8 September 2011 MICHAELMAS TERM Newsletter No 1 Dear Parents, Welcome back.

The Michaelmas Term promises to be an exciting and very busy term, and the boys are ready for action! They appear to have worked diligently at their reading and their impressive reading markers bear testimony to this. Thank you for your endless encouragement which results in keen, competent readers. I shall be retiring in April 2012. I have enjoyed a long, happy and fulfilling career at St Johns. The last seven years as Headmistress of the Pre-Prep have certainly been the highlight of my career in education. It has been a great joy working with such vibrant young gentlemen and their parents. I have had the privilege of leading a team of the most dedicated highly professional teachers, who are passionate about the boys they teach, and the work they do. I am indeed delighted that Mrs Jane Lane has been appointed as the new headmistress. Mrs Lane is a lady of integrity and I hold her in the highest esteem. I know that she will lead with distinction and I wish her every success and happiness in the years ahead. Mrs Julie Rigby will be retiring at the end of this year. Mrs Rigby has dedicated twenty seven years to this great institution. She has taught in the Prep and the Pre-Prep, and for the past fourteen years she has been the Head of the Academic Support Programme. Mrs Rigby is a loyal and highly respected teacher, totally devoted to her work and her boys, and the boys love their visits to her classroom. Mrs Blackhurst has been appointed to this Academic Support position. Mrs Gill McCabe, our acclaimed actress, has taught Drama at St Johns for a as long as I can remember. Thursdays are always exciting, as she brings drama, mirth and a great sense of fun to her lessons and to the staffroom. Mrs McCabe too, will be retiring at the end of 2011. Mrs Linda Bradfield has been an integral part of the Pre-Prep team for well over a decade and she has worked with enthusiasm and great innovation to create an exciting ICT centre to assist staff with their classroom computer related issues. Mrs Bradfield has been appointed head of ICT integration and curriculum development at St Marys School from 2012. Miss Elizabeth Eagar will be our head of ICT next year. Our new Grade i teacher will be appointed later this term. Change is always daunting, but also brings new challenges and excitement. All certainly bodes well for the Pre-Prep in 2012.

RUGBY FRIDAYS We will be supporting the Springbok Rugby World Cup Team and wearing green on Fridays for the next few weeks. Boys are please to wear a green shirt on Fridays, with their soccer shorts, school socks and takkies.

ROALD DAHL DAY - TUESDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER . We will celebrate this renowned authors birthday next Tuesday. The boys need to wear a yellow item of clothing or possibly something odd, like two different shoes, or only one sock! It is a fun day, as life for Dahl was always fun!

SWIM-A-THON, SATURDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER. Our annual Campus Swim-A-Thon takes place next Saturday. It would be absolutely wonderful if every boy could participate and swim a length or two. Mums and Dads are welcome to swim with their sons. The Pre-Prep always leads the way, lets do it again this year! The water polo pool is heated and situated just below the Prep school, adjacent to Endean Field. The Pre-Preps allocated time slot is 09h00 - 10h00. Please read the attached form given to you.

TWILIGHT TALES - TUESDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER The Grade i Twilight tales will take place on Tuesday, 20th September from 18h00 - 19h00. Mr Rod Charlton is a well-known psychologist who specialises in performance psychology. Excellence starts with a culture that seeks to bring out the very best in its human potential. Educating for excellence can only happen when educators and parents know how to identify and bring out the best in others. He will address the parents in the hall while the boys are listening to tales, in the library.

MASIBAMBANE CULTURAL DAY - FRIDAY, 23RD SEPTEMBER We are planning a cultural interact day between Masibambane and St Johns. Please read all about this in the letter you will receive tomorrow. I would appreciate our parents joining us on this mighty adventure!

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF PRINCIPLES WORLD CONVENTION 2011 I was very privileged to attend this gathering of principals in Toronto during the holidays. The theme this year was Leading Student Achievement: An International Odessy. Keynote speakers strongly emphasised the importance of our role as leaders in education. Education experts from around the globe shared their expertise on current topics with us. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to these gurus and I valued the networking opportunities afforded me. Time and

again we were reminded that when pedagogy versus technology, education needs to be driven by pedagogy. Pedagogy is critical in student engagement and in student learning, and technology must simply be used as a tool to this end. This is a shift from the technology-driven approach, back to a focus on the art and science of sound teaching. It certainly was a thought provoking and stimulating week.

ANGLICAN SCHOOLS CONFERENCE AND SAHISA CONFERENCE I shall be attending these two conferences with Mr Cameron and Mr Lees next week. Mrs Elizabeth Durell will take charge of the Pre-Prep in my absence.

FROM THE SPORTS DESK We have a busy and exciting term ahead of us on the sports field. The boys will be doing hockey and athletics to start the term and then, as the weather gets warmer, we will move on to cricket and swimming. Our hockey astroturf is due to be resurfaced. We were all hoping that it would be done in the holidays but it looks as though the work will only start in October. That means that part of our hockey season will be interrupted. I would rather have the boys playing on the astro than on grass so I have decided to run the athletics season and the hockey season concurrently. One of the morning lessons each week and one of the afternoon lessons will be hockey and the other will be athletics. Mr Lion-Cachet has very kindly let me use his collection of hockey sticks in the past but he doesnt have enough for every boy in the grade, so , if your son does have a hockey stick, it would help a great deal if he could bring it to school on hockey days. I would also like every boy to be wearing tackies on hockey days. They cannot wear school shoes or soccer boots and the astro becomes very hot so they cannot play bare foot. The time table will be split as follows (starting from Monday 12th): Gr 0: First lesson of the week will be athletics, the second lesson will be hockey. Gr i Morning lessons: First lesson of the week will be athletics, second lesson will be hockey. Afternoon lessons: Mondays hockey; Thursdays athletics Gr ii Morning lessons: First lesson of the week will be athletics, second lesson will be hockey. Afternoon lessons: Tuesdays hockey; Wednesdays athletics Usually, our Sports Day is held within the first three weeks of the term but because of the fact that we will start hockey at the beginning of the term, we have moved Sports Day to the 8th October to give us a little more time to prepare for the big day! Please will you diarise this date. This is the boys favourite day on the sports calendar and they love having their Mums and Dads there to watch them.

Another date to diarise is the Swimathon. This campus fundraiser will take place on the 17th September. The Gr 0s, is and iis will swim from 9h00 to 10h00. If you would like a sponsorship sheet, please send me an sms and I will have one printed for you and give it to your son to take home. Otherwise, you can pay an entry fee of R50 at the gate on the day. There will be a lane for Mums and Dads who would like to swim at the same time as their boys, or with their sons. In the last week of the term, the Gr iis will be swimming in their Gr ii Gala. We dont make a big fuss of it because I want the boys to enjoy the experience. Every boy swims in 2 races. We make it an Inter-house event, which adds to the excitement. I hope your boys have a wonderful term. The weather is so beautiful after the icy days last term. We are so lucky to be able to spend our mornings outdoors making the most of it!

Please note that as from next week, newsletters will be once again be emailed and attached to our Communicator. Please remember to read these.

God Bless,

MRS H POPPLEWELL HEADMISTRESS

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK. There is silence into which the world cannot intrude. There is an ancient peace you carry in your heart and have not lost. Slow down, take time to see God in everything.
(From A Course in Miracles)