Dear Parents, Boys and Girls

It was amazing to see, as half term approached, how the children and teachers needed a rest to re-charge the soul and mind to cope productively, with the remainder of the term. I hope everybody had a chance to do just that.

After Dereck Jackson's parent enrichment talk last month, on Positive Parenting, I have been doing some reading and thinking about how as parents, we can be the best role models for our children.

Whether we want to admit it or not, children model their behaviour on the people they look up to, admire and respect, and in your child's initial years it is you they imitate. As your child matures you discover that he/she is not necessarily impressed by everything you say or do, you might panic and a panicking parent might feel the pressure to give in to their child's demands...a big mistake! That's the time when you have to trust your better judgement and make the boundaries clear, as well as the consequences of crossing those boundaries. A child with no boundaries is an insecure child, whereas a child that is provided with clear boundaries and correction will respect you for making them feel more secure. You need to build influence in your child's life and you can do this by establishing a warm, caring relationship with them.

So how do we become role models? We do so by living in a way that makes our children want to live like us. To become a significant role model, we must learn to understand the power of example... remember, actions speak louder than words.

Does your child see a moody or negative person or someone who is positive and in touch with reality?

Are you a fun person to be with? Being a positive influence in your child's life means you will provide clear guidelines for him/her as to what you consider acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, but remember to do it in such a manner that your child will demonstrate the acceptable behaviour.

As your child grows older, be aware that you will not always make the correct decision with regard to matters. If you do get it wrong, remember to apologise. This is very important.

An effective role model will provide examples of behaviour that children can come to respect, and in turn, embrace. One of the most important aspects of becoming a role model is to teach your child sound core values. If you do not teach them the right values, someone else will and they might not be the values you want them to learn.

Adapted from an article by Alan Hosking.

INTERIM REPORTS

Your child's interim report is due to go home on the 18th March and parent interviews will take place on:

23 March - JP/SP

24 March - SP

25 March - JP

The parent interview booking sheets will be up in the school foyer as from the 17 March.

FAMILY OF SCHOOLS SOIREE

Annually we participate in the Family of Schools soiree. This year the event is hosted by BPS using the College hall as their venue. The soiree is on Thursday 18th March at 18:30.  We are very excited to have many of our school ensembles playing/singing as well as three individual items.  The junior choir will not be performing at this event; instead they will perform at final assembly on Friday 28th March.  We look forward to a wonderful evening of music-making! Details for performers will follow in a letter addressed to parents.

Mrs L. van Dellen

EAR SCREENING

Kieran Mardghum will be conducting our annual ear screening on all our new pupils, on the 17 and 18 March. This service is free to all pupils who are new to KPS. If your child is not new to KPS this year and you would like to have your child's hearing screened, please see the details of the screening on the letter which was sent home today.

PRESTIGE GALA

The Prestige gala takes place next Friday, 12 March at Dainfern College. It will be held during school time, starting at 10am. All pupils swimming in Prestige will receive letters in due course.

 Mr J. Robus

PHOTOGRAPHS

The photographer will be back at our school on the 15 March to take photographs of any children who were previously absent, the whole school photograph and the junior and senior choirs. We would like all the children to wear their number ones on this particular Monday.

EXTRAMURAL PROGRAMME

The summer extramural programme continues for one more week, and ends on Friday 12 March 2010. The winter extramural programme will therefore commence on Monday 15 March and run for two weeks until the end of the first term. A hard copy of this programme will be sent home with the Grade 3-7 pupils next week.

 Mr J. Robus

A THOUSAND CRANES

According to our 7 year Drama Cycle, this year's play is a 'Drama Club' production.  This presents a unique opportunity for us to produce something other than a musical. We have chosen a serious play called 'A Thousand Cranes', based on a true story, originally written by Eleanor Coerr and adapted into a children's play by Kathryn Schultz Miller.  It is a play of hope, tragedy, courage, and loss, pain, perseverance, of celebrating life and of death.  Auditions for the play will be held on the following days:

Wednesday 17th March from 2pm - 3pm (Grades 3, 4 & 5)

Thursday 18th March from 2pm - 3pm (Grades 6 & 7)

Wednesday 24th March from 2pm - 3pm (Call-backs)

Thursday 25th March from 2pm - 3pm (Call-backs)

This play would not be suitable for younger participants than Grade 3.

All cast members will be required to attend Drama Club next term.  The rehearsal times have been selected so as not to coincide with soccer/netball or any other school activities.

We are very excited to be producing a play of this calibre at our school; few schools would even attempt it.  We have a wealth of talented pupils and we are looking forward to working with them!

Mrs L. van Dellen

COVERING OF BOOKS

The teachers and I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to so many of our parents, grandparents and friends for helping to cover our new class and paired readers. The children are very excited about using these books!

SCHOOL WEBSITE

Just a reminder that the school's website can be found at www.kyalamiprep.co.za. Amongst other information, it also has tour photos from the Grade 5-7 tours and the Grade 2 outing to Monte Casino.

Mr J. Robus

MUSIC DEPARTMENT NEWS

We now have our full quota of music staff for the year. These teachers are:

♫        Bürhmann Steenkamp, Guitar, 082 324 3363 lb@live.co.za

♫        Fritz von Geyso, Violin and Piano, 083 530 9165 vongeysof@beaulieucollege.co.za

♫        Jaco Allers, Saxophone and Voice, 083 411 5066 jacoallers@hotmail.com

♫        Andrie Drent, Piano, 084 699 9400 an3drent@gmail.com

♫        Dennis Donnelly, Drumming, 084 733 0593 den.donnelly@gmail.com

♫        Ivor Back, Drumming, 071 686 5360 mwivor@iafrica.com

♫        Heather Malleson, Violin, Recorder and Flute, 084 843 7658 hmalleson@gmail.com

♫        Katie Morrison, Piano, 084 617 6146 morrisonkatiej@gmail.com

Feel free to contact any of them to make enquiries. Please note that from next term fees for music lessons will be payable in advance. Most school music departments implement this form of payment as it facilitates better and smooth running of a department. I have instructed my staff to invoice out a month in advance from 12th April 2010. Individual arrangements can be made with your child's teacher.

Mrs L. van Dellen

SPORTS TOUR

As many of you know, two years ago we went on our first big sports tour to Cape Town as part of our tenth year celebrations. We have been looking at the possibility of having these sports tours every two years, to allow all our Grade 6 and 7 pupils the opportunity of going on tour. I am happy to announce that we will be undertaking a soccer and netball tour to Kwazulu Natal some time in May. We are looking at taking two open netball teams and one open soccer team. Further information will be provided in due course, and we hope that this tour will be as exciting and successful as our Cape Town tours two years ago.

Mr J. Robus

UNIFORM SHOP

As a working parent I know it is not always easy to get to the uniform shop to buy a new item or replace a lost item of clothing. However, if you phone Bev Brown at the uniform shop, she can arrange to deliver an item of clothing your child needs to our school and you can pay her via an EFT.

Bev Brown:  011 468 3443

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE GENIUS

Week 6: Kyle Haarhoff                       Gr 4W

CHAIN OF VALUES

Body Language

Body language is used every single day by everyone in the world.  Some people use it without even knowing.  It can be defined as non-verbal communication consisting of body pose, gestures and eye movements.  The human face alone contains 44 muscles that can show isolated and specific facial macro and micro expressions as well as various emotions such as: pain, distrust, attraction, enjoyment, shame, guilt, embarrassment, awe, despair, scepticism, distress, amusement, excitement, pride, relief and satisfaction.

Humans send and interpret such signals subconsciously.  So often, we form an opinion of other people based on first impressions. Imagine our horror when we realise that our body language has given us away.

Mrs L. du Plessis and Mrs N. Ortlieb

GOLDEN MOMENT

When answering a comprehension question about making pancakes, Blair Hamberger (Gr 6) wrote: "You put your honey on and then BORNUPATREE! Enjoy!"

Warm regards

Kim Deirino

Deputy Head - Junior Preparatory