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Latest Prep School Newsletter
15 March 2017
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Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105)

Dear Parents

"Dad/mom, don’t coach me!"

During the December holidays, after Christmas, I found myself spending time walking on the beach. On one particular day, I noticed a group of children participating in fun sporting activities managed by an outdoor education company. ‘What an opportunity for the children,’ I thought to myself.
 
However, after my constitutional thirty minutes or so, I realised that something was not right about what I had seen. Yes, there is a place in the modern world for children to be involved in holiday sporting programmes – that is not my issue here. Sport is one of the many wonderful opportunities for parents to engage with their children and, in doing so, build a deeper and more meaningful relationship with their child. However, at the same time, one needs to keep in mind that a parent needs to be a supporter; a role model; an encourager - but not a coach!
 
Let me use the following two scenarios, which have happened to me as a parent, in order to explain what I am trying to get at:
 
Scenario One:
Mom or dad collects their child from school. The child climbs into the car and before the car has left the school grounds, the following conversation (or lack of it) occurs:
 
Parent asks: “How was school?”
Child replies: “Fine”
Parent asks: “Did you enjoy your lunch?”
Child replies: “Yes”
Parent asks: “Did you enjoy your break time? What did you do?”
Child replies: “Yes”
Parent asks: “Did you meet some new friends today?”
Child replies: “Yes”
 
Does this sound familiar?
 
Scenario Two:
The mom or dad takes their child for a surf (this is something that they both love). While they surf together, the focus is on the activity and not the child. During the surf session, the parent and child catch many waves and they engage in banter about who is the better surfer, or who caught an awesome wave, or who had the best wipe-out. A conversation begins and, in doing so, the child opens up about school and school activities. All sorts of information comes out about school, friends, teachers, waves, sports they enjoy, dreams etc. After an hour or so of surfing, the parent realises that school was not just ‘fine’!
 
The key here is engaging with your child through sport. These opportunities are priceless and parents need to find these opportunities and get involved with their children, but not become the coach.
 
Last year, the Sport Department introduced 5 non-negotiables for parents regarding the support of your child in sport, namely:

  • Cheer (for all)
  • Refrain (from criticising)
  • Support (the coach)
  • Smile (from the sideline)
  • Model (the right behaviour)

 These 5 non-negotiables have been collated into a symbol/diagram, which you will see around the school and which we hope will encourage parents to support the children in this manner:

I would encourage all of parents to use sport as an opportunity to engage with your child using these principles, but to keep in mind that your children are not looking for a coach, but rather a supportive and encouraging parent.
Mr Warren Bevan
Deputy Head: Extra-Curricular (Head of Sport) and Discipline
w.bevan@somcol.co.za
PARENT / TEACHER MEETINGS
SAVE THE DATE
PRE-PREPARATORY: 28 & 29 MARCH
PREPARATORY: 27, 28 & 29 MARCH


Online bookings for the Parent Teacher Meetings will open on Wednesday 22 March. A letter with all the instructions as well as the link to make a booking, will be mailed to you on Wednesday morning.

Please make use of this opportunity to make a booking to see your child’s teachers. This is an important meeting that allows teachers to discuss your child’s progress as well as an opportunity to celebrate their successes, discuss ways that they can be supported and to share any concerns they might have.
Mrs Debbie Kitching
Deputy Head: Academics
d.kitching@somcol.co.za
Ms Adri Hofmeyr
Head of the Pre-Preparatory
a.hofmeyr@somcol.co.za
REMINDER : MONDAY 20 MARCH IS A SCHOOL HOLIDAY AND            TUESDAY 21 MARCH IS HUMAN RIGHTS DAY. 
ENJOY THE LONG WEEKEND.
Our theme this term in the Prep School is CREATIVITY and one immediately links this to the amazing work that is done in the Music, Art and Drama classes.  Is it possible to be creative in Maths?  Yes, definitely!
 
Creativity can be defined in many different ways, but if one sums it up, creativity is the use of imagination or original ideas to create something. These ideas do, however, have to be of use.  All children are born creative and it is our job as parents and teachers to nurture this approach. Encouraging exploration and creativity and being prepared to be wrong are such important skills in a child's learning. Children love making new things and are full of wonderful ideas.  The reason why they do this is because they are not afraid of making mistakes and getting things wrong.  Creativity is about exploring new ideas. If Maths is to be a creative subject, then we have to regard it as a subject where it is OK to get things WRONG. In fact, it is inevitable. If you never make mistakes, you aren't discovering anything new. The history of civilisation shows that we only create things when we are allowed to make mistakes.
Indeed, many of the greatest inventions and discoveries came as a direct result of things going wrong. While doing Maths, children should not be focused on getting everything right, but rather on experimenting and being prepared to get things wrong.  They learn so much through making mistakes and their level of understanding increases if they have made mistakes and then managed to come up with a new plan to reach the solution.
One aspect of teaching Maths that I really enjoy is seeing those moments when a child spontaneously says "Oh!” or “I get it" - a satisfying statement confirming that what is being taught has been understood.  These "aha" moments often happen during those creative collaborative moments during lessons where children teach and learn from each other.  The Grade 6s and 7s recently explored angles outside on the field. 
The Grade 6s learnt about reflex angles and how they are constructed while they were working in groups on their skateboards, and the Grade 7s used sticks and wool to create complex shapes with angles on the field.  Each group’s approach was different and it was fantastic to see them working together, learning and being creative.  Let’s nurture this creativity and give our children the opportunity to fail so that they can learn.
Mrs Ruth Evans
Head of Mathematics
r.evans@somcol.co.za
GRADE 4 OUTING TO THE CAPE TOWN SCIENCE CENTRE
The Grade 4s went on an outing to the Cape Town Science Centre on Thursday 9 March. This outing supports classroom learning with hands-on, inquiry-based exploration. The centre provides engaging, one-of-a-kind experiences that speak to the natural curiosity in young learners. The Grade 4s did practical experiments involving states of matter, witnessed a few explosions in the auditorium, constructed houses and interacted with the numerous interactive displays on the floor. What a memorable outing!
GRADE 4 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The Grade 4s supported Tereo again this year for their Social Responsibility project. All 31 white T-shirts, 31 pairs of shorts, MonAmi wax crayons and other stationery items were sponsored by our generous Somerset College community.

Tereo joined our Grade 4s for a picnic on Thursday 23 February. The children all enjoyed a hot dog and some sweet treats. Some of the children relaxed under the trees and chatted to their new friends, while others played soccer and learnt a few new tricks on the field. What a meaningful morning it was. It was so beautiful to witness how the children interacted so comfortably with each other.

Thank you to all the families who contributed towards this worthy cause. You have been instrumental in the success of our outreach project and both Somerset College and Tereo are truly grateful.

Mrs Janine Kobilewsky
Grade 4 Head
j.kobilewsky@somcol.co.za
CHAPLAIN'S CORNER
Lent is a time of preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Day. Why don’t you make time to pray these prayers as a family this Lent? You could look up the verses in the Bible when you pray the prayer in the morning, and discuss in the evening how God has helped you during the day to do the things you prayed for.
Mr Patrick Cordery
School Chaplain
p.cordery@somcol.co.za
NEWS FROM GRADE 5
Grade 5 is a building block on all the years that precede it and the preparation for Grade 6 and 7 and the years to come. In this light, we expect to see your children gain more self-determination, responsibility, independence and inquisitive thought. Our aim is to help your children to become more self-confident and to successfully pass through this stage of cognitive and physical development.
 
As educators, we encourage a school life of balance for the children. They should be pushed academically in order to advance and develop the necessary skills, but also allowed time to just be children. We urge you as parents to keep an eye on the children’s schedules and to make sure that they reflect a balanced lifestyle.
 
We must never lose sight of the fact that they are still young children who need to be children and must not find ourselves in a position where they are overworked and overstressed and not able to enjoy the perks of being a child. They must climb trees after school, play garden cricket, enjoy reading a good book, visit each other and let their imaginations run free.
 
Our Grade 5 sleepover was an introduction to the Grade 5 group, where they were afforded the opportunity to bond as a grade. It was great fun and the children were given opportunities to work in pairs and in small groups. One of the things that was very noticeable at the sleepover was that the children often don’t listen to instructions, or cannot follow given instructions. They often need the instructions repeated individually and often several times. This is a worrying factor, and it is something which we need to address at school, and at home as well.
 
We need to encourage good listening skills and conversation. Ways in which we could encourage this are:
  • Turn off the TV – a little bit of TV with you watching and talking about the programme is great, but constantly having background noise of TV is not good for listening skills, and using the TV as a child minder does not encourage conversation!
  • Switch off the phone – You can survive for a few minutes without your phone! If you are playing and talking with your child, give them quality time without interruptions. Interact with your child and other people – make sure that you give some eye contact, let them see you use gestures and facial expressions, which are all important parts of a conversation.
  • Take turns – Conversations are about taking turns, and are not only one-sided, so speak and then listen.
  • We should encourage our children to listen to three basic instructions and then expect them to follow through on them without repeating ourselves. 
Poor listening skills have a big impact life at school and at home, for example; missing instructions, being inattentive, being perceived as disobedient, socially immature and so on.
 
The Grade 5 team looks forward to working together with the parents and children to make this year one filled with great education, wonderful opportunities and amazing memories.
Mrs Margie Joachim
Grade 5 Head
m.joachim@somcol.co.za
TO VIEW THE LATEST CALENDAR OF EVENTS, PLEASE CLICK HERE   
NEWS FROM THE PRE-PREPARATORY
Ms Adri Hofmeyr
Head of the Pre-Preparatory
a.hofmeyr@somcol.co.za
CHALLENGE FROM THE MATHS DEPARTMENT
Remember to send your answer to Mrs Evans - r.evans@somcol.co.za
Well done Miss Abdulla for being the first person to solve the last challenge. 
FUNDRAISING FOR JONATHAN KITANGA
Dear Parents,

During my athletics this year, I have met a Grade 4 boy called Jonathan Kitanga. Jonathan is a very good long jumper and won the silver medal at the WC Athletics Championship with a jump that broke the previous WC record. He has been selected for the WC team to go to the National Championships in Potchefstroom and has a good chance of winning a medal there. But, Jonathan’s parents are not able to afford the cost of sending him to Potchefstroom. I would really like Jonathan to be able to go to the National Championships and am trying to raise some money to help him go. We need to raise R2 500. Please donate any amount that you can.
 
You can let my mother, Sophie, know if you are willing to help fund Jonathan. Her cell number is 083 389 0940 and email svdh@sun.ac.za
 
Thank you very much!
Daniel von der Heyden

Grade 4
SPORT NEWS
General enquiries and sick notes for sport – prepsport@somcol.co.za
Physical Education for girls please e-mail Kirsty de Kock - k.dekock@somcol.co.za
Physical Education for boys please e-mail Hilton Toro - h.toro@somcol.co.za
 
PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORT
Please follow the correct lines of communication with regard to Physical Education (PE) and Sport if your child is sick and needs to be excused.
For PE, you should email k.dekock@somcol.co.za for the girls and h.toro@somcol.co.za for the boys. Please send these emails by 08:00 in order for Mrs de Kock and Mr Toro to deal with them before they have to attend to PE lessons. Please do not email prepsport@somcol.co.za regarding Physical Education. Physical Education is an academic subject and is separate from Sport.
For Sport, please email prepsport@somcol.co.za. Mrs Heidi Hudson-Bennett deals with these emails and informs the relevant Heads of Sport/coaches.
SWIMMING: SOMERSET HOUSE GIRLS RELAY SWIMMING GALA - 22 FEBRUARY: REPORT BY MRS ALETTA WILSON (HEAD OF PREPARATORY SWIMMING)
There was great excitement when we left for Somerset House to take part in our first inter-schools gala of the year!  The spirit amongst our girls (and supporters!) was electrifying when we WON the U8 freestyle relay (Quinne, Christine, Mia and Kate) and followed this by achieving second place in the U9 (Olivia, Sophia, Jessica and Giorgia) and U11 (Jenna, Elizabeth, Nelia and Alyssa) sections.  When our little U7 swimmers WON the first breaststroke relay in their first gala for Somerset College (Valentina, Amy, Zhanna and Eva), we just knew that we had a chance to attain an overall third after De Hoop and Beaumont and beat Somerset House and Rhenish.

Our U8 breaststroke relay (Mariella, Mia, Christine and Quinne) came third and was followed by our U9 team, who comfortably won their race. Our U11 team came third (Taryn, Elizabeth, Jenna and Alyssa) against very strong opposition. We did very well in the butterfly relays (U10 and up) when our U10s (Olivia, Giorgia, Alyssa and Tarryn) and our U11 team (Jenna, Elizabeth, Nelia and Alyssa) both came second, followed by a third place by the U14s (Sarah, Anouk, Trinity and Jemma).

We finished off on top form with the medley relays enjoying wins by our U8 (Quinne, Mariella, Kate and Mia) and U9s (Giorgia, Jessica, Olivia and Sophia); a second place by our U11s (Elizabeth, Taryn, Alyssa and Jenna) and third by our U14s (Jemma, Trinity, Sarah and Julia).  Our ladder relay did so well to achieve a close second (Madison, Quinne, Giorgia, Taryn, Alyssa, Emma and Jemma).

We were so proud to finish this event in third place after coming in fourth or fifth place for a number of years. Well done to all of the girls who participated and gave it their all!
ZONAL GALA ON 27 FEBRUARY AT SOMERSET COLLEGE
We hosted the Zonal Gala this year and our swimmers were quite nervous before the event as there were beautiful medals to be won by the top three swimmers in all of the individual events.

A huge congratulations to each and every swimmer who fought right up to the very last of 74 races to get as close to Somerset House, De Hoop and Beaumont as we possibly could.  We can be very proud of the fact that we were very narrowly beaten into fourth position by an excellent Somerset House team, with Beaumont taking the honours this time and De Hoop in second place.

Very well done to the following swimmers and relay teams who won medals in their races:
Individual Medley: Tarryn (2); Mark (3); Alyssa (1); Chad (1); Emma (3) and Jemma (2)
Medley Relay: U11 (2) Lisa, Taryn, Alyssa and Jenna; U11 (1) Nathan, Chad, Michael and Travis
Freestyle: Quinne (1); Giorgia (1); Thomas (3); Alyssa (1); Michael (2)
Breaststroke: Mariella (2); Liam (2); Olivia (2); Daniel (3); Elizabeth (2); Chad (1); Emma (3); Trinity (3) and Tiago (3)

Backstroke: Quinne (1); Giorgia (1); Declan (2); Tarryn (3); Mark (1); Elizabeth (3); Chad (2); Jemma (1)
Butterfly:  Tarryn (2); Mark (2); Alyssa (1); Michael (3); Emma (3)
Freestyle Relay: U8 (1) Mia, Kate, Christine, Quinne; U9 (1) Olivia, Jessica, Sophia, Giorgia; U9 (3) Declan, Conner de B, Conner N, Callum; U10 (3) Alyssa, Erin, Carla, Tarryn; U11 (3) Elizabeth, Jenna, Taryn, Alyssa; U11 (1) Michael, Nathan, Travis, Chad
Ladder Relay for Girls (1):  Quinne, Olivia, Tarryn, Alyssa, Emma, Jemma

DOLFYNTJIE GALA AT DE HOOP PRIMARY ON TUESDAY 7 MARCH
We had a super Dolfyntjie Gala, coming in second after De Hoop and beating Rhenish, Eikestad, Lochnerhof and De Hoop B.

The following children were awarded medals at the gala:

Gold: Quinne Hegland (2), Giorgia Pretorius (2), Eva Neumann, Olivia Jordao, Declan Thomson and Mark Hegland

Silver: Tarryn Coenraad (2), Mark Hegland and Liam Akdogan

Bronze: Madison Blom, Felipe van Wyk and Reece van Schoor

Our ladder relay won bronze (Madison, Quinne, Giorgia, Tarryn, Reece, Jean, Callum, Mark).

Congratulations to Quinne, who broke a record in the 25m backstroke event! Well done!

PSI INDOOR HOCKEY: REPORT BY MR QUENTIN DU TOIT (HEAD OF PREPARATORY HOCKEY)
Well done to the very large group of boys and girls that have recently been selected to represent Boland in their respective age groups at the PSI All Stars Tournament over the past couple of weekends. They have competed against teams from Western Province and the West Coast and did nicely, bringing home two gold, two silver and four bronze medals.
TENNIS: REPORT BY MR QUENTIN DU TOIT (HEAD OF PREPARATORY SCHOOL TENNIS)
The tennis season has been short, but one that has been greatly enjoyed by our players. The Helderberg league is one of the strongest schools’ leagues in the country, with De Hoop U13A girls winning a recent national tournament at Sun City and their boys coming second behind Eikestad. Our matches against most other teams in the respective leagues are well contested.
 
Well done, in particular, to our U11 girls teams and also to the U11 boys teams on being the most successful teams we have in the league. We look forward to our tennis growing even more over the next couple of years with many highlights for our players to enjoy.
 
It is encouraging that a few of our players are participating in tournaments, which helps develop the players’ experience levels. Recently, Nina Benson came second in the U11 girls’ section of the Wilson Series event held in Paarl. Maya Nortje also took part in this tournament.
WESTERN CAPE ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIP: REPORT BY MRS KIRSTY DE KOCK (HEAD OF PREPARATORY ATHLETICS)
On Saturday 11 March, Adam Burger and Daniel von der Heyden participated in the Western Cape Athletics championship at Dal Josafat in Paarl.

Unfortunately, Adam did not get a placing in the U13 high jump, but we are very proud of him for receiving his Western Province colours. Daniel did not get a placing in the 80m event, but did extremely well in his long jump, breaking the record twice; first with a jump of 4,57m and then again at 4,62m. For this achievement, he was awarded the Victor Ludorum for junior field events and will be taking part at Nationals next week in Potchefstroom.

We would like to congratulate both boys and we wish Daniel all the best on the upcoming championship.
CHESS: REPORT BY MRS LORYN BASSON (HEAD OF PREPARATORY CHESS)
Congratulations to Harrison Gibson, Amy Gibson and Michaela Mackintosh for making it into the Western Province chess team. They participated in the Western Province closed tournament this weekend in which Harrison came 11th, Amy 5th and Michaela 2nd in their respective groups.This is an incredible achievement. We are very proud of you!  

SPORT ACHIEVEMENTS
HORSE RIDING
Daniele Francis participated in the Sanesa Qualifier for Cape Winelands & Overberg Team where she achieved 5 first places. Well done, Daniele!

GETTING TO KNOW OUR NEW STAFF
As you would have gathered by now, I have the privilege of being part of the Internship Programme here at Somerset College Prep School whilst completing my B.Ed. Degree (Intermediate and Senior Phase) through UNISA. I have completed three Diplomas in Sports Conditioning and Exercise Science, obtained my TEFL certificate and completed a year of Theological Studies at George Whitefield College.

My other passion is health and fitness. I also enjoy sunsets, beach days, playing drums and listening to music from Rock to Deep House. This year I have the great joy of not only starting a new adventure in the form of the internship and my studies, but I am also planning a wedding. I proposed to Esther on 9 January 2017. We will be saying “I do” on 21 October 2017.

I look forward to my time here, partnering with all those concerned with student and school development.
Mr Josh Visser
Internship
j.visser@somcol.co.za
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