choir Performance at ‘The Sound of Children’
As per the calendar, the Grade 3 girls will be performing at the annual ‘The Sound of Children’ Choir Festival at the Linder Auditorium on Thursday 4 October. Girls must wear their summer uniform: school dress, white socks, black school shoes and blazer.
16:15 Bus departs from Kingsmead
16:45 All girls to arrive at the Linder Auditorium
(The GPS coordinates for the Linder Auditorium are 26.1781° S, 28.0420° E. The main entrance is on Saint Andrews Road, Parktown)
17:00 Mass choir rehearsal with Richard Cock and the Orchestra
18:00 Refreshment break: girls will be given juice and a sandwich
Parents can purchase refreshments from the cafeteria at the auditorium.
18:30 Concert starts
19:45 Concert finishes
There will be no bus transport back to Kingsmead after the concert.
Tickets can be purchased online at:
https://online.computicket.com/web/event/sound_of_children/1250101782/
DRAMA Club
See details below of our NEW Drama teacher! Classes started on the 20th of September. Please contact Gera directly should you be interested in enrolling your daughter.
UPDATED JUNIOR SCHOOL EC SCHEDULE
(Click on the link above)
SPORTS NEWS
RESULTS
Athletics:
We competed in our first athletics meeting on Friday 21st September at St Stithians. The athletes ran extremely well and competed in a positive manner. Well done to each athlete! You did Kingsmead proud!
The following athletes ended in the first 3 positions:
Grade 3:
- 60m:
- A-race: Rafaela Bolttler 3rd
- D-race: Grace Hefer 1st
- F-race: Hannah Cooke 1st
- G-race: Laurinda Vitungayala 2nd
- 100m:
- C-race: Rafaela Bolttler 2nd
- D-race: Hannah Cooke 3rd
Grade 4:
- Long Jump: Priyanka Geness 2nd
- 80m:
- B-race: Kaitlyn Brown 1st
- C-race: Priyanka Geness 1st
- D-race: Lara Boltt 2nd
- E-race: Mila Smolicz van Breda 1st
- F-race: Emma Cruickshanks 1st
- H-race: Nicole Dyer 3rd
- 150m:
- A-race: Jade Anderson 2nd
- B-race: Kaitlyn Brown 2nd
- C-race: Lara Boltt 1st
- D-race: Priyanka Geness 1st
Grade 5:
- Long Jump: Zintle Papiyana 2nd
- 100m:
- A-race: Lucy Davis 2nd
- B-race: Francesca Druce 1st
- C-race: Jessica Stevens 2nd
- D-race: Matsie Mageza 2nd
- E-race: Carys Glyn-Jones 1st
- F-race: Zintle Papiyana 2nd
- G-race: Zahra Khan 1st
- H-race: Rachel Fifield 2nd
- 150m:
- A-race: Lucy Davis 2nd
- B-race: Francesca Druce 2nd
Grade 6:
- Hurdles:
- A-race: Zintle Papiyana 3rd
- C-race: Erin Hill 3rd
- D-race: Zahra Khan 3rd
- 100m:
- B-race: Tessa Gutierrez-Garcia 1st
- C-race: Neo Shibambo 2nd
- D-race: Gabriella Dodd 3rd
- G-race: Ella Amrein 3rd
- 200m:
- A-race: Tessa Gutierrez-Garcia 2nd
- C-race: Lucia Sabbioni 3rd
- D-race: Neo Shibambo 1st
Grade 7:
- Long Jump: Paula Prinsloo 2nd
- Hurdles:
- A-race: Paula Prinsloo 1st
- C-race: Lillian Turvey 2nd
- D-race: Jessica Stevens 2nd
- 100m:
- A-race: Paula Prinsloo 3rd
- F-race: Sinead Erasmus 1st
- G-race: Dayaanah Joosub 3rd
Well done to all the athletes!
Our next meeting will be at St Peter’s on Friday 28th September. Please keep on attending ALL practices — WHAT WE PUT IN; WE WILL GET OUT!!!!!
Tennis
Kingsmead played St Andrew’s. We had a mixed bag of results. Our B and C team won but unfortunately our A/D lost. Well done to all our young and budding tennis players.
CO-CURRICULAR
A link has been sent out via email, school app and mom’s Whatsapp group. We ask that the parents fill in the google form before Friday 28 September 8am. This form will assist us to plan accordingly and ensure that all practice sessions have the correct ratio of coaches to pupils as well as to effectively manage our co-curricular programme.
Please refer to the updated Co-curricular programme posted on Tuesday which indicates that there is no tennis on Friday for Grade 0 – 3
WEEK AHEAD
Sheillah Denenga – Head of Junior School Sport