preparatory newsletter no 12 2012

7/30/2019 Preparatory Newsletter No 12 2012

1/26

7th December 2012

St Johns Preparatory SchoolSt Johns Preparatory SchoolHoughton

Tel: 011 645 3100/ 087 550473 Newsletter Number 12

29/11 Travelling Bookshop

30/11 U12 Cricket Festival

03/12 School finishes at 12h00

04/12 Headmasters Assembly

05/12 Prize Giving - Linder Auditorium

06/12 UIII Valedictory Service

UIII Leavers Breakfast

07/12 Final Assembly

School finishes at 10h00

Reminders fromthe Diary

From the HeadmasterJordan van der Walt has been invited by ProfessorJonathan Jansen to be the guest speaker at TheUniversity of the Free States Medical SchoolsGraduation Ceremony this Thursday an immensehonour.

I thought you may be interested in reading his

speech

Good Morning Professor Jansen, Honoured Guests and, of course, allyou Graduates. Congratulations on your graduation, it is really afantastic achievement. Hopefully one day I will be sitting where youare.

Firstly, thank you so much for inviting me here to be your guestspeaker, it is a great honour! Wow, I get nervous making a simplespeech to my classmates back at school, so please excuse me if Iseem to look like a jibbering wreck. Speaking in front of such an

esteemed audience as you is something I have never done before. Bythe way, if I dont make it to be the Springbok scrum-half, I would loveto become a doctor or masters graduate one day. However, I thinkthat I should start working on my school work now, as my mom andteachers are always on at me about my grades.

Now when Professor Jansen invited me to speak I really thought thatthere was no advice I could give any adult, let alone a whole lot ofgraduates. But, as I am sure you do, I thought it best to obey theProfessor. But, rather than giving you advice, I will try and explain toyou what my campaign has taught me and if you wish, you can takewhat you want from it. Please understand that I am 12 years old and in

no way would I want to preach to talented people such as you and infact if I was preaching, I am sure it would be preaching to theconverted.

My Just One Bag project came about because of a feeling that I hadin my heart, and when it comes to giving or helping, I believe that it isfeeling that is important it has to come from within. We can thinkand devise all sorts of nice things to do for people, but if they dontcome from the heart, I feel that they are meaningless. In order to giveor help we need to serve and all of you now as graduates are about todo just that.

You will soon be entering into what I believe isone of the most noble professions. You will begoing out into this wonderful country of ours to

give of your time, help people and servecommunities. I believe that there is only oneway for you to do this properly and that is todo it with your hearts. You have to go outthere and want to serve all people becauseyour heart tells you to. If you have become adoctor or take on any other profession for thatmatter because you think you are going tobecome rich, drive fancy cars and live in bighouses, I think you have made a mistake. Ihave been told that being a doctor is not thatromantic profession its often made out tobe... its tough! I also know from my dad that

the business world is tough. The only way thatyou are going to enjoy it and live a fullfillinglife is if you want to take on the profession forthe right reasons and you do it with yourheart.

Next year I will go into Grade 7, and myschool, St Johns runs a leadershipprogramme which is based on servant-leadership. After googling servant-leadershipI was very interested in some of RobertGreenleafs work and it made me think aboutmy campaign and this country. We needleaders in this country, and I am not talkingabout political leaders all types of leaders.


2/26

Page 2 St Johns Preparatory School

We are all leaders in some way or other, be it on the sportsfield, the head of a family or the captain of an industry,but Greenleaf says that in order to be a leader, you have to be a servant first. He says, The servant-leader isservant first It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve. And as I said before I believe it comesfrom the heart. It made me think that in a way, I have done this.

When I was watching that programme about starving children in South Africa, I felt sad. I had a feeling coming fromwithin and I was determined to do something about it. Fortunately with the help of many people we have managedto feed over a millio people to date. It dawned on me that maybe I am a leader. Yes, I am 12 years old, but becauseof that feeling of wanting to serve... and a few lifts in my moms car, I was able to lead. We now have thousands ofchildren who have joined the campaign and it is snowballing.

But, after reading a bit more of Greenleafs work, I realised that what I have started is just that, a start. Greenleafasks the question, Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer,more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged insociety? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?"What I need to do is make sure that my Just One Bagcampaign continues so that those people who are being served will one day in turn serve others as well. In histhesis, Greenleaf says that, caring for persons, the more able and the less able serving each other, is the rock upon

which a good society is built.

I am sure you have heard of the term, Ubuntu. For me, serving is part of Ubuntu and if we all serve, and we all haveUbuntu this country will have no rival. And so my challenge to you wonderful and talented graduates is to go outinto South Africa and serve. Do it from the heart because you have a feeling inside you that makes you want toserve. Dont do it for me, dont do it for anyone else, do it for yourself because your heart tells you to.

Thank you so much and I wish you all the very best for the future.

May I wish you all a blessed Christmas and a very special time with your families.

Patrick Lees

Headmaster


3/26


4/26


Adopt-a-CotTLCs funding reached a crisis point earlier this year and they were forced to close thenest the name given to the section of the home where new and often very tinyabandoned babies are given a home. The Adopt-a-Cot initiative asks benefactors to do-

nate R100 a month and once there are 20 donors in place, a new baby is taken in. Itcosts the home approximately R2000 a month to provide for a new baby.

Imagine the delight of our Prep school secretary, Grace Arthur, when she received thisemail from TLC last week.

TocontributetotheAdoptaCotprogrammeclickonthislink:

http://www.tlc.org.za

Forthosewhohavemuch

Individuals and groups of people have chosen to havedonations made to TLC in lieu of gifts for special occasions.The Rhythm Bookclub made a donation to the Adopt-a-Cotprogramme rather than giving one another gifts at theirChristmas dinner.

Our Business Manager, Mr Alistair Dry, asked his guests to support TLC in lieu of gifts

for his 50th birthday. He shared his thoughts:

As I prepared to celebrate my 50th birthday, I became pro-foundly aware of how blessed I have been and am in all re-spects, including not lacking in goods and possessions. Icould not think of a better way of expressing my gratitude

for all I have than by asking my family and friends, insteadof giving gifts to me, to make a donation to those who do nothave the very basics in life. Who more deserving than the

abandoned babies taken in by TLC?


5/26


Providing for day-to-day necessitiesUnder the leadership of Mrs Sandy Peters and theclass mums, and with the help of Mrs Powell,many families have given baby products, food,clothing and toys to TLC. We thank everyone fortheir generous donations! Our Community Serviceboys visited TLC with Karen Maitland anddelivered 400 bars of sunlight soap. The soap isused by the home to generate washing detergent.

Hands on!

Over the years, College and Prep boysand several parents have committedcommunity service hours to working atTLC. Their assistance has come inmany forms from digging trenchesand planting new vegetable gardens,building walls and paving roads, tobathing and playing with the happyinhabitants of this special home.Several families, including the

Workmans, Mrs Geraldine Blackhurstat the Pre-Prep, and the Longs, help bylooking after children and babies on out weekends to give the carers a much-neededbreak. For more info on how to do this, contact Pippa Jarvis at TLC [email protected];Vivienne Gruneberg [email protected] or Margot Long [email protected]

Please be aware that in order to look after children from the home, you need to have aPolice Clearance Certificate and an affidavit stating that you are not on the SexualOffenders Record.

2013 CalendarsMegan Carter is selling these desk calendars for TLC. There are two differentcalendars one with wild life pics and one with photos of children. Please contact

Megan if you are interested: [email protected]

Each Prep boy has also created a pack of Christmas Cards during Art lessons. Thesecards will shortly be sent home and all monies raised from this sale will go to TLC.

For any further info, contact Karen Maitland [email protected]


6/26


Running Two Oceans for TLC

Jeff Long is planning to run the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon next year (on a newly- re-constructed knee!) to raise funds for TLC. Follow this link on facebook for updates orfor more info on how to get involved:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Running-Two-Oceans-for-TLC/363161460442608?ref=ts&fref=test


7/26

Individual Achievements

Page 7St Johns Preparatory School

Mitchel Sinclair, UIIIH, has competed in several Open Water Swimming events: DischemSun City Swim, on 20 October 2012 swimming 4.5km: a 3km event, finishing 2nd in the

13 &U age group and 38th overall; a 1.5km event finished 3rd in the 13&U age group outof 142 swimmers in a superb time of 21min.01sec. He was interviewed and

appeared on Superswimmer, MNet.

In the CGA Lion Swim @ Homestead Lake, Benoni on 4 November, a 3km event hefinished 2nd in the 13&U age group and 8th overall in a time of 47min.46sec.

In the Heia Safari @ Lake Heritage- Leg 1, on 18 November, he finished 1st in the 13&Uage group and 2nd overall in a tight race for the line. He was interviewed and will appear

on Superswimmer MNet. Well done, Mitchel!

Correction:

Leo Fridjhon graduated Kung Fu Yellow Shirt at the age of 10, a first in the history of

The Chinese Martial Arts and Health Centre. Leo Fridjhon was the firststudent atage 9 to be given permission to join the Chinese Martial Arts and Health Centre. Hepassed his probation graduation with flying colours, and a year later he passed his

first white shirt grading into second white. Well done, Leo!

Cycling

Tristan Butler took part and successfully completed the

Momentum 94.7 Mountain Bike 2012 race. Well done, Tristan!

Hockey

Jack Montgomery and Dylan van der Walt made the district hockey team. Well done,boys!


8/26


Junior Public Speaking Competition Winners:

The winners of the Junior Public Speaking comp:Matthew de la Rey, UII and Spencer Clarke LII

The annual Junior Public Speaking Competition took place on Thursday, 8th November2012. Finalists were selected from the Lower II and Upper II classes and had to present a

prepared speech as well as an impromptu speech. The competition was adjudicated by MsKaren Maitland, our HOD of English, and she was impressed by our young orators. In heradjudication she made special mention of the standard of impromptu speeches that were

presented. The results of the competition were as follows:

Lower II

Jamie Diesel Bronze Certificate

Dexter Harding Silver Certificate

Spencer Clarke Best Prepared Speech and Best Impromptu Speech

Upper II

Jaan Niehaus Bronze Certificate

Jack Montgomery Silver Certificate and The Budding Orator Award

Matthew de la Rey Best prepared Speech and Best Impromptu Speech

Congratulations to all our speakers!


9/26


St Johns Prep Golf Championships 2012

Recently, our boys were very fortunate to hear one of the worlds award winning childrensauthors speaking in the Prep. Although now living in the UK, after going into exile (from

SA) in the early seventies, Beverley Naidoo is mostly well-known for her childrens booksportraying life in South Africa under Apartheid. Journey to Joburg, first published in1985, was initially banned in this country and only released in South Africa in 1991. Sincethen, it has been widely used in many of our schools. Beverley spoke about how she wasinspired by her second mother, Mma Sabata, to write the story of Tiro and Naledis tripto Joburg. The boys were fascinated to learn about a period in our history from someone

who had experienced it firsthand.

Award winning author visits the Prep

Mrs Beverley Naidoo with Daniel Burke

The Prep Golf Champs wereheld on Friday 23rd November

at Observatory Golf Club. Bestgross score and School

champion:

Matthew Stephen.

Runner Up: Bradley Dunbar.

A Section Nett Winner:

Kian Rose.

Runner Up: Jack Lees.

B Section Nett Winner:

Alex Ebeling.Runner Up: Jack Montgomery

Well done, boys!


10/26

4CTea 2012


November 2012Cricket

Jared Kietzman Kieran Houlston Jordan King

Zaahid Suliman

Reading and Exceeding Spelling Goals

Lebone Madalane

Conquesta Assessment

M Dlamini B Loxton

W Didloff K Motau T Myeza K Houlston

Y Ahmid K Dix J King

A Mashele T Krauss M Nkanza J West

Dedication and Enthusiasm in History

Alexi Karpodinis Lukha de Jesus

Excellent Effort and Perseverance in Dedication and Enthusiasm in History


Excellent Effort and Perseverance in Dedication and Enthusiasm in History


Excellent Effort and Perseverance in Sport

T Krauss M Blair J Vosloo B Shefer

A Karpodinis B Swanepoel W Kerr-Phillips M Boyce

Table Champs in UIIIL

K Dix K Motau

Excellent Maths Result

Sam Smart

Brilliant SpeechMatthew Durandt


11/26


To tie-in with International School Library Month and Halloween, the Upper Ones came to

be frightened and to frighten one another at our annual Scary Tales in the Library. Thereere some gruesome costumes as well as some rather horrible stories. The most

unintentionally scary part of the evening was that when the children emerged from their

first session of tales, their parents had disappeared. Many boys did not realise that their

parents were actually listening to a talk in the Clarke Auditorium!

Upper I Scary Tales


12/26


Caricature is a type of visual communication which communicates the messagewith exaggerated drawings. It is the briefest and sharpest way of stating acriticism. From the very beginning, it aims to address the audience to theimproper parts of society. Any subject can be portrayed in a caricature.

Baran Sargl

Lower II

The Lower II group attended a superb caricature workshop by artist, Mrs Jo McLaughlin.

The boys really enjoyed their first attempt at caricature and some of the results were

phenomenal. Zapiro, be afraid, be very afraid!

Mrs McLaughlin hard at work


13/26



14/26


In 2011, the Lower IID class grew beans on cotton wool. Thomas Cockram took his stem

home and grew it into a beautiful bean stalk. He brought the beans to school this year andthe 2012 class repeated the process. Tanaka Shoko and Aidan Strides beans grew the

longest and quickest. We hope that we can repeat the process next year.

Lower IID

Tanaka Shoko and Aidan Stride with their beans


15/26


Lower II

The Lower 2s have been reading How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell. They havedesigned book covers and created their own fearsome dragons, amongst other creative

activities. The boys were also very excited about Our Twitter Wall. Each boy was giventheir own Twitter strip upon which they wrote thoughts and comments about the book. Inthe following photo Keagan Lion-Cachet, Tayne Beswick and Oliver Krynauw can be seen

updating their Twitter feed.

The boys then designed their own covers for the book How to Train Your Dragon

By Keagan Lion-Cachet By Andrew Geerdts By Abdul Malik


16/26


By Graeme Gush By Timothy MartinBy Timothy Martin

By Ronin Quinn By Russell Browne


17/26


By Daniel Segal By Daniel Segal

By Khaya Ntuli By Sebastian Shearer


18/26


Lower II Pirate Limericks


19/26


By Nihal Ranchod By Spencer Clarke

By PaparellaBy Keegan Graham


20/26

At the beginning of this term all the Upper II and Upper III boys wrote the ConquestaOlympiad in Mathematics. Conquesta is a multiple choice primary school Olympiad

organization established in 1998 in KwaZulu Natal. Our thanks go to the dedicatedteachers who assisted in preparing the pupils for the Olympiad.

The boys are to be congratulated on their fine results. We are extremely proud of them.

Jean Clarence

HOD Mathematics


Mathematics


21/26


Appeal for Used Stationery

We have had a request from a school inSoweto for used stationery.

If you are clearing out and are in aposition to give away any used

stationery, please bring it to Mrs Sulterin the Library.

There will be boxes in the Library office.

Many thanks


22/26



23/26



24/26


iCare

Whilst we hope and anticipate that all boys will feel able to approach their teachers or amember of staff should they feel that something is wrong, we understand that this will notalways be the case. Some boys may feel unsure of how to approach a staff member or un-sure of what they should say. For this reason we are continuing to use the iCare box,which is now located in Mrs Powells office. We also have an electronic version where boyscan contact the Pastoral Care Team at [email protected]. The Pastoral Careteam is hoping that the boys make use of these initiatives to highlight anything that theyCARE about at St Johns Prep.

The aim is to provide the boys with an alternative avenue to voice their feelings aroundhatever may be on their minds. This extends beyond the reporting of just peer

difficulties (such as bullying) the aim is to further enhance the quality of the St Johnsexperience. All notes placed in the box or sent via email will be treated confidentially and

actions instituted where possible.

We ask that you encourage your son to make use of the iCare initiative so that we can

make his day all that he hopes it can be.

Hugo Meirim

[email protected]

AFRIKAANS TUITION

Is your son struggling to communicate in Afrikaans or having difficulty mastering thebasics of the language (oral or written)? I am qualified to assist in both of the above areasand would be available to provide the necessary tuition between 15:00 and 18:00 on

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at St Johns Preparatory.

Tuition will be provided on either a one-to-one basis or in group situations, lessons willlast for an hour. Progress will be regularly monitored and pupils will be expected toperform certain tasks and complete basic written assignments.

Tuition fees for individual lessons are R250 per hour and R150 per hour for groupsessions.

Should you be interested in the above, my contact details are as follows:

Graham Carroll

Tel : 011 534 1224Fax : 011 534 1225

Cell : 076 858 9420

E-mail : [email protected]

Notices


25/26

St Johns Preparatory SchoolPage 25

Notices

Art club and extra classes

From the beginning of next term, Mr Poco is starting an Art Club (for LIII and UIII boys) and extra art classes for juniorboys. Senior boys are encouraged to join the Art Club on Tuesdays from 14h00 -15h00 or Thursdays from

15h00-16h00. Juniors may arrange extra art lessons with Mr Poco at alternative times and on alternative days.

We hope to see the senior boys joining the Art Club to create various exciting art works with mediums they do notnormally use in class, such as print making, photography, oil painting and many more. This will be a fantastic opportunity

for any boy who wishes to develop his art skills.

For further information e-mail Bruno Poco on [email protected]

ItalianLanguage

LessonsSmall age appropriate classes and individual tuition

offered outside school hours at St Johns.

Experienced mother-tongue graduate teacher usingcommunicative method of conversation, maintaining

cultural ties for solid IEB foundation.

Contact Lisabetta on 082 682 2859 or

[email protected]

EXTRA MATHS

LESSONSLower III & Upper III boys in Mrs Jean Clarences

classroom

Every Thursday 14h15 - 15h00 All Welcome

Extra Maths Lessons

Individual tuition offered

Mrs M Hauptfleisch

Call 011 442 1854

083 256 7714

Mr R MacIntosh has written a book

Maccey A Quest for Freedom

A story of a teacher and his dog

Published by Cobblecrab Publishers

Parents who would like a copy are asked to contactMr MacIntosh on 076 529 5529

Copies can also be ordered through the publishers:

[email protected] R100 per copy


26/26


Christmas Alphabet

A is for Angels, appearing so bright, telling of Jesus that first Christmas night.

B is for Bethlehem, crowded and old, birthplace of Jesus by prophet foretold.

C is for Cattle, their manger His bed, there in the trough where He laid His head.

D is for David and his ancient throne promised forever to Jesus alone.

E is for East, where shone the bright star which Magi on camels followed afar.

F is for Frankincense, with myrrh and gold, brought by the Wise Men as Matthew has told.

G is for God, who from heaven above sent down to mankind the Son of His love.

H is for Herod, whose murderous scheme was told to Joseph in a nocturnal dream.

I is for Immanuel, "God with us," for Christ brought man back to the Father's house.

J is for Joseph so noble and just, obeying God's word with absolute trust.

K is for King. A true king He would be, coming in power and authority.

L is for Love that He brought down to earth God enfleshed in lowly birth.

M is for Mary, His mother so brave, counting God faithful and mighty to save.

N is for Night, when the Savior was born for nations of earth and people forlorn.

O is for Omega, meaning "the last;" He's eternal present, future and past.

P is for Prophets, when living on earth foretold His redemption and blessed birth.

Q is for Quickly, as shepherds who heard hastened to act on that heavenly word.

R is for Rejoice. The sorrow of sin is banished forever when Jesus comes in.

S is for Savior. To be this He came; the angel of God assigned Him His name.

T is for Tidings of joy, not of danger, telling of Him who was laid in a manger.

U is for Us, to whom Jesus was given to show us the way and take us to heaven.

V is for Virgin, foretold by the sage, God's revelation on prophecy's page.

W is for Wonderful, His works and His words, the King of all Kings, the Lord of all Lords.

X is for Christ. It's X in the Greek, Anointed, Messiah, mighty, yet meek.

Y is for Yes, called God's Yes in His Word; God's answer to all is Jesus the Lord.

Z is for Zeal as it burned in Christ's heart. Lord, by thy Spirit to us zeal impart.

preparatory newsletter no 12 2012

Documents