Prep school news - 5 February 2016

WE ARE FAMILY - Tennis is part of our new JP integrated day
Dear Dainfern College Community
2015 BluPrint Survey
For the benefit of our new parents who may not be aware of this, we have in a
place at the College a system of BluPrints, which you have probably seen
throughout the school. These are put to the test every year through a
community-based survey of students, staff and parents. This system is unique
to Dainfern College and allows us a snapshot of areas that we can celebrate
and of areas that require attention and improvement. The feedback from our
2015 BluPrint Survey that we received was once again hugely beneficial and
shows that our wonderful school is in a very healthy position indeed.
When looking at the top line ‘Enablers’, it shows we can celebrate ‘Academic
excellence’, ‘Celebrate’ and ‘All-round education’ while needing to focus on
‘Attract and retain the best possible teachers and staff’, ‘Sporting excellence’
and ‘Core values within a Christian ethos’.
Tuesday 9 February
SP Assembly - Grade 7R
07h30-08h05
Auditorium
Wednesday 10 February
Ash Wednesday - Start of Lent
SP Ash Wednesday Assembly Mrs Myburgh & Connect
07h30-08h05
Auditorium
Friday 12 February
Civvies Day: St Valentine’s Day
JP Assembly - Grade 3M
07h30-08h05
Auditorium
Tuesday 16 February
SP Camps depart
Wednesday 17 February
SP Camps
Thursday 18 February
SP Camps return
Grade 3 Theme Day
10h00
Grade 3 classrooms
School closes for Half Term
12h00
School closes
Tuesday 23 February
School opens after Half Term
07h25
In terms of the bottom line disablers the graph also scores us at above 80%,
with the need to focus on: ‘Unrealistic workload’, ‘Ill-discipline’ and
‘Inconsistency’ and celebrate ‘Technology’, ‘Well-resourced campus’ and our
‘Social responsibility’.
PA Golf Day
Please see the invitation later in
this newsletter!
MySchool Card
The MySchool Card programme
raises welcome funds for the PA and
our outreach programmes - it is so
easy to use, too!
If you are new to our school please
contact Jacqui to arrange a card for
you. Contact her at 072 290-0601 or
by email at [email protected].
Click here to learn more about this
programme
Newsletter Classifieds
The following graphs show comparative year-on-year results for the last four
years, the breakdown of parents, staff and pupils as well as parents’ feedback
in the three different sections of the school:
The Classifieds section in the
Dainfern College newsletters starts
up again next week.
The Classifieds appear in all three of
our weekly newsletters and rates are
Issue 1
highly competitive.
Contact Leanne
Ford
for further
16 April
2014
information on 082 900 7390 or at
[email protected].
Helen Fish
Chair of the PA
076 750 1255
Contact the PA:
Email: [email protected]
Website links:
About the PA
PA news
LOST PROPERTY
& COLLEGE SHOP
Mondays
07h15-08h00 and 13h15-14h00
Tuesdays
07h15-08h00 and 13h15-14h00
Wednesdays
07h15-08h00 and 13h15-14h00
Thursdays
07h15-08h00 and 13h15-14h00
Fridays
07h15-08h00
“Be anxious for nothing, but in
everything
by
prayer
and
supplication, with thanksgiving, let
your requests be made known to
God; and the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will
guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6 - 7
Our children are significantly shaped
and moulded by their experiences at
school. One of the great contributions
you, as a parent, can make over
these years is to PRAY – not only for
your own children, but also for other
students at Dainfern College, the
staff, and all aspects relating to the
school. We would like to start a
Parent Prayer group that meets
weekly to pray over the needs of our
school community.
Issue
The focus of the
focus1of the prayer
group will be:
16 April 2014
 To bring the needs of our children
and the school before God.
Brendan Quinn
Principal:
Dainfern College Senior Preparatory
 To support and encourage one
another as parents of Dainfern
College.
 To pray for the Heads, teachers,
staff and parents.
 To be a Christ-centred, positive
and supportive influence at
Dainfern College.
Reportback from London
London was an exciting and exhilarating experience and affirmed for me the
quality of our school as well as the high calibre of our teachers. We have so
much to celebrate! In the weeks that lie ahead I will be sharing the
experience with staff and ensuring that we fine-tune our vision and practice to
ensure we are in line with the international research that gives us the
evidence about how children learn and how to deliver the most effective
lessons.
JP Traffic
We respectfully urge parents to adhere to the procedures and systems that
are in place to manage the traffic flow around the Junior Prep entrance. Noncompliance adds to the frustration and stress of the early morning drop-off
and compromises our children’s safety.
Please comply with directional signage, specific demarcated walkways, no
parking zones and, most importantly, directives from the employees of the
College who are there to assist and ensure our children are safe. Please treat
them with courtesy and respect.
We are aware of the pressure in the car park and are looking at options to
ease the stress.
Patti Blackhurst
Principal: Junior Preparatory
The parent prayer group will be a
very informal meeting of parents,
where time is spent praying over the
needs of our school. Everyone is
welcome. The prayer meetings will
take place every Friday at 07h30 in
the meeting room behind the Main
Reception. If you would like more
information please email me at
[email protected].
I
look forward to seeing the Power of
Prayer active at Dainfern College.
Cheryl Coetzee
High School Deputy Principal:
Pastoral Care, Leadership &
Outreach
Theft: Please be aware
An unfortunate incident at Country Readiness (the nursery school accessed
via our campus) has highlighted the need to be vigilant and to ensure cars
are locked while parked, even if you are only away for a short period. A
parent had a cell phone and laptop stolen from her car while dropping her
child at Country Readiness this week. Unfortunately Dainfern College
security cameras are positioned too far away to be able to pick up the
incident. There is a possibility that this was a ‘car-jamming’ incident. Should
you have any information about this please contact Brian Leahy
([email protected]) or Country Readiness at 010 228 0000.
We take security and the safety of our community very seriously at Dainfern
College and have access control measures and security cameras in place
across our campus. Our guards have been briefed about this incident and
parents are urged to ensure that their cars have the correct access stickers
displayed. This regrettable incident is a timely reminder to make sure cars
are actually locked and valuables out of sight, even if left unattended for brief
periods of time.
Dainfern College Blood donation campaign: 16 March 2016
We invite our Dainfern College family to take part in the blood donation
campaign at the College. One unit of blood can save up to three lives - what
a wonderful gift!
 Date: Wednesday 16 March 2016
 Time: 13h00 to 16h00
 Venue: Multipurpose Hall
Donors should:




Be between the ages of 16 and 65.
Weigh at least 50kg and above
Lead a sexually safe lifestyle.
Consider their blood safe for transfusion to a patient.
Please remember to eat a meal before donating blood.
Sister Zandi
School Nurse
New year, fresh start
The start of a new year is the perfect time to give your child a jump start.
Here are some tips:
Get into good sleep routines, talk about the school day, encourage healthy
eating, get children involved in extramural activities, read with your child,
encourage healthy friendships and stay connected with the school.
As Counsellor I shall be holding regular workshops to enrich both pupils and
parents this year. This term we start with a Care Workshop to help children
who may be experiencing the effects of divorce. Next term I will be holding a
study skills workshop for parents to help you to help your children. Details of
the workshops will follow shortly. Please feel free to pop me a mail if you
would like to chat on [email protected].
Eva Odendaal
School Counsellor
From the Media Centre
Hours: The Media centre is open from 07h00 until 16h00 for library book
exchanges. In order to speed up the process of borrowing books from the
Media Centre each pupil must bring their student card with them. Library
books will now be issued using this card. Please remember that children will
only be allowed to borrow a book when they return their borrowed
book. Please remind pupils to return any outstanding books that they may still
have.
Volunteers needed! If there are any mothers, grandmothers, fathers and
or grandfathers who would like to volunteer to assist us in the Media Centre
on a Tuesday morning from 09h00 to 12h00 please contact Kerry Wessels
on [email protected]. The number of times and number of
hours you wish to volunteer are entirely up to you.
We have again had a wonderful week.
Please remember to check the
extramural timetables for the starting
times of Marimbas, Orchestra, JP and
SP Choir, A Cappella choir and Orff. It is
very exciting that we have approximately
500 pupils attending these extramural
activities.
Songwriters’ course: 5 March 2016
The very exciting Songwriters’ course
for all Grade 7 to 12 students (not just
music students) has now been moved.
Please contact Mrs Pearce in the Music
Centre office urgently if you would like to
reserve a spot for this exciting course.
JP fun Theory and Aural classes
These classes are proving to be really
popular amongst the JP children. They
are held on a Tuesday and Thursday
afternoon after school. Mrs Pippa Clegg
teaches musical theory and aural
training through fun-filled activities. The
children are prepared for further theory
training but are have an exciting time
playing instruments. Please contact Mrs
Pearce in the Music Centre office or
register for these classes on line, on the
Music Centre link on the school website.
Viebz Competition
A number of our students will be taking
part in the prestigious St Andrew’s Viebz
competition on 15 and 16 February.
Good luck!
Theory results
At the end of last year a number of
pupils wrote the Trinity College theory
examinations. They all passed with
flying colours - congratulations to all!
These exams are vital as all pupils
taking a practical instrument need to
have theory too.
Prep School Music Captains
We congratulate our amazing captains
and vice captains on receiving their
badges. Please see the list of names
under Sports & Extramurals.
Have a truly wonderful week.
Patti van der Ploeg
Director of Music
Book sale: The Book People will be visiting us again:
 Where: Media Centre
 When: Date: 24 and 25 February 2016
 Time: 09h00-15h00
ENVIRONMENTAL QUOTE
FOR THE WEEK
Kerry Wessels
Media & Research
“Here is your country. Cherish
Kidi’s Korner
these natural wonders, cherish
Last week’s question: What We have 160 isiZulu books in our school
library. If we have twice as many Afrikaans books and five times as many
English books as Afrikaans books, how many English books are there in the
library?
Last week’s answer: 1600 English books.
This week’s question: A quarter of a number multiplied by nine is 63. What is
the number?
Kidi Ramollo
Head of Mathematics
the natural resources, cherish
the history and romance as a
sacred heritage, for your
children and your children's
children.
Do not let selfish men or
greedy interests skin your
country of its beauty, its riches
Extramurals
Our facilities are humming with energetic children participating in both Cultural
and Sporting activities! High fives to all of you!
or its romance.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Our Grade 1 and Grade 2 Integrated Day is proving to be a winner! Wow, to
see the enthusiasm and the enjoyment of these little guys is just music to the
soul.
Sport in the Prep School: Age groups vs Grades
A reminder that the various sporting leagues to which we are affiliated are
enforcing age-group participation. This therefore compels us to follow suit. We
will be implementing this policy with immediate effect, whereby Grade 3-7
children will be required to participate in their correct/actual age group. The
implications are as follows: if a child is older for their grade, they have to
participate in the correct age group: i.e. with the next grade up.
We are aware that initially some children may feel somewhat uncomfortable in
this ‘unknown’ space but please be assured that after a practice or two they will
be fine.
Captains
Congratulations to the following pupils who have been selected as Captains/
Vice Captains in their respective codes:
 Sports Captains
Cricket:
Captain: Ross White; Vice Captain: Sean Jackson
Equestrian:
Captain: Tarryn Allnutt
Golf:
Captain: Shaun McClatchie
Softball:
Captain: Kyla McBain; Vice Captain: Itayi Madzinga
Swimming:
Girls’ Captain: Pemba Elliott; Girls’ Vice Captain: Holly
McDonald; Boys’ Captain: Matthew Love
Tennis:
Girls’ Captain: Olivia Weir; Girls’ Vice Captain: Camilla
Alexander; Boys’ Captain: Sean Jerling; Boys’ Vice
Captain: Sean Casserly
 Cultural Captains
A Cappella Choir: Captain: Victoria Pretorius; Vice Captains: Simone
Killops & Itayi Madzinga
Chess:
Captain: Tao van Dyk; Vice Captain: Eric Clarke
Choir:
Captain: Maria Lueje; Vice Captains: Beth Mackenzie &
Michèle Letellier
Marimbas:
Captain: Alexia Duvenage; Vice Captains: Siphokazi
Ndlovu & Funekile Nyathikazi
Orchestra:
Captain: Victoria Pretorius; Vice Captain: Simone Killops
JP Sportswoman of the Week
Isabel Russo-Bello for her
enthusiasm and strategic thinking in
Chess.
JP Sportsman of the Week
Christiaan Broodryk for strategic
thinking in Chess and taking control
of his game.
SP Sportswoman of the Week
Tahlula Elliot and Pemba Elliot
for being awarded Junior and
Senior Victrix Ludorum respectively
at the InterHouse Swimming Gala.
SP Sportsman of the Week
Luke Carter and Matthew Love
for being awarded Junior and
Senior Victor Ludorum respectively
at the InterHouse Swimming Gala.
Swimming
The swimming season got off to a brilliant start with the annual InterHouse
Gala. The swimmers treated the school to some close races and excellent
performances while the spectators displayed enormous House spirit with lots
of decorations, outfits and some new war cries.
Congratulations to Tahlula Elliot and Luke Carter for breaking records on the
day and winning the Junior Victrix and Victor Ludorum respectively. Our newly
appointed swimming captains, Matthew Love and Pemba Elliot, led from the
front and won the Senior Victor and Victrix Ludorum.
The final points for the day were as follows:
U10B Cricket vs Bryanston
14h00
Home
Bus leaves at 13h15 and returns
17h30
1st: Kraken - 309
2nd: Phoenix - 234
3rd: Griffin - 187
The Spirit Trophy was won by Phoenix.
Well done to all the swimmers on their performances as well as the supporters
for their spirit on the day.
Performing Arts
Congratulations to Karissa Chowdary who has been selected to participate in
the South African Championships of Performing Arts 2016. This is a national
competition that enables students countrywide to participate in the fields of
dramatic, vocal, dance and modelling arts. We wish Karissa the best of luck!
“Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.” - Diderot
Tessa Shellard
Deputy Principal; Sports & Extramurals
Sport
Team
Opposition
Result
U9 A
Crawford
Lonehill
No result – rained out
U9 B
Cricket
Swimming
Tennis
No result – rained out
U10 A
St Peter’s
Lost by 6 wickets
Ethan Jacobs: 24 runs
Troy Connellan: 2/5 from 3 overs
U10 B
St Peter’s
Lost by 104 runs
U11 A
HeronBridge
Won by 9 wickets
Robert Adendorff: 37 runs
Luke Carter: 2/3 from 4 overs
U11 B
HeronBridge
Won by 8 wickets
Open A
Montrose
Night series:
Cheetahs
Won by 8 wickets
James Barnard: 2/6
Ross White: 2/11
U11
Montrose
Night Series:
Bryanston
Crawford LH
Lost 3-4
Won 5-0
Open
Montrose
Night Series:
Bryanston
Redhill
Drew 2-2
Won 7-3
InterHouse
Gala
Kraken
Phoenix
Griffin
309
234
187
Snr Girls
HeronBridge
Lost 24-39
Snr Boys
HeronBridge
Won 53-10
Summit
Won 5-2
Pecanwood
Won 6-3
Summit
Lost 6-10
Pecanwood
Lost 4-6
Netball
Jnr Girls
Softball
Senior
Team
Monday 8 February
U10A Cricket vs Bryanston
14h00
Home
Tuesday 9 February
U11A Cricket vs St Peter’s
14h00
Home
U11B Cricket vs St Pater’s
14h00
HeronBridge
Bus leaves at 13h00 and returns
17h30
Wednesday 10 February
1st XI Cricket vs St Peter’s
14h00
Home
2nd XI Cricket vs St Peter’s
14h00
King’s College
Bus leaves at 13h15 and returns
17h30
Senior Girls’ Tennis vs De la Salle
14h00
HeronBridge
Thursday 11 February
U9A Cricket vs HeronBridge
14h00
Home
U9B Cricket vs HeronBridge
14h00
HeronBridge
Bus leaves at 13h10 and returns
17h30
Senior Boys’ Tennis vs Sagewood
14h00
Sagewood
Bus leaves at 13h00 and returns
17h00
Softball vs Beaulieu
14h00
Beaulieu
Bus leaves at 13h15 and returns
17h00
Friday 12 February
Swimming Galas
14h00
A-Team Gala:
Grayston
B-Team Gala:
Home
C-Team Gala:
Saheti
Buses: A: 13h10; C: 13h00
Montrose Night Series
U11 & Open Netball
18h03 & 19h06
Montrose
Please come and support our Netball
players - wear something orange to
show your allegiance!
SNAG® Golf (‘Starting New At Golf’) is the best first touch
programme to effectively teach the game of golf to people of all
ages and ability levels.
SNAG® contains all the elements of golf but in a modified form,
making it an easy and fun way to learn and play, giving children a
greater sense of achievement in such a technically challenging
sport. The system builds on strong fundamentals of putting,
chipping, pitching and full swing to develop playing ability quickly
and effectively. SNAG® incorporates developmentally appropriate
equipment and instruction that will allow golf to be learnt and
played in non-traditional venues, such as on a soccer field, in a
gym, or on the beach.
Should you have any queries on the program or wish to receive
more information please do not hesitate to contact Leigh-Jane:
Email: [email protected]
JP integrated day in action
Do you have a business in the area or have something to
sell? Advertise in the Dainfern College Classifieds.
For more info contact Leanne:
[email protected]
Have you been told that
your child has ADHD/
learning difficulties?
At 360NLP we build your child’s
confidence by:
 improving learning methods
 growing emotional & social
skills
 supporting athletic & life goals
Join 100s of parents who have
benefited from a 360°
transformation in their children.
Both you and your child deserve
it.
Contact Daniella Berger
(Industrial Psychologist & NLP
Practitioner):
072 148 2794
[email protected]
BILTONG – great snack
for lunch boxes
LOOKING FOR A PROTEIN SNACK ?
TRYING TO AVOID CARBS??
Beef Biltong snap sticks 650g pack @ R175 (chilli sticks also
available)
Dry wors 650g packs @ R175; Sliced biltong @ R200 per kilo
Grade A meat Free Delivery in close proximity to school
Samples are available.
VANESSA 074 179 5558 / [email protected]
DAINFERN COLLEGE CLASSIFIEDS
DISCLAIMER:
Dainfern College makes no warranties
or representations and bears no
responsibility of any nature concerning
goods, services or otherwise
advertised here. All advertisements
displayed are accepted for publication
in good faith.