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Dear Parents

At the end of term one all that can and should be said is: Thank you!

Thank you to every child in the school for being special Thank you to every teacher for doing more than your best

Thank you to every parent for being our partner in education Thank you to every staff member for giving your all

We have identified Mr Matthew

Christopher as a succession employee

under our Employment Equity guidelines

and in line with policy he will be joining

the School Management Team. We trust

that this will add diversity to our decision

making processes.

Below is an extract from Mr Stanley

Bongwe’s book, 100 Lessons in Diversity

(www.100lessonsindiversity.co.za). On

request from some staff and parents that

attended his brief introductory workshop

on Monday 14 March 2016, he will be

making another visit to SPSM in the near

future.

Wishing you all a blessed Easter Holiday.

Jacques Janse van Rensburg - Headmaster

Summer 2016, Newsletter Number Ten 16 March 2016

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SENIOR PHASE

The mousetrap A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. “What food might this contain?” He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.” The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house.” The pig sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.” The mouse turned to the cow, and the cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.” So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail had been caught in the trap. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbours came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you -- remember -- when one of us is threatened, we may all be at risk. In the book of Genesis, Cain said this about Abel, his brother, to our God: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another. EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON’S TAPESTRY; OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON. At the end of my first term at St Peters I realised how important it is to work together as a family. We need to grow the school and take it to new heights. To work together is very important. Enjoy the Easter holiday and rest well. Mr Herman Matthee DEPUTY HEAD – ACADEMIC

IMPORTANT UPCOMING EVENTS FOR THE REST OF THE TERM

• 17 March Grade 1 Parent Consultative Meeting in the Staffroom @ 17:00• 18 March End of Term 1 @ 11:00.• 18 March – Mass in the school hall @ 07:30 – Everybody is invited to attend

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ENRICHMENT

We thank God for ALL the days of this term, whether good or bad. May everyone enjoy blessed Easter Days this holiday.

Mrs Kim de Beer

Enrichment

PRESCHOOL

Dear Parents Play with your children and do physical activities together – but do not do a single thing for your children that they can do themselves. Muscle tone develops when a child moves her own body weight against the pull of gravity. Let them move, and pull and lift, and push and hang. Encourage your children to be ‘useful’ around the house: doing little jobs develops the inside sense and muscles, but more importantly, it develops your children’s self-esteem and boosts their confidence, because the underlying message is: You can do it! Well done! Mrs Janet Bennet HOD PRE-PRIMARY

SPORTS DEPARTMENT The last week of term has arrived! Thank you to all the parents for their commitment in getting your children to attend the sport practices and matches. We have made excellent progress this term and have been complimented by other schools for the improvements in our children’s performance. A huge thank you must go to the coaches and teachers too. Their dedication to what they do is commended. I am looking forward to seeing what we are able to achieve next term.

Enjoy the short break. God bless!

“Ifyoufailtoprepare,you'repreparedtofail”–MarkSpitz Mr Ruan Liebenberg

DIRECTOR SPORT AND EXTRA CURRICULAR

JUNIOR PHASE

There is a Gr.1 Consultative meeting on Thursday 17 March, please come and join us all Gr.1 Parents. Postponed Gr.3 Consultative meeting will take place today Wednesday 16 March in the staffroom, please come and join us all Gr.3 Parents. Stories under the stars taking place Wednesday 16 March 2016 What a great term, let’s end it strong. Kind regards

SPORTS DEPARTMENT CONTINUES

Mrs Jeanine Erasmus HOD JUNIOR PHASE

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MY SCHOOL & MAKRO CARD

Please remember to swipe your ‘My School and Makro Card’ and earn points for the school. Contact Mpho or Leslie at reception if you do not have the cards.

Thank you to those parents who continually swipe their cards and have earned points for the school.

PRAYING PARENTS

One day while waiting for my turn at the Doctor’s I was getting a little bit irritated as the people that came in would chat and speak to each other in their native language and so I decided to just hide my displeasure in a magazine. In this magazine there was a topic on how to raise your child in this multiracial and diverse culture of SA, not exactly the words but something along the lines. It discussed arms- length, tokenism and other things. This is what I really felt is what we need to deal with as it is applicable to many of us:

I believe we need to stop living the arm’s-length kind of reconciliation as South Africans, Christians or St Peters' family. Arm’s length is a complete avoidance to closeness… no intimacy, we can deal or interact with each other while I am here and you are there. As long as you do not interfere with my life and we can respect each other’s spaces it is fine. An example is when we are we giving to the poor, is it out of a heart of God’s compassion or arm’s length… as long as you do not come too close to me. Stay where you are then all is fine.

Tokenism, on the other hand, is an appearance that we are treating each other fairly such as hiring a person from a minority group only to prevent criticism. Do we just include people in to pretend and be politically correct yet you know very well who is actually in charge? Sorry this is not an easy topic to discuss but we need to ask God to give us true forgiveness and reconciliation in our hearts to relate in a real way.

A group of parents meet at school every Wednesday (13:00 – 13:30) to pray together. Compassion and confidentiality are required. You are most welcome to join this group of parents. For further information; please contact

Mrs Zumbika on 076 746 7735 Any prayer request can be sent via SMS

THERAPY

Using shaving foam on the mirror to practise

letter forming

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BIRTHDAYS: 14 -30 March 2015

14 March Lobs Makhunga Grade 3KDB 16 March Angelo Maseko Grade 6NM 16 March Samu Simelane Grade 1AV

17 March Mlungisi Makukule Grade 2CK 18 March Owethu Mkhabela Grade 4SL

20 March Atli Moyo Grade 3BS 21 March Nomkita Silinda Grade 4EE 22March Kgao Moganedi Grade 3EE

23 March Cwangco Maqina Grade 5SE 24 March Sarah Gardiner Grade 7EL

24 March Armani Letlojane Grade 6DM 26 March Retang Mokonyama Grade 1HH

27 March Naomi Kazadi Grade 7GM 27 March Fifi Malope Grade 3JE 27 March Leo Mashiri Grade 3JE

28 March Awande Luhlanga Grade 3JE 29 March Nandii Makhanya Grade 5JB

30 March Zoe Segage Grade 2CK Please don’t forget to send a book as a gift to the school.

Happy Birthday STARS OF ST PETER’S

Grade 1AV - Bradlyn Chapman - Being happy all day. Grade 1HH - Thandolwethu Ngobeni - Having a positive attitude

Grade 1VM - Teshante Stolze - Settling well in class. Grade 1LS - Joy Mabunda - Being friendly. Grade 2CK - Zime Kheva - Being generous. Grade 2AS Shaniel Stolze - Working hard.

Grade 2MM - Khulani Ngomane - Working hard in Mathematics. Grade 2LE - Michael Cameron - Working diligently.

Grade 3BS - Nelly Khumalo - Fluent and expressive reading Grade 3JE - Tlangelani Mashaba - Working out the crossword.

Grade 3KDB - Khanyi Shongwe - Drawing a beautiful picture. Grade 4TD - Nhlamulo Masuku - Being friendly and polite. Grade 4SL - Hope Ngomane - Being friendly and smiling.

Grade 4EE - Nomdeni Msomi - Working hard and excellent behaviour. Grade 5SE - Naledi Mpele - Diligence in Maths.

Grade 5JB - Eusebio Chivulele - Good participation in English. Grade 6NM - Unathi Mabaso - Being polite and responsible behaviour. Grade 6DM - Bonga Mdlala - Working hard and pays attention in class.

Grade 7GM - Ncgebo Masego - Fantastic Commitment Grade 7EL - Vicky Wankya - Excellent English test results.

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AFTERCARE

Making Easter Cards

SCHOOL FEES

Unless prior arrangements have been made with the Finance Office, all monthly payments should be

made at the beginning of every month, with the last payment on 1 October 2016. Use your Code Account Number that appears on the top right hand side of your statement.

Each family has a different code. All cash payments should be made into the

school’s bank account, which is as follows:

First National Bank Account No. 531 315 17626

Branch code: 270 352 All these details are also found at the bottom of your statement.

Please fax a copy of the deposit slip to the school on Fax No. 013 741 2031

Mrs Liezel Tinkhof - Business Manager

SPSMalls

Any parent or company that would like to use the newsletters as advertising space is welcome to contact the Business Manager to place an Ad.