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  • 8/22/2019 Preparatory Newsletter #7 of 2013

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    6 August 2013

    St Johns Preparatory SchoolSt Johns Preparatory SchoolHoughton

    Tel: 011 645 3100/ 087 550473 Newsletter Number 7

    2/8 UII Instrumental Concert

    St Johns Cross Country

    (St Davids)

    5/8 Parent Interviews

    6/8 Parent Interviews8/8 FINAL ASSEMBLY

    Reminders fromthe Diary

    From the HeadmasterTrinity Term has certainly been one of celebration andachievement. Not only have our Prep boys enjoyedsuccesses on the sports field, in music, academically andachieved some incredible community service works, butour Old Boys have too been phenomenal of late. ChrisFroome (2003) winning the 2013 Tour de France (in myeyes, probably one of the greatest sporting achievementspossible), David Hunt (2009) won gold in the World U23

    Rowing Championships and Willie Morgan (2010) hasbeen selected as cox for the South African Rowing Team.We must also congratulate current College boys whohave had significant achievements, with an incredibleamount of boys being selected for their respective

    provincial sporting codes and South African Schools.

    Having said that, our term has also had its share ofsome sad moments, with the loss of some loved ones andour beloved Madiba frail in hospital. This has made methink about how our boys view these incredible people

    and how they aspire to be like them one day. Are thepeople our boys follow heroes or are they role models?

    We are raised from an early age to love a hero be itSuperman, Batman, or some type of Sports star.Regardless of our hero's behaviour and integrity, weoften become enamored with their power and status, andallow ourselves to become an extension of their valuesand beliefs. In our rush to embrace our heroes, we ignoretheir humanity. We don't want to see them as real peoplebecause it diminishes the significance of their impor-tance in comparison to our lives. Perhaps it is becauseone lacks clear vision of oneself and therefore our heroserves the purpose of filling that void. We believe thatour heroes are more important and deserving than weare. Unfortunately heroes often let themselves (and us)down. Take Hansie Cronje and Oscar Pistorious for

    example.

    Role models are significantly different from heroes. Rolemodels are the people who come into our lives in a

    personal manner and enrich our experience. They giveadvice, teach, coach, encourage, support and protect

    those within their sphere of influence. They are theparents, teachers, friends, neighbours, and community

    members that we value.

    Dont get me wrong, I am not sayingthat our boys should not haveheroes; we just need to teach themthe difference between the two. Rolemodels will rarely let us down, butheroes might. Role models alwayselevate us, whereas hero worshipmay lead us to diminish our ownvalue. Role models are intimatelyconnected to our experience,whereas heroes may serve asvicarious images. We accept our rolemodels and all of their humanity,whereas heroes may be placed on apedestal. Role models usually fulfillour needs, whereas heroes may be adisappointment when they fall fromgrace. Role models are not anextension of who we are, whereasheroes may be tied to an illusion that

    we have about reality. You rarelyhear about role models, but heroesreceive a great deal of attention. It istime that as a culture, we salute therole models and the purpose that

    they serve within our lives.

    Nelson Mandela is without doubt ahero, but he is also such a great rolemodel. It is time that we, as parentsand teachers, make sure that we

    endeavour to be the best role models

    for our children in order not only tohonour his lifes work, but also toensure our children take thiscountry, planet and themselves to abetter place. I wish you all a

    wonderful holiday.

    PATRICK LEES

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    Page 2 St Johns Preparatory School

    As we reach the end of term and reports have gone out, we have had many

    discussions with parents, with teachers and with boys about successes and failuresduring Trinity Term. In these conversations, several common themes emerge and I hope

    to share some of these with you.

    Variation in averages

    Its perfectly normal for averages to move up and down over the course of a year. Forindividual subjects, a normal variation would be up to 7 or 8 %. Across a whole termaggregate, a normal variation would be 2 3 %. Boys marks improve or dip slightly

    depending on so many factors that it really isnt cause for alarm.

    However, if there has been a major drop in a particular subject, or if an aggregate hasdropped substantially because of a drop in marks across the board, you may be feelingconcerned. I can only stress that the conversation you have with your son at this point

    is crucially important if something useful is to come from the reporting process.

    Remember to focus on the process not the mark. Its important for your son to feelsupported and for him to know that theres a clear way forward, rather than blaming

    him (or his teachers!)

    Ask questions like:

    What do you feel youve done well in this term? Are there areas that you think you could improve on?

    What do you think you could do differently next term?

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    Page 3 St Johns Preparatory School

    The impact of absenteeism on results

    We fully understand that boys do get sick and need to take time off to get well. Weactually encourage boys not to come to school and infect other boys with colds and flu,or tummy bugs, and so on.

    However, where boys are frequently absent during the term, this inevitably has anegative impact on term marks. For example, if a boy is absent for one day a weekduring this term, he will have missed 20% of the terms teaching time. With the bestintentions in the world, simply catching up on the worksheet or completing the exercisefor lessons missed cannot replace 45 minutes of teaching and discussion.

    What can be done to help?

    Homework routines and getting organised

    Encourage your son to take ownership of his homework, rather than getting drawn

    into confrontations in the afternoon. Make sure youre available to help, but leave

    the rest up to him.

    Make sure there is a proper bedtime routine. Boys have really long days and they

    need to get to sleep at a reasonable time every evening, including weekend nights.

    Teach your son to be responsible about cell phone use late at night, when you may

    think hes fast asleep. A system which works well is to encourage him to switch his

    phone off and put it on a shelf outside his room for the night, out of temptations

    reach.

    Ask your son what he could do to be more organised next term. How can you as theparent help him do this? For example, he may need help to set aside clear time over

    the weekend for academic catch up.

    Advice for boys from Mrs Rimmer

    Get organised on the outside!

    Use your calendar, diary card, cell phone to keep the bigger picture in mind,

    as well as the day to day details.

    Pack your own bag every night.

    Get organised on the inside!

    Understand how YOU think.

    Have a general understanding of your own working memory.

    Develop strategies to help you in subjects you find hard.

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    Page 4 St Johns Preparatory School

    Editing and learning from mistakes

    Encourage your son to edit and rework work. Its an area that is often not done well

    as boys tend just to look at the mark and then move on.

    Going back through assessments, worksheets and books, and analysing how things

    could have been done more effectively, can be of invaluable help in changing his

    approach to learning.

    If books are chaotic or not up to date, he may find it useful to get organised during

    the August holidays in preparation for a fresh start next term.

    Reading! Reading! Reading!

    Reading remains the most vital skill your son can acquire. Poor reading and decodingskills impact on every single subject, from Maths problem solving to understandingHistory sources in assessments.

    Like any skill, practice every single day is vital. And how exciting that everyday youcan read something different and it is still practice! Boys must be allowed to choose what they want to read. However, if they read two

    graphic novels, for example, and then a full-length book, and alternate texts in thatway, they are exposed to a wider variety of books.

    Parents should be reading to their boys everyday, even in Upper III.

    Reading and analysing an article from the newspaper, or working on the political

    cartoon a few times a week, really helps develop higher-order thinking skills and

    expands vocabulary and general knowledge.

    Mrs Sulter recommends tea and biscuits and a good book, in bed, in the morning

    when boys wake up during the holidays. After half an hour, they can then spend therest of the day playing on all their other tech devices.

    *****

    Have a wonderful August break!

    Margot Long

    Second Mistress Academics

    [email protected]

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    Page 5 St Johns Preparatory School

    In sitting down to write this, I was initially unsure what to share with you or whatdirection to take. Then I started to think about what my job entails and whilst working

    with boys forms the predominant part of my day, I often think the work done withparents is even more important. This is due to the fact that my time spent counsellingboys is minimal compared to the time parents get to spend with their boys. Thus theinput parents have, has the greatest impact on their boys.

    In todays rat-race society, there is constant pressure to be the best and to maximisepotential based on the multitude of resources available. This is true not just of theexpectations placed on boys, but also of the expectations parents place on themselves.Donald Winnicott, a paediatrician and developmental psychologist, wrote in the 1950sof a concept termed good enough mothering. This referred to the need for the mother

    (although I think this applies to both parents) not to be perfect but rather to be as theterm states, merely good enough. A parent who meets the childs every whimimmediately and without fail does not allow that child to learn how to cope with failureor how to think for himself. A child is thus not allowed to experience the external realityof the world and comes to depend solely on the parent to address his every need.Likewise, a parent who regularly fails to meet their childs needs is demonstrating to thechild that they can rely on nobody but themselves, a dangerous space to be in aschildren are not born with the resources to cope with the world but rather developthese over time with the assistance of adults. Thus a good enoughparent meets theirchilds needs more often than not but also provides the child with a chance to safelyexperience frustration and failure.

    In our last parent information evening, Judith Ancer mentioned the well-knownpsychological concept of a parental secure base. Here the parent provides the platformfrom which a child can safely explore their world whilst having a secure base to whichthey can return. The child is able to play freely, to explore relationships and to makemistakes; confident in the knowledge that they have a secure attachment that they canreturn to if they become overwhelmed or unable to make sense of a situation. Thus it

    seems that the concepts ofgood enough parentingand a secure basego hand-in-hand.

    So how does one become a good enoughparent? Being a present and engaged figure,who takes an interest in everything their child does, seems a good place to start. Askingquestions, spending time together and interacting with their child also seems like agood place to begin. Setting firm boundaries, providing a structure, being disciplined,having consistency and establishing a routine is also very important. The reality,however, is that life happens and sometimes these are not always possible. Theimportant aspect is to be applying these more often than not. The one non-negotiablehowever, is that a child needs to feel unconditionally loved. A child should not feel thata parents emotional support and affection is tied to how well they have done or howmuch they achieve. They need to feel loved, valued and affirmed for who they areregardless of anything else. Life does not allow us to be perfect. It does, however, allow

    us to be good enough. So as we head in to the August holiday, I would like to pose thefollowing question to you: In todays rat-race society, is being good enoughnot alreadyperfect? Hugo Meirim

    Director of Pastoral Care

    [email protected]

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    Page 6 St Johns Preparatory School

    Cross Country

    Cross Country results- Henderson Park, 12 July 2013.

    U9

    No results due to lack of officials showing boys the route

    U10

    9th position- Dylan Brugman

    12th position-Caden Meyer

    14th position- Torin Torrente

    15th position- Alvaro Murillo

    16th position- Deckland Nichols

    U11

    22nd position- Nicholas Koutromanos

    U12

    5th position- Dino Iozzo

    7th position- Matthew de la Rey

    18th position- Tristan Butler26th position - Corijn van de Loosdrecht

    Cross Country results - St Stithian's, 19 July 2013

    U9

    7th position- Tadgh Coakley-Eager

    10th position- Christopher Gray

    12th position- Jamie Elliott

    22nd position- Ben de Sousa

    U10

    9th position- Dylan Brugman

    12th position- Caden Meyer

    19th position- Kieran Anderson

    U11

    21st position- nTando Brummer

    U12

    1st position- Dino Iozzo

    9th position- Matthew de la Rey

    14th position- Corijn van de Loosdrecht

    Open

    2nd position- Robin Swartz

    17th position- Brandon Vermeulen

    23rd position- Dale Hallendorff

    Opens

    2nd position- Gavin McPherson

    4th position- Robin Swartz

    14th position-Dale Hallendorff

    21st position- Jordan van der Walt

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    Page 7 St Johns Preparatory School

    Cross Country results- St Peter's, 26 July 2013

    U9

    5th position- Tadgh Coakley-Eager

    8th position- Christopher Gray

    9th position- Jamie Elliott

    11th position- Bryce Reid

    27th position- Alex de la Rey

    U10

    9th position- Torin Torrente

    12th position- Dylan Brugman

    13 position- Caden Meyer21st position- Peter Buckle

    U11

    21st position- Timothy Martin

    24th position- nTando Brummer

    27th position- Alex Barrow

    Well done to all the boys who ran!

    Cross Country results- St David's 2 August 2013

    U9

    5th position- Tadgh Coakley-Eager

    8th position- Christopher Gray

    13th position- Jamie Elliott

    23rd position- Bryce Reid

    U106th position- Peter Buckle

    8th position- Torin Torrente

    9th position- Dylan Brugman

    19th position- Kieran Anderson

    22nd position- Caden Meyer

    U12

    1st position- Dino Iozzo6th position- Matthew de la Rey

    14th position- Tristan Butler

    15th position- Corijn van de Loosdrecht

    Open

    2nd position- Gavin McPherson

    3rd position- Robin Swartz

    20th position- Brandon Vermeulen24th position- Jordan van Der Walt

    25th position- Kieran McKenna

    26th position- Michael Mackie

    U11

    18th position- Timothy Martin

    U12

    2nd position- Dino Iozzo

    6th position- Matthew de la Rey

    15th position- Tristan Butler19th position- Corijn van de Loosdrecht

    Open

    1st position- Gavin McPherson

    5th position- Robin Swartz

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    Page 8 St Johns Preparatory School

    The rock climbing finals took place 27 and 28 July. The A league took place onFriday afternoon at Wonderwall and the B league at Rockfit on Saturday. Our boys did

    exceptionally well and we retain the best boy school trophy.

    Well done to the following boys:

    U11A Placed

    J Mordoh 4

    M Bester 6

    Rock Climbing

    U13A Placed

    A Thiel 8

    G Berry 9

    L Lowdon 12

    B Milton 13

    M Smith 14

    U13B Placed

    Don Moodie 1M Prioresci 2

    Dem Moodie 3

    A Healey 5

    H Myburgh 6

    J Scholtz 7

    S Smart 8

    A Mason-Gordon 10

    N Lansdown 14

    U11B Placed

    K Dooley 2

    S Omand 4

    A Qu 5

    J Wetselaar 11

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    Page 9 St Johns Preparatory School

    Individual Achievements

    Jacob Joseph, LIID, took part in theNational Inter Provincial crickettournament. His team was placed second

    in the U10 Gauteng cubs team.

    Well done, Jacob!

    JUDODino and Nicholas Koutromanos took partin SA's Judo held in Port Elizabeth during

    mid term break. Dino received a bronzemedal for individual events in under 34kgweight division and both Dino and Nicholasreceived silver medals for team events. Well

    done, boys!

    KarateLuka Rajak, UI, competed in the SA JKA

    Karate National Competition on 31 May.He was awarded a silver medal in the U9Kumite Division. Well done, Luka!

    Julio Mordoh has qualified forthe 2013 Gauteng Regional teamin Elite 2 Gymnastics. Well done

    Julio!

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    Chess Results

    22nd July

    St Johns A vs St Benedicts 26 38

    St Johns B vs St Peters 7 - 57Congratulations to boys who won both matches Daniel Harding, Caden Meyer, Corjinvan de Loosdrecht

    29th July

    Inter-house chess

    3rd place Bousefield /Cullinan (21)

    2nd place Carter (22)

    1st place Darragh (34)

    Congratulations to boys who won all matches H Papageorgio, D Louw, C Meyer, A Qu,

    L Plotz, T Williamson

    Page 10St Johns Preparatory School

    Individual Achievements

    Brandon Vermeulen, UIII, took part in SATA U12 national ranking event at Ellis Park,

    winning his first singles title. Well done, Brandon!

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    Page 11St Johns Preparatory School

    We wish our five 1st team tennis boys the best of luck as they are competing in the2013 Private Schools' Tennis Tournament, taking place during the August holidays.

    The tournament is being held at Sun City, from Friday 23 Sunday 25 August. Wethank Mr Johnson for giving up of his time to join and guide the boys at thistournament.

    Mr Logan

    [email protected]

    Christopher Williams; Ethan Chilvers; Mr T Johnson;Janovin Scholtz; Bradley Milton; Alex Barrow

    Tennis

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    The following boys did their Trinity London practical music exams:

    Timothy Milton Piano Initial

    Dexter Harding Violin Gr1

    Nikhil Haripershad Violin Gr2

    Gregory Basslian Violin Gr4

    Page 12St Johns Preparatory School

    Joel Shefer Theory Gr1

    Andi Qu Recorder Gr2

    Taylor Williamson, passed his ABRSM London practical Recorder exam Gr2

    Music

    Mrs Bonnet with the Prep Orchestra that participated in JohannesburgFestival for the Advancement of Music

    Kapil Moodley - recital honours;

    Ryan Hoffmann - recital honours and honours for solo;

    St John's Junior Prep Ensemble recital honours;

    James Venables - honours plus for solo;

    Dean Graca - merit for solo;

    Kapil Moodley - merit plus for solo;

    Matthew Monteith - 2 Diplomas for Piano;

    Tristan Butler - 2 Merits for Piano;

    Alisdair Campbell - Merit & honours for piano

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    Page 13St Johns Preparatory School

    This term's Chatterbox Public Speaking Festival was held at St John's Prep on Thursday13 June. We hosted over fifty speakers from schools within our area and all our

    adjudicators commented on the high standard of speeches presented during the evening.

    Congratulations to the following boys from the Prep who acquitted themselves so

    admirably during the festival:

    Lower II

    Keno de Jesus

    Christopher Pearce

    Luke Plotz

    Upper II

    Jamie Diesel

    Spencer Clarke

    Kei Prior

    Our much awaited Grahamstown Festival tour began early on Thursday morning as theboys waved goodbye to their parents and boarded their flight. We arrived safely at the StAndrews Hostel and were greeted by the friendly staff. We watched our first show in theevening which proved to be one of the highlights of the trip. The duo from BrothersStreep had us all in stitches with their comical music performance on guitars. Hourslater, we were still giggling at the jokes. During our time in Grahamstown, the boys wereinvolved in a variety of craft, music and dance activities. We were fortunate to watchseven shows in total! Each show was excellent and it made it difficult trying to decidewhich was the best one. The boys really enjoyed the tour and Matthew Monteithsummed up everyones sentiments when he said, Please can you change our flights,Maam? I so badly want to stay longer!

    Miss Frigyik and Mrs Trolese

    Chatterbox Public Speaking Festival

    Lower III

    Matt de la Rey

    Max Milella

    James Ives

    Upper III

    Nicholas Moschides

    Thendo Mudau

    Stefano Cavalieri

    Lloyd Magee

    Grahamstown Festival Tour 2013

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    Page 14St Johns Preparatory School

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    4CTea

    100% for Spelling and Dictation

    Thomas Vermooten Zeyn Mahomed Khelan Desai

    Reward For Honesty - Handing In Phone

    Kamille Kum

    Page 15 St Johns Preparatory School

    Outstanding Zulu Assessment

    Adrian Lapin Joshua Whitehead Lebone Madalane

    Excellent Spelling

    Trishan Moodley Mike Ontong

    Excellent Performance in Visual Literacy

    Daniel Cockram Aidan OHanlon Demarco MoodieThendo Mudau Michael Smith

    Achieving their goals in Maths

    Dian Broodryk Joshua Sansom

    Joshua Martino Marc Hersov

    2nd XV vs St Peters

    Mike Ontong Keir Mantzios Thomas Sandilands

    Simon Shelton Nicholas Siedle Thomas Grubb

    Gavin McPherson

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    Page 16St Johns Preparatory School

    The Upper III and Upper I classes performed in the successful Major production ofSHREK on the 23 - 26 June 2013. Auditions took place in March and so began a

    journey of growth, confidence building and FUN for many of the boys.

    The last week of Easter term culminated in a week-long workshop of drama, dance,movement, singing, instrument playing, stage combat and choreography rehearsals.The boys worked with the likes of Tracey Human and Craig Morris who are some of the

    most prolific theatre makers in this country.

    Miss Shannon Frigyik trained the musicians and prepared all of the musicalarrangements for the play. She also choreographed the Upper I dances. Mr Moshe

    Singer assisted in rehearsals and some of the musical arrangements, as well as theco-ordination and setting up of stage, sound and props for the show.

    The Trinity term was filled with numerous hours of extra rehearsals for the cast. Eachboy learned valuable lessons in tenacity, commitment and focused resilience as they

    were put through their paces in the various disciplines.

    Kieran McGregor and Kai Brummer, both of whom are completing their theatre andperformance degrees at UCT, trained the backstage crew in lighting and stage

    management.

    The parents provided the costumes and make-up and willing mums gave of their timeto dress and supervise the boys before the production. A make-up workshop wasattended by all of these mums and provided an insightful reality into the art behindstage make-up. Thank you specifically to Mrs Wong, Mrs Smart, Mrs Dunbar, MrsWilliams, Mrs De la Rey, Mrs Vermooten and Mrs Ward for the co-ordination of all ofthe logistics for sourcing costumes. Thanks to Mrs Mantzios, Mrs Lowdon, Mrs Moodie,

    Mrs Sandilands, Mrs Cavalieri and Mrs Burke for help in the making of costumes.

    I would like to thank Mr Lees for supporting and allowing such an ambitious project tobe tackled at a prep school level. Thanks too, to all of the teachers for their patientsupport while lessons were disrupted and for the hours backstage assisting with theboys. A huge thanks also goes to Debbie Powell and Craig Verdal-Austin who provided

    huge support in the form of logistical arrangements.

    This play was an enormous undertaking, but one that is so worthwhile when one seesthe process in an educational light. It is not because things are difficult that we do not

    dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. (Seneca)

    Natalie Brummer

    Drama Teacher

    [email protected]

    AN OGRE OF A PRODUCTION

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    Page 17St Johns Preparatory School

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    Page 18St Johns Preparatory School

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    Miss Earth Programme 2013

    Page 19St Johns Preparatory School

    On Wednesday 3 July, St Johns community service team took part in the Garnier"Take Care" initiative in conjunction with Miss Earth Programme. The boys went to

    Solwazi Primary School in Orange Farm to plant 95 trees in honour of Nelson Mandelawho is 95 years old.

    The boys pictured with the MTN LionsJulio Murdoh, Jordan Van Der Walt,Luke Whitehouse, Harry Myburg, MichaelOmand and Dylan Van Der Walt

    The boys pictured with Miss Earth finalist 2013

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    Page 20 St Johns Preparatory School

    SciBono Outing

    On Thursday 27 June the Upper III boys, along with myself, Miss Joubert, Mr Loganand Mr Xaba, went to see the Body Worlds exhibition at the SciBono museum in

    Newtown.

    The exhibition has been shown in more than 70 cities throughout the world and seenby over 35 million people. The boys were intrigued by what they saw. It wasfascinating for them to see how the human anatomy works and the structure and

    function of different organs.

    The boys particularly enjoyed the fact that the bodies were real bodies that had beenplasticized!

    Here are a couple of comments made by the boys:

    It was very informative, interesting and educational - Daniel Burke Upper IIIG

    I tried not to think that they were real bodies but it was fascinating Garyn Berry

    UIIIG

    I learnt a lot about how the human body works. It was really interesting to see how

    the knee works as I broke my knee earlier this year. Bradley Dunbar UIIIG

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    Page 21 St Johns Preparatory School

    The St Johns College community of Old Johannians, parents, students and staff aim touphold Gods mandate of us to practice good stewardship over the sea, the air, the land

    and over all living things. We aim to:

    1. Develop a shared knowledge around issues relating to environmental sustainability.

    2. Take responsibility for managing our resources so that we reduce wastage.

    3. Implement systems and projects that will reduce our carbon footprint in a

    sustainable way.

    4. Improve our school grounds and community through efficient recycling, reusing and

    by increasing biodiversity.

    5. Minimise the introduction of foreign chemicals into our environment and be

    proactive in initiatives aimed at improving health care.

    6. Guard the heritage with which we have been entrusted.

    St Johns boys will be selling ribbons in an aim to cover the entire rhino. The ribboncosts R5. The money raised will be donated to the RAGE, a LeadSA initiative to help

    save the rhino.

    SJC Eco-Code

    Save The Rhino

    Robin Swartz, Lloyd Magee, James Arthur, Matthew Wong, NicholasMoschides and Nicholas Lansdown with Johnny the Rhino

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    Page 22 St Johns Preparatory School

    Hook a Book - Upper I

    The Upper 1 boys each chose a library book to read after which they reviewed the book.Each classs review was completed on a different themed background. The combination

    of the three themes created a delightful presentation.

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    Page 23St Johns Preparatory School

    Book Reviews from Upper I

    By Thomas Vermooten UIRBy Byron Bousfield UIL

    By Zeyn Mahomed UID

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    Page 24 St Johns Preparatory School

    Once there was a shark who lived in the sea. One day he went to look for some food he

    stopped to look at a fish floating in the sea. He took a bite and pulled. He felt a pain.

    Then he tried to pull again but nothing happened. Then he was being pulled up to a boat.

    He saw lots of sharks. They were bleeding and their fins were cut off. A man came and

    cut off all his fins. He was trying to get off the boat but he was pushed into the water

    and slowly he sank back on the ocean floor.

    By Remo Scaramal UIR

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    Page 25St Johns Preparatory School

    Mandela Day

    Mandelas birthday is celebrated around the globe on July 18. This year, St JohnsPreparatory boys, once again joined the throng of celebrations by working for 67

    minutes on various community projects throughout the morning.

    The main project, embarked on by the LIII and UIII boys, was extended into a school

    project. Boys were required to build ecobricks.

    An ecobrick is a 2L bottle, filled with unrecyclable plastic waste that would haveotherwise increased landfill. The bricks will be compressed and used to rebuild adisadvantaged pre-primary school.

    St Johns Preparatory will hand the bricks over to The EcoBrick Exchange - acollaborative non-profit organisation set on nurturing practical recycling habits and

    education - once the project is complete.

    After compressing countless plastic waste into bottles and eating cake, the boysgathered on Burger field to arrange the bottles into a heart shape as a tribute to theworlds most recognised icon, Madiba.

    Money was raised for a special boy, Kwela. This avid young soccer player who plays forJacoba Soccer team has worn out his knuckles as he walks on his hands after losing

    both his legs in a landmine in Mozambique.

    The boys were instructed to work for 67 minutes at home over the weekend doing anynumber of family chores. The money raised from the chores will go to buying Kwela apair of custom made Kevlar gloves to protect his hands from further damage.

    Kate Rodrigues

    [email protected]

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    On 18 July 2013, Jordan Van Der Walt joined Lead SA on Mandela Day atThohoyandou Primary School near Pretoria and donated 1.5 tons of maize.

    Jordan with Yusuf Abramjee andHeadmaster of Thohoyandou Primary

    Jordan with Melinda Bam- Miss SA 2012

    31 July, 1.5 tons of maize was donated to Jacoba Football Academy

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    Dear Lynn and Jordan

    On behalf of St Margarets Anglican Church, Bedfordview and theTholano Tsa Kopano Feeding Scheme for AIDS orphans that we

    support in Orange Farm I would like to say a HUGE thank you toyou and Spar for the extremely generous donation of mielie mealwe received on Wednesday. It will go a long way to improving thelives of these children.

    I have been involved with this feeding scheme since December2005 and know the people involved very well. With donations wereceive from the congregation, a friend and I shop at Makro once

    a month and drive out there with the basic food stuffs. Eachfamily gets 5kg mielie meal, dried beans, 1kg samp, soya mince, atin of pilchards, tea, 1kg sugar and a bar of laundry and toiletsoap. Sometimes if we have enough money we buy soup as well,but with rising food costs it is not always possible.

    Your donation will help us enormously for the next few months. Iwill store it in my garage and take out enough for the month as

    they do not have any storage facilities out there. I will send you aseparate email with details about the project and I will send yousome photos the next time I go out there.Thank you so much once again. Keep up the incredible work youdo. Jordan, for a boy of your age to be so unbelievably thoughtfulfor the welfare of others, is truly remarkable. It was wonderful tomeet you.

    God blessRegards, Robyn Jelley

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    Chris Froome

    St Johns College requested all pupils to wear some form of yellow to school to showtheir support of Chris Froome who Matriculated at St Johns College in 2003. Pupilsand staff gathered on the main rugby field for a photograph to be sent to Chris, showing

    the schools support and pride of his achievement in the Tour de France.

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    Donated Bikes

    The boys were asked to donate bikes that they no longer used. The bikes will be goingto various charities.

    Thank You

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    iCare

    Whilst we hope and anticipate that all boys will feel able to approach their teachers or amember of staff should they feel that something is wrong, we understand that this will notalways be the case. Some boys may feel unsure of how to approach a staff member orunsure of what they should say. For this reason we are continuing to use the iCare box,which is now located in Mrs Powells office. We also have an electronic version where boyscan contact the Pastoral Care Team at [email protected] . The Pastoral Care teamis hoping that the boys make use of these initiatives to highlight anything that they CARE

    about at St Johns Prep.

    The aim is to provide the boys with an alternative avenue to voice their feelings aroundhatever may be on their minds. This extends beyond the reporting of just peer

    difficulties (such as bullying) the aim is to further enhance the quality of the St Johnsexperience. All notes placed in the box or sent via email will be treated confidentially and

    actions instituted where possible.

    We ask that you encourage your son to make use of the iCare initiative so that we can

    make his day all that he hopes it can be.

    Hugo [email protected]

    AFRIKAANS TUITION

    Is your son struggling to communicate in Afrikaans or having difficulty mastering thebasics of the language (oral or written)? I am qualified to assist in both of the above areasand would be available to provide the necessary tuition between 15:00 and 18:00 on

    Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at St Johns Preparatory.

    Tuition will be provided on either a one-to-one basis or in group situations, lessons willlast for an hour. Progress will be regularly monitored and pupils will be expected to

    perform certain tasks and complete basic written assignments.

    Tuition fees for individual lessons are R250 per hour and R150 per hour for groupsessions.

    Should you be interested in the above, my contact details are as follows:

    Graham Carroll

    Tel : 011 534 1224

    Fax : 011 534 1225

    Cell : 076 858 9420

    Notices

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    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]

    Italian

    Language

    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 de Langes classroom

    Every Thursday 14h00 - 15h00

    (Teacher recommendation only)

    Shop At St Johns College

    New opening times from 28th January 2013Tuesday and Thursday: 7am to 3pm

    Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 10am to 3pm

    For stationery and labels, as well as all your sports clothes, jerseys, bags and socks

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