prep newsletter no 11 2011

8/3/2019 Prep Newsletter No 11 2011

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4 November 2011

St Johns Preparatory SchoolSt Johns Preparatory SchoolHoughton

Tel: 011 645 3100/ 087 550473 Newsletter Number 11

07/11 LIII & UIII Exams

School Closes 13h00

08/11 Hair & Uniform Inspection

School Closes 13h00

09/11 School Closes 13h00

Parents Information Evening: Grade 2

10/11 Remembrance Day Service

School Closes 13h00


St Stithians U11 & U13 Polo Festival


15/11 Headmasters Assembly

School Closes 13h00

16/11 LIII & UIII Exams End

All Library Books Returned

School Closes 13h00

22/11 Hair & Uniform Inspection

23/11 Brainpower Week Starts

Reminders from theDiary

From the HeadmasterBuild bridges instead of walls and youwill have a friend Anon

As we rapidly approach the end of the year andprepare for all our year-end and Christmascelebrations, I am reminded of all the other wonderful celebrations and events that have

taken place recently.

Our Hindu families have celebrated Navaratri - The festival of `nine nights' honouring themother goddess, Durga, wife of Shiva, andseeking her blessings. They have also justcelebrated Diwali - The Festival of Lights.Lakshmi, the Goddess of good fortune visits

every house where a lamp is lit.

Our Jewish families have celebrated RoshHashanah - literally the head of the year,commemorating God's creation of the world. The have also celebrated Yom Kippur - TheDay of Atonement, considered the holiest dayof the year; Sukkot - The Feast of Tabernaclescommemorating the 40 years in the desertwhen the Israelites lived in shelters; as well asSimchat Torah - Rejoicing over the Torah - thecompletion (of Deuteronomy) and beginning (of

Genesis) of the annual cycle of readings fromthe Torah.

Our Muslim families are about to celebrateEid-al-Adha - The Festival of Sacrifice whichcommemorates Abrahams willingness tosacrifice his son, Ishmael, at Allahs command,and coincides with the end of the Hajj - the

pilgrimage to Mecca.

These events and celebrations have set methinking about how diverse our community is

and wondering whether we as parents and

teachers are helping our children togrow up in a world free from bias and

discrimination, to reach for theirdreams and feel that whatever theywant to accomplish in life is possible.We want them to feel loved andincluded and never to experience thepain of rejection or exclusion.

But the reality is that we do live in a world in which racism and otherforms of bias continue to affect us.Discrimination hurts and leaves scarsthat can last a lifetime, affecting goals,ambitions, life choices and feelings ofself-worth.


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Page 2 St Johns Preparatory School

How can we best prepare children to meet the challenges facing them and reap thebenefits of the increasingly diverse world which they will inherit? We can raise ourchildren to celebrate and value diversity and to be proud of themselves and their familytraditions. We can teach children to respect and value people, regardless of the colourof their skin, their physical abilities, or the language they speak. And as our nation

grows increasingly diverse, there has never been a better opportunity for us to learn tolive respectfully together and benefit from one another's wisdom and experiences.

Almost every aspect of child-rearing is influenced by cultural beliefs and values. Overtime, children learn who they are and what to do through these experiences - absorbinga sense of their routines, traditions, languages, cultures, and national or racialidentities. One way doesnt mean its the only way. So I encourage all our families totalk to one another, learn from one another, and find out about one anothers culturesand traditions. The following suggestions may be helpful in teaching children not onlyto value diversity, but also to resist practicing prejudice and discrimination:

Teach children to be critical thinkers, specifically about prejudice and discrimination.Critical thinking is when we strive to understand issues through examining andquestioning. Young children can begin to develop these skills, to know when a word or

an image is unfair or hurtful.

Respond to children's questions and comments about differences, even if you're notsure what to say. Children often interpret a lack of response to mean that it's notacceptable to talk about differences. If you're unsure about what to say, try: "I need to

think about your question and talk to you later." Or, you can always go back to a childand say: "Yesterday you asked me a question about Let's talk about it." Anotheruseful response: "I don't really like what I told you this morning. I've given it some

more thought, and here's what I really should have said."

Shape your response to the child's age and personality. Generally, children want toknow why people are different, what this means, and how those differences relate tothem. Remember that children's questions and comments are a way for them to gatherinformation about aspects of their identity and usually do not stem from bias or

prejudice.

Share with families and colleagues ideas for responding to children's questions. You'llgain new ideas and insights as you exchange experiences, and you can clarify what

works best for you and for your children.


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If children are nonverbal, observe and respond to their curiosity. For example, if achild is staring at or patting the head of a child whose hair is very different from his,

you can say, "He has straight hair, and you have curly hair."

Try to create opportunities for children to interact and make friends with people who

are different from them. As you know, children learn best from concrete experiences.

Try to expose children to role models from their own culture as well as to those fromother cultures. Remember: Seeing adults developing positive relationships with peoplewho are different offers an important model and teaches children to value such

relationships.

Adapted fromA Place to Begin: Working with Parents on Issues of

Diversity

by Dora Pulido-Tobiassen and Janet Gonzalez-Mena.

For me, verse 28 from Galatians 3 captures the way in which diversity should beembraced:

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male andfemale, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Patrick Lees

Headmaster


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From the Eagles study...

Study tip #4

Exam time is often a time of great stress for the parents as well as the boys. But itneednt be that way. If your son is organised, if YOU are organised, a great deal of angst

and worry can be eliminated.

Here are a few suggestions to help make this time of year a (relatively) stress-free time:

Be realistic and flexible.

Acknowledge your son may transform into a bad-tempered, temperamental

stranger until the last day of exams. This is normal. Anxiety and stress do

strange things to people! He willreturn to his former, loveable self

Try and arrange your familys social activities around your sons study and exam

timetable - if only for the next two and a half weeks. He will need your help in

many aspects of studying, so will need you to be there to support and possibly

test him on his work.

Your son will need to display his exam timetable at all times. For those who

attended the Study Skills Workshops, the calendars they filled in should be

clearly displayed on the wall. This way, both you and your son can see exactlywhat is coming up. If your son filled in a Personal Study Timetable, this should

be displayed at all times, too. This way, when you find your son listening to

music / watching TV / talking on his cell phone you will know it is his study

break so wont panic that he is doing nothing!

Display any mind maps / summaries your son has created so he will be able to

see them all the time. This will help him remember things in the exam. When he

takes them down, KEEP THEM SAFE! He may need them again in the not too

distant future!

Your son should not have his cell phone with him while studying AT ALL. During

his breaks, he can catch up with messages. If he is constantly chatting or texting

on his cell while studying, nothing will sink in, and time is wasted.

It cannot be all work and no play. Negotiate times when your son is allowed to

watch TV / go out to movies / relax.


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Help your son organise his study time. Those who attended the Study Skills

Workshops will have been shown how to do this, but as with everything new, it is

always tricky to get it right the first time round.

Time management is crucial. Help your son sort out when he needs to studywhat, according to the exam timetable. For example, it is no good studying Maths

for six days in a row when the first exam is History.

Enough sleep, nutritious food and proper hydration are also important. Having a

bottle of water and some healthy snacks (fruit, nuts, biltong, etc.) on his desk

while he studies will eliminate the need to get up every five minutes to get a

drink or something to eat. A good nights sleep is essential.

Attitude towards exams is also critical. Your son needs the heart of a gladiator,

ready to strike terror into each exam paper, as much as he needs knowledge. I

have dealt with many boys who have so much knowledge, but do not believe they

can do it. They CAN do it. Encourage your son to believe it. Perhaps he needs to

repeat the mantra whatever I have to cope with in there, I will do my best. I will

NOT be put off. And my best is good enough.

Attitude is everything. Not only towards exams, but towards education in general.

Help your son find the good, the exciting and the inspiring in all he does.

All that remains is for me to wish each boy good luck, a calm mind and an Eagles

focus on his goal.

Caroline Rimmer


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iCareThe iCare box, which has been located in the Library Bag Room for the last few weeks,has proved successful in providing our boys with another means of making theirconcerns heard. Whilst we continue to monitor the iCare box, we now invite boys toshare their concerns with us electronically too. The iCare box can now be found in twolocations the Library Book Room and at [email protected] The Pastoral Careteam hopes that the boys will 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 around

hatever may be on their minds. This extends beyond the reporting of just peerdifficulties (such as bullying) aims to further enhance the quality of the St Johnsexperience for all the boys. All notes placed in the box or sent via email will be treated

confidentially and action taken 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 Meirim

Clinical Psychologist

Head of Pastoral Care

[email protected]

SPONSORSHIP FOR 94.7 CYCLE RACE

Each year, Joburgs biggest cycle race aims to raise funding forJohannesburgs most needy organisations. This year, St Johns Prep hasthree of its own teachers participating in this endeavour! Mr Meirim, MrForbes and Mr Lubbe are aiming to raise funds for the Baragwanath

Paediatric Burns Unit and Philie Pre-School in Cosmo City respectively.The Paediatric Burns Unit in Baragwanath Hospital sees more than 400

young patients each year, almost 25% of which require intensive care treatment. Ridershave been tasked with raising as much funding as possible to help better equip theunit, improve education in the community and up-skill the hospital staff. PhililePre-School in Cosmo City will be the third of its kind launched in Johannesburg. Theschool aims at ensuring a solid educational foundation for children in impoverishedareas as this has proven to improve the local matric success rate significantly. Ridershave been challenged to raise R2 500 each in order to set up class rooms and purchasestationery for the schools opening in 2012. Should you wish to sponsor one of these

teachers and their worthy causes, please contact them on [email protected],[email protected] or [email protected]

Any support would be greatly appreciated!

iCare


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1st November 2011

PARENT INFORMATION EVENINGS

Whilst we have run some very successful Parent Information Evenings this

year and have some ideas for topics for next year, we would also appreciate

parents input into this process. By letting us know possible topics that

would interest you, you provide us with the opportunity to cater to your

needs.

Topics over the past two years have included, for example: The importance

of nutrition and diet; Sex Education; Drug Awareness; Sport; and

Self-Esteem.

We welcome your ideas and ask that you email any suggestions to

[email protected]. Although we may not be able to

accommodate all requests, these ideas will be collated and will assist us in

putting together a programme for 2012 and for the years to come.

Hugo Meirim

Clinical Psychologist

Head of Pastoral Care


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4CTea


12th October

Boys who wrote to Mr Lees and Mrs Long for their Knight CVLetters Project

Dino Iozzo Kivashan Govender Jaan Niehaus

Jack Stewart Daniel Fowlis Euan Chew

Emin Yilmaz Ziyanda Manaway Evan Peters

Thomas Cockram Sebastien Nassel-Henderson James Ives

Daniel Fowlis James Norman Nikhil Haripershad

Zizwe Dlamini Tristan Butler Matthew Appleyard

Josh Kapp Taine Maynard Milan Prioreschi

Brilliant Zulu Assessment

Aidan Quinn

19th October

Won both Chess Matches

M Berger J Williamson N Haripershad

B Thomas D Stevens S Modi

D Louw C Williams J Batzofin

K Govind A Ionescu T Grubb

N Moschides K Prior J West

W Kerr-Phillips E Baleni J Arthur

26th October

Good Manners

Dylan Van Der Walt Ryan Quinn

Connor Labuschagne Garth van den Berg

Aaron Hooper

Organised and Efficient Helping and Packing of Mealie Meal

Daniel Louw

Achievements in Spelling and Dictation

Kamille Kum Stefan Milos

Cricket 56 Runs

Alexander Worsdale

Outstandingly Helpful at Inter-House Quiz

Aidan Bellingam

2nd November

Improvement in Reading and Hard Work Good Work in Geography

Russell Browne Joshua Sansom Lawrence Lowdon


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Chess

17 October

St Johns A vs Jan Cilliers

Seniors lost 13 - 19

Juniors won 18 - 14

Overall lost 31 - 33

Well done to the following boys who won both their games:

E Baleni, D Louw and James Arthur.

St Johns B vs St Peters

Seniors lost 14 - 18

Juniors lost 7 - 25

Overall lost 21 - 43

31 October

Father vs Sons

Sons won 62 - 58

This was a lovely relaxed evening and the boys won the event fair and square! Thanks

to all the dads who made the special effort to attend.

Tess van der Merwe and Heather Baker


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Water Polo

Saints invitational Water Polo Tournament


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Music

The following boys sat their Trinity London Practical Examinations in September 2011.

Well done, boys!

The following boys have received Water Polo colours :

Adrian Ionescu Aidan Quinn

Ashley Lyne James Shelton

Well done, boys!

NAME INSTRUMENT

David McAlpine Rock School guitar

Jason Batzofin Recorder

James Shelton Violin

Ekow Daniels Guitar

Nicholas Ching Piano

Jordan Williamson Piano

Nicholas Moschides PianoMatthew Monteith Piano

Gabriel Baard Clarinet

Gregory Basslian Violin

Matthew Nelson Piano

Merlin Love Piano

Harry Myburgh Piano

Adrian Ionescu Piano

Gibran Sayegh Piano

Maxwell Baard Saxophone

Nicholas Forbes Piano

Thendo Mudau Violin

Daniel Stevens Clarinet

Keagan Lion-Cachet Recorder

Graeme Gush Recorder

Nicholas Moschides Recorder

Ross Bentley Violin

Water Polo Colours


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Rowing

The Junior Gauteng Rowing Championships took place over 29th 30th October.St Johns Prep made history by winning the overall regatta for the first time since theystarted rowing in 2000, 11 years ago. The results for the Prep boys were impressive.Three of our Octs competed, all of them making the A final. The Quads crew also made

the A final. The results were as follows:

Single Scull: 5th Aidan Bellingan, 6th Kathlego Ramosedi, 7th Armin Wessels

Double Scull: 2nd Brandon Mackenzie, Grant Foley

6th Sakiwe Canca, Adam Wolfe

Quadruple Scull: 8th William Kerr-Phillips, Oliver Kieser, Ben Coetzee, Armin Wessels,

Alex Brady

6th Ramon Faesen, Adam Wolfe, Reabetswe May, Aidan Bellingan

3rd Sakiwe Canca, James Braham, Fabiano Kalogirou,Kathlego Ramosedi, Zach Muldoon

1st Michael Norman; Grant Foley; Tristan Klement; BrandonMackenzie; Timothy McPherson

Octuple Scull: 8th Roy Chen, Patrick Fitzgerald, Luis Murillo, Afrika NdluvoZach Muldoon, Sachin Modi, Bradley Foley

3rd Ramon Faesen, Reabetswe May, Fabiano Kaligirou,Aidan Bellingan, Oliver Kieser, Ben Coetzee, WilliamKerr-Phillips, Armin Wessels

1st Michael Norman, Grant Foley, Tristan Klement

Brandon Mackenzie, Sakiwe Canca, James Braham, Adam Wolfe,

Kathlego Ramosedi, Timothy McPherson


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Jack Gnodde and Nicholas Ives were selected to represent Gauteng Cricket at the SA

North Regional Festival in December. Well done, boys!

Fayadh Haffejee has been selected to represent Gauteng as part of the U13 Gauteng

Invitational Team at the South African Regional Festival. Well done, Fayadh!

Cricket

U11A cricket tour to Cape Town


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The Junior Public Speaking competition was held on Wednesday, 26th October andour adjudicator, Mrs Brummer, was impressed by the standard of speakers. The

finalists presented a prepared speech as well as an impromptu speech.Congratulations to the following winners:

Lower II Prepared Speech: Bradley Milton Impromptu Speech: Max Milella

Upper II Prepared Speech: James Arthur Impromptu Speech: James Arthur

Junior Public Speaking Competition

James Arthur Max Milella

Bradley Milton


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Basketball Tour to Cape Town

The 1st team went on a successful basketball tour to Cape Town, over Michaelmashalf term of Michaelmas Term. Eighteen boys were part of a squad that represented

St Johns Prep in the inaugural St Johns Tour of Cape Town U/13 Tournament ,organised by Hoops-4-Hope. Hoops-4-Hope is a non-profit organisation that sup-ports youth development in Southern Africa. The organisation provides coaching and

infrastructural support to the youth in underprivileged communities.

Tournament participants included The International School, Wynberg School,Montevideo Primary School, Hezlia and two St Johns Prep teams. Some of theseteams proved to be very tough opposition as they are club teams and so they playbasketball throughout the year.

However the St Johns first team players were crowned champions after they emerged

24 -14 victors over Montevideo Primary School in the finals of the tournament.

Our boys worked exceptionally hard and flew the St Johns flag high. They displayedgreat team work and camaraderie at all times.

Despite the enormous challenges that basketball continues to face in as far asfacilities are concerned, our boys continue to train very hard and represent the schoolwith pride.

I thank the coaches for the sterling work they are doing with the boys, and our

parents for having made the Cape Town tour possible.

David Mulenga


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Prep Hike Suikerboschfontein Trail Mpumalanga

The hike was a complete success! Everyone enjoyed the lovely scenic views and theice-cold swims. The hike started at St Johns, when all of us arrived at 6:45. After that

we hit the road, driving for about three hours with two stops in between. After we hadarrived at the Rooikranshuts,we set off for an 8km hike in the valley. It was beauti-ful, the rock pools and the rock faces were amazing. We ate like kings that night, thepregos were delicious. We woke up at eight on Saturday morning and left at nine. This10.3km looked very hard and long. It was! We hiked for eight hours, but we did stopand swim a lot. Oom Japie se Huis wasnt as nice as Rooikransbut it still had thebasic cooking equipment needed. The boys cooked their own food that night! The lastday was a breeze, we walked substantially more quickly and were back at Rooikransin the early afternoon. The first stop on the way back was at Steers, and it was alsothe longest stop. We arrived back in Johannesburg at about 18:30, where everyonesparents were waiting to pick them up. The hike was a lovely way to spend a weekend

and everyone should do at least one in their boy-hood.

By Jamie Benn


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September saw the Lower and Upper Three boys perform A Brief History of JustAbout Everything. Scenes were workshopped during last terms drama lessons and

every boy was given a speaking role in the production. The show was an ensemblepiece and the main cast are to be commended on the many hours they put intoattending rehearsals and learning their lines. The committed teamwork shown by theboys ensured that our show was a great success and, most importantly, was enjoyedby all involved. A special thank you to Mrs Rossouw and her team of musicians foradding their unmistakable musical flair to the evenings performances, as well as to

Mrs Nicky Fitzgerald, for the use of her backdrops.

A Brief History of Just About Everything


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Upper 1 Camp at Kloofwaters


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Inter-Schools Quiz

Lower II Print Making

Well done to Taahir Ghaniem, Fayaadh Haffejee and Alex Brady for their participationin the Inter-Schools Quiz on 12 October. This term the Quiz was hosted by St Johns

and Mr Gunning very kindly took the role of quiz master. Grade 7 boys and girls fromKingsmead, Roedean, Pridwin, Parkview Senior, Jan Celliers and Auckland Park Preptook part. Teams were made up of four pupils, one from each of the various schoolstaking part. With Rugby World Cup fever at its height, each team chose, as their teamname, one of the countries taking part in the World Cup semi-finals. Questionsranged from current affairs, bridges of the world and cartoons to sport, shoes andproverbs. It was a great opportunity for the boys to test both their general knowledgeand social skills!

Nicky Sulter

Silk Screen T-shirt making in D & T


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Lino Cut Printing in Art


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Lower II Group Project Pirate Ship

LIIV LIIT

LIIZ


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LIII Science Tour to Wits University


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Just One Bag

The Just One Bag Challenge to wear red on Friday 14th of October was a great success.


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Notices


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Notices

LIBRARY BOOK RETURNS

If you have a large or even a small stack of these

from the Prep Library

at

Please return them by Friday 11 November, at the latest.

Lost or unreturned books will be charged for@ R150 per book

Books for the holidays may be taken out in the last week of term, but only if

all other books have been returned.

Queries: Nicky or Kim 011-645 3119


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Notices

The Johannian ClubVatregNumber41802232Xmas Market

Join us for a fabulous Xmas shopping experience!

Have tea and cake in our delightful tea garden

Date 11/11/2011

Time 10.00am 16.30pm

Venue: The Johannian Club

Crafters include :

Jewellery, Pewter, Handmade gifts & Xmas decorations,

chocolates, Xmas cakes & Pies, fresh Water Pearls & hand-

bags, clothing, to name a few...

See you there!


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Notices



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St Johns Preparatory SchoolPage 34

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 ZULU

LESSONS

Lower III and Upper III boys.

Every Thursday 13h45

Upper III Mrs Mashele

All Welcome - No Charge!

EXTRA MATHS

LESSONSLower III & Upper III boys in

Mrs Jean Clarences classroom

Every Thursday 13h45 All Welcome

No Charge

Extra Math Lessons

Individual tuition offered

Mrs M Hauptfleisch

Call 011 442 1854

083 256 7714


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The Philosophy of Gossip

Keep this philosophy in mind the next time you either hear or are about to repeat arumour.

In ancient Greece, Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom.

One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance who ran up to him excitedly

and said, Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?

Wait a moment, Socrates replied. Before you tell me Id like you to pass a little test.

Its called the Triple Filter Test.

Triple Filter?

Thats right, Socrates continued. Before you talk to me about my student lets take a

moment to filter what youre going to say.

The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell

me is true?

No, the man said, actually I just heard about it.

All right, said Socrates. So you dont really know if its true or not. Now lets try thesecond filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student

something good?

No, on the contrary

So, Socrates continued, you want to tell me something bad about him, even thoughyoure not certain its true?

The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.

Socrates continued. You may still pass the test though, because there is a thirdfilterthe filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going tobe useful to me?

No, not really

Well, concluded Socrates, if what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good noreven Useful, why tell it to me at all?

The man was defeated and ashamed.

This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.

prep newsletter no 11 2011

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