Inauguration of Springfield Leaders

At today’s ceremony to induct the 2019 Springfield leaders, I posed the question of how we define success at school.

Is it:

· Achieving five A’s in matric?

· Playing first team sport?

· Playing the piano beautifully?

· Wearing braiding and leadership badges?

· Being one of the popular girls in the grade?

The answer to any of the above is, of course, yes. However, there is a problem with all this…

· There are about ninety Grade 11’s, only four of whom will receive braiding and about twenty others will receive badges. Does this mean the others have ‘failed’? In my experience in education, it is often those who have not made it, who become even more determined to prove themselves in the years ahead.

· What about those girls who work really hard at a subject and really love what they are doing, but they don’t achieve an A in that subject? Does an A in a subject mean that they are going to do well at University? Again, my experience shows that those who have been taught to put in effort, use this attribute to keep on learning from their mistakes, keep on taking advice, keep on persevering. They are often the ones who succeed in university and whose services are sought afterwards in the work place.

· Does a first team place in a sport mean that others are destined to remain also-rans. After many years of coaching sport, it has always fascinated me to see how those who played 2^nd, 3^rd or 4^th team at school, end up being the most loyal and committed club players. The reason is that they are playing for the love of the game.

I commended all who had the courage to put their names down for leadership positions. Some of them may not have made it on stage …… yet. However, opportunities still abound at school to learn how to lead and while they may not have badges (yet), it is those lessons which will stand them in such good stead in the years ahead.

The American poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, once wrote a poem on success. According to him (with my slight amendments) real success is ….

To laugh often and much;

To earn real respect of intelligent people;

To win the affection of those younger than you;

To win the appreciation of honest critics;

To endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To leave the school a better place;

To know that even one life has breathed better because you have been at Springfield;

This is to have succeeded.

That is my challenge to all the young ladies of Springfield – to realise that a badge is not necessary to fulfill any of the nine points above.

‘God’s gift to me is my potential.

My gift to God is what I do with my potential.’

Keith Richardson

Headmaster

Thereafter we travelled to Wembley Roadhouse. Pre orders of chilli bites, samoosas and potato bites were ready for collection and tasting. Girls were keen to place various orders ranging from milkshakes to butter chicken salomis to toasted steak sandwiches and many more…

Sadly our stay at Wembley was cut short as we had to travel to Green Point to visit the Progressive Jewish Temple run by Rabbi Emma Gottlieb, one of two female rabbis in the country. This proved incredibly interesting and the aspects of Reformed vs. Orthodox Judaism became clear.

The one thread that runs through all four faiths is the belief in one God. The tour is essential in attempting to demystify stereotypes and seeking instead to gain respect of each other’s faith. At Springfield we seek to build understanding of our faith stories while eradicating fear due to ignorance.

Ms Stubbs

Some reflections from the Grade 11 pupils…..

“I went into the Temple with a lack of knowledge of the Hindu faith. I left with a greater understanding of the religion.”

“Highlight was holding the Torah from one of the Nazi concentration camps”

“Expectations…. to learn and engage with faiths I have not previously been exposed to and encourage growth in my own thinking and personal bias and stereotypes.”

“A highlight for me was bonding with my peers over talking about our experiences. Also the mosque was interesting, beautiful and the food at Wembley was a favourite.”

“I was excited to be immersed in different cultures and religions”

“I thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt so much more than I expected to.”

“My overall impression was pure amazement and awe with not only the religions but where the places of worship were, the organization of the day and how the respective representations of each religion treated us.”

Dear Parents and Guardians

September is Heritage month in South Africa, a month in which South African’s honour our various cultures and diversity, pay respect to fallen heroes and celebrate our traditions through language, music, dance and food.

September is also the month in which the PTA held two traditional fundraisers. In the weeks leading up to Friday 6 September, Vanessa Kipps and Dawn Comninos rallied Class Reps who in turn rallied parents into action to source products, vouchers, donations and cash to make up a record number of “Happy Hampers” for the lucky draw. It is no surprise that the incredible variety and volume of goodies bursting out of the hampers resulted in record ticket sales. I flippantly challenged Vanessa and Dawn to a R50K Happy Hamper target. It is with deep gratitude from the PTA Committee to Vanessa, Dawn, Orlanda Buttler (Class Rep portfolio on the PTA), all Class Reps, all families that made donations and everyone that bought a ticket, that I can report that we surpassed the R50K by a few thousand (some expenses still to be paid before final numbers are in). WOW! And thank you!

On Friday the 13^th 84 golfers teed-off at Royal Cape Golf Club in the annual Springfield PTA Golf Day. The weather was perfect and predictable – the golf less so! It was an honour to have Keith Richardson join other members of the Springfield community on the golf course and for us to share a relaxing time with him enjoying drinks and snacks during prize giving. With generous sponsorship and prize donations from our loyal Springfield parents, we were able to host a memorable and fun day. There are still a few stragglers who have not paid but it is likely that the golf day will raise about R70K. Thanks go to Tim Mitchell for organizing, to hole and prize sponsors and to all players for their contribution towards the success of the day.

Money raised from these events will be allocated towards the following projects:

· upgrade of the change rooms and facilities at the school swimming pool (ongoing);

· upgrade of sound and lighting in the Centenary Hall

PTA funds are also used to pay for “smaller items” like upgrading the water fountains around the sports fields, paying for catering and hire at school functions, contributing to the fund that pays for meals and daily necessities for learners who cannot afford these.

Earlier this month, Norella Engela and Debbie Whittaker (sports portfolio leads on the PTA) and I met with the school heads and teacher heads of sport to review the winter sport season and plan for the summer sport season. This is part of our ongoing initiative to facilitate the inclusion of parents in the support of school sport in a structured way. There are many signs that this initiative is taking seed and I encourage parents to work with the teachers dedicated to each sport and with our PTA sports reps in a constructive way as we strive for improvement.

Please buy a Springfield “Supporter” cap at the school shop and wear it at school events.

Please remember to swipe your MySchool card at Woolies, Engen, Loot, Waltons and Flight Centre and if you see a person making a purchase at any of these outlets without swiping a MySchool card don’t be shy to ask them if you can swipe your card for their purchase! Sign up/add Springfield as a beneficiary: https://www.myschool.co.za/supporter/apply/

On Friday 29 November the PTA will host a “Food Festival” in the high school avenue. Our hope is to create an end of year celebratory event at which the Springfield community can enjoy a variety of tasty food and drinks in a relaxed environment under the trees in a beautiful setting on the campus. The Food Festival will not in any way detract from, and is intended to complement, the Nativity Play that will take place earlier the same evening. Please save the date for a fun end to the school year.

Enjoy the short break and take care.

Graeme and the PTA Committee

Staff on-going Professional Development

At the end of the third term Me. Daniels and Mrs. Visser attended two professional growth workshops. The first was on “. Mr. Richardson also attended this. It focused on the life story of Virginia Hall who, against many examples of discrimination, worked as one of the most successful undercover resistance operatives in Lyon, France, during World War II. Her role has, up until now, remained largely absent from mainstream historical narratives. The central value promoted by the workshop was developing resilience or grit and becoming more aware of our own blindspots and biases that stop us from contributing or stop us from embracing diversity.

The second was the ResearchEd conference held at SACS Junior School which, exposed attendees to some of the latest educational research. The main message that came through was that metacognition (being able to unpack the steps in the thinking process and reflecting on what is being learnt) is the most valuable skill for learners to master. The role of the teacher is still central because only once learners know how to tackle a task and what conceptual ideas are in play, can they shift to working more independently.

Care Portfolio

This term the Care portfolio started a library book initiative to leave random “caring” notes inside books. We hosted a Support Staff tea at which the Choir and Worship band entertained the staff. The girls also bought small gifts for the women who work for Berco for Women’s Day.

The third term has been a busy one for most music schools and ours is no exception. Early in the term we had our two Junior School concerts featuring brief performances by all willing and able performers. These were very enjoyable evenings, lightened by fancy dress and a happy atmosphere which seemed to negate performance nerves in most cases.

On Women's Day, Marimba Jam mounted an extraordinary tour de force with an expo day at Grand West Exhibition centre. Over 80 marimba bands performed throughout the course of the day. The expo also featured food stalls, accessory markets and fringe performances. In the evening was a Gala performance, patronised by the Western Cape MEC for Education, with a massed marimba ensemble and performances by featured local rock bands. This was also the term of the annual Catholic Schools' Choir Festival. Again Miss Dunn coordinated a wonderful afternoon featuring 15 choirs. Each choir sang two pieces, all maintaining a high standard. At the end of the afternoon we joined together to tackle another of Mr Adolf Thelen's medley arrangements, this year it was songs from Stage and Screen. Towards the end of term the choir participated in the Girls' Schools Choir Festival in St Georges Cathedral. This was an enjoyable evening and a chance to hear the performances of other choirs in the area. Other events that the Senior School choir and its members participated in were the St Dominic's Day celebrations, the Confirmation Mass, and the Father/Daughter dinner at Kelvin Grove. As the winter rain receded we were able to have a lunchtime concert in the Annex Amphitheatre. The Jazz Band entertained us on a wonderful spring afternoon and the audience seemed to enjoy the event. They will next be performing at the Cultural Awards ceremony on 10 October.

The Matric Recital highlighted the pinnacle of Springfield achievement and musicianship. Our four matriculants this year, Jennie du Toit, Belinda Mkiva, Helen Forbes and Nomvuyo Nyoni delivered a varied and entertaining programme of an exceptionally high standard. It was wonderful that Belinda's ensemble piece was accompanied by the Head Girl Jess Holing as well as her Dominic House peers. They repeated the same music the following week as their final examination at Beau Soleil Music centre.

We were delighted to welcome the choirs of Wynberg Boys High School to join us for our own annual Choir Festival. Here our own Ubuntu, Glee, Senior Primary, Junior Primary and Senior Choirs performed their repertoires before the Wynberg Vocal Ensemble and School Choir contributed to the evening with their performances. There were also joint performances of excerpts from Haydn's Nelson Mass and all choirs sang together for a massed rendition of The Holy City. Ms Wanliss organised an extremely enjoyable concert for all her guitar pupils. Again there was a good standard of performance and the girls enjoyed the opportunity to perform both solo and in ensembles.

In the final week of term we held the third Quarterly Concert. The orchestra under Mrs du Plessis' baton was superb in their Suite of pieces from Carmen. We are hoping for the addition of timpani next year!! Again, all the performers on their various instruments produced a high standard of work throughout the concert.

Amongst the term's activities, the Music School hosted the local Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music grade exams, acting as an examination centre for the schools in the area. This is a useful opportunity to allow learners from other schools to experience our beautiful setting and facilities.

Despite the busyness of the third term it is also one of flux as the student leaders hand over to new blood from the grade below. We seem to have very competent new leaders in place with new ideas and fresh keenness.

The following four terms look very promising indeed.

The third term is traditionally a busy term, with the Grade 12s spending a great deal of time completing the curriculum and writing their trial exams. The Grade 8s - 11s have all been busy with projects and other classroom assessments in this non-exam term and you will have the opportunity to read about their work when the reports are sent home in the first week of next term.

Achievements Outside the Classroom

Some pupils who have excelled academically this term include Daye Jung and Sua Sung, who were selected to represent Western Province for Mathematics and Zoe Hugo, who has been invited to present her Natural Science project to the International Science Fair in Johannesburg during the holidays. Alexa Msakiwe excelled in the Accounting Olympiad. Micahela Douglas-Jones, who attended the Oxford University Summer School during the previous break, arrived back with glowing reviews from this prestigious institution. We are also very proud of Kylie Venter, Claire Campbell, Jess Holing and Cara Ronan who have had pieces published in English Alive. Aimee-Li Tong Moore, Erin Oosthuizen, Imaan Jacobs, Jaime Kruger, Julia Marx and Samantha Petter-Bowyer were all placed in the top 20% of the first round of the Computer Programming Olympiad.

Staff Development

Our ongoing commitment to staff development saw Mr Geoff Quinn, Mrs Kirsty Tromp and Mr David Fick are attending a workshop titled “Breaking Down the Silos” about inquiry-based cross-curricular learning. Plans are underway to develop a pilot project of this kind of learning for Springfield in 2020. Mrs Phillipa Visser and Mrs Faiza Daniels attended a workshop titled researchED, which covered many aspects of education. It was reported that we are certainly on track here at Springfield in our approach to academics. Next term, we are looking forward to completing a series of workshops gearing towards envisioning the future of ICT integration at Springfield, which will allow us to strategically plan the way forward in our use of technology both in and out of the classroom.

Exam Preparation

As we move towards the final exams next term, it is useful to remind parents can pursue of the 1-1 coaching programme offered by Elevate Education. This process begins with an expert coach conducting a 60-minute audit of your daughter’s study processes. This information is put in a report that details the pupil’s exact strengths and weaknesses and identifies the opportunities for fast improvement. The diagnostic is completely obligation-free. Please visit the parent portal of the Elevate Education website for all of the details.

Absenteeism

We would appeal to our parents and guardians to follow the procedures around absenteeism as we move into the new term. Absenteeism is one of the primary causes of academic underachievement. The loss of a single day may have a compound impact on a pupil’s understanding of core concepts in a particular subject. Every school day, whether regular lessons, retreats, workshops or special events are scheduled, is compulsory. The only exception is for senior pupils on days during the exam period when they are not writing. As such, please try to avoid appointments for your children during school hours as far as possible. If a pupil is absent, the school needs to be notified before 09:00 with the reason for the absenteeism.

South African Schools Model United Nations 2019

On Saturday 14 September, five of our grade 10 pupils represented the Indonesian delegation at the 2019 South African Schools Model United Nations, held at the CTCC Chambers.

The Model UN is a diplomatic competition where schools are assigned countries and must present their countries’ stand on a particular issue. It is a collaborative exercise with the aim of passing a favourable resolution. This year sixteen high schools across the Western Cape attended the conference, entitled “Addressing Climate Change in Africa”.

Well done to Claire Campbell, Ali Cotterell, Zoe Davids, Jess Haller, Safiya Moolla and Sherazaun Radloff. Their commitment to this exercise was commendable, involving two Saturday tutorial sessions at UCT and many hours of independent research and preparation. Our students gained valuable insight into the real issue of climate change in Africa and globally, and the importance of addressing this practically. They also had to negotiate and exercise diplomacy while trying to reach a point of agreement – all vital life skills.

The opening speech was presented by Claire Campbell. The block delegates were Safiya Moolla and Jess Haller, and Safiya presented the closing speech on behalf of the Indonesian delegation. Safiya Moolla also won one of six awards for diplomacy. Our students were wonderful ambassadors for Springfield!

Ubuntu

The Ubuntu Society held a few interesting discussions on topics chosen by the girls and also went to two Ubuntu evenings, one at Groote Schuur High School and the other at Wynberg Boys.

SACEE Forum

Our grade 11 students participated in the SACEE Forum discussion preliminary round this term, gaining valuable experience. Well done to Libhongo Kunene, Winnie Mkoko, Tahlia Russoux and Megan Selb.

Toastmasters

12 Grade 10 girls have committed themselves to doing the 10 week Toastmasters course this term. The course culminates in their Show Case evening on Thursday from 5:30 - 7:30pm. We look forward to seeing how much they have learnt from this worthwhile course.

Term 3

We have come to the end of term 3, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the season that has passed.

Firstly, thank all our winter coaches for their commitments to Springfield Sport. Coaching a team is one of the most demanding and yet, one of the most rewarding jobs anyone could have. It affords you the opportunity to play an influential role in the development of your team and individual players, both athletically and in their “off the field” lives as well. Many of the lessons you have taught your players will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Secondly, well done to each girl who committed themselves to hours of practice throughout this cold winter season. The commitment paid off in us achieving some outstanding results in league fixtures and Interschools.

Moving into the summer season, it has also come to the end of our heads of sports journey on the sports portfolio. The 2019 Sports portfolio has done an outstanding job in assisting with the running of each sport as well as creating school spirit and commitment to sport. We welcome the new heads of sport and wish them well for the year ahead as the leaders for 2020.

Lynne Reagon

Non School Sport: Irish Dancing

We are pleased and very proud to announce that our school will be represented by Irish dancing at the 2019 South African Championships in Gauteng over the weekend of 27 – 19 September 2019. The following pupils will be travelling to this event and we wish them all success as they compete towards achieving their best in their dancing goals.