RH Blue Hills Newsletter

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Newsletter 1.3 - 27 January 2023

Dear Reddford House Families,

I can honestly not believe that we are already at the end of January. As I am sitting and writing this, it feels like only yesterday that staff were alone on campus preparing to welcome the children for the year ahead. Now, we are already at the end of January and getting ready for February. We have many exciting events coming up, such as the Grade 7 Induction Ceremony, World Read Aloud Day, The Grade 7 Leadership Voting, and many more. Our assessment program is now in full swing, and we have already had some of the grades writing their first cycle tests of the year.

Firstly, I would like to clarify some confusion around our PE/Sports uniform. You would have noticed that there has been a change and a new uniform is now available at our suppliers, Sports and Leisure. Over the next couple of months, we will slowly be phasing out our previous PE/Sports uniform and moving over to the new uniform. Please note that while we are in the phasing out phase, students are allowed to wear either uniform. We will not be expecting parents to buy the new uniform if it is not yet needed.

Mentioning sports, our College students had their inter-house gala on Tuesday morning. The event was filled with energy and friendly competition. To get the spirit flowing the houses opened the gala with a dance-off, adding a twist to the traditional opening of war cries. By item number two, students were in full focus mode to see who would be taking the overall swimming and spirit trophy. Well done to all our swimmers and supporters. A very big thank you as well to Mr Haggard and all the staff involved in making it a successful event. Congratulations to House Stuart on winning the Swimming Trophy.

Thank you to all our Grade 12 parents and students that attended our Information Evening on Tuesday. We truly appreciate your attendance and the continuous investment in your child’s educational journey that will soon come to an end. If you were unable to attend or you have not yet received the information via email, please email the Grade Head of College.

A further thank you to all our Grade 4 families that joined us on Wednesday morning for the Grade 4 Blazer Ceremony. It truly was a beautiful celebration and special moment of welcoming our Garde 4s to the Senior Prep. Seeing all our families in attendance, really made for a wonderful event. Thank you to all the staff for your effort in making sure we had a successful morning.

Continuing the celebrations, I would like to congratulate Mrs Joubert, our Senior Prep Coordinator, who recently completed her Masters in Information and Communication Technology with her dissertation also being published.

Please can I ask that all parents ensure that they have applied for a car tag and that it is being collected from the office. Additional traffic can easily be avoided if you do have a car tag.

Further to this, please ensure that an EXEAT slip is being completed if you are collecting your child early from school. If you are making use of transport, we highly recommend that you are making use of the companies that have been vetted by the school to ensure the safety of your child/ren.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.

Vilandré Lubbe
Head of Campus

Health - Latest information the spread of measles

We realise there may be some questions regarding the news that measles cases are increasing.

According to the latest NICD bulletin, parents and caregivers are being requested to review their child's vaccination records.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your local health care provider of choice to assist you.

For more information about measles, please refer to: https://www.nicd.ac.za/diseases-a-z-index/measles/

NICD bulletin: https://www.nicd.ac.za/south-african-measles-outbreak-2023-12-january/

Useful excerpt from this page in the Conclusion:
"Prevention and control of measles outbreaks can only be achieved through vaccination. Caregivers and parents are advised to review their child’s vaccination records and confirm that they have received measles vaccine. It is never too late to vaccinate – children who have not been vaccinated may receive measles vaccine at any age over 6 months, and free of charge at primary health services. Clinicians across the country are urged to be on the lookout for measles cases. It is understood that the health departments in the respective provinces have commenced with or are planning immunisation campaigns. For more information about measles, case definition, notification, investigation and guidelines for measles management including vaccination, please refer to our website: https://www.nicd.ac.za/diseases-a-z-index/measles/ "

Important Car Park & Security Reminders

Safeguarding the well-being of all on our campus is a priority. Please ensure you familiarise your family, drivers and friends with the information below.

Car park

The maximum speed in our car park is 20 kilometres per hour.
Please refrain from avoiding the speed bumps by driving around or through parking bays. This is dangerous and near-miss incidents are being reported regularly to the school.
We operate a ONEWAY loop in all car parks, please do not drive against the traffic.
Our Drop-and-Go areas are not for parking vehicles. Please use a parking bay if you are exiting your vehicle.
Please do not park in reserved bays, in front of fire hydrants or in no-stop zones.
If you experience any incidents or near misses, please let us know.

SECURITY

If a vehicle has no tag, the parent/visitor will need to sign in at security.
Our system has been upgraded, only cars with tags will have automatic exit at both gates. Cars without tags will need to wait for security to open the exit gate for them.
Please do not tailgate at boom gates - wait for the gate to close/open before approaching.
We have reintroduced biometric readers at our entrances. This will be used by those parents whose cars do not support the microchip in their windscreens, as well as approved transport and service providers.
No child may exit the school premises during the school day without a permission slip.
Uber/Lift and any other e-hailing company may not enter the premises and must wait outside. Please ensure you contact the school to advise that your child may use these services with your permission. EXEAT slips are provided to the children.
Our Car Tag Order Form and EXEAT permission and other forms are available on our school app under the "Forms" section - please ensure you have this downloaded and refer to it regularly to view updates etc.
Transport companies require registration and police clearance documents to be submitted to gain access to the campus.

Traffic Lights & Pointsmen- to assist the school.

Our traffic lights are up and running. We will continue to monitor the intersection and log as soon as any faults occur. Thank you to those that do assist in reporting when there are any issues on the road.

For traffic / pointsment faults or requests:

We log calls and emails through Joburg Connect, as well as through the Traffic FreeFlow SMS hotline. We have found if more faults and requests are logged daily, then our requests are escalated.

If you are able to assist, you can also log using the following channels:

City of Joburg, using their Joburg Connect number: 0860 562 874

Or you can email the hotline: joburgconnect@joburg.org.za

SMS 33499 - Traffic Free Flow (pointsmen request)

Outsurance also assist through their app if you would like to request pointsmen at the intersection, please download the Outsurance app and send them a location: https://www.outsurance.co.za/about-outsurance/about-pointsmen/ .

We appreciate all the assistance we can get from our Blue Hills community.

Reddford House Blue Hills App

All school communication, assessment schedules, calendars, stationary and textbook requirements and notifications are loaded and pushed through the school app.

The Reddford House Blue Hills app can be downloaded for free from the Play Store and the App Store.

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