JUNIOR SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
22 January 2020
Quote of the week
A child has a special way
Of adding joy to every day!
~Anon.
A message from Miss Dunn
Principal’s Message 22 January 2020
We did die a heart!
Yesterday, as I was walking down to the Bursar’s office, I had the pleasure of meeting a group of Grade Two girls coming back from Art. The conversation went like this:
Me: Hello, girls, did you have a good time at Art today?
Child 1: We did die a heart, Miss Dunn.
Me: I beg your pardon?
Child 2: And Mrs Meredith is going to stitch it!
Me: Oh wow! (not knowing what else to say)
Child 3: And then we’re going to put fluff in it!
Me: That sounds wonderful! (still not knowing what to say)
Child 4: It’s for Saint Valentine!
At which point the girls went rushing past me, as happy as can be, in their minds having explained to me exactly what fun they had in their Art lesson.
Needless to say, I went to the Art room, to discover that they had dyed material in the shape of a heart, which Mrs Meredith was going to sew into a cushion for them to stuff, in time for display on Valentine’s Day!
Definitely my chuckle for the day. What joy to be in Grade Two at Springfield!
“It’s never too late to have a happy childhood!” (Anon.)
And on a more practical note…
I would like to thank all parents from Grade One to Seven who attended our “meet-the-teacher” sessions over the past week. I do hope you found these informative and useful. I know the Pre-Primary parents meet this evening; I am sure there will be a good turnout for these as well. Please can I ask the following:
- It would be much appreciated if you could attend the PTA AGM next week on Tuesday evening at 18:30. There is more information on this meeting in this Newsletter.
- We are looking for Class Reps for each class this year. This is a most important role. If you feel you can be of assistance, please can you let your class teacher know, or contact Mrs Moore.
- Also in this Newsletter you will find information on our annual Fair, to take place on Friday 28 February. Please let us know if you are able to assist us with this special fundraiser.
A message from the teachers…
We appeal to parents to come via the office when they need to speak to either their child or the teacher during the school day. Parents may not go directly to the classrooms during teaching time or at breaks. Please go straight to Mrs Moore, who will willingly pass on messages or make appointments for you. Your co-operation in this regard is much appreciated.
Alison Dunn
Junior School Principal
Headmaster's Message
So what is your excuse?
Even on an overly warm January day, Leeuwenhof is a lovely venue to host an Awards Ceremony. The home of the Premier of the Western Cape, it is one of the oldest buildings in Cape Town – dating back to the Dutch East India Company. With the backdrop of Table Mountain, the rolling lawns proved to be an idyllic setting for the proud award winners of the matric class of 2019. It was debatable who was more proud – the matrics themselves, their parents or the teachers and principals present.
I asked Sister Rose Commins and Deputy Principal Bronwyn Jansen to accompany me so that we could all share in the joy of our two Matric 2019 pupils, Jess Holing and Jade Acton. Jess won her award for coming in the top twenty pupils of the Western Cape with 94% while Jade was rewarded for her 100% in the Art Exam. Springfield was also announced as the 5th most successful school and, like Jess and Jade, I had the honour of shaking the hands of the Premier and the MEC of Education on behalf of the 80 matric pupils of Springfield and the legion of teachers over the years who played a role in the success of our girls.
It was a joyous occasion where we could all bask in the success of the top schools and the top pupils of the Western Cape. ‘This is one of our favourite events of the year,’ were the words used by the MEC, Debbie Schafer in opening her speech. For a brief moment in time, we could pretend that all was well in the South African educational world. However, it was the Premier himself who reminded us of social ills which the vast majority of Western Cape pupils have to overcome – gangsterism, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, parental unemployment, poverty, homelessness. We were brought back to earth by the presentations to various learners who had overcome extreme personal difficulties to achieve success in their exams.
One young man, neatly dressed in a suit, was led onto the stage by his father. He had been blind for a number of years and one can only imagine the lengths he (and his parents and teachers) had to go to in order to ensure that he had all the necessary support. I can’t even begin to think about how one does Maths when one cannot see. I was still thinking about that when Ridah Khan from Atlantis came on stage. He had been beaten up by gangsters earlier in the year for not joining a gang and suffered head damage after an assault with a brick which resulted in memory loss. His reaction to this setback, as he explained to the press later, was to say: ‘I am not going to throw it all away now,’ and he opted to return to school under a daily police escort. He was to write all his exams at the local police station which he found ‘calming’.
He achieved his Bachelor’s Pass and is scheduled to study IT in the year ahead.
The audience was brought to tears – and to their feet - when the Arrison twins from Scottsdene came on stage. Their mother, suffering from depression after the death of their father in 2017, tried to take the lives of her three children. The eldest son was shot dead, while the one twin, Yaqoob was shot in the hand and Yusuf was shot in the head. Yaqoob pretended to be dead and, after his mother shot herself, carried his brother on his shoulders to a house over a 100 metres away. Helping one another over the next few years, both boys received Bachelor passes with a number of subject distinctions. It was touching to see how obviously close the boys were to one another when they came on stage.
In 1996 after the Paralympics in Atlanta, I invited one of our South African gold medalists, Malcolm Pringle, to speak at a school assembly. He had a number of physical disabilities including a speech defect which made it difficult to follow his words - so his speech was displayed on the screen. After describing the obstacles he had to overcome and the mental fortitude necessary to achieve success, he flashed up on the screen, the following five words to the healthy and able-bodied teenagers in the audience:
So what is YOUR excuse?
There is so much talent at Springfield in so many areas of school life. I hope that 2020 sees all our girls make the mental decision to do justice to these talents. What a year it will then be.
Keith Richardson
Headmaster
Weekly Inspiration
One Minute at a Time
Lord, You give me today
one minute at a time.
That's all I have, all I ever will have.
Give me the faith
that believes each moment
asks me to trust You even as You trust me.
Give me the hope
that holds within each minute
~ despite pain or doubt or fear ~
an anticipation of eternity with You.
Give me the love
that transforms each minute of my life
into a reflection of
Your forgiveness, mercy and goodness.
Amen.
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Office Information / Calendar events
WEEKLY INFO LETTER 22 JANUARY 2020
**DATES TO REMEMBER**
PTA Cake Sale will take place on Friday 31 January and will be hosted by Grades 5,6 & 7 outside the Centenary Hall.
NB** Grade 1’s will wear their PE togs to school on PE days only.
Grade’s 2 -7 will wear their full uniform and change into their PE togs at school on PE days.
Reminder: 22 January: Tonight, Preschool Parent meeting will take place in the Centenary Hall at 6pm.
28 January: St Thomas Aquinas Mass at 8am in the Centenary Hall.
Parents are welcome to attend.
28 January: PTA AGM will take place in the Centenary Hall at 6:30pm.
Senior Primary
New Staff
Ms Fritha Joosta (Phys Ed)
Mrs Taryn Hawke (Learning Support)
Mrs Carla Van Niekerk (Grade 5)
Junior Primary
Grade 1 Picnic
First Week in Grade 1
Grade 2 girls - First time taking out books from the school library.
Pre School
Our first birthday ring of 2020, thank you Alessandra!
Happy birthday Natalie!
Pre School demo pottery class
Kindermusik
Introductory lesson of “little hockey stars”
Counsellor's Corner
Tech tip
Tech pearl of wisdom #20:
Our children's safety is our main responsibility, so...
- Treat media as you would any other environment in your child's life. The same parenting guidelines apply in both real and virtual environments. Set limits; kids need and expect them. Know your children's friends, both online and off. Know what platforms, software, and apps your children are using, what sites they are visiting on the web, and what they are doing online.
The tip below is so important, and worth a second repeating and needs to be shared with our new Springfield families:
- Make your own family media use plan. Media should work for you and within your family values and parenting style. When used thoughtfully and appropriately, media can enhance daily life. But when used inappropriately or without thought, media can displace many important activities such as face-to-face interaction, family-time, outdoor-play, exercise, unplugged downtime and sleep. Make your plan at HealthyChildren.org/MediaUsePlan.
Please find invitation extended to all Springfield Convent Parents to attend a parent Cyber Wellness Workshop. The interactive workshop will address family cyber safety. The talk is brought to you by Wolfpack Information Risk, presented by Renowned Cyber Security Specialist Craig Rosewarne.
DATE: 4 February 2020 TIME:
6:30 PM
VENUE: CENTENARY HALL
To register for the workshop please click here
Our girls' proud moments
Well done to Suzanna Walsh in Gr 6, whose swimming year has started with a bang with her winning 2 golds at the Cape Of Good Hope gala held this past weekend. Her events were 50 and 100 breast stroke. Her times have earned her a place in the level 3 Gala to be held later in the year in Oudtshoorn. This is one step away from competing nationally.
Adrian and Colby Keith (Grade 3) received their ballet exam medals and certificates for completing TDA Additional Grade 2.
Well done!
At the end of last year, the Whisper Creative Writing Competition was held. It is a national competition, open to all primary schools.
Springfield won third and fourth prize in the poetry section.
3rd prize: Hannah Walton for ‘How to paint an orchard’
4th prize: Erin Johnston for ‘Nana’
PTA
2020_PTA Newsletter_jan2020.pdfSPRINGFIELD CONVENT PTAAGM 2020.pdf2020_AGM_PACK_ROLE OF THE PTA.pdfMINUTES PTA AGM 28 01 2019 cont.pdfAGM Abridged Income Statement Dec 2019.pdfAGM Report School Financials Dec 2019.pdf
Music
Springfield Convent Choir Tour 2020 Fundraiser Concert
Mike & the Harmonix will be performing A Tribute to ABBA at Springfield on Saturday, February 15, as part of the Senior Choir Tour fundraising efforts. The show will also feature special guest appearances by 1980’s icons “Michael Jackson”, “Tina Turner”, “Bob Marley”, “The Beatles” and “Queen”.
Mike (of the McCully Workshop and Buccaneer fame) and his band promise an evening of fun, laughter, song and dance as they bring ABBA to life with all the well-known favourites such as Waterloo, Money Money Money, Take a Chance, Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia.
The show will be simply the best, one that you can definitely take a chance on, so don’t worry about a thing ‘cos it’s gonna be a kind of magic… and you’re welcome to twist and shout.
Tickets: R150 for adults, R80 for scholars and under 10s are free of charge.
Gates open: 3.30pm
Band performs: 5 to 7pm
What to bring: picnic and refreshments along with picnic blanket/camp chairs etc.
A raffle with lots of awesome prizes will also take place on the day.
Bookings: www.quicket.co.za
Springfield Outreach
Blood donation clinic: Springfield will be hosting a blood donation clinic from 12.30-3.15 on Tuesday, 4th February in the Senior School Study Hall (opposite Senior Reception). Mothers, fathers, siblings, friends - ALL members of the wider Springfield community are welcome to donate. Remember that every pint will save three people's lives. Donors must be age 16 or older, weigh more than 50kg, be medically fit, and have eaten a good breakfast before donating.
Sport
Swimming
REMINDER: U/10 to OPEN SWIMMERS
All girls interested in being a part of the school swimming team please join us on Thursday morning before school for swim training.
6.45am - in the water! out by 7.35am
There will be a basic tuck shop available down at the pool