My Apologies
Greetings all. I must apologies for the lack of a newsletter last week. This has been a pretty busy at school with a number of meetings and disruptions. It has been a bit difficult to keep up to speed. However here is the newsletter for this week which will go out before Friday.
And talking of Friday, let me wish all our mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, grannies a peaceful and splendid Women’s day in advance. It’s a privilege to be able to acknowledge the impact the woman in our lives have on the world we live in and for this we should be massively grateful.
Civic Action
I do need to comment on the recent events in the town regarding the civic action of members of the local and wider community. Whilst we respect the right to protest, we also respect the right to education and so will always endeavour to keep the school open and allow teaching and learning to take place. Academic time is always under threat with public holidays that fall during term time. The safety of staff and Learners is always the overriding factor in making decisions regarding the operation of the school and we will always act in the best interest and safety of our Learners.
Important notice: Timetable adjustments
We are currently running a modified school timetable which has extended lesson times from 30 minutes to 55 minutes. This is working well and has had a number of benefits, particularly from an academic point of view. In reviewing the academic component of the school, I would like to introduce two further modifications. I propose a further change to the school times and routine and a change to the examination timetable.
Proposed Extension of the School Day to 2pm Monday to Thursday
The further change to the time table would allow us to run a 40-minute extra lesson/academic support/enrichment program for the entire school but would mean the school day would end a 2pm Monday to Thursday and 12 pm on Friday as normal. Rather than have a loosely structure academic support program, I believe it would be far more effective if it were formalized and part of the school day. This is not uncommon and happens in many other schools.
I will be taking feedback on this proposed change over the next few weeks. Certainly we will accommodate requests where possible and will have to explore a number of challenges. However, the delivery of the best academic service in the town remains our focus and we are determined to continue to reach this object and would encourage your support for this initiative
Examination timetable
Modifications to the examination timetable will be communicated later during the term but essentially we are looking to make better use of our time and not to lose excessive teaching time to examinations.
Communication with parents
We are finding it increasingly difficult to communicate effectively with the majority of our parents. The use of email and bulk SMS’s is becoming less and less effective. We are looking seriously at setting up a communication through WhatsApp using Broadcast groups which ensure anonymity. I will keep you informed as to how this is proposed to be rolled out.
MECS Carnival
The MECS carnival will take place on Saturday 31 August. Please save the date. It’s going to be a fun day filled with activities for all.
Important dates
August
Wednesday 7 Start of Test Series
Thursday 8 Grade 12 Business Simulation PEPPS Polokwane
Friday 9 Public Holiday
Thursday 22 Matric Farewell
Friday 23 Test series ends
Staffing
Mrs. Duvenhage is currently at home for her maternity leave. We wish her all the best for the upcoming birth of her second child. Shamima Aphiri has been appointed to fill in for her while she is away.
Dressed to impress!
Bosveld Kunstefees
Debate Success
Our Senior and Junior Debating teams have performed exceptionally well and have advance into the quarter finals of the Mayor’s Cup competition in Polokwane. We are very proud of our teams and must applaud their efforts and the support and commitment from the staff, in particular Mr. Nkomo and Ms. Cachallia
Drama
The drama club is currently very active and well supported by our learners. We look forward to the opportunity to see them perform for us in the near future.
Re-DO! Re-USE! Recycle!
Food for thought.
How do you catch a monkey?
The first step is to find some monkeys and then set a trap. Peg a sturdy transparent plastic bottle to the ground in the middle of a clearing. Place a banana in the bottle and then hide behind a tree.
Soon, curiosity will get the better of the monkeys and will they will approach the bottle.
One of the monkeys will see the banana and reach in to grab the fruit. But as the monkey withdraws his hand from the bottle he will discover that he’s trapped. The narrow neck of the bottle will allow his hand in but if he is holding a banana he cannot withdraw his fist.
The monkey becomes confused. He’s got hold of the banana but cannot get the food into his mouth no matter what he does.
You can come out from your hiding place and wander over to the monkey. He will see you coming and know he’s in danger. All the monkey has to do is to let go of the banana and run away.
But here’s the thing – the monkey would rather hang on to the banana and get caught.
Thoughts
to ponder:
What am I on about? The bananas are a metaphor for the negative thoughts that
you have in your mind. Thoughts that are unhelpful and un-resourceful. That
don’t serve you well at all but you continue to think them anyway.
“I’m useless at…”
“I’ll never to be able to do that.”
“I’m scared of…”
“I’m not clever enough and don’t have any confidence.”
The bananas may also be behaviours. Activities that you continue to do despite knowing that they’re no good for you.
The way you roll your eyes when someone disagrees with your point of view.
The amount of time you get distracted by surfing the net when you should be working.
When someone asks you how you are, you reply, “Not too bad.”
Just like the monkey in the story you have to learn to let go! Often the biggest obstacle you face, your biggest competitor is YOU!
You don’t realise you’re clinging on to a banana. You have a belief that’s so ingrained and entrenched it’s become part of you and you don’t even know it.
So a great starting point is to think about the metaphorical bananas that you need to let go. What are the thoughts or behaviours that are holding you back, slowing you down or stopping you from getting what you want?
Go on. Will you drop the banana?
To your success…
Regards
Brian
