Dear Parents, Boys and Girls

The following is an article written by Janet Freemantle, and appeared on the news24 website under the link Parent24. It has many interesting articles on parenting, discussing a wide variety of issues. This particular article is on discipline:

“Children need a balance of love and discipline to develop as happy, confident and competent beings. Many parents find loving easier than disciplining. It helps if children can be given universal principles which they can refer to, to guide their own behaviour. ‘Do it because I say so,’ is a most uninspiring reason to do anything, more likely to breed resentment. My husband never saw himself in the role of 'prison warden' as he put it, administering rules and consequences to his sons. He remembered how throughout his youth he hated being told what to do, or worse, what not to do.

So he considered what he stood for as a man, and what we valued as a family and the three principles came into being: speak the truth, look after the lady and help your brother.

‘What was it like growing up with these three principles?’ I asked my son.

‘There was a beautiful simplicity about the “three rules”,’ he said. ‘We felt as though we could do anything (something about this feels important, that we felt as though everything was possible) so long as the three principles were followed. However, cunningly (or, which is less likely, unwittingly) my father had pretty much covered every possible indiscretion with those three simple rules, so while we felt as though 3 wasn't actually very many, in fact we weren't allowed to do anything bad at all!

‘Now, if we had been told that, we might have given our parents a few more headaches than we did, in the same way as someone who is told 'not to open that drawer' opens it immediately.

‘The three rules also helped our parents with consistency. When we did something naughty, we were told how it linked to one of the three principles; there was seldom any vagueness or lack of clarity about it.’

Each family will naturally choose the principles that reflect what they hold most dear, and these need to be discussed and referred to regularly to ensure that there is understanding and 'buy in'. It happens in the workplace, where it is referred to as the 'vision', or 'mission statement'. To succeed we need to know what we are about.

There is a big difference between having rules that govern one's life and principles that may guide it. A rule is defined as 'a statement of what can, must or should be done in a certain set of circumstances', whereas a principle is defined as 'a fundamental truth used as a basis for reasoning or action'. Principles can govern the simple everyday issues, but also apply to the big questions. They are essentially positive and can grow in meaning and scope as the child matures. For example, help your brother may begin by referring mostly to your sibling, but eventually could embrace the whole of humanity.

The real beauty of a life based on principles is that they open the gates to a wider world of infinite possibilities, giving a sense of meaning and purpose, helping a growing person to find their direction in life, what really matters to them, what it is they have to contribute. Great men and women are the ones we admire, honour and remember, and they are great because of the principles they have followed in their lives.”

(http://www.parent24.com/School_7-12/development_behaviour/My-children-live-by-only-3-rules-20100804)

EXTRAMURALS

The extramural programme comes to an end tomorrow, Friday 13 August. There will be no extramurals next week, as the focus is on Book Week. We will also be top soiling our fields in preparation for spring and the athletics season after the school holidays.

While on the topic of athletics, a reminder of the following dates:

• SP Field events take place during school time on Friday 10 September 2010

• JP Inter-house athletics takes place on Saturday 11 September 2010 at 8:30am

• SP Inter-house athletics takes place on Saturday 11 September 2010 at 10:30am

A THOUSAND CRANES…

A big thank you to all those who made our performances of ‘A Thousand Cranes’ so successful:

• Mr White, Mrs Deirino, Mrs Bester and all the members of the teaching staff for their help and co-operation at all times.

•  Administrative staff: Khanyi Tshabalala and Maureen Yende for their willing assistance.

•  Nichole Ortlieb for compiling the programme.

•  The Maintenance Manager, Mr David Calverey together with his maintenance staff, for their general assistance and for always doing their jobs with a smile!

• Jackie Sargent who produced the most wonderful sets.

• To all the pupils, Grannies and others who helped us fold a thousand paper cranes!

• Julie Robertson for the lovely DVD and preserving our play for posterity.

• Angela Mortimer for tickets, posters and ‘Front of House’

• Delina Perry for keeping us fed and watered!

• Kerri Kitch and Dalene Joubert who gave so generously of their time and expertise with everything from make-up, set design and costumes to moral support!

•  All the Mums who helped with hair and make-up.

• My wonderful cast – you made us all so proud!

Mrs L. van Dellen

UPCOMING PTF EVENTS TO DIARISE

18 September 2010 – KPS Camp Out

7 October 2010 – KPS PTF Golf Day

KPS PTF

EID MUBARAK

Wishing all our Muslim parents a peaceful and blessed month.

Mrs L. van Dellen

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE GENIUS

Week 12: Tessa Glanville                  Gr 6O

Week 13: Simphiwe Ndaba                Gr 7W

CHAIN OF VALUES

As we come to an end of this second term our core value has been that of teamwork. Obviously having had the World Cup in South Africa, we have had both good and bad examples of teamwork. Spain, arguably, could be described as one of the best examples of teamwork, having won the trophy. France, on the other hand, could be viewed as a team who did not display many aspects of teamwork. We move from ‘teamwork’ to ‘peace’ as our core value next term. On that note, we hope you have a peaceful holiday!

Warm regards

Jeremy Robus

Deputy Head –  Extracurricular