prep newsletter no 4 2012

8/2/2019 Prep Newsletter No 4 2012

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30th March 2012

St Johns Preparatory SchoolSt Johns Preparatory SchoolHoughton

Tel: 011 645 3100/ 087 550473 Newsletter Number 4

30/03 St Peters Water Polo Festival

UIII Camp

LIII Camp

UII Camp

03/03 Camps return

04/03 Break up for Easter Holidays

Reminders fromthe Diary

From the Headmaster

I cannot believe we are now one term down for 2012and Easter is already upon us, with winter justaround the corner. Time has certainly flown by andas always, I look forward to the coming term and all

that it may bring.

Electronic Reports

Our new electronic reports have been favourablyreceived by all. We plan to address one or twodifficulties next term, to continue to improve uponour reporting process. Thank you to everyonebehind the scenes who enabled this to be such astress-free implementation it has been a

resounding success!

Good Luck, Mr Cameron

The Prep would like to wish Mr Roger Cameron allthe very best for his Two Oceans Marathonover theEaster weekend. We will be watching with interestto see if he can crack that 6-hour mark. If youwould like to sponsor him in this effort, please go tohttp://r.sjc.co.za/2oceansform for further details.Mr Cameron is attempting to raise funds to assistwith the building of the pavilion for the new cricketnets; as well as other sporting facilities.

Good Bye to a Special Lady

As the saying goes, all good things have to come toan end. However, it is a particularly sad day thatsees Helen Popplewell retire from St Johns, aftergiving over twenty years of outstanding service bothto the school and to our community. Thousands ofSt Johns boys have been touched by this speciallady; thousands of boys have learnt to read withthis special lady; and thousands of boys have

become true gentlemen of St Johns Prep becauseof this special ladys example.

It goes without saying that StJohns is a better place for havingher here. We are all better peoplefor knowing her, and St Johnswill always be indebted to her for

all the love and care she has givento all of us. Helen, we wish youall the very best for this nextexciting chapter of your life. Wehope that you and Ian sharemany more days of happiness as

you take this well-deserved rest.

However, we also take thisopportunity to wish Jane Lane allthe very best as she steps into

Helens shoes from the beginningof next term. Having taken overmyself from Mike Workman justover 18 months ago, I knowexactly how she is feeling; but Iam also sure that everyone herewill make her feel welcome and atease. I look forward to workingwith Jane and I know she will bea wonderful headmistress of the

Pre-Prep.


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Page 2 St Johns Preparatory School

Thank you!

And on the topic of wonderful teachers, I would like to pay a sincere tribute to all thespecial teachers we have on our staff here at St Johns. Teaching is often not an easyjob, but one that they all absolutely love doing. Please continue to treat them with

respect, as I promise you they only ever give of their best, in the best interests of yoursons. Just a small word or a simple note or email of thanks makes such a difference,and it has always been quite astounding to me how few parents (and boys) thank staffat the end of a term, or after going away on one of our camps where they have given uptime with their own families to look after your sons. I urge you to remember our

wonderful teachers and to acknowledge the outstanding job that they do.

The Prep School is in a very good position at the moment: we have a very strongacademic programme; our choirs, orchestras and jazz band continue to grow andflourish; and our sports results for the term have been fantastic. Above all, however,

our boys and staff are happy. I could not think of a better place to be, and for this, Ithank everyone involved: boys, parents and staff.

Finally, we wish all our Christian families a blessed Easter, and to all our Jewishfamilies, we sayChag Sameach over Passover. For those who are taking leave during

this time, have a relaxing break and if travelling, may you travel safely.

I look forward to seeing you all return refreshed and ready to tackle the challenges and

maximize the opportunities the Trinity Term will have to offer.

Patrick Lees

Headmaster


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The Importance of Play

The importance of play in young childrens lives should not be underestimated. Play isan essential part of growing up and researchers believe that it is critical in ensuringthat children reach their full potential in life. In fact, it is an absolutely vital ingredientin their development.

We, as parents, don't always understand the importance of play, and in today'scompetitive world, the temptation is to stop our children "wasting time" and to put thetime into what we believe is more constructive use.

For a child, however, there is no more constructive activity than play. When analysingthe importance of play, particularly if you're tempted to introduce a more "worthwhile"activity such as using flash cards, educational computer games or dancing lessons, thefollowing points are worth considering:

Play allows a young child to be "in charge". In their everyday lives, they're smalland powerless, always being told what to do, and how to do it. Without an adultaround, they're running the show! So let us give them the freedom and space toplay, and perhaps in watching them play, we may learn a thing or two about ourchildren.

Play helps children learn about the world in which they live. They can investigateand discover, test their theories, spatial relationships, explore cause and effect,societal roles and family values.

Such is the importance of play, that there is virtually no aspect of life where yourchild wont learn something through play. Isnt that an amazing statement!

Play builds self-esteem. Children will often play at something they know they cando well, at which they can be successful. Play builds social skills. Children willbegin playing with inanimate and non-threatening objects, like cuddly toys,bricks, etc, so practising their interactive skills. Later, playing with other childrenwill build on this foundation as they learn to share, take turns, assert themselvesand begin to empathise with others.

Play with parents should not be underestimated either, as research shows thatchildren whose parents play with them ultimately develop superior social skills.Play also provides the opportunity for children to work out their feelings.

The importance of dealing with difficult or unpleasant emotions through play isvery useful. A child who is worried about going to the dentist, for example, maydeal with the anxiety by setting up a clinic for dolls with toothache.

Play helps with language development. Think of the vast number of words that atoddler uses during play, many of them repeatedly, enhancing their languageskills. Play allows children to grow beyond their years. They can pretend to be allsorts of things in play - a doctor, a surgeon, a civil engineer.


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Finally, don't forget to consider the importance of stimulating your child's creativity andimagination - making a castle in the sand, or a car garage out of a shoe box, taking anorder in their own (imaginary) restaurant - these all allow children to stretch the limitsof their world and experience the fun in make-believe.Adapted from http://www.child-development-guide.com/importance-of-play.html

As the Easter Term draws to a close, may I take this opportunity to wish you and yourfamily a blessed Easter and holiday period. I encourage you to play with your children,to enter their space and allow yourself to be whisked away to another world.

Have fun!

Kind regards

Craig Verdal-Austin

2nd Master

[email protected]

It Makes Cents Coin Collection Challenge

This campaign, sponsored by Standard Bank, kicked-off almost a month ago. The ideawas to get all the Prep classes to compete against each other to see which class couldcollect the most number of South African coins. The emphasis was more on thenumber, not the value of the coins. Each week, the winning class, who collected themost number of coins, was treated to a visit to the nearest McDonalds for a Macmeal.

So far the winning classes have been L3M, U3G and L3T.

To date over 228,062 coins with a value of R23,037.47 have been collected. A supreme

effort by all involved!

On the final day of term, the overall winning class will be announced. Each boy in that

class will receive R300! But the greatest prize of all will go to the children of TLC

Ministries. Standard Bank has promised to match the amount collected by our boys

and the total amount, somewhere in the region of R55 000, will then be donated to TLC

Ministries.


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4CTea

March 2012

Excellent Afrikaans Assessment

Matthew Monteith

Cricket

1st team for outstanding festival and season

Outstanding Maths Results

Claudio di Giacomo Justin Koevort

William Kerr-Phillips Numan Koor

Over 90% for Maths Assessment

Nicholas Moschides

Good Sportsmanship

Kian Dooley

3rd in Regional Round of Kids Lit Quiz

Nicholas Moschides

William Kerr-Phillips

Max Milella

Donato Moodie

2nd in Regional Round and 2nd in National Round

Daniel Burke

Sam Harding

Numan Koor

Reserves for Kids Lit Quiz

Sean Morrison Justin Koevort

Consistent Hard Work

Austin Karan Emile Strydom

Chatterbox Contestants

D Cutifani C Dooley M Prioreschi

Nicholas Moschides J Williamson L de Jesus

Z Suliman D Moodie M Love

100% Spelling

Zayd Motang

Basketball

David McAlpine

Edward Baleni


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Sports Results

Athletics

Murray Blair was selected for Southern Gauteng Hockey Team and Alex Bester was

selected for the Invitation Team. Well done, boys!

Mitchel Sinclair has been selected to represent CGA, (Central Gauteng Aquatics) in

Open Water Swimming. Well done, Mitchel!

St Johns Athletics Meeting

B team

3rd KEPS

2nd St Johns

1st St Benedicts

A team

3rd KEPS

2nd St Johns

1st St Benedicts

WHPS Athletics Meeting

A team

6th Pridwin

5th St Stithians

4th Ridge

3rd St Johns

2nd WHPS

1st St Benedicts

Hockey

Swimming


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Inter House Athletics 2012

With another short, but successful athletics season behind us, we can see the positiveinfluence that both our Physical Education and extracurricular programmes are having

on our boys. The St Johns boys were all given an opportunity to participate in allevents, and as a result, we were able to put our best teams together. We successfullycompeted with St Benedict's and WHPS, our teams out-performed teams such as KEPS,The Ridge, St Stithians and Pridwin. Age groups that performed consistentlythroughout the season were the Under 10 and 12 age groups. Well done to all our

St Johns boys on a fantastic athletics season.

Ivan Forbes

MIC Athletics

Event Name Time House

U9 800m P Buckle 2.47.49 Cullinan

U10 800m K Kum 2.46.06 Cullinan

U12 800m G McPherson 2.3.00 Carter

Event Name Height House

U10 High Jump N Bothma 1.34 Darragh

Event House Time

4 x 100 Relay Carter 56.85

Nathan has beaten the previous high jump record, held by S Diers in 1985, 1.33m

Well done, Nathan!

Well done to Ethan Chilvers, Gavin McPherson , Bradley Dunbar and BrandonVermeulen who broke the U12 4 x 100 m relay . This was a fantasticachievement beating the record held since 1975.


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Page 9St Johns Preparatory School

Lower IIV Describing words

By Miles LI

By Daniel Segal

By Henry Rochester

By Edwin Mattiuzzo


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Some amusing extracts from our Totem Pole writing activity:

My brother and I dont usually get along but as soon as he chases me outside, and we

see a rugby ball, we start playing together.

Matthew Bester

Nsika and Kabelo are are better than me at soccer but I respect defeat.

Kamille Kum

I like to eat and talk but not at the same time.

Alexander Rekhviashvili

I live in Bryanston. It is really far from school but what can I do?

Thulani Vein

My hobbies are writing down number plate numbers and counting cars on the M1.

Abdul Malik

My mom says that sport is good for me because when I go straight home from sport, Iam too tired to annoy her.

Stuart Omand

I have a very annoying older sister called Luci.

Julio MordohMy hair grows very fast and if I wet it, it will go dark ginger.

Ethan Orritt

I have big ears because I try to listen a lot during school hours.

Matteo Paparella

My hair is not so blonde anymore. It is quite mousey now.

Alex Barrow

Go karting is my hobby. My go cart is orange and it can go up to sixty kilometers an

hour!Dino Koutromanos

For some reason, I like being young because I have a long time to live. I was happily

born on the 29th of April 2002.

Tanaka Shoko

We have a R5 fine at home for screaming and shouting. I am really laid back.

Stefan Milos

My favorite subject at school it D&T. It is fun and you learn a lot about technology.

Shaye Hutchings

Lower IID


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Cricket is my hobby as you get to bowl and bat. You hit, run and get hurt!

Zaahid Suliman

I have a big mouth in my drawing because I eat a lot, scream a lot and talk a lot.

Musa Mphomane

I have brown eyes that twinkle when I am happy. If I am not happy, my mouth will

pout.

Dylan Wong

I talk a lot at dinner, my mom says that I have herbal diarrhea.

Adrian Lapin

I wonder what I will get for my tenth

birthday?

By Tian Badenhorst My mom gave birth to a baby twomonths ago. Yesterday, he went for

his vaccinations.

By Kei Prior


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I have brown hair which is usuallygelled. I wear sunglasses all the time

on the weekends.

By Keegan Graham

My hair has a life of its own. I spend fifteenminutes every morning trying to make it nicebut after half an hour at school, it looks like I

have just woken up.

By Spencer Clarke

When I was three, I hit my head in theswimming pool and I had to be rushedto hospital. I had fifteen stitches. It was

serious, very serious.

By Alex Wiltshire

Lots of people call me ginger which is

seriously annoying.

By Aidan Stride


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My eyes change colour depending on my mood.

By Nathan Bothma

My eyes are closed in the morning because I amtired, so it looks like I am sleep walking.

By Nihal Ranchod

I have lots of freckles. If you lookclosely, you will see a freckle on my

left ear.

By Ethan Berriman


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An exciting day for the Pre-Prep when they came to visit the Prep and meet their buddy.

Interact Day


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Lower II Camp


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LOST PROPERTY

The Lost property room will now be open during break only

In order to instill a sense of responsibility, please remind your son togo and collect his own lost property rather than collect it for him.

Thank you so much for the donation of grocery items!


TLC - THANK YOU


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Jordan Van Der Walt, LIIIT, will be running a Just One Bag maize drive inBloemfontein which will be sponsored by Child Welfare. St Andrew's pupils came to

school in civvies and donated the money to Child Welfare. Grey College donated maizeon the day which will go to various charities. Oranje Vooruit School will also be runninga Just One Bag maize drive. Jordan was also interviewed by Radio Rosestad who havechallenged the public in Bloemfontein to donate money or maize towards Just One

Bag.

Well done, Jordan!

Jordan with Emma Francis (Head of Child Line), Lize Du Plooy (Marketing and Funding

Manager Child Welfare), Mr Thomas ( Head of St Andrews)

Jordan with Maize donated from Grey College

Just One Bag - Bloemfontein


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Notices


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Notices


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St Johns Preparatory SchoolPage 23

Notices

Art club and extra classes

From the beginning of next term, Mr Poco is starting an Art Club (for LIII and UIII boys) and extra art classes for juniorboys. Senior boys are encouraged to join the Art Club on Tuesdays from 14h00 -15h00 or Thursdays from

15h00-16h00. Juniors may arrange extra art lessons with Mr Poco at alternative times and on alternative days.

We hope to see the senior boys joining the Art Club to create various exciting art works with mediums they do notnormally use in class, such as print making, photography, oil painting and many more. This will be a fantastic opportunity

for any boy who wishes to develop his art skills.

For further information e-mail Bruno Poco on [email protected]

ItalianLanguage

LessonsSmall age appropriate classes and individual tuition

offered outside school hours at St Johns.

Experienced mother-tongue graduate teacher usingcommunicative method of conversation, maintaining

cultural ties for solid IEB foundation.

Contact Lisabetta on 082 682 2859 or

[email protected]

EXTRA MATHS

LESSONSLower III & Upper III boys in Mrs Jean Clarences

classroom

Every Thursday 14h15 - 15h00 All Welcome

Extra Maths Lessons

Individual tuition offered

Mrs M Hauptfleisch

Call 011 442 1854

083 256 7714

Mr R MacIntosh has written a book

Maccey A Quest for Freedom

A story of a teacher and his dog

Published by Cobblecrab Publishers

Parents who would like a copy are asked to contactMr MacIntosh on 076 529 5529

Copies can also be ordered through the publishers:

[email protected] R100 per copy


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WHOSE CHILD IS THIS?

"Whose child is this?" I asked one day

Seeing a little one out at play"Mine," said the parent with a tender smile

"Mine to keep a little whileTo bathe his hands and comb his hair

To tell him what he is to wearTo prepare him that he may always be good

And each day do the things he should"

"Whose child is this?" I asked againAs the door opened and someone came in

"Mine," said the teacher with the same tender smile"Mine, to keep just for a little whileTo teach him how to be gentle and kindTo train and direct his dear little mind

To help him live by every ruleAnd get the best he can from school"

"Whose child is this?" I ask once moreJust as the little one entered the door

"Ours," said the parent and the teacher as they smiledAnd each took the hand of the little child

"Ours to love and train togetherOurs this blessed task forever."

Author Unknown

prep newsletter no 4 2012

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