ABBOTTS COLLEGE

PRETORIA NEWSLETTER

5 of 2019

October 2019

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

Term 4 of 2019 Dear Abbotts parents and students

The final term of 2019 has arrived… and what an important term it is! After a great third term which included a fabulous matric dance, one can be tempted to think that the holidays are around the corner. But there is a big BUT: In a couple a weeks’ time the Grade 12 students will start what is arguably the most important examination of their lives. Soon after that, the Grade 8 – 11 exams will start. The Abbotts College staff wish each of our students the very best of luck… wait, let me rephrase: it has nothing to do with luck whatsoever. One’s academic results do not depend on luck, but on hard work and effort. That is why we at Abbotts place such emphasis on effort and effort scores. Therefore, the appropriate wish would be: may your effort be rewarded! I trust that every student will be able to look him or herself in the mirror and be able to say honestly that “I have done my very best”.

Is it too late to make an impact now in term 4? No, it is never too late. Time is limited, but it is never too late. The Grade 12s must attend school every day from 1 – 11 October: prelim papers will be returned to students, problem areas identified and addressed and final preparation will be completed. The rest of the school have a week longer to make the most of class time and teacher input.

I encourage every student not to miss out on any opportunity you have to spend time with your teachers. Let us put shoulder to the wheel to finish the year off in style.

Kind regards

Neels Geertsema

IMPORTANT DATES 03 October: Parents evening Gr 8 – 11 17:00 – 20:00 04 October: Mark Reading 5 Report Release for Grade 12 10 October: Mark Reading 6 Report Release for Grade 12 Grade 12 Graduation Evening 11 October: Grade 12 Final Exam information Session and Final Assembly 07 October – 28 November NSC Grade 12 Final Examinations 18 October: Student study day, no academic classes 06 December: Term 4 Ends MR7 Reports out Gr 8 –11

ANNOUNCEMENTS THE VALUE OF VISUAL ARTS Class attendance is compulsory for all Grade 12 students from 1 – 11 October 2019.

PARENTS EVENING for Grade 8 - 11:

Thursday 3 October 17:00 – 20:00. Please make an appointment by calling Mrs G Demmer at reception on 012 809 1208. Appointments assist in avoiding unnecessary congestion and queues.

GRADE 12 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION RESULTS will be published on Friday 4 October 2019. Appointments will be set up with parents of students where urgent intervention is required.

REMINDER: Grade 12 Graduation Evening takes place on Thursday 10 October at 18:30 for 19:00

Grade 8 – 11 awards evening will take place early in the new year. This is to allow for the final exam marks to be incorporated into the calculations.

WHAT CAN I AS PARENT DO TO HELP MY CHILD IN TERM 4? • Ensure that you child is at school everyday until the start of the exams.

• Follow up daily about progress made and time used effectively in homework period.

• Go through your child’s books and ensure that he / she engages with their teacher over incomplete work or missing handouts.

• Assist your child in drawing up a study schedule

• Assist your child in sticking to the study schedule

• Limit cellphone time, particularly at night. Students must get enough rest.

• Ensure that your child eats healthy food and stays away from energy drinks and junk food.

PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW FOR AN INTERESTING ARTICLE ABOUT THE VALUE OF VISUAL ARTS AS A SUBJECT.

https://parentinghub.co.za/choosing-visual-arts-in-high-school/

ACADEMIC REPORTS AT THE END OF THE YEAR:

At the end of term 3, Mark Reading 5 reports were issued. This was the last report which contains formal assessment tasks as well as additional tasks as part of the unique Abbotts offering. Parents and students are reminded that during the year, Abbotts conducts more assessments on a more regular basis that what is expected from the Department of Education (DoE). This is to ensure that students work consistently throughout the year and that regular feedback is provided regarding student progress.

The next report to be issued will be Mark Reading 6. This will be the year mark (also called SBA mark: School Based Assessment mark). This mark is calculated by using only the Formal Assessment Tasks required by the DoE. The formula is different for each subject. It would be incorrect to take the student’s five Mark Readings and divide by 5, because Abbotts does more than the minimum required. The SBA mark consists of only the Formal Assessment Tasks.

Mark Reading 7 reflects the final “Promotion mark”: This mark is calculated as follows:

Grade 8 – 9: Final exam 60% ; SBA mark 40%

Grade 10 – 12: Final exam 75% ; SBA mark 25%

Grade 12 students will not receive a Mark Reading 7 report from the school: the “Statement of Results” issues by Umalusi takes the place of MR7.

“CONSULTA” PARENT SATISFACTION SURVEY In a previous newsletter, feedback was provided on steps

taken in response to the 2018 parent satisfaction survey.

During term 3 of 2019, parents once again had an

opportunity to participate in a satisfaction survey,

conducted by a company called CONSULTA. This was an

online survey. Fifty parents participated in the survey.

Thank you to the parents who took the time to provide us

with their views. I wish to encourage all parents to

participate in next year’s survey.

As parents, you provided us with an increased score,

when compared to both 2017 and 2018. We are excited

about this upwards trend and thank you as parents for

your ongoing support and belief in what we do every day.

This certainly does not mean that the school leadership

team is under the impression that everything is suddenly

perfect. We acknowledge that there is a lot still to be

done and we will continue working as a team towards

meeting and exceeding parent expectations.

Parents were most appreciative of the supporting environment at Abbotts, both academically and psychologically. Parents seem to value three of the core pillars of Abbotts, namely mentoring, homework period and homework assistance, as well as an environment where students are treated as adults and taught responsibility. Many parents were happy with the communication between school and home, while others pointed to this same matter as an area that needs improvement. As a result, Abbotts will continue to strive to improve in this field. Most parents seemed satisfied that the interaction with teachers as well as the regular reports add value to enable improvement of marks, although one comment was made about “too many assessments”. Regular assessments form part of the Abbotts promise and serve as a valuable tool for students and teachers alike to identify areas that need improvement.

“CONSULTA” PARENT SATISFACTION SURVEY CONTINUES

Some areas of concern were:

a. As in the past, frustrations were expressed with

the accounts department. There were also

encouraging comments by some parents that a

big improvement has been noticed. Although

accounts are mainly handled centrally from head

office, the school management will continue to

engage with the accounts department. Should

you as parent have tried to address your

concerns but do not seem to make any progress,

please do not hesitate to inform the grade head,

deputy principal or principal.

b. Frequent timetable and teacher changes. It is

certainly true that it is not ideal for students to

experience teacher changes during the year. This

year has been particularly challenging in this

respect and more stability is envisaged for 2020.

Some staff changes were unfortunate, while

others were as a result of intensive engagement

with parents, head office and teachers. It

remains a priority for Abbotts College to employ

excellent teachers.

c. From the students’ side, a desire for a longer

break was identified, as in the 2018 survey.

Again, this concern revolved around students

feeling that they do not have enough time to

order food from the tuck shop. Once again,

students and parents are reminded that the

whatsapp number 060 332 5126 is available to

students to pre-order food. It must also be

noted that staff on break duty have reported

numerous incidents where students spend break

time with their friends and then at the last

minute going to the tuck shop to order food.

Naturally, this kind of behavior cannot be

accommodated.

d. Interestingly, discipline of students during break

was mentioned as a concern. To this end,

teachers do break duty. An effort will be made

to be more visible and vigilant. In this respect,

students are encouraged to report unacceptable

behavior witnessed during break, in order for

the school to address this.

“CONSULTA” PARENT SATISFACTION SURVEY CONTINUES

e. The absence of sport was mentioned a few times.

The Abbotts model is one where a conscious

choice was made not to engage in regular or

competitive sport, as explained in the enrolment

interview. This will remain the case, as the

Abbotts model is built around removing obstacles

to academic engagement and academic success.

Yet, in response to these requests, an effort will

be made in future to offer more physical exercise

opportunities, but this will not become the main

focus of the school. Student participation will

naturally determine the continuation of such

initiatives, while a distraction from academic time

and academic support would be in direct conflict

with the Abbotts promise.

ORATORS EVENING – INTER CAMPUS HOSTED BY NORTCHCLIFF 31 JULY 2019 The evening was an incredible opportunity to get to know other students’ point of views and speech skills. I thoroughly enjoyed presenting my speech and ultimately winning my category.

The judges elaborated on how well we did and I learnt a lot about how I will conduct my future orals. I learnt to be more confident and speak from the heart, even when my words seem to have disappeared for a moment. I will gladly participate again next year!

- LUBEL BALKWELL GR 11

Being in Grade 8, I was a bit frightened by the crowd looking at me when I got onto the stage, but then the judges smiled and I could relax. I learnt that the time allocation of the speech is of vital importance. The meaningful feedback of the judges also helped a lot in preparation for 2020. It was amazing meeting and competing with our peers from the other campuses.

- TSHIAMISO BAPELA GR 8

ORATORS EVENING CONTINUES

For orator’s evening I had an Einstein quote as my topic. I thoroughly enjoyed this because it gave me a chance to expand and think out of the box from a view point that wasn’t exactly entirely academic. I also learnt how to work better in a short period of time in terms of public speaking. I think doing orators was a good experience that improved my public speaking and attempting interacting with people.

- JOY NOOSI GR 11

The evening was enjoyable. I learnt how to improve my future speeches and present myself to an audience. It helped me learn to overcome my social anxiety by speaking in a room full of strangers. We spoke on inspiring topics and it was wonderful to hear what everyone else had to say. It was a lovely experience and one I wouldn’t mind attending again,

- MADISON NAICKER GR 8

The Orator’s evening was hosted by North Cliff Abbotts on 31 July 2019. There were several categories to participate in. Abbotts Pretoria East campus was represented by the following students:

English: Senior: Joy Noosi - Junior: Madison Naicker - Afrikaans: Senior: Lubel Balkwell –

“Die geïmansipeerde vrou van die 21ste eeu.” WINNER OR HER CATEGORY –

CONGRATULATIONS! Junior: Thsiamo Bapela – ‘’Deure.’’

The students really enjoyed themselves and were enriched by the meaningful feedback from the judges. Thank you for your hard work and participation in a most pleasant evening. Thank you to our parents who supported their talented young students. And last but not the least, thank you to our principal, Mr. Neels Geertsema who transported us there and back safely and for his amazing support during the evening. Yvette Snyman

GRADE 9 SUBJECT CHOICE ASSESSMENT AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT

During the second term of 2019 I had the privilege of assessing the Grade 9 students for subject choices. On the 20th of August 2019 a subject choice evening was held where students and parents were addressed by Mr Geertsema (Principal), me (Educational Psychologist) and Ms Daneel (Gradehead). During this evening various aspects related to the significance and importance of subject choices were unpacked.

The focus of my speech was to draw attention to how the subject choice assessment would support parents and students to make informed subject choices. Each student received a report where their aptitude, personality traits and career interests are discussed. Standardised tests were administered to obtain comprehensive information about each student. Psycho-Educational reports are not intended to be a complete statement about an individual. It deals with certain aspects at a specific time in an individual’s life and gives an indication of possible strengths and weaknesses at that time. Profiles should be regarded as a guide and not an absolute.

Aptitude refers to one’s potential capability to do a certain kind of work at a certain level with a given amount of training. The Differential Aptitude Test Form S (DAT-S) was administered during the Grade 9 Subject Choice Assessment. The results indicated in the reports are indicative of where each student has developed on an academic level at the time of the assessment. However, certain barriers to learning could have had a negative impact on the student’s achievement of this psychometric test. Various subtests and broad aptitude categories were used to determine which subjects would be most aligned with the student’s aptitude.

GRADE 9 SUBJECT CHOICE ASSESSMENT AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES

The Jung Personality Questionnaire (JPQ) was used to assess each student’s personality. Personality refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. The study of personality focuses on two broad areas: One is understanding individual differences in particular personality characteristics, such as sociability or irritability. The other is understanding how the various parts of a person come together as a whole.

The South African Vocational Interest Inventory (SAVII) was used to investigate the student’s interests in a vocational/career setting. It is important to note that interests develop and change over time. Interests are also not an indication of aptitude, but merely interest in doing a specific task. Sixty broad career options were investigated to determine where each student’s individual preference is situated.

Qualitative media was also used to gain deeper insight into each individual’s dreams, goals and aspirations. The recommendations made in each report is aimed at developing a career path for each of the students based on their aptitude, personality and career interests.

If you require any further information in this regard, please do not hesitate to contact me:

Mariaan de Vos

082 566 5097

mariaandevos@gmail.com

PARENT PORTAL The Mark Reading 1 - 5 report is available from the parent portal STASY (Schools and Tertiary Academic System).

Should there still be parents who cannot access their child’s report, please do not hesitate to contact reception on 012 809 1208.

RE-ENROLEMENT

The re-enrolment process for 2020 has started. This involves an electronic process as well as documentation from the school. Please be on the lookout for an email from “Stasy”.

FEES 2020

Abbotts College PTA East is excited to announce a number of measures to minimize the financial impact on parents in a difficult economic climate:

The school fees for 2020 amount to a 5%

increase only.

The discount for upfront payments of the full

school fees for the year has been increased to

a 10% discount.

A special “price freeze” will be implemented

for payments received on time: parents who

pay monthly on time (on or before the 1st of

every month) will pay the 2019 fees, a NO

INCREASE situation. Late payments (after

the 1st of every month) will be subject to the

5% increase.

UPGRADE OF THE STUDENT AREA: