Inside this issue:

Congratulations

Condolences

School events

P.E. Uniform notice

Dates to Diarise

JUNIOR SCHOOL

NEWSLETTER

MARCH 2016

ST DOMINIC’S JUNIOR SCHOOL

One School, One Family, One Spirit

A Note From Mrs Van Dyk’s Desk

Thankfulness Our Thanksgiving Mass which was held on Tuesday 1 March, gave us the time to

reflect on all that we have to be thankful for ! We thank our Ethos Team for

arranging this special Mass. We thank all our girls , parents and staff who had

their hair sprayed or wore ribbons in support of cancer and all those who suffer

from it.

I would like to thank all our staff members, parents and girls who participated in

and supported the following events:-

The PTP Mix and Mingle; the Wednesday and Friday Galas as well as the Inter-

House Gala and the Inter-Primary Galas; the tennis matches as well as the

Summer Festival at CBC; the water polo festivals which were held in Cape Town

and Kingsmead; debating against Assumption Convent; diving competitions;

Drummie Competition which was held at St Dominic’s.

I thank each one of you for making these events possible. I am thankful that we

are One School, One Family, One Spirit.

Thank you for being a positive member of our School !

Thank you

Dear Friend

Thank you very much for your

kind donation to our Hospice.

We now have 9 Charity shops

throughout the East Rand region

that sell good quality second

hand clothing, household goods,

collectables and bric-a-brac.

Our charity shops are situated in

Benoni, Boksburg ,Kempton

Park, Harmelia, Edenvale,

Germiston Springs and Primrose

and provide a steady income for

the organization. It is only with

the thoughtfulness and support

of people like yourself that the

shops can continue to bring in

much needed funds.

Through your generosity and

your concern for others , we are

able to carry on our specialised

service of care for the terminally

ill members of

our

community.

Congratulations

Sydney Munks 6 S on her lifesaving and swimming achievements :

2nd place in Girls 10 year old 100 LC Meter Obstacle swim.

2nd place in Girls 11 year old 100 LC Meter Obstacle swim.

2nd place Boys 11 year old 100 Meter Obstacle swim.

2nd place Girls 10 year old 50 LC Meter Manikin Carry.

2nd place Girls 11 year old 50 LC Meter Manikin Carry.

3rd place Boys 11 year old 50 LC Meter Manikin Carry.

2nd place Girls 10 year old 100 LC Meter Manikin Carry/Fins.

2nd place Girls 11 year old 100 LC Meter Manikin Carry/Fins.

6th place Boys 11 year old 100 LC Meter Manikin Carry/Fins.

Well done! on Gauteng Provincial Record broken by Sydney Munks

for her Obstacle and 50m Manikin.

One School, One Family, One Spirit

Well done to Megan Webber 6 S who has

been playing number 1 in the School’s Squash

League.

She has played Woodlands, Germiston, CBC

and Shangri-La. She has earned high points

for the team and won her game against a

Grade 11 boy from Germiston.

Well done Megan!

Well done

Gabriella

Teixeira

on Most

Valued

Player at

Water

polo on 5

March

2016

Nicole

Fawcett

Water

Polo

Captain

Olivia 7 B and Julia 4 C competed at the Gauteng regional competition held at

Orlando West Hall on 20 Feb 2016, their results were as follows;

Olivia :

Gold for Union Kata

Silver for individual Kata

Silver for Kumite

Julia :

Bronze for Kumite

They will both be representing Gauteng at the

SA National Karate Competition in Durban.

Well done girls!

Photographs Individual photographs were taken on Wednes-day 9 March . These should be devel-oped and ready by the end of term.

Staff Matters

We welcome Mrs O’Connor back to school. We thank Mrs Drummond for teaching her class.

Mrs Drummond will be taking Miss de Rijk’s classes till the end of the year.

Mrs Badenhorst will be on maternity leave as from 29 March until 29 July. We wish her all the best with

the birth of her baby boy. Mrs Sebastiao will be taking Grade 1 B during this time.

Condolences

We express our heartfelt sympathy to Mrs Gorgulho (Aunty Maria) our Grade 2 & 3 After Care Facilitator

and Natasha (Gr 4 D) on the sudden passing away of their dear husband/father on 17 February. We pray

that God will comfort them and their family at this sad time.

We also express our sincere sympathy to Mrs Lowe and her family on the passing away of her dear Mom on

Friday 4th March. We pray that God will comfort and strengthen her during this sad time.

Congratulations

We express our congratulations to Mr Smith whose baby girl Mikayla arrived on Thursday 3 March. Mom, Baby

and Dad are doing well!

One School, One Family, One Spirit

PTP

Mix and Mingle In line with St Dominics’ motto “ One School, One Family, One Spirit” our PTP hosted their first Mix

and Mingle on Saturday 27 February. The hockey field was filled with anticipation as new and current

parents were spoiled by the St Dominics’ PTP with a lovely finger dinner while their children were

entertained by the Active Education Team. Parents, teachers and children got to mix and mingle ,

getting to know one another and forming new friendships. Mr Loring and Mr Flinn addressed the

audience welcoming all to our St Dominic’s Family. This event successfully replaced the PTP’s New

Parents morning that was held annually. To add the cherry on the cake the evening closed with a

spectacular performance by our Saints’ Drummie Squad, demonstrating why our school is reigning world

Champions . We would like to thank the PTP and all involved for hosting such a memorable evening.

Mrs Dolman , Mrs Smuts , Mrs Lotter.

One School, One Family, One Spirit

One School, One Family, One Spirit

Lent

Give up HATRED– of anyone and anything

ONE AFTERNOON A WEEK– to

visit a sick or lonely person.

JUDGING BY APPEARANCES– make an effort to

get to know the person concerned.

MOANING AND COMPLAINING– make an effort

to help.

10-15 MINUTES SLEEP TIME– read the bible and

pray.

WORRYING AND BEING ANXIOUS– this wastes

energy.

BEING SELFISH– help those who are less

fortunate.

BE KIND AND COURAGEOUS.

SHOW MERCY– teach others by example. Forgive

and forget. Move on.

You are what you DO not what you say.

Page 7

New P.E. Uniform

There will be a two year

phase in period for our new

P.E. Uniform. WHAT DOES

THAT MEAN?

Your daughter may continue

to wear her current P.E.

Uniform until she has out-

grown it.

There is no hurry to buy the

new P.E. Uniform—Do not

let your daughter pressurise

you.

One School, One Family, One Spirit

“9 o’clock Snack” We re-charge our batteries at 9H00 everyday with a quick snack, water

and some execise.

Please ensure that your daughter brings a HEALTHY snack to school each

day, e.g. veggie snacks (carrot sticks , cucumber , cherry tomatoes)

grapes, fruit kebabs, dried fruit.

Exercise helps in different ways

In his book SPARK, Dr John Ratey explains the different ways in which

exercise can help the learner:

Exercise improves the learner with

Heightened senses

Improved focus and mood

They become less fidgety and less tense

They become more motivated and invigorated. Exercise increases learning at the cellular level and

Improves the brain’s ability to log in and process new information

Creates the environment for brain cells to wire together and create better

links

Increases Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BNDF) which Dr Ratey refers

to as “fertilizer” for the brain.

Exercise is the best way to make new neurons in the brain ( neurogenesis) which

happens every day, but is far greater after exercise.

(excerpt taken from ADHASA Newsletter October 2012)

Sport News Summer Festival 2016

Our U/13 Tennis Team recently took part in The Edmund Rice Summer Festival hosted

by CBC Boksburg. Kim Fine, Marina Da Costa, Ashleigh Drummond and Isabella Domiter

made up our team and can be very proud of themselves. They played fantastic tennis

and showed wonderful sportsmanship. I was very proud to have accompanied the girls.

They were so well behaved, had such good manners and displayed dedication towards

the game. After a very dry and hot summer, our much needed rain certainly came down

and managed to successfully disrupt the festival. We were rained out on both the

Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, losing 2 full sessions of tennis. After a bit of

rearranging however, we managed to play our singles matches and then decided it would

be more fun for them to play in the mixed doubles, as they don’t often get a chance to

do this. All their names went into a pool and they were partnered together with play-

ers from different schools. It was great fun and they played some wonderful tennis.

It did not take long for them to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses on the

court and they thoroughly enjoyed one another’s company, making good friends. Our

girls won all of their singles matches, losing only when they played each other. They

also played very well in the mixed doubles. We were well looked after by CBC with de-

licious food and cold drinks throughout the day. A highlight of the Festival was our

dinner at Spur. All the teams got together and had a super time socialising off the ten-

nis courts. The girls had a fantastic time and a very successful tennis tournament. Well

done!

Mrs Oddie

Drummie News

On Saturday 5th March St Dominic’s hosted the 1st league competition for the season.

It was a very successful day ! Thank you to everyone who helped to make this a very

successful event! It was wonderful to see so many of our girls, teachers and parents

supporting on the stands. Thank you to the grade 6 s for coming along to support and a

big thank you to the grade 7 and senior school girls who helped on the

day. Congratulations to our team on the following results:

Flag Group: 2nd

Leader, Subbies, Squad, display elements 2nd

Overall 2nd

Well Done Saintees, we are very proud of you! Keep up the hard work.

Coach Alisha Venter

Congratulations to Bridgete Zherkov who has been selected as the Junior Gauteng

Majorette representative.

Page 8

Bridgete Zherkov

Page 9

On Wednesday 2nd March 2016, a team of

eager Grade 6 and 7 debating girls

travelled to Assumption Convent to

compete in a debate. They represented the

opposition and the topic was “This house

would abolish zoos.” Speakers for St

Dominic’s were Kiara Oliveira, Kayla

Richardson and Tayla Barret. The floor and

researchers included Caitlin Richter, Nandi

Yende, Emma Wilson, Daniella Bergonzi .

Tayla Barret was awarded Speaker of the

day.

The Assumption girls had some challenging

points. St Dominic’s won the debate.

Congratulations girls.

Mrs McEvoy and Mrs Whyte

One School One Family, One Spirit

NB!NB!NB!

Very important please take

note of the signs which have

been put up all around the

school Our children are

precious so please heed the

siren call and make sure the

girls get to safety.

NB!NB!NB!

Page 10

On Friday March 11 th Daniela (Grade 6L) and Gina (Grade 4D), participated in

the Gauteng JKA (Japan Karate Association) Championships held at the Ellis

Park Indoor Arena.

Daniela Bergonzi obtained a silver medal in junior girls purple kata and a bronze

medal in junior girls Kumite.

Gina Bergonzi obtained a gold medial in junior girls Kumite, and a silver medal in

junior girls kata.

They were awarded SA JKA PROVINCIAL COLOURS !

They will both be participating in the South African National JKA Champion-

ships on 21 May.

Well done girls !

Angela Costa-Tre in Gr 1 D’s glasses have gone missing if you

have seen them or know where they are please bring them to

Mrs Da Costa’s office so we can return them to her.

JOIN OUR WORLD

LEARN

SCOTTISH AND IRISH DANCING

- Exams

- Competitions

- Displays

- Adult fitness

- Overseas qualified

Call Elna: 083 269 3444/ 011 893 1554

DATES TO DIARISE

Mon 21 March Human Rights Day

Thurs 24 March School closes at 12:00 for Easter Weekend

Fri 25 March Good Friday

Mon 28 March Family Day

Fri 1 April Gr 1-7 reports go out

Tues 5 April Gr 3– 7 Awards’ Assembly at 7:50

Tues 5 April Gr2 Violin Concert at 18:00

Wed 6 April Parents Evening 16:00 to 19:00

Fri 8 April Inter-House Fun Sports Day

School closes at 12:00

Tues 3 May School opens for Second Term Day 1

One School, One Family, One Spirit