newsletter - st dominics boksburg · to apply please e-mail your cv with references to...

SENIOR NEWSLETTER

12 JUNE 2015

Inside this issue:

Sports News 2

Music Post 2016 3

Drummie & Technology News 4

Grade 10 Outing 5

Grade 11 Mass 6&7

Catholic School’s Week 8

Marian Pilgrimage 9

Dates to Diarise 10

SENIOR SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

One School, One Family, One Spirit

Dear Parents

The highlight of the past few weeks was undoubtedly the Fun Day. This is hosted by the Parent

Teacher Partnership (PTP) to raise funds for various projects that benefit the whole school. We are

very grateful to parents for the generous support of the day. Current projects include the upgrading of

the Jubilee toilets and erecting shade cloth around the pool area. Initially we were anxious about the

proximity of the Fun Day to the start of examinations, but in retrospect this was a wonderful opportunity

for the girls to “let their hair down” and participate in some healthy outdoor fun! The theme for this year

was Sports Heroes and Heroines and each class came up with its own creative interpretation of the

theme. Mrs Donly and her class certainly made a statement by dressing up as Rollerbladers in pink

wigs and short frocks. The day was blessed with wonderfully sunny weather and Active Ed kept the

girls busy with a variety of team activities. Even Mrs van Zyl and myself could not resist going head to

head on the inflatable obstacle course. Well done also to the matrics who manned the Spirit Station

and kept the girls busy with some very creative and entertaining challenges. Thanks also to the mums

who kept us fed and watered; the prego rolls certainly exceeded all our expectations.

Catholic Schools Week saw many students from several Catholic schools come together both on the

Sports field and the cultural arena. The week culminated in the beautiful Grade 11 mass at the

Cathedral at which our choir and marimba players did St Dominic’s proud.

Examinations are well on their way and we encourage the girls to keep warm and stay healthy during

the cold weather.

Sharon Fizgerald

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE


Sport Results

Netball

The first Netball team participated in the annual Inter-Catholic

tournament on 16 May. They played brilliantly ending third over-

all. Well done, ladies.

Indoor Netball

Some of our netball players participated in the indoor league

over the past few months. The season ran from March to June,

with our girls playing matches every Monday evening. St

Dominic’s entered two teams into the Benoni Indoor league; one

junior team and one senior team.

Our senior team had a hard season, playing against provincial ladies teams but went

from strength to strength and made it through to the Bronze final. The team played

against very strong opposition and narrowly lost the game, finishing fourth overall.

Well done to all the girls who played in the senior teams throughout the season, and

a special well done to Amy Meewes and Abena Osei who were selected to represent

Benoni Indoor Arena in the upcoming super league!

Anke Jacobs, Coach

Hockey

Results for hockey match vs Boksburg High:

U14 – Drew

U15 – Drew

2nd

– Lost

1st – Won 3 -1. Well done to the 1

st team on this win as this is

the first win of the season, and a special well done to Michaela

Rees for scoring all three goals!

Over the weekend of the 23rd

of May the first Hockey team par-

ticipated in the annual Inter-Catholic. The team performed well

winning 3, drawing 3 and only losing 2 matches. The Player of

the tournament was Candice Potgieter, Most Improved Player

was Ashleigh Teixeira and Most Consistent player was Chayla

Menezes. Well done, ladies.

Tennis

Well done to the D team for winning their match vs Oosterlig.

Chess

Well done to the 1st team for beating Benoni Christian School

5-0.

Michaela Rees

Amy Meewes

Chayla Menezes Candice Potgieter

Ashleigh Teixeira

Abena Osei


Post available for 2016 We invite applications from suitably qualified persons for the following post from January 2016.

GRADES 0 to 9 MUSIC TEACHER The successful candidate will:

Identify with and support the Catholic ethos and values of the school;

Be SACE registered;

Be computer literate;

Be involved in extra-murals and school functions; Have good communication and intra personal skills. Key competencies: The successful candidate will:

Be able to teach music appreciation using appropriate instruments to all grades from Grades 0 to 9; Be able to teach singing in all grades from Grade 0 to Grade 9. Advantages:

Experience in teaching these age groups;

Experience in teaching marimbas, steel band and orchestra;

Experience in working with choirs;

Experience in productions with these age groups; Experience in running festivals and concerts. To apply please e-mail your CV with references to [email protected]. The closing date for applications is 3 July 2015. Only applicants who fulfil all of the above requirements will be considered. Application does not automati-cally entitle the applicant to an interview or an appointment. If you have not been contacted with regard to an interview by 15 July please assume that your application has been unsuccessful.

Jenifer Haw

Golf

During the holiday Jenifer Haw won her division in the Ekurhuleni Golf competition

held at Benoni Country Club. Teagan Lubbe was selected for the Ekurhuleni team

championship to be held in East London for five days. Well done, ladies.

Teagan Lubbe

mailto:[email protected]


Drummie News On the 23

rd and 30

th May our Senior Drum Majorettes took part in their

Provincial Championships. Our girls did extremely well coming 1st in

Throwing Prop, Non Prop and Flag . In the small drill Category they were

placed as follows: Leader 1st, Sub leaders 1

st, Squad 1

st, display 1

st and team overall

1st. For large drill the team was 2

nd for leader, 1

st for sub leaders, 1

st for squad, 1

st for

display and 1st place over all.

The Saints were also named Champion of Champions for Gauteng.

We are extremely proud of them and wish them the best of luck for Nationals in July

in Bloemfontein.

Sheri Kock

Technology News

Like many schools, St Dominic’s is committed to making technology work for educa-

tion. However, as many will know, this is a challenge. At St Dominic’s we are

blessed as the infrastructure is well in place to move forward. As a school we have

decided as our next step is to introduce Moodle as a Learning Management System

(LMS). It is a versatile open source system that allows teachers to use technology

and the internet with its widely available lesson resources for their teaching. Applied

in the classroom, it can engage students in different ways through quizzes, surveys,

audio visuals, learning games and much more.

We have started over the last few weeks introducing Moodle to the teaching staff

through an international Moodle webinar (iMoot15). Hundreds of participant world-

wide could subscribe and participate to talks and demonstrations relevant to teach-

ing and the application of Moodle in the classroom. During the webinar we became

well aware that there is a fair learning curve ahead of us.

The school is committed to the development of ‘Champions’ or ‘Facilitators’ to sup-

port the teachers in using Moodle through extra training and a professional develop-

ment programme.

Harry van der Burgt

ICT Manager


Grade 10 Outing

The Grade 10 History girls accompa-

nied by Mrs Ross visited Constitution

Hill on Friday, 22 May. The learners

visited the Women’s jail where politi-

cal prisoners were incarcerated by

the Apartheid government, including

St Dominic’s past pupil and Member

of Parliament, Barbara Hogan. The

notorious Number 4 men’s jail was

also visited where amongst other political prisoners Mr Mandela, Albert Luthuli and

Mahatma Gandhi were incarcerated for fighting for human rights for all South Africans.

The highlight of the tour was the visit to the Constitutional Court, the highest court in

the country. This court’s role is to protect, interpret and enforce the Constitution. It is

committed to ‘the creation of a just society based on human dignity, equality and free-

dom.’

Mrs Ross would like to thank the Gr 10 History learners for their excellent behaviour

and their active participation in asking and answering so many questions.

Mrs Ross


Grade 11 Mass

This year the annual Grade 11 Mass was celebrated on Thursday 21 May at the Ca-

thedral of Christ the King in Johannesburg. After much preparation our Grade 11s set

off on the last leg of their pilgrimage early on a beautiful autumn day. We had received

the Pilgrimage Cross from Veritas and handed it over to St Catherine’s during Term 1.

The cross was sent from school to school until it was brought to the Cathedral by Do-

minican Convent, from Belgravia. The cross was brought into the Cathedral at the be-

ginning of Mass, followed by all the represented schools bearing their school banners.

This year we had a brand new banner to show off. The Grade 11 Mass is specially

planned and organized so that every school present is involved.

The theme of this year’s Mass was “We gather together to celebrate the pilgrim journey

of Our Founders.” Prior to the Mass the Grade 11s were instructed about the value of

pilgrim journeys. They also collected toiletries to donate to the Sisters of Mercy centres

in Beria and Rosebank. Once again the boxes were beautifully wrapped by Mrs Geier.

Grade 11s also collected money to be given to the Cathedral’s soup kitchen in order to

purchase fresh ingredients for the soup that is handed out to the people of Johannes-

burg.

At the Mass our Marimba Girls played their hearts out. Mrs Penny was part of the musi-

cal team and the singing at Mass was awesome. As was the case last year, Fr Sebas-

tian gave a meaningful homily, even getting all the Grade 11s to sing together: “If you

wanna be somebody, if you wanna go somewhere, you better wake up and pay atten-

tion.” These are words from “Sister Act.” Fr Sebastian’s approach was appropriate for

the teenagers present at the mass. His approach was uplifting and entertaining as well

as spiritual.

Grade 11 Mass continued.

Mikyla Koen felt that Fr Sebastian’s message to the Grade 11s was constructive and

gave them something to think about. Joy Nsibanyoni felt that Fr Sebastian’s message

helped to put the Bible readings into the context of a teenager’s daily life.

Zama Buthelezi summarized Fr Sebastian’s message as follows:

God will ask you to do

things that you may not

want to do. You may think

“why” but he trusts that

you will spread his mes-

sage and share his pres-

ence whether you’re in

front of 1 000 people or

just 10. Fr Sebastian also

encouraged all the Grade

11s to emulate their pa-

tron saints and learn more

about them. We are going

to miss Fr Sebastian and

wish him well in his new

parish at Kamieskroon in the Northern Cape.

After Mass the Grade 11s were given time to socialize and share their lunches. The

interaction between girls and boys was an opportunity to meet new people. This was

followed with a fellowship session led by Dean Spiller from St Benedict’s College. It

was very difficult to tear the

girls away. In the small bus the

girls sang: “Why did we have to

leave so soon.”

Thanks to the teachers who

accompanied the Grade 11s on

this pilgrimage. (Mr Geier, Mrs

Jones, Mrs Penny, Ms Rind-

fleisch & Mrs van Zyl.)

Thank you to Zama Buthelezi,

Lara Chelius, Mikyla Koen and

Joy Nsibanyoni for their input.

Mrs G

eier M

rs Jon

es

Mrs P

en

ny

M

rs Va

n Z

yl

Ms R

ind

fle

isch


Catholic School’s Week—Celebrating our Founders Not even load shedding stops St Dominic’s!

Catholic School’s Week was celebrated recently. On Saturday

evening of 17 May some of our girls wore their school uniforms

to Mass in order to highlight the close relationship between St

Dominic’s School and St Dominic’s Parish. Girls volunteered to

proclaim the readings of the day, offer up prayers and take up

the gifts to the altar. The altar servers were also from St

Dominic’s School. While the Parish Church has a generator, it

was not strong enough to work the microphones, so our girls

had to put in a greater effort in order to be heard. We are very

proud of them.

At the end of Mass Ms Dos Santos thanked the Parish for their

involvement in the school.

During the week follow-

ing Catholic School’s

Sunday the Primary

School classes unveiled

their classroom doors

that were decorated in

order to commemorate

the founders of St

Dominic’s. The Grade

7s were given the task

of commemorating

Mother Rose Niland.

One morning at the

school gates parents

were given a paper rose

made by girls in the Pri-

mary School. The rose

was chosen as it is a

reminder of Mother

Rose Niland.

Ms Rindfleisch

Ms R

ind

fle

isch


Soirée on

4 June Laura Paula, interna-

tional pianist performed

Beethoven and

Khatchaturian to an

enchanted audience,

displaying exceptional

skill and musicality. It

was a true treat and we

were indeed fortunate

to have a pianist of that

standard performing in

our school. Thank you

to all who attended.

Ms Olivier

Marian Pilgrimage at St Dominic’s School 30 May

Every year numerous pil-

grims go to Lourdes in

France, or Fatima in Portu-

gal, to visit and pray at the

Marian shrines there. In

Africa pilgrims visit Marian

shrines at Ngoma or Gro-

blesdaal. But in the largest

archdiocese in Africa – The

Archdiocese of Johannes-

burg - there is no Marian shrine for pilgrims to visit. Archbishop Buti Tlhagale has a plan

to change that. St Dominic’s School was selected as one of the venues for a pilgrimage

to take place on 30 May 2015. From early in the morning a large number of people

flocked to St Dominic’s School from all corners of the East and Far East Deaneries to

celebrate Mass and participate in the Pilgrimage. Numerous sodalities were present in-

cluding the Sodality of St Anne, the Catholic Women’s League, the Children of Mary, the

Knights of Da Gama. The morning Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Buti and was

followed with Benedic-

tion. The choirs could

be heard from Kruger

Street. Archbishop Buti

explained that the plan

was to raise the neces-

sary funds for a perma-

nent shrine to be built

somewhere in the Arch-

diocese.

Other dates for Marian

Pilgrimages will be an-

nounced in due course

in other parts of the

Archdiocese.

Ms Rindfleisch

DATES TO DIARISE

13 June Netball and Hockey ISSF

15 June School Holiday

16 June Youth Day

Redhill Youth Day Netball (1st Team only)

17 June Hockey St Dominic’s vs Assumption (Home)

24 June Netball Senior School Champions (St Stithians)

26 June Senior School Exams finish

Close for Mid– Term 12h30

6 July Re-Open Day 1

6-12 July Drummie Nationals in Bloemfontein

14 July PTP AGM Guest Speaker Emma Sadlier


The best way to

cheer yourself is to

cheer somebody

else up.

~ Mark Twain

newsletter - st dominics boksburg · to apply please e-mail your cv with references to...

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