JUNIOR SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

31 October 2019

Quote of the week

“We’re all in this together…”

From : High School Musical

A message from Miss Dunn

Principal’s Message: 30 October 2019

Leave Your Print Campaign

The Catholic Board of Education (CBE) is a national body instituted by the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and mandated by the Conference to oversee and manage all aspects of Catholic Education within Southern Africa. There are two working arms of the CBE – in some provinces it is the Catholic Institute of Education (CIE) and in other provinces, such as the Western Cape, it is the Catholic Schools’ Office (CSO). The CBE has the National Body as well as provincial CBE’s. The Chair of the National CBE is Sister Kathy Gaylor, one of our Dominican Sisters from Cape Town, and the Chair of our Provincial CBE is Father Hugh O’Connor, our Archdiocesan Episcopal Vicar for Education.

There are 330 Catholic schools in South Africa, the majority of which are in poor rural areas. During the course of 2018, the National CBE started a campaign to raise money within the Catholic Schools’ Network to assist these school with some basic needs. This campaign is known as the Leave Your Print Campaign. The idea is that, on a certain day – they give us a day in September but we are not required to use that day, schools may choose – the children and staff pay R10 and come to school barefoot, in solidarity with the many, many children in South Africa who have no shoes and arrived every day barefoot at school. The money collected is sent to the CBE who identify the projects to be funded. Last year they identified the need for toilet facilities at certain schools.

Springfield Junior School chose Friday 1 November as our “Barefoot Day”. At Assembly on Monday the children watched a video produced by the CBE to promote this. Here is the link for you to watch this:

https://youtu.be/cEaPGhC8q78

The girls have been asked to bring R10 during this week to go towards this campaign and they may come barefoot or in flip flops on Friday. If every child in the Junior School does so, we will be able to send R4 000-00 towards this worthy cause.

Let’s add Rugby Fever to this….

I have had numerous requests, as well as a giggly deputation of Grade For girls led by Evie Marr, asking that the girls wear their “bokke gear” on Friday, to support our Springbok rugby team for the World Cup final on Saturday. Of course I said yes! So, amidst First Friday Mass on Friday, we will have barefoot girls wearing the green and gold (or anything you choose that makes you feel Proudly South African)! We have decided to video the whole Junior School in the hall after Mass singing the National Anthem – watch out for it on Facebook!

Alison Dunn

Junior School Principal

See Video below

Headmaster's Message

The Springfield Equation

The most frequently asked question that I have encountered this year is asking me what the difference is between teaching at an all boys’ school or Springfield. I now have an answer. When rain comes down and there is plenty of water around, there is no difference.

I had barely switched on my computer in my office early last Friday morning, when I heard the sound of shrieking outside. I went to the window and squinted through the rain, the mist and the dripping trees to see three ethereal wraiths wafting through the gloom. Squealing in delight, they ran down to the Springfield stream through the rain oblivious of the state of their sandals as they squelched their way through the mud.

The stream had overflowed its banks and was spreading over the lawns. The central feature of this wet and wintry scene was the wave of water erupting over the stone bridge. There was far too much water to go under the bridge and the force of the flow caused the water to hit the stonework and spray upwards. Dodging the surging waters, the girls ran to and fro over the bridge and back. What dry parts the rain did not reach, the river water certainly did. The girls were sodden.

Then the inevitable happened. One of the girls made the somewhat foolhardy decision to jump from the bridge onto what she presumed was dryish land. There was no such luck after a night of solid rain and she was never going to gain a firm foothold. Fortunately for her, she did not lose her footing but the bad news was she had to step back into the water to keep her balance.

Standing knee-deep in water, she saw the funny side and was giggling uncontrollably. One of the others must have said something, because the next minute there was an almighty splashing match. At this point, I decided to wander down. I felt a somewhat of a spoilsport when I saw the girls’ faces drop when they saw me. In spite of being drenched and dripping with water, all three displayed huge grins. ‘This is such fun,’ one of them proclaimed with the air of someone who had just discovered one of life’s secrets.

They managed to find tracksuits and takkies from somewhere. Whether they would have found it as much fun if they had to sit in their classrooms in pools of water all day, is a matter for conjecture. What was said at home about the state of their sandals, I can only a imagine.

For the record, I have now invented a new scientific equation: Girls + Water = Boys + Water.

Can I call it the Springfield Equation?

Keith Richardson

Headmaster

Weekly Inspiration

Intelligent Ignorance by William Ward

Charles Francis Kettering once said, ‘A person must have a certain amount of intelligent ignorance to get anywhere.'

It's a good idea to be intelligently ignorant of petty criticisms, daily annoyances, and the would-be slights and put-downs from others.

It's wise to intelligently ignorant of the indiscretions, imperfections, inconsistencies, and impatience of our fellow human beings.

It's a sign of maturity to be intelligently ignorant of the onerous obstacles, bothersome barriers, and seeming impossibilities that constantly confront us.

It's particularly practical to be intelligently ignorant of our apparent limitations, our all-too-frequent mistakes, and our human errors.

To be intelligently ignorant is to overlook the awesomeness of our adversities, and to concentrate on the power of our possibilities.

To be intelligently ignorant is to be ever aware that what we know is but a fraction of all there is to learn…that our knowledge is microscopic compared to the glorious truths that await our discoveries…that our accomplishments are minor when measured by our opportunities for growth…that are achievements are small in relation to our potential for improvement.

To be ignorant is inexcusable; to be intelligently ignorant is wisdom.

Imagine by Pentatonix

Office Information / Calendar events

Kind regards

Junior School Office

South African Schools - A Pictorial History

"Springfield is proud to be included in a pictorial history book due for publication in December. The book portrays 20 of the oldest schools in South Africa that have forged their legacy in South Africa's history and covers our schools history over the last 148 years. With our 150th birthday celebrations coming up in 2021, this book makes for fascinating reading and is filled with wonderful information and photos regarding our heritage and history

Don Nelson Publishers are offering the book to parents, staff, Old Boys, and Old Girls of the featured Schools at the discounted price of R350 + postage. If you wish to purchase a copy or copies of this superb book please download the order form below and email lucinda@donnelson.co.za with proof of your remittance"

20 SA Schools Order form_email_03.pdf

Senior Primary News

Grade 7 Market Day

Pics from the photobooth that the Grade 7’s set up for their market day!

Grade 6 - Visit to Huis Nuweland

Grade 6 visit to the Chris Barnard Museum

SENIOR PRIMARY EXAMINATION TIMETABLE NOVEMBER 2019.pdf

Summer uniform requirements and regulations.pdf

Foundation Phase Weekly

Pre-Primary News

Girls enjoying the 'Space theme'

Our girls' proud moments

Constantia Dance Academy Ballet Show

Some of our Springfield girls took part in the Constantia Dance Academy Ballet Show this past weekend and the theme was "Happily Ever After" It was wonderful to see the older and younger girls spending time together as well as amazing support from other friends coming to watch the show. And of course Ms Davidse!

Counsellor's Corner

Dear Parents

As we know, childhood is about discovering the world, and how we fit into it. Our “fit” into the world is greatly influenced but the way that we see ourselves, or in other words, our self esteem. Self-esteem is determined by many factors, including how well we view our own performance and appearance, and how satisfied we are with our relationships with other people. Self-esteem is in part a trait that is stable over time, with some people having relatively high self-esteem and others having lower self-esteem. But self-esteem is also a state that varies day to day and even hour to hour. When we have succeeded at an important task, when we have done something that we think is useful or important, or when we feel that we are accepted and valued by others, our self-concept will contain many positive thoughts and we will therefore have high self-esteem. When we have failed, done something harmful, or feel that we have been ignored or criticized, the negative aspects of the self-concept are more accessible and we experience low self-esteem. This is all part of life and part of growing up and being able to survive these difficult experiences and emotions is what we term “resilience”.

Thankfully in our modern world, our children are gifted with opportunities to learn more about themselves, which has a positive impact on self esteem. Kirsten McLeod from Foundations for Life is running a fabulous Saturday afternoon sessions called “I LIKE ME”. Please see advert attached should you be interested.

Warm regards in this chilly weather!

Gabby

I LIKE ME - workshop for children .pdf

Tech tip

👩‍💻 The pearl of tech wisdom for this week: #15

Try Out Remote Desktop to Do Two Things at Once

Did you forget to send an important file sitting on your computer at home? Rather than running home to get it, load up a remote desktop app on both a computer and your smartphone. You can remotely access your computer as if you're sitting in front of it, get the files you need, and transfer them to your other machine. There are a slew of remote desktop apps you can try, such as Join.me, Real VNC and Splashtop.