Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff and Students,
We have come to the end of a busy and successful year and I thank each and every one of you for the role that you have played in contributing to many and various areas of the school. The sense of community was so uplifting at our Carol Service on Monday night and I again am reminded what a special place Kingsmead is.
Apart from the many highlights during the year across the school in our Academics, the Arts, Sport and Service, we have managed to continue with our upgrades to the buildings on our campus:
• Upper Mackenzie has been renovated
• The HR and Admin offices upstairs have been renovated.
• Borehole phase 1 and 2 has been implemented.
• Grade 1 classroom upgrades have been completed.
• Lange Hall has been renovated with new curtains, fresh paint and a new audio-visual system.
• We have completed repairs on 6 roofs across the school.
• Our main DB board has been upgraded.
• The San and the Uniform shop have been renovated.
• Various areas of the school have been painted and we have embarked on a 5-year painting plan.
• The sports’ offices are being reconfigured for all our staff and coaches.
We welcome Jabulani Maswanganyi as our Campus Manager and look forward to seeing the improvements he will make to the general maintenance on the campus.
We also welcome Sumayah Bagus, who has stepped into the role of HR Manager since October. Sumayah has already been working closely with all of our staff and has been integrally involved in the recruitment of staff this term.
We have some wonderful plans in place for 2026, including our Beyond the Classroom rollout which we will share with you and some other exciting building plans, as we look towards the school’s centenary in 2033.
We have some exciting updates from the Council of Kingsmead:
Council Update
We thank Bianca Shakinovsky and Paul Kennedy for their dedicated service to the Kingsmead Council. They have served as parent representatives for the Senior and Junior School respectively.
Bianca has also served on our Buildings Sub-Committee and has graciously agreed to Chair this committee next year.
Paul has Chaired the Buildings Sub-Committee for the past two years and has also served on the Finance Sub-Committee. We wish Paul well in his relocation to the Western Cape.
Following the recent nomination and voting process, the new parent representatives are as follows:
Junior School: Darren Willans
Senior School: Bradley Hall
Buyi Makhunga has served her term on Council admirably. She has also served on the Finance Sub-Committee. Buyi has kindly agreed to serve another year on our Finance Sub-Committee.
We have also said farewell to Neo Mamathuba who was the PTA Chair sitting on Council. Neo has served the Kingsmead Community with love and dedication. Alison Levesley will be the PTA Chair from January 2026. Alison is a Kingsmead Alumna and has a daughter in the Junior School.
Dr More Chakane has been appointed to Kingsmead Council in his capacity as an Education expert. More has his doctorate in Physical Science education and is currently at Wits Education Department and sits on the Wits Senate. He has two daughters in the Junior School.
Mr Anban Govender has been appointed to Council in his capacity as Chair of the Legal Sub-Committee. Anban has been serving on the ad hoc Legal Sub-Committee for a while, and we have now formalised this committee.
2026 Kingsmead Council
Nerine Kahn Chair (alumna)
Rizwana Bawa Vice-Chair, Chair of TDI Sub-Committee (past parent)
Sibusiso Mabuza Chair of Finance Sub-Committee (parent)
Faiza Garda-Mayet Chair of HCC Sub-Committee (alumna)
Anban Govender Chair of Legal Sub-Committee (parent)
Louise Whittaker Education (past parent)
More Chakane Education (parent)
Darren Willans Junior School Parent Representative
Bradley Hall Senior School Parent Representative
Alison Levesley PTA Chair (alumna)
Lisa Palmer Executive Head
Brendan Quinn Head of Junior School
Russell Stroud Business Manager
Lara Bugarin Advancement Officer (alumna)
We look forward to welcoming our new cohort of Council members and learning from their expertise. Please know that Kingsmead College is in very good hands.
Should there be any parents willing to offer their professional services to the following sub-committees, please contact Lisa Palmer (lpalmer@kingsmead.co.za) or Nerine Kahn (nerine@erexchange.co.za):
Finance Sub-Committee
Legal Sub-Committee
Buildings Sub-Committee
ITC Sub-Committee
TDI Update
We are excited to share an update on the evolving work of Transformation, Diversity and Inclusion (TDI) at Kingsmead. This term, both the Senior and Junior Schools introduced a refreshed structure to strengthen our commitment to community-building and creating a space of belonging.
We have appointed two dedicated Heads of TDI: Wisani Nkosi in the Senior School and Gugu Mhlanga in the Junior School. Each will lead a TDI Committee made up of staff and student representatives. In the Junior School, students will participate through the Grade 7 leadership initiative on the Belonging Committee, while in the Senior School, the Head of TDI and her student team will drive initiatives. Both committees will report into the TDI Sub-Committee of Council.
Although newly formed, these teams have already made a meaningful impact through the successful Kindness Day campaign and a strong stance against Gender-Based Violence this term. One of their upcoming projects includes exploring new names for the committees, which will be announced early next year—so watch this space.
Alongside the progress happening within the school, we recognise the importance of strengthening parent engagement in our TDI journey. While we have historically had one Junior and one Senior School parent representative on the TDI Committee, we would now like to explore the creation of a broader parent TDI engagement forum.
This forum would offer a space for a committed group of parents to come together, share perspectives, exchange ideas, and collaborate on issues related to race, gender, belonging, and inclusion at Kingsmead. We hope this will become a dynamic platform where different voices and skills can meaningfully contribute to the school’s ongoing transformation work.
If you are interested in being part of this parent forum, please CLICK HERE. Once we have gathered responses, we will determine the next steps.
We wish you a restful and happy holiday. If you are travelling we wish you travelling mercies and we look forward to welcoming you back to Kingsmead in the new year.
Fond regards,
Lisa Palmer Brendan Quinn
Executive Head Head: Junior School
Beyond the Classroom
Over the past few months, I have been exploring how we can ensure that Kingsmead provides an extracurricular program that prepares our students for life beyond school, teaching them to develop healthy habits, achieve a balanced lifestyle, and learn to make thoughtful choices. To ensure success in everything they undertake, our extracurricular activities need to instill resilience, grit, and perseverance in our and students.
We have appointed new staff teams to lead the different areas of the Beyond the Classroom programme, including Sports, Arts, and Service. I look forward to introducing these teams to the community in January. I will also share our vision and strategies with the community in the New Year and am excited about partnering with our parents and guardians to shape a uniquely Kingsmead programme that supports our students in all their interests and pursuits.
Our new Wellness activities, including Fitness Strength and Conditioning, Pilates, and Yoga, have been well received by our senior students, and we are excited to invite our Grade 6 and 7 students to join these as well in the New Year.
Please keep your eyes open for upcoming communication early in the year, including opportunities to meet all of us in the Beyond the Classroom space, visit our training sessions and rehearsals, and meet our coaches.
Thank you for your ongoing support of the Sports, Arts, and Service departments at Kingsmead. 2026 promises to be a year of wonderful new opportunities for our students to grow and thrive.
Wishing all of our families and friends a blessed festive season and happy holidays.
Regards,
Elsabe Fourie
Deputy Head: Beyond the Classroom
Alumnae
We are thrilled to announce the winner of the KCA Giveaway, a current Kingsmead parent with a daughter in Grade 0! Congratulations to our lucky winner!
A heartfelt thank you to the entire Kingsmead community for buying tickets and enthusiastically sharing our Giveaway news with family and friends. Your support has been incredible.
We extend our deepest gratitude to our amazing donor and alumna, Marian Myers of The Myers Portfolio, for gifting the most extraordinary holiday prize. Thanks to her generosity and the kindness of an anonymous donor who contributed additional funds for return flights from Johannesburg to Maun; we raised a whopping R142,750 for the KCA fundraising initiatives, one of which includes the Kingsmead College Bursary Fund. Such a worthwhile cause!
What an inspiring and joyful way to kick off the festive season. Thank you, Kingsmead community, we couldn’t have done it without you!
