Dear Kingsmead Community,
We come off the back of celebrating two special days this past Sunday, 16 June, Youth Day and Father’s Day. These two days are great reminders to pause and appreciate what we have in our own lives and to acknowledge the growth of our country. Youth Day is a good opportunity for us to acknowledge the legacy our youth from the past have left and the possibilities ahead for our future generations. It is also a time for us to reflect on the past, acknowledge the deep loss experienced and ensure that our future is brighter and filled with hope. The purpose of a good education is to prepare the youth to lead in the future – #Raising A Girl to Raise A Nation.
Thank you to our teachers and parents for the profound influence you have on our young students so that they are empowered to take our nation one step forward. Let us take the time to celebrate the courageous voices we hear daily as we stand up for what is right and true. Our school motto, Franc ha Leal – Free and Loyal, echoed all those years ago by our founder DV Thompson. May Kingsmead always be a place where our values stand strong. May our community continue to come together in service to others, where we focus on purpose, possibility, happiness, courageous and responsible action to serve the next generation.
“The world is torn with strife and conflict of thought and belief – economic, political and religious – it has a need, as ever before, of thinking men and women, disciplined, controlled and sincere persons. I would like to feel that Kingsmead will send out considerate, disciplined, efficient women, but above all, women in some sense consecrated to the search after truth and happiness. Then indeed we need not fear that we can play our part in the world and play it worthily.” DV Thompson 1934
Parent Insert
Thank you to all the parents who attended the coffee morning led by Psychologist Francesca Chetwin, who spoke to having ‘Courageous Conversations’ with our children. After leaving that session, I was reminded of the responsibility bestowed upon you as parents and I would like to thank you for choosing Kingsmead to partner in raising your daughters. This poem – “Children Learn What They Live is a strong but gentle reminder of what it means to inspire children – both by words and actions.” As the adults in their ‘world’, lets show them, guide and inspire them. The way we raise our children today will directly impact who they become as adults. Let’s lead by example!
IMPORTANT – Adult Parking Etiquette
I would like to bring to your attention the increasing number of incidents reported in our school car parks, that ‘land’ in my inbox on a daily basis. It is critical that our school is a place of safety for all our children, staff and parents at all times.
Once you enter the school premises, please be aware of the number of children crossing the road as well as the entering and exiting of cars from their parking bays. There have been reports of parents who are driving too fast; driving while texting; driving into one way entrances as well as cutting in front of cars trying to move through the car parks. Furthermore, parents who are refusing to use the available parking bays and when addressed by our most kind security guards, they are either ignored or treated with disrespect. Your support in seeing our security guards as staff members of Kingsmead and treating them with the respect they are due, is our minimum expectation. They keep your daughters safe.
Please be reminded that this is a school and the adults are the role models. Please drive carefully and with respect for each other at all times. It is important to be alert at all pedestrian crossings.
At Kingsmead we expect that all members of our community treat one another with respect and kindness. We are a considerate and compassionate community who seek to provide a safe school for our students, staff and parents.
We request your support in this matter please.
Staffing
It is with regret that I announce the resignation of Lauren Baines-Fourie. She will continue to serve her notice for the remainder of Term 2. Lauren has made the decision to take up an opportunity abroad with her family. We have benefitted from her care and expertise during her time with us within the Junior Primary Support department. We wish Mrs. Baines-Fourie support as she follows this new path in her educational career. We are in the process of recruiting suitable candidate for this position.
Since this is my last newsletter for before half term commences on Friday, 28 June at 13:00. I would like to take this opportunity to wish our community a wonderful half term break. School closes at the normal published school times as per the calendar on our app. Our second academic semester begins on Monday, 8 July. May you all find time for togetherness, warmth and rest.
With love and kindness
Tarryn McLaren
Junior School Head
Arts & Music
♟️Chess League
The Chess matches for the Go for Chess League have concluded, and our students proudly represented Kingsmead with resilience and determination. Our team was placed 4th out of 32 schools in their 1st year! We extend a heartfelt thank you to our staff and parents for their support and encouragement. We eagerly anticipate our chess students’ continued growth and success in future tournaments.
🥳 Congratulations!
Two of our students, Zanengcebo Dlamini and Fallon Grundlingh, will be dancing in two very exciting Jozi Youth Dance Company shows:
CHAPHAZA on 22 JUNE at 19h00 & 23 JUNE at 11h00 at Roodepoort Theatre
and
The Romantic Ballet GISELLE on FRIDAY 21 JUNE 19H00, SATURDAY 22 JUNE 15H00 and SUNDAY 23 JUNE 15H00 also at the Roodepoort Theatre.
🎟️TICKET PRICES: R180
BOOKINGS THROUGH WEBTICKETS.CO.ZA
Congratulations to Talia Sibanda for achieving Silver in Level 4, Liyabona Mdlophane who achieved a Silver and Malaika Sibanda Gold in Level 5 of the American Academy Performance Awards. In addition, Malaika was awarded 30% discount to attend the Summer School in New York. We are proud of you!
Well done to Scarlett Haslam and Teagan Sutton-Pryce who participated in The Next Level of Dance competition at Mandela Theatre where they impressed the audience and received excellent results. Well done, Scarlett and Teagan!
Some of our musicians recently participated in the Johannesburg Festival for Advancement of Music and showcased their hard work and dedication to their music studies. Congratulations to Lina Hutchinson, Joline Lai, Bokang Phiri, Kayla Wong, Rebecca-Anna Asherson, Sophia Roos, Michaela Stephano, Nondumiso Mabuza and Bowden Jennings.
A few of our flute students and teachers attended the annual Flute Festival on Saturday 8 June at Pretoria Boys’ High. Well done to Michaela Stephano, Akwandokuhle Mahlake, Nondumiso Mabuza, Nina Fourie and Lungisile Mchunu for their commitment to their music studies.
Thank you to our teachers Sanri Naudé and Annelie Hoberg for giving their time.
🎶🎭 Don’t Miss the Grade 7 Production: MUSICVILLE! 🎭🎶
Embark on an enchanting adventure with Maiden Melody and Radical Rhythm as they strive to save their town from the Sorceress of Silence.
Join them on a quest to the Castle of Composition, passing through the Desert of Doo-wop, the Ocean of Opera, and the Tango Tropics. Along the way, they meet musical friends and foes, learning about diverse musical genres, overcoming obstacles, and the importance of teamwork!
Show Dates:
🗓️ 16-18 July
Venue:
📍 Joel Hall
Ticket Prices:
🎟️ R110 per adult
🎟️ R70 per student
Refreshments will be available for purchase before each performance.
Celebrate the magic of music with our Grade 7s. This is a musical journey you won’t want to miss!
Click here to get your tickets now and be part of the spectacular Musicville adventure!
If you have any more questions about Arts & Music at Kingsmead, get in touch, we would love to chat.
Elsabé Fourie
Director of Arts & Music
efourie@kingsmead.co.za
Mia Loock
Head of Junior School Music
mloock@kingsmead.co.za
Sports
Grade 2 & 3 Netball & Hockey
Our grade 2 and 3 students have been having great fun whilst mastering their hockey and netball skills. We encourage all students to give our afternoon sports sessions a try. The after-school sessions are open to all students who want to play in teams or for the social side of the sport and there is no need to sign up for the sessions. Please refer to the extra-curricular schedule for the days and times.
Equestrian
Our riders once again made us proud at the SANESA Qualifier which took place this weekend. The results were as follows:
Isabel Anderson – Musical Ker – 1st Place
Prix Caprilli – TBC
Lucy Berry – Equitation – 6th Place
70cm Showjumping – 4th Place
Jump Off – 6th Place
Congratulations to our talented riders for their impressive performances! We are so proud of your achievements.
Outside Sport
Karate
Congratulations to Darcy Anderson for her excellent results at the South African KWF Karate championship. Darcy participated in three categories for her age group and belt level namely Kata, Kion Ippon Kumute & Shobo Ippon Kumute (also known as free fighting) and achieved a silver medal in each.
Well done, Darcy! We are proud of your impressive achievements.
Comrades
Congratulations to Mrs Grainger on her remarkable accomplishment at the 2nd Comrades Marathon. Not only did Mrs Grainger complete the challenging uphill run, but she also finished with an impressive time of 9:56:02. We are immensely proud of Mrs Grainger’s outstanding achievement.
Gymnastics
Congratulations to Sophia Roos and Sophie Duggan for their recent achievements at the Zone Festival Gymnastics competition where they represented Central Gauteng. Sophia and Sophie both received gold medals for their outstanding performance. Well done!
Congratulations to Saxe Levesley for earning her Level 2 (Y badge) certificate and new badge at the Wanderers Gymnastics assessment on Sunday!
Upcoming Events
21 June: Grade 4 – 7 Hockey Matches vs Assumption/St Stithians (Grade 4 & 5 – Kingsmead, Grade 6 & 7 – St Stithians)
All students are required to travel on the bus to the venue. There will be a bus returning to Kingsmead after the fixture. Students may also be collected at the end of the fixture from the venue. All players are expected to stay and support until the end of the last match.
27 – 29 June: Grade 5 – 7 Camp Discover Hockey Camp
Departure and return times will be shared on the parent WhatsApp group.
A few reminders for parents & guardians:
1. Please send any sports achievements (school & non-school) to Mrs Hanekom.
2. A reminder to please download the Kingsmead app as this will be the direct method of communication to parents on sports fixture days.
3. All team lists will be published on the app by no later than Tuesday for a Thursday fixture and the Wednesday before the Friday/Saturday fixture. Please ensure that you let the coaches know if your daughter is not able to attend a fixture.
Yours in sport
Shavaun Hanekom
Head of Junior School Sport
Service
The Kingsmead Book Fair provided an exceptional opportunity for our Service Team to extend invitations to 30 children affiliated with the Rays of Hope organisation, facilitating their participation in the enriching experiences of the event. Rays of Hope regularly engages with our institution twice per term, partaking in reading sessions, baking and art activities. Throughout the morning, the children actively engaged in sand art creation and they each attended two book discussions. Furthermore, they were afforded the opportunity to craft their own bookmarks and enjoy recreational time on the jungle gym. A notable highlight was the interaction with senior school service members, who painted the children’s faces with vibrant colours and designs. The day concluded with a delicious lunch featuring hot dogs and doughnuts, resulting in a collective sense of joy and fulfillment. We thank the senior school service girls and all the teachers who assisted on the day. This is always a highlight of our school year!
The Service Team – Paige Dott, Raeesa Kaka, Karen Landi, Ashleigh Phiri, Natalie da Silva
Library News
Book Buzz: What’s New in the Library
The library has been a hive of activity this term and has become a space where students can ‘Step into Another World’. The Junior Primary continue to exchange books weekly and the Senior Primary during breaks. The students are encouraged to read “under the clouds” and groups of friends are frequently found sitting together sharing stories.
May is book month at Kingsmead and this year was no different. Adrienne Wright, the author of the biography, Hector, shared her writing process with the older girls. They were fascinated to witness her initial sketches and then see the final copy.
The younger students were entertained by Ashley Jay as she read her latest story about a riverine rabbit. Book Week was once again filled with exciting activities, culminating in the ever-popular Character Dress-up Day.
The library challenge recently, was to create a bookmark using the theme, Reading Takes You Places. The response has been overwhelming and winners of each grade will be announced on Friday, 7 June, in assembly.
We created 8 empty spaces and students and teachers alike were encouraged to ‘Adopt-a-Shelf’. Application forms were filled in, approved, and then displayed. There is already a list for the second round of ‘adoptions’.
New books are continually being bought and the girls are encouraged to take them out. The Hooked-on Books collection has proved to be very popular once again, and there are many on hold. Mrs Harmon-Leak and I have ordered new books for our Online Library – SORA and urge the students to make use of this platform.
We are appealing to parents to please return any library books, that might be at home, to the Media Centre.
Mrs Rosie Matlakala continues to be an invaluable source of support and help to the teachers and myself, and I thank her for her kindness.
During book week, we challenged the students to create a bookmark using the theme, Reading Takes You Places. The response was overwhelming with hundreds (literally) of entries. The panel of judges had a difficult time selecting the winners. However, they managed in the end to select a winner from the top five entries of each grade. The recipients received a voucher from Exclusive Books. Congratulations go to:
Alexandra D’Amico- Grade 0
Liyana Angamia Grade 1
Erin Pottas- Grade 2
Tiya Patel;- Grade 3
Jaime Kinnear- Grade 4
Morgan Chen-Heyneke- Grade 5
Sanaa Ramsander- Grade 6
Manahil Moti-n Grade 6
Rafeea Dakri- Grade 6
Milan Williams- Grade 7
The new display in the Media Centre is around words. Students can expand their vocabulary and learn a new word each day and are encouraged to use it in a sentence during their lessons. There is also a new competition – the girls can write a new word they have learnt on the entry form and pop it into the jar. Weekly tokens will be awarded.
There are lots of new and exciting books available in the library and they are eagerly waiting to be taken out and READ! With Half Term approaching, grab your next read, and let the books take you on a journey to new adventures!
Mrs Glenda Cressy
Media Specialist
Conversation Starter
We hope that you enjoyed the last conversation starter…as we know, one of the signs of a healthy family is open and meaningful conversation/communication. But often finding the time or the points to speak to, don’t always come easily. We thought we would share some prompts to facilitate this process, which are ideal to share around the table, on a trip – anytime, anywhere.
