Our Connection
Dear Parents, Staff and Girls,
Issue No 1 January 2011
Important Dates:
19 January: Grade 7s
leave for Kloofwaters
21 January: Grade 7s
return from Kloofwater
28 January: Grade 7
Assembly
2 February: Dialogue
Cirle
3 & 4 February: Grade5
(Topaz group) Study
Skills course
7 February: Introductory
talks and PTA Cocktail
Party
10 & 11 February: Grade
5 (Emerald group) Study
Skills course
17 & 18 February: Grade
5 (Ruby group) Study
Skills course
24 February: Official
opening of Kingsmead
House
Kingsmead College
132 Oxford Road
Melrose
Junior School: 011 731 7400
Fax: 011 731 7499
contact@kingsmead.co.za
www.kingsmead.co.za
The Junior School has had a very calm and relaxed start to the New
Year with the girls happily returning to school last Wednesday. It
was lovely for Mrs Dugmore, Mrs le Roux and myself to greet
parents and girls at school on the first day with everyone being
satisfied with their classes, pleased to meet and catch up with their
friends and settling quickly into the routine of the new year. I do
hope that you had a wonderful holiday with your daughter and a
good start to the year. I wish all our parents a very Happy New Year.
We have quite a few new families who have joined our school this
year. I hope you have been made to feel welcome and will enjoy a
long and happy association with Kingsmead.
At Mrs Kaplan‟s opening assembly to the College, she spoke about
„celebration‟. Included in her message to the girls she spoke about
us celebrating the wonderful 2010 Matric results. For the Junior
School staff and myself it is wonderful to note that so many of the
girls who received top results were at the Junior School. I
congratulate the 2010 Matrics on their 100% pass rate! We have
included a spread of the Matric results in this Connection.
Staff News:
At the start of the term we welcomed back to the Junior School Mrs
Gouveia who was on maternity leave last year. We also congratulate
Miss Munro on her marriage during the holidays; she has returned
as Mrs Schefermann. This means that we have two Mrs
Schefermanns on our staff! Mrs Vicky Newton-King has joined the
staff of the Junior School as a Speech and Drama teacher and will be
teaching our Grade 3 – 6 girls. We also welcomed Mrs Hancock who
is teaching our Buttercup class for two terms. Mrs O Donovan has
moved to Grade 0 this term while Mrs Stewart is on long leave. Mrs
Fowler and Miss Mannie who did the IEB Assessor‟s Course last year
both passed the course and we congratulate Lizzie Khanyile for her
examination towards her Pre-School Care Diploma.
Improvements during the holidays:
I am sure for our parents who have been able to take a tour of the
newly renovated Kingsmead House; you will agree that this is
such an improvement to this lovely old building. Kingsmead House
is 110 years old and has now been restored to form the offices of
Mrs Kaplan, Mrs MacIntyre, Mrs Horrell, the marketing department
and the accounts department. Please note that the official
opening of Kingsmead House will take place on Thursday, 24th
February. You will receive a formal invitation to this nearer the
time.
The girls and parents are also enjoying the new
Tuck Shop which is being managed and run by
Thrupps. I have had very positive feeddback from
both the Junior and Senior girls as well as the
parents. I have spoken to the Junior School girls
about the card system that is used in the tuckshop
instead of cash. If you are unsure as to how this
works, please contact either myself or Mrs Ellis, our
facilities manager.
Administration matters:
The girls will be receiving an „update form‟ this
week. This information is required by Mrs Chiman
and Mrs Grey to update our records. Please ensure
that you include your postal address, home
address, cell phone numbers and any other contact
numbers that you may think are necessary for us to
keep on record. I would like parents to complete
this carefully so as we have all your accurate details
in case of an emergency. Please return it to your
daughter‟s class teacher as soon as possible.
I also encourage parents to install the “School
Communicator” on your computer. This is a
wonderful way of updating and reminding you of
important events at the school. Mrs Chiman has
the CD disks in her office which you can collect and
install yourself. There is no charge for this.
I shall be commencing our interview process
during the first week of February. Parents who have
their daughter‟s names on our waitlist for Grade
000, 00 and 0 will be contacted to come in for an
interview. I do urge our Kingsmead parents who
have a daughter who is eligible for these grades to
make an application as soon as possible as these
places are filled very quickly.
Grade Seven Leadership:
Our Grade Seven girls, accompanied by Mrs
Basnett, Mrs Potgieter and Mrs von Hoesslin left for
Kloofwaters yesterday morning on their
Leadership camp. This is a follow on from the
„Covey Course‟ that Mrs Mundell ran with the girls
at the end of last year. I wish the Grade Seven girls
and teachers a safe trip and look forward to seeing
them back at school on Friday at about 14:00. We
shall be announcing the leadership positions i.e.
Sport captains, House Captains and the various
committees at the Grade Seven assembly on
Friday, 28th January. It would be lovely to see our
Grade Seven parents at this assembly.
Academic matters:
Our Grade Five girls will be doing a Study Skills
course this term. The course will be run by a
qualified teacher, Bridget Gutzeit, from R.E.S.T
Assured. The first group of Grade 5 girls, the
Topaz group, will spend two days on 3rd and 4th
February doing the course. The Emerald group
will have their course on 10th and 11th March and
the Ruby group on 17th and 18th March. The
cost of this course is R480 per student; this
amount will be debited to your account. Please do
not hesitate in contacting either myself or Mrs le
Roux if you should have any questions or concerns
about this course.
We have decided to change the format of our
Introductory Talks this year. The whole school
from Grade 000 to Grade 12 will have their
introductory talks on 7th February. Parents are
asked to go to their daughter‟s register classes to
be addressed by your daughter‟s class teacher and
then join us in the Lange Hall for a cocktail party.
There will be a short address by the PTA and
Chairman of Council. The decoration from the
Matric dance, which is to be held on Saturday, 5th
February, will still be up for the parents to enjoy on
the Monday evening at the cocktail party. You will
be receiving a formal invitation to this event. We
realise that parking is a concern and will inform
parents of additional parking areas closer to the
time.
Splash:
We are all very excited about our planned
production for this year. This will involve our
girls from Grades 1 – 7 and is entitled “Splash”.
The production will be staged on Tuesday, 22nd
March and Wednesday, 23rd March at 19:00 in
the Lange Hall. Please diarise these dates as this is
something not to be missed! The Grade Seven
girls will be taking the main speaking parts and the
various grades will be included at different stages
of the production.
Outreach:
Mrs Sharp and the Grade Seven girls will continue to prepare sandwiches for the Rosebank Soup kitchen
this term. We will be changing the day to Wednesday this year. Please support us in allowing your
daughter to bring an additional sandwich to school on a Wednesday morning to put in the basket which
Mrs Sharp will then transport to Rosebank.
Mrs Ilsley has asked the girls to bring their old school shoes to school this term. Please tie the laces of
the shoes together and leave them in Mrs Ilsley‟s classroom. We do so appreciate your support in our
endeavours to assist those less fortunate than us.
We have an exciting term ahead of us with many wonderful events planned for our girls. I look forward to
the continued support of our parents this term. Please remember that Mrs Dugmore, Mrs le Roux and I
are always available if you should have any queries, concerns and maybe a good suggestion or idea to
share with us. I look forward to seeing all our parents at the Introductory Talks and Cocktail Party.
Yours sincerely
Miss SA MacEwan.
Headmistress: Junior School
Assemblies
Parents are most welcome to attend our assemblies:
Friday: 21st January: No assembly
Friday: 28th January: Grade 7 assembly (mission statement, announcement of House and Sports
Captains and committees)
MESSAGE FROM THE SPORTS DEPARTMENT
On behalf of the Sports Department we would like to welcome back all girls, parents, coaches and teachers
to an exciting but soggy 2011 Aquatics and Tennis season.
Our extracurricular schedule is up and running and we would just like to apologise to parents for the
confusion in training times.
Ms Cartwright
Director of Sports - Kingsmead College
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
SPORT
With 2010 behind us, we look forward to an exciting 2011! Several of our girls, throughout the age
groups, attend a variety of sporting activities, festivals and tours, and continue to impress us regarding
their commitment and dedication. We certainly aim at raising the bar and building on our foundation
across all sport disciplines this year.
I believe victory is important; however we have to encourage the „will to win‟ in our scholars, and ensure
that their preparation is aimed at the final product, rather than at short term success. A “top athlete” can
only perform by the work of the many other members of the team. No swimming gala, athletics meeting,
hockey, netball or tennis match is won by the few who excel in their chosen sport. Victory is helped along
through the combined effort and encouragement of the team. The team is there to help each other,
challenge each other to be better and applaud when goals have been reached. “Without teammates,
one will never reach higher and accomplishments will be lonely.”
My appeal to parents is to encourage your daughter to participate in any sport, to encourage others, so
that each girl can develop to her full potential during the course of this year.
********************
The amended Extra-Curricular Time table has been published on the Website as well as on the Communicator. To our new parents; all Junior School Sport information will be available via the above mentioned
mediums. As soon as sport fixtures are finalized and confirmed internally and with other schools, we
publish the information immediately. Please take note that unforeseen circumstances are sometimes the
cause of no/late publications. However, I assure you that we will inform the girls by means of announcements at line up, assembly, in the mini-connection, notices on the notice board or a sport newsletter when
we experience electronic problems. I really strive to communicate effectively to parents.
We shall be focusing on Swimming and Tennis this term. Towards the end of the term, we will switch over
to Winter sports, namely Hockey and Netball which we will continue in the second and at the start of the
third term. Please remember that all girls are welcome to join the “Team Sessions” should they so wish.
This will give them the opportunity to improve and to challenge other members of the team. If a girl feels
comfortable to rather join the non-team sessions, I encourage them to do so.
SPORT FIXTURES: TERM 1A
TENNIS
Co-ordinator: A Koekemoer
DATE
20 Jan
27 Jan
3 Feb
5 Feb
10 Feb
17 Feb
3 March
10 March
17 March
PARTICIPANTS
Kingsmead A/B vs St. Katharine‟s C/D
Kingsmead A/B vs Brescia A/B
Kingsmead A/B vs Roedean C/D
Grade 7 Festival: 08:00 – 12:00
Kingsmead A/B vs APPS A/B
Kingsmead Internal Matches
Kingsmead A/B vs St.Mary‟s A/B
Kingsmead A/B vs St.Peter‟s A/B
Play-offs
VENUE
Kingsmead
Brescia
Roedean
Holy Rosary
APPS
Kingsmead
St. Mary‟s
Kingsmead
TRANSPORT
Bus
Bus
Own
Bus
Bus
SWIMMING
Co-ordinator: L Oosthuizen
DATE
HOST
PARTICIPANTS: A & B
VENUE
St.David‟s(A)
A team: Kingsmead, APPS, Brescia, Holy Rosary ,
St.Theresa‟s, The Ridge, St.Andrew‟s
St. David‟s
21 Jan
Holy Rosary(B)
22 Jan
St.Mary’s
St.Peter‟s
28 Jan
B team: Kingsmead, Holy Rosary, St.David‟s, KEPS,
St.Katharine‟s, St.Stithians(2teams), St.Mary‟s
St.Mary’s Summer Splash (Junior and Senior Swimming)
Holy Rosary
St.Mary’s
A team: Kingsmead, Brescia, St.Theresa‟s, The Ridge,
St.Stithians Girls, St.Peter‟s Boys, St.Peter‟s Girls
St. Peter‟s
St.Katherines (B)
B team: Kingsmead, St., St.Katharine‟s, St.Stithians
Boys, St.John‟s, APPS, APPS
St.Katharines
4 Feb
Kingsmead(B)
St.Benedict‟s
B team: Kingsmead, Holy Rosary (2 Teams), KEPS,
Kingsmead
Bus
Midmar weekend
14:00-16:00
Inter-House Swimming Gala: Grade 1-3
17:00
Inter-House Swimming Gala: Grade 4-7
St.Mary‟s(A)
A team: Kingsmead, St.Peter‟s Boys & Girls, St.Stithian
Boys & Girls, St.Mary‟s, St.Andrew‟s, APPS, The Ridge
18 Feb
Kingsmead(B)
St.Andrew‟s(A)
4 Mar
St.Mary‟s(B)
B team: Kingsmead, APPS (2 Teams), St.Katharine‟s,
St.John‟s, The Ridge
A team: Kingsmead, St.Peter‟s Girls, St.Stithian Girls,
St.Mary‟s, St.Andrew‟s, APPS, Holy Rosary, St.Benedict‟s,
Brescia
B team: Kingsmead, St.Katharine‟s, St.John‟s, St.Mary‟s,
St. Stithian Girls(2Teams)
Own
Bus
A team: Kingsmead, Holy Rosary , St.Benedicst‟s,
St.David‟s, St.Peter‟s Boys, St.Stithian Girls, St.Mary‟s
11 Feb
16 Feb
Bus
Boys(A)
St.Benedict‟s(A)
TRANS-
Bus
Kingsmead
St.Mary‟s
Bus
Kingsmead
St.Andrew‟s
Bus
St.Mary‟s
Prestige
11 Mar
Swimming
Prestige Swimming Gala:
Gala:
A team: Kingsmead,St.Stithian Girls, St.Mary‟s,
St.Andrew‟s, APPS, Brescia, Holy Rosary
St.Mary‟s(A)
B team: Kingsmead, Assumption, Holy Rosary (2
Teams), St.Stithians Girls, St.John‟s
St.Mary‟s
Bus
Kingsmead
Kingsmead(B)
OTHER IMPORTANT DATES
Co-ordinator: L Oosthuizen
DATE
24 Feb
5 April
EVENT
Awards Assembly
Junior School Photographs
7 April
Sport & Cultural Awards Assembly
PARTICIPANTS
Inter-House Swimming
VENUE
Joel Hall
TIME
08:00
Swimming, Tennis, Diving
& Music awards
Joel Hall
08:00
SWIMMING TRIALS
The current times for swimming trials will be used to determine our teams for this term as well as the
Inter-House Swimming Gala. The girls who missed the trials, must ask me to take their times during their
PE lesson or during a suitable time.
Please note, that due to the weather conditions lately, we have had to keep on postponing the trials for
certain groups, therefore we might not be able to publish the teams until Thursday afternoon.
TENNIS
Girls may, at any time, approach Mrs Koekemoer to try out for a position in the Tennis team. We have
scheduled an Internal match day on the 17th of February 2011. However, girls may challenge players at
anytime.
I want to wish you all of the best for this year. Please do not hesitate to contact me regarding Junior
School sport if needed.
Please note that due to the weather conditions,
we have not been able to do our Swimming trials
as planned. I will publish the team list as soon as
it is finalized.
Compiled by: L Oosthuizen
Head of Junior School Sport
loosthuizen@kingsmead.co.za
Andrea Landau - HEAD SWIMMING COACH
Kingsmead would like to welcome Andrea Landau as the Head Coach at Kingsmead Swimming for the
next 3 years. Andrea will be coaching the senior school and supervising sessions in the primary school.
Andrea will be bringing her 8 years of experience including being the assistant coach at one of the top
clubs in South Africa that has produced 4 Olympic swimmers to date.
Andrea was a competitive swimmer for over a decade and the highlights of her career were finishing 4th
and 5th in the 50m Freestyle and Breaststroke respectively at the 2004 South African Olympic trial as well
as representing South Africa at the World Cup Championships in 2003.
Andrea is a qualified swimming coach with Swimming South Africa and has vast knowledge of ultimate
and strength conditioning.
Andrea will be focusing on improving the swimming at Kingsmead and in so doing improve our girls
“essential swimming skills”.
On top of overseeing Kingsmead swimming Andrea will be running her private swimming club “Aqua
tribe” from our premises that offer parents the convenience of having the girls train with a private coach
from our premises. The girls will also be encouraged to swim in premier and regional galas throughout the
province and country.
If you would like to register or would like more information about private coaching, please can you. Contact Andrea directly on 072 305 9460 or email her on andrea.landau@gmail.com
MUSIC
‘”The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” ~ Unknown
Welcome back to all our parents and musicians! May 2011 bring great success.
Staff News
Unfortunately Mr Marco Smith has resigned unexpectedly. I am in the process of interviewing guitar teachers.
His piano pupils will be placed by our own piano staff so parents should hear from us in this regard in the next
few days.
We welcome Mrs Lisa Gallagher as our new piano teacher. We hope she has a happy time at Kingsmead
We congratulate Dorota Swart (violin) and Angie Elliot (saxophone) on their pregnancies! They will be going on
leave around June. More details to follow.
Please take note of the music teaching staff for this term:
Title
Surname
Name
Instrument
Mr
Benny
Clement
Drum kit
Mrs
Britz
Theresa
Administration Assistant
Ms
Carstens
Magdalize
Oboe, Recorder
Miss
Chen
Anna
Piano, Accompaniment
Mr
Cox
Philip
Orchestras/Brass/Marimbas
Mr
De Wet
Daniel
Piano
Mrs
Elliott
Angelique
Saxophone
Miss
Engelbrecht
Suné
Arts&Culture, Music, Voice
Mrs
Fourie
Riana
Flute/Fife
Mrs
Fourie
Elsabé
Director, Subject Music
Mrs
Gallagher
Lisa
Piano
Mrs
Gilbert
Yana
Piano/Accompaniment
Mr
Haenen
Anthony
Guitar
Mr
Henn
Carel
Cello
Miss
Hlangwane
Hlulani
Voice
Mrs
Janse van Rensburg
Mia
Violin
Mrs
Labuschagne
Gizela
Piano
Miss
Louw
Sanri
Flute, Fife
Miss
Lundi
Riana
Piano/Theory
Mrs
Maritz
Esther
Piano
Mrs
Miljkovic
Violeta
Violin
Mrs
Mohr
Melanie
Piano
Miss
Muller
Karen
Jnr School Music
Mrs
Neff
Ginger
Violin
Mr
Rossouw
Daniel
Choirs
Miss
Swart
Dorota
Violin
Mr
van Heerden
Morné
Clarinet
Upcoming events:
Sat 29 January:
Sat 19 February:
Junior Orchestra workshop 09:00 - 11:30
Grade 4-7 choir workshop 09:00 - 12:00
More details on the above events to follow to the relevant parents.
Extra-curricular Music activities
Please consult the extra curricular timetable for choir, orchestra, African Music etc practice times.
Please take note of the following:
The Monday morning orchestra practice is cancelled
Choir for Grade 4-7 on a Wednesday takes preference over the other scheduled activities; alternative
practices for the sporting activities should be attended.
Please be on time for all rehearsals of all groups and stay until the last minute!
Instruments
If you have any unused instruments at home, please do send them to us as we can use them for pupils
who need instruments.
I wish you all an absolutely wonderful and fulfilling year!
If your daughter wishes to start with Music lessons, please find an application form on the website or from Reception. If you have any questions about Music at Kingsmead, do not hesitate to contact me.
Elsabé Fourie: Director of Music & Culture, Kingsmead College
Tel: 011-731 7338 / efourie@kingsmead.co.za
We are collecting any used school shoes.
Please send them to Mrs Ilsley’s classroom.
Thank you for your support.
YOGA CLASSES FOR MUMS
Yoga classes are being held after drop-off on
Tuesdays (ballet room) and Thursdays (music room)
from 7:30 to 9:00. R70 per class paid on an ad hoc
basis.
For those who are interested please contact Leigh
Thomas on leighthomas23@hotmail.com or
0788 94 35 98. Classes will start on Tuesday 25th
January.
DIALOGUE CIRCLE
Dialogue Circle – Wednesday 2 February at
7:45am
Venue: Learning Centre (Senior School)
Speaker: Carol Bailie from Dare to Love
Topic: Love Languages
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE MATRIC CLASS OF 2010 ON THEIR
OUTSTANDING MATRIC RESULTS
100% Pass
98% University Entrance
9 DISTINCTIONS
Gemma Purbrick
Subjects: English (Home language), Afrikaans (1st Additional language), French (2nd
Additional language), History, Life Orientation, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Maths Paper III
and Physical Sciences
Outstanding Achievement from the IEB (Achieved a ranking within the top 5% of all IEB
students in 6 or more subjects. Only awarded to 65 students nationally)
Top 1% in IEB for Life Sciences
Kiera Robertson
Subjects: English (Home language), Afrikaans (1st Additional language), French (2nd
Additional language), History, Life Orientation, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Maths Paper III
and Physical Sciences
Commendable Achievement from the IEB (Achieved a ranking within the top 5% of all IEB
students in 5 subjects. Only awarded to 44 candidates nationally)
Top 1% in IEB for Afrikaans (1st Additional language), English (Home language) and History
Sadiya Nanabhay
Subjects: English (Home language), Afrikaans (1st Additional language), History, Life Orientation, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Maths Paper III, Physical Sciences and Advanced
Programme Maths
8 DISTINCTIONS
Shirley Wu
Subjects: English (Home language), Accounting, Life Orientation, Life Sciences,
Mathematics, Maths Paper III, Advanced Programme Maths and Physical Sciences
Commendable Achievement from the IEB (Achieved a ranking within the top 5% of all IEB
students in 5 subjects. Only awarded to 44 candidates nationally)
Top 1% in IEB for Life Sciences and Mathematics
Shaakira Vania
Subjects: English (Home language), Afrikaans (1st Additional language), Accounting,
History, Life Orientation, Mathematics, Maths Paper III and Advanced Programme Maths
7 DISTINCTIONS
Susan Cameron
Subjects: English (Home language), French, Life Orientation, Life Sciences, Mathematics,
Advanced Programme Maths and Music
Laura Haden-Smith
Subjects: Accounting, Life Orientation, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Advanced Programme
Maths, Maths Paper III, Physical Science
Top 1% in IEB for Life Sciences
6 DISTINCTIONS
Megan Davey
Subjects: Accounting, English (Home language), Life Sciences, Mathematics, Maths Paper III
and Physical Science
LIFE TALK CONVERSATIONS
At the last Dialogue Circle of 2010, Sally Thorp from Life Talk, agreed that there was a necessity to engage with our
parent body on a more regular basis to „start the conversation‟ around issues impacting on our children and on us as
parents. I met with Sally independently and we have come up with series of five talks which all Kingsmead parents are
invited to attend.
The first three sessions will be structured and informative; leaving the last two sessions for interaction, debate and
sharing. The dates for these sessions are:
Tuesday 25 January @ 6pm - Parenting in the 21st Century - focus will be on building a healthy home, underpinned by conscious parenting.
Tuesday 8 February @ 6pm - Adolescent Developmental Stages - insight as to how best parents can work with
their teen.
Tuesday 22 February @ 6pm - Practical Parenting Tips - keeping channels of communication open, minimizing
destructive conflict and when to be concerned - what to look out for.
Wednesday 9 March @ 6pm - addressing concerns, needs and questions as a result of what has come up during the
previous three sessions.
Monday 28 March @ 6pm - addressing concerns, needs and questions as a result of what has come up during the
previous three sessions.
These sessions will be held in the Learning Centre (same venue used for the Dialogue Circles) with Sally Thorp and
Wayne Katz (a qualified psychologist) and will run for an hour. (The dates are printed in the term calendar.)
If you are interested in attending please email me at nwhall@kingsmead.co.za. (There are no costs involved!) You do
not need to commit to attending all five session, although Sally and Wayne do recommend it.
Nicky Whall