CONTENT Upcoming Events 2 Headmaster’s Desk 3 Old Boys News 4 Menu 5 ... Mateo von Cziffra-Bergs Vice Captain Thomas Archer Vice Captain

P a g e | 1

NEWSLETTER 3

31 January 2018

CONTENT

Upcoming Events 2

Headmaster’s Desk 3

Old Boys News 4

Menu 5

Pupil News 6

Junior Prep News 7

Cycle Tests 7

Sport’s Desk 8

Music Department News 10

PPA News 11

Australian Open at Pridwin 12

St David’s Open Day 12

Advertisement 13

CONTACT US

PRIDWIN PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Physical Address: Tel: 011 788 1116 St Andrew Street email: [email protected] Melrose, 2196 web: www.pridwin.co.za

P a g e | 2

UPCOMING EVENTS

WEDNESDAY 31 JANUARY 13h00 Grade 3 Parent Information Sharing session 14h00 Cricket fixtures - Gr 4C/D; Gr 5C/D; Open 5th/6th

THURSDAY 1 FEBRUARY 14h00 Cricket fixtures - Gr 3C & mixed ability 14h00 College EXPO Evening-The Ridge School (Gr 6)

FRIDAY 2 FEBRUARY 08h30 Cycle Tests (Gr 5-7 English) 14h00 Gala at St Peter's (A25) & St Stithian's (B & C 25)

SATURDAY 3 FEBRUARY 08h00 Cricket vs The Ridge

WEDNESDAY 7 FEBRUARY 14h00 Cricket fixtures - Gr 4C/D; Gr 5C/D; Open 5th/6th

THURSDAY 8 FEBRUARY 14h00 Cricket fixtures - Gr 3C & mixed ability

FRIDAY 9 FEBRUARY 08h30 Cycle tests Gr 5 Science, Gr 6 & 7 Afrik 14h00 Gala – A 25 at Pridwin & B & C 25 @ St Andrews

SATURDAY 10 FEBRUARY 08h00 Cricket vs WHPS

Back to the top

P a g e | 3

THE HEADMASTER’S DESK

Most people will concede that it is never a good idea to make an important decision when too emotional and yet I frequently witness very sensible people who carry great responsibility in their professional lives losing perspective when it comes to decisions concerning their children. Why is that? Well there is no doubt that we are programmed to love, nurture, provide for and protect our children. They are extremely precious and there is nothing that disturbs a parent more than to discover that their child is hurting. Schools are therefore often very difficult to manage because of the emotional component that is ever present just below the surface ready to burst into view when least expected. “I have only really ever lost it with the school on the rare occasion,” you might say. On an individual level that would certainly not be significant, but let’s look at the situation from a different perspective. There are approximately 200 families in our little school. Let’s assume that you get emotional about a school related issue only once a year. There are 200 school days in a year. I am sure that you can see where this is going? Obviously it is not true to say that every family in the school loses perspective over problems that their son encounters at school, but there are patterns that are worth noting. Firstly mothers tend to get involved in their son’s issues far more than fathers do. “Of course, he’s never around,” you might say. “I am left to do the parenting.” It is a fact. Mothers do carry most of the parenting burden and they do a better job than fathers on the whole. Mothers however have less insight into how boys solve their problems than fathers do. Boys tend to want to solve their problems physically. This is often in direct conflict with the advice mothers give their sons. If two boys do have a physical altercation, they get angry and hurt for a while but chances are they will be playing together as if nothing happened in a day or two. On the other hand the probability is rather high that the mothers of the two boys will be enemies for life if they happened to get involved in their sons’ disagreement. Secondly I am frequently amazed at how often mothers treat their sons and daughters so differently. Their daughters are expected to fend for themselves and become quickly independent. On the other hand they tend to mother their sons. They often tell me that they feel that their boys are vulnerable, need protection and are not as robust as their girls. Nonsense! We allow our boys to take advantage of the special place they have in their mothers’ hearts. Another pattern recurs repeatedly at a prep school. First time parents and younger parents are more difficult to satisfy and please than older parents or parents of second or third children. The reason is simple. Parenting is the most difficult job on earth and there are no manuals. Just speak to anyone who is the third or fourth sibling in the family and they will relate how their parents were so much more relaxed with them than with the older siblings. Why? Well by then we are so much wiser and more relaxed about raising children. We are much more inclined to accept that our children are actually robust enough to cope on their own with most of the challenges that life throws their way. To make matters even more challenging for a prep school it is fairly common for first time parents of young children to congregate around the exit points of the junior block and feed each other the latest bits of news which invariably includes their child’s progress or lack thereof and how much the teacher could be to blame. There is no better way to heighten a young parent’s fears and insecurities.

P a g e | 4

Soon after they are born children begin to learn the art of manipulation. They discover the power of the cry and the whine. Wise parents learn not to give in. Children, who are inadvertently empowered by their parents, develop more sophisticated powers of manipulation, so that by the time they are well into their preparatory school careers they can use parent power to personal gain. Let me elaborate. I have had my fair share of complaints from parents to intervene on behalf of their child. This may involve a teacher or incidents with other children. When a parent contacts me calmly and rationally I know from the start that this problem will be easily solved. It is when the parent is angry and emotional that I know there is trouble ahead. The anger and the emotion is a strong indicator that the parent has already made up her mind on the matter. She gained her information from her son and perhaps spoke to a friend in the car park. These are important components of the problem. It is important to believe your child and if someone else has a similar experience then the school is certainly to blame. Nine times out of ten, upon investigation, these incidents are far more complicated than the complainant would have them appear. For starters children have not yet developed sophisticated mechanisms to detect cause and effect and will invariably leave out the role they play in an event. They are not lying. They are telling their side of the story. They become even more convincing to the parent especially when they have acquired the knack of telling mom or dad what they want to hear. We would do well to remember the old cliché – there are always three sides to every story. There is your version, my version and most probably the most accurate version somewhere in between. This is why we urge parents to always start by going to the source of the problem and not to judge a situation until all have been heard.

Back to the top

OLD BOYS NEWS

We would like to congratulate three more old boy for their matric achievements. Alexander Hopkins 5 distinctions James Wood 5 distinctions Jamie Beetar 5 distinctions Back to the top

P a g e | 5

THIS WEEK’S MENU

THURSDAY 1 FEBRUARY Fish/fish fingers and Chips Halloumi or veggie fingers

Salads Water/Milk/Fruit

FRIDAY 2 FEBRUARY Beef/Chicken/Halloumi Burgers

Add on mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, pineapple

Water/Milk/Surprise

MONDAY 5 FEBRUARY Macaroni and Cheese

Salads Water/Milk/Fruit

TUESDAY 6 FEBRUARY Chicken strips with sweet potato chips

Vegetarian bobotie Salads

Water/Milk/Fruit

WEDNESDAY 7 FEBRUARY

Boerewors & Prego rolls (sold by PPA moms)

Back to the top

P a g e | 6

PUPIL NEWS

ACADEMIC AWARDS SHIELDS Sohan Desai Harrison Easter Ayyad Gardee-Eshak

Matthew Gouws

Jonathan Hall Simon Hund

Mateo von Cziffra-Bergs Zeno Costa Vansh Chawla Ava Mazwai Matthew McMaster Gregory Miller Ndamulelo Mufamadi Ryan Pullinger Vaishnav Semnarayan Liam Tibshraeny HONOURS Kofi Asumaning James Hattingh Zacharias Onyejiaka Jaipal Pillay

SPORTS AWARDS CRICKET

James Hattingh Captain Luke Francis Vice Captain

SWIMMING Matthew Gouws Captain Mateo von Cziffra-Bergs Vice Captain Thomas Archer Vice Captain CHESS Yanis Patu Captain Matthew Gouws Vice Captain Back to the top

P a g e | 7

JUNIOR PREP NEWS

GRADE 3 PRESENTATION Please join the grade 3 teachers in the multipurpose room this afternoon, 31 January at 13h15. We will be presenting a Higher Order Thinking (HOT) skills presentation based on the HOT skills covered during the first term. The aim of the presentation is to improve parents’ understanding of the specific HOT skills, how they are taught in the classroom and how you can reinforce and consolidate this understanding during reading homework. We look forward to seeing you there. Back to the top

CYCLE TEST STUDY INFORMATION

Friday 9 February 2018

GRADE 5 SCIENCE Skills worksheet – understanding of skills.

Science Investigation Sheet

Apparatus The paper is an application of the SKILLS and the INVESTIGATION SHEET GRADE 6 AFRIKAANS

Begripstoets (Comprehension)

Taal (Language): Meervoude en Verkleining Bl. 18 in Lekkerbek o Verlede Tyd BL. 18 in Lekkerbek

Kreatiewe skryfwerk (Creative writing): Tema: Eerste Dag in die Afrikaans klas GRADE 7 AFRIKAANS

Begripstoets (Comprehension)

Taal: Toekomende Tyd – reëls in Taallyste o Trappe van Vergelyking bl. 18 en 19 Taallyste o Intensiewe vorme bl. 19 en 20 Taallyste

Kreatiewe skryfwerk (tema van skool)

Back to the top

P a g e | 8

FROM THE SPORT’S DESK

SWIMMING GALA INFORMATION Friday 2 February 2018

St Peter’s will host the A25 team and St Stithian’s the B & C 25 team. Both galas will commence at 14h15. Parents may collect their boys from the respective venues, provided they inform their coach.

Friday 9 February 2018

Pridwin will host the A25 team and St Andrew’s the B & C 25 team. Both galas will commence at 14h15. Parents may collect their boys from the respective venues, provided they inform their coach.

CRICKET VS THE RIDGE 31 January 2018 – 3 February 2018

DATE TEAM VENUE TIME

31/01 Gr 4D Home - Astro 14h15

31/01 Gr 4C Away - Cheales 14h15

31/01 Gr 5C Home - Melville 14h15

31/01 5th Home - Janion 14h15

01/02 Gr 3C Home - Astro 14h15

01/02 Gr 3 Warriors Away – Rose Field 14h15

01/02 Gr 3 Eagles Henderson Park 14h15

03/02 Gr 3A Home – St Vincent field 08h30

03/02 Gr 3B Home - Astro 08h30

03/02 Gr 4A Home - Melville 08h30

03/02 Gr 4B Away – Hope School 08h30

03/02 Gr 5A Home - Janion 08h30

03/02 Gr 5B Away - Rose Field 08h30

03/02 4TH Home – Henderson Park 08h30

03/02 3RD Home – Venus 2 08h30

03/02 2ND Home – Venus 1 08h30

03/02 1ST Away - Cheales 08h30

MAPS & ADDRESSES FOR AWAY FIXTURES: The Ridge: 26 Woolston Rd, Westcliff Hope School: Pallinghurst Road, Westcliffe, Westcliff

Back to the top

P a g e | 9

CRICKET VS TRINITY HOUSE 7 February 2018 – 8 February 2018

DATE TEAM VENUE TIME

07/02 Gr 4D Bye 14H15

07/02 Gr 4C Home - Melville 14H15

07/02 Gr 5C Home - Janion 14H15

07/02 5th Away – Centurion field 14H15

08/02 Gr 3C Practice 15h15 – 16h30

08/02 Gr 3 Warriors Practice 15h15 – 16h30

08/02 Gr 3 Eagles Practice 15h15 – 16h30

The Grade 3C and mixed ability fixtures have been cancelled by Trinity House. They will have normal sport from 15h15 – 16h30. MAPS & ADDRESSES FOR AWAY FIXTURES: Trinity House: 23 Knoppiesdoring St, Randburg

CRICKET VS WHPS 10 February 2018

TEAM DATE VENUE TIME

Gr 3A 10/02 Away - Waterkloof Primary 08h30

Gr 3B 10/02 Home – St Vincent Field 08h30

Gr 4A 10/02 Away - Brooklyn Primary 08h30

Gr 4B 10/02 Home - Astro 08h30

Gr 5A 10/02 Away WHPS - Pops 08h30

Gr 5B 10/02 Home - Melville 08h30

4TH 10/02 Home - Janion 08h30

3RD 10/02 Home – Henderson Park 08h30

2ND 10/02 Away WHPS - Herringer 08h30

1ST 10/02 Home - Venus 08h30

MAPS & ADDRESSES FOR AWAY FIXTURES: Brooklyn Primary: 279 Murray St, Brooklyn, Pretoria Waterkloof Primary: 306 Milner Street, Waterkloof, Pretoria WHPS: 535 Ruddell Street, Brooklyn, Pretoria Back to the top

P a g e | 10

MUSIC DEPARTMENT NEWS

Junior Choir: Mondays 14h00 – 15h00 This is a compulsory ensemble for all boys in Grade 3 and 4 and as such is scheduled during academic time. The Junior Choir is conducted by Mrs Marilyn Middlewick. Senior Choir: Tuesdays 15h30 – 16h30 and Thursdays 15:30 – 16h30 The Senior Choir has welcomed a wonderful new conductor this year, Mr George Potgieter. This choir is voluntary and is open to all boys in Grade 5 – 7 who would like to join. There will be auditions for any boys in Grade 5 – 7 who would like to try out tomorrow afternoon (Thursday, 25 January). All boys who have previously sung in the choir and are continuing also need to attend as Mr Potgieter needs to hear their voices and do voice placements. String Ensemble: Wednesdays 7h00 – 7h30 and Fridays 7h00 – 7h30 This Ensemble allows all our violin, cello and double bass pupils to rehearse and perform together as a group. The conductor is Ms Libbie du Toit. Junior Jazz Band: Thursdays 7h00 – 7h30 The Junior Jazz Band is made up of boys in grade 3 and 4 who play brass or wind instruments. They are conducted by Mrs Angie Elliott. Senior Jazz Band: Wednesdays 7h00 – 7h30 and Thursdays 15h30 – 16h30 Our Senior Jazz Band is a very active group indeed. Boys in Grade 5 to 7 who have reached a minimum playing standard of Grade 1 in a brass or wind instrument are invited to join this group. They are conducted by Mr Philip Cox and Mrs Angie Elliott. African Ensemble: Mondays 15h30 – 16h30 The African ensemble is unique – most probably the only one of its kind at a school in South Africa! In this ensemble, which is open to boys in Grade 5 – 7, we teach our boys how to place interesting instruments which have been sourced from across Africa. These include African Harps, Fiddles, Lyres, Panpipes and Xylophones. Any boys who are interested in joining can come on Monday afternoons. The boys are conducted by Mr Lehlohonolo (William) Mashishi and Mr Charles Mugerwa. Senior African Drumming: Thursdays 10h05 – 10h30 Boys who enjoy playing African Drums are welcome to join the Senior African Drumming group on Thursdays at break. Boys will be given the opportunity to eat before they rehearse. The ensemble is run by Mr Charles Mugerwa. We can all look forward to hearing some wonderful performances throughout the year!

Back to the top

P a g e | 11

PPA NEWS

Back to the top

P a g e | 12

AUSTRALIAN OPEN AT PRIDWIN

Back to the top

ST DAVID’S OPEN DAY

Back to the top

P a g e | 13

ADVERTISEMENTS

Tennis Coaching-Action Tennis Academy This year will mark the 13th year that Action Tennis has been delivering high performance and fun coaching at Pridwin School. Action Tennis offers coaching for all ages and abilities, we have a brilliant Mini-Tennis program for foundation phase learners. Individual and Semi-Private sessions for the more performance players. Starting in February High Performance Squads for both intermediate and advanced players. We also offer a Hitting Service for those children and adults wanting an amazing on court work out. In February we will be starting an Adults Social Tennis@Pridwin morning with a twist, aided tactical advice while you play, look out for further details here. Please contact Paul Jones, Registered Professional Coach Mobile: 0823368705 email [email protected] The Firm Slimming & Health Clinic “RELAX, UNWIND, LIE BACK AND LOSE CENTIMETRES & WEIGHT AS OPPOSED TO SWEATING IT OUT IN A GYM!!” The Firm Slimming and Health clinics are focused on a long term weight management programme & cellulite treatment. Our goal is to provide our clients with a lasting impression through achieving and maintaining their weight loss goals and improved health. For a free trial session call Ayesha 071 119 3561 or Dara 078 001 5542 Landline 011 327 6717 OLD PARKS SOCCER Invites you to join us on Sunday, 4 February for our registration day from 09:00-13:00. Boys & girls from the ages of 4-17 are welcome. Professional skills training, monthly player assessment reports and specialized speed and agility training. For more information, please contact Gary on 082 442 8115 or [email protected] Tutors @ Your Service

For assistance in all school subjects

Homework supervision

Our tutors come to you

For top class tuition

For top class tuition Contact: Mandy 082 217 2077 Theresa 083 453 4792 [email protected] www.tutorsatyourservice.co.za

Back to the top

*Pridwin does not necessarily endorse any services advertised*