Dear Parents,

“Children can change the world”. (Jane Goodall)

Today we celebrate the Orientation Day for the 3 year olds who will start attending the Early Learning School at

Reddam House in 2017. I am sure your child’s first day at Reddam remains clearly embedded in your

consciousness as it’s such a special day as well as an important one.

The World Economic Forum released its Global Information Technology Report in 2015, which ranked South

Africa last in the quality of mathematics and science education as well listing our country as 139 out of 143

countries in its overall quality of education. This is most certainly a serious, potentially debilitating place to find

ourselves and one which will keep us on a path of incapacity in all areas of growth which is so necessary for our

economy and the well-being of our population. There is a way to overcome this and it’s to be found in places of

educational excellence such as Reddam House, where your child is afforded the chance to live and learn to the

best of his or her ability, as is the right of each and every child born into the world. We are so privileged to find

ourselves with opportunity which bypasses so many deserving young minds.

Taking opportunity, building on it and developing the children in our care is our field of expertise and passion.

From the new little ones joining us next year to the present student body we relish the job of growing well

educated young people who will be able to turn the economy around, young people who will inspire others and

some who will lay the solid foundation on which the country creates a springboard for those who have to

negotiate the path of education in a more challenging way. We have to invest in our future, the children, and

we thank you for the prospect of partnering with you to this end.

We congratulate all the young musicians who have played music exams at school this past week – there are

180 students in this small junior school who play an instrument. We are super proud of you all! We thank the

music staff for their input and support.

The ELS Fun Sports Day was perfectly pitched for the young athletes who acquitted themselves so ably in the

fun races. The Staff are fabulous as are the parents who support, applaud and even run races themselves.

We look forward to the last week or so with enrichment activities and outings planned for the Junior Primary

children. The staff is engrossed in report writing and we will issue reports on the last day of school, 7

December. Should you require a parent/teacher meeting please do speak to the teacher or Linda Guldemond

about arranging this before the end of the term.

Herewith some news in the Senior Prep and College:

NEWSLETTER | 25 November 2016 | VOLUME 4:08

From the Headmistress Shirley Oosthuizen

• Cape Town Art Eisteddfod: We are enormously proud of both the Prep and College- both sections of the

school were awarded trophies for achieving the highest number of awards for all schools! This is the

third consecutive year the Prep has won this trophy.

• Ms Robertson, Mr Musamba and Mr vd Merwe attended a Phys Ed Workshop.

• We thank and commend the 2016 P ‘n F Committee on a year of outstanding accomplishments! Well

done on your admirable work in improving the lives of so many people (and animals).

• We are pleased to have Ms Orlopp back after her surgery. We wish her an excellent recovery and good

health.

• College InterAct (2017) got off to a great start with their Santa Shoe Box Project. A huge pile of

beautifully decorated boxes was gathered, each containing personalised gifts and useful items for young

people in need. The boxes will be handed over to the children of Vrygrond. Sincere thanks to the College

InterAct, Ms Knight, students and the ASB parents for your extraordinary kindness and generosity.

• We congratulate these students on their success in the recent Trinity Music examinations: Luca Truen

(Gr 7) and Diogo Sa (Gr 8).

• Our Matrics complete their IEB final exams on Monday, 28 November. We wish them abundant success

and personal happiness with the next exciting chapter of their lives. Results will be released at school at

09:00 on Friday, 30 December.

• Today, 25 November in History

- 1487: Elizabeth of York crowned Queen of England

- 1497: Vasco da Gama lands near present day Mossel Bay

- 1867: Alfred Nobel patents dynamite

- 1940: Singer Percy Sledge born

- 1943: Gen Jan Smuts addresses British parliament

- 1947: New Zealand gains legislative independence

- 1947: Future Queen Elizabeth marries Prince Philip

- 1952: Agatha Christie’s ‘Mousetrap’ opens in London

- 1963: JF Kennedy laid to rest

- 1969: John Lennon returns OBE as a protest against UK’s support for the Vietnam War

- 1981: Failed coup in Seychelles by SA mercenaries

- 1983: World’s greatest robbery- Heathrow Airport warehouse (26 million pounds worth of gold,

diamonds and cash)

- 2014: Lionel Messi- UEFA Champions League all-time top scorer

Did you know?

Local landmarks and suburbs: V & A

The Victoria and Alfred Dock was built in 1860 and named after Queen Victoria and her second son, Prince

Alfred. This now forms part of the Waterfront.

We are well into our theme of The Big 5. The children have

enjoyed learning about these iconic animals and comparing all

their similarities and differences.

We trust everyone has coped with our erratic weather patterns at

present. In this regard please make sure that there is always a

warm top in your child’s bag in case the weather turns chilly.

We had great fun dressing up in purple last week Friday in

celebration of Preemie Day. We raised over R2232 in support of Premature Babies. Thank you to everyone for

their support!

Our next Give Back Project for this term is to help donate party treats to Safeline, an organisation that supports

abused children. Could you please sponsor any of the items below:

• Covered sweets i.e. fizzers, lollipops, jelly tots, smarties

• Small bags of chips i.e. strips of chips

• Juices – small cartons/ boxes for each child to have their own

• Covered chocolates i.e. Quality streets, Passions, mini top deck, Milo, milky bars

This will be appreciated by over 384 children. Donations need to be handed to your class teacher by Friday 2

December please.

The children were super stars in our ELS South African Sports Day today. Although there were a few nervous

tears, everyone had fun and did their best. Well done to all the moms and dads who also ran. We trust you

won’t be too stiff tomorrow.

As the year draws to a close and life gets very busy, we would like to make special note of our Twilight Picnic

and Laser Show. It’s a highlight on the Reddam House ASB calendar and not to be missed!

Dates to remember…

30 November Sport ends

2 December ELS Fun Day – School closes at 12:00

6 December Laser light show & Twilight Picnic

7 December Last day of Term 4

18 January 2017 Term 1 commences

Just a thought…

STAGE 3 NEWS

Dear Parents,

Our children have had lots of fun exploring the letters and sounds of the alphabet. We have been learning

about the seaside over the past week and will continue this until the end of term.

We look forward to some end of term fun activities including: the music presentation on the 2nd

of December

and our class outing on the 5th

of December to SANCCOB. Please remember your donations of fluffy toys and

newspaper.

Our children enjoyed practicing for Sports Day which was a huge success. Thank you for attending and

supporting our children on this day. Thank you also for those who brought in rugby balls for our races.

We would like to say a huge thank you to all those who have contributed gifts towards Mrs. Sampson’s Baby

Shower, it is much appreciated. We look forward to celebrating this special day with her next week Tuesday.

You are most welcome to still bring in items if you wish on the day.

Below are some pictures of our children during the past two weeks.

Just a reminder that we are still collecting sweet donations for Safeline and these will be collected until the end

of the week (02 December). Please be kindly reminded to return all reply slips and report folders as soon as

possible.

To those families who are leaving before the end of term, we would like to wish you a safe and wonderful

holiday!

Stage 4 Teachers

Roxan Shapurjee and Jo Berga

We were very impressed with all the original costumes that came into school last

week for our Sound Dress Up day. Thank you for the treats that you sent in

too. The children really enjoyed the day and had great fun guessing what their

friends were.

Just to clarify the children will meet their Grade 1 teachers on the last day of the

school year and reports will go out on this day too. We are so proud of our Stage 5's

and all they have achieved this year.

We posed a question to all the children asking them, what they have enjoyed in

STAGE 4 NEWS

STAGE 5 NEWS

Stage 5 and what they would have liked to have done more of in school. Here are a few of the answers:

'More collaborative work with friends'

'Another outing to the Blue Train Park and ice creams!'

'More time to play with my friends'

'Doing more work and learning more things'

We hope you all enjoyed Sports Day and we look forward to the last two weeks of school.

Miriam Dawson & Alex Smith

These last few weeks of the year are just flying by! The Grade 1s have grown up so much and are

ready for Grade 2. For those who ordered workbooks from Caxtons, they have been delivered and

will be kept at school to be used next year. If you have not ordered the books please do so as they

may be hard to obtain in the New Year. Waltons were at school last week handing out the

stationery boxes that were ordered. If you have not collected yours, please contact Waltons directly. Stationery

needs to be brought to school on the first day of Grade 2, marked with your child’s name. Books do not need to

be covered as covers are made at school.

A reminder: School sport and cultural activities finish on Wednesday 30 November.

There are a number of exciting events happening over the next two weeks. Next week we will start our

Enrichment week and we are looking forward to having a lot of fun.

• The annual Honours assembly takes place during the morning of Friday 1st December at 8:30.

• The Twilight Picnic takes place on Tuesday 6 December which is not to be missed.

We hope that you will be able to join us for these events to end off our Grade 1 year. We have loved teaching

your children.

Thank you for a wonderful year.

Barbie Houba & Jill Balcomb

GRADE 1 NEWS

It has been another two busy weeks. The children thoroughly enjoyed the theme “African Animals”. They

showed initiative and motivation when completing their Animal Projects and can be proud of the outcome.

African Animal Project Gr2E African Artwork Gr2E

Lauren Robertson Gr 2R Ruby Camara Gr 2R

The next two weeks the children will be taking part in Enrichment Week, as discussed in the letter. The children

are very excited about the activities that will be presented. Please remember to pay the Enrichment Fee by

Friday 25th

November 2016.

Enrichment Week Programme

Please note that Sport will end on Wednesday 30th

November 2016.

A reminder that the Honours Morning is on Friday 2nd

of December 2016 at 8:30, where the children will be

rewarded for their hard work throughout the year. The children will be allowed to go home after the ceremony

(+/- 10:30am) or else to be collected by 12:00 as the Staff will be attending a Christmas Luncheon.

Have a blessed week.

Mrs Beukes and Ms Mellet

GRADE 2 NEWS

We are fast approaching Grade 4 and the children are very ready for the next challenge. We have finished off

the last of the academics this week and will complete a revision booklet next week to consolidate the final

concepts taught. Please look out for the completed books and extra stationery we are sending home.

Homework has come to an end but the children have been given a book of extras for those that would like to

continue working on their own. Please return all library books and readers by Tuesday 29th November.

We are all looking forward to a very exciting enrichment week. Please send your R120 as soon as possible to

cover the costs. Our outing is on Thursday 1st December. You will receive a letter on Monday explaining the

details.

Thank you for your support during the final frenzy of the fourth term. Please do email us if you are unsure of

arrangements, dress code or extras. It can be confusing for children and stressful for parents when we deviate

from the routines and we are very happy to help.

Dear Parents,

All your 2016 school photos that have been taken so far are available online from That’s Me Photography. Please note

that any photos that are not up on the site yet will be available in the fourth term.

Please go to www.thatsme.co.za to register, log in, view and purchase your photos. If you have not registered an account

yet, please click on REGISTER button. If you are already registered, click on the LOGIN button and login with your

username and password.

Happy photo shopping!

That’s Me Photography

E: info@thatsme.co.za

M: www.thatsme.co.za

DATES TO DIARISE

GRADE 3 NEWS

SCHOOL PHOTOS

30 November • ELS & JP Sport Ends

•

01 December • ELS & JP Outings

•

02 December • ELS Fun Day – School ends at 12:00

• JP Honours Morning – School Hall – 08:30am

06 December • Twilight Picnic & Lazer Show – School Astro

•

07 December • School closes – Last Day Term 4 2016

•