Dear Parents, Boys and Girls

Setting and managing our children’s physical and mental boundaries are a challenging but vital part of their growth and development.

Many mums are aware of stretch marks that appear on their skin during pregnancy. Some mums are lightly affected and some are not, depending on their genetic make-up and their type of skin.

Now when it comes to raising our children, we all - mums and dads - end up with a different kind of stretch mark. These stretch marks develop because of the way our children stretch us by pushing our boundaries, as well as their own.

As soon as your baby becomes mobile he/she starts to push its boundaries, and that is when our boundaries begin to be challenged and cause our stretch marks to start developing!

All children need boundaries in their lives for a few reasons; firstly, to help define their world more clearly and give them a greater sense of security. Secondly, to create structure in their lives and help give it meaning and thirdly, boundaries help children develop self control as they need to exercise control to remain within a boundary.

There is a school of thought though, that children should not have boundaries because it cramps their natural curiosity and that the word no, suppresses and negatively affects their development.

Removing all boundaries from our children’s lives will definitely lead to their becoming very insecure little people.

 I do believe that very few things give my children more pleasure and security than being tucked into bed at a regular time every evening. Without the boundary of a regular bedtime, my children would create unnecessary stress in our home and they themselves would be very tired, unhappy little people.

There are two different kinds of boundaries, the first one being a physical one. We as parents, identify these boundaries to protect our children from physical harm. If, for instance, a toddler gets into the enclosed area of a swimming pool, there is the risk of the child drowning.

The second kind of boundaries our children will experience are the emotional and mental ones. These boundaries are determined by the intellectual ability, emotional status and the unique personality of the child, as well as by the opportunities we give them to explore their boundaries.

These boundaries are probably the most challenging because they are invisible and more difficult to identify.

We, as parents, play an important role in setting physical boundaries, but also then encouraging our children to challenge their mental boundaries. If we don’t encourage them to challenge their emotional and mental boundaries, they could remain a prisoner of their past into their adulthood.

As our children grow up we need to set clear boundaries, but we also need to be prepared and willing to change the boundaries as they grow older. The stretch marks develop when our teenagers start stretching the boundaries before we are ready to change them!

An excerpt from an article in the HR FUTURE Magazine.

TAALFEES

Our children who participated in the Taalfees on Friday, 21 May did themselves and our school proud! The adjudicator said she could see a wonderful improvement in the quality of the Afrikaans at our school since last year. On this note, we would to thank Mrs. du Plessis and Mrs. van der Westhuizen for all the time and effort that went into preparing the children for the Taalfees and for making the day such a success.

EXTRAMURAL PROGRAMME

The winter extramural programme comes to an end next Friday, 4 June 2010, and brings an end to a very successful soccer and netball season. There will be no extramurals on the three days prior to breaking up for the World Cup, except for an inter-school cross country fixture on Monday 7 June. The next extramural programme for after the World Cup will be available in due course.

J. Robus

SCHOLARSHIPS

We are very proud of our Grade Seven learners who have been awarded scholarships for high school in 2011. They are as follows: Ammaarah Mukaddam-Seedat (academic – Beaulieu College), Tshilidzi Makhuvha (academic – St Andrews Girls School and St Anne’s), Tuscany Kitch (cultural – Beaulieu College), Jason Wille (academic – St Peters College) and Roger Wyllie (academic – St Peters College). Well done boys and girls!

INTER-HOUSE CROSS COUNTRY

The inter-house cross country which was postponed earlier this term has been moved to Tuesday, 8 May 2010. It will start at 10am during school time, and should be finished by 1pm. Parents are more than welcome to attend and support the children. There will be no integrated day for the juniors, and all pupils are expected to remain to the end to watch the Grade 7's in their final race.

J. Robus

 JERSEYS

We are pleased to inform you that our uniform shops (McCaullagh & Bothwell and the uniform shop at Beaulieu College) have our new school jersey in stock. Your child may wear their sweater or jersey this winter.

REPORTS FOR SEMESTER ONE

Your child’s comprehensive report is due to come home on the 3 June and parent interviews, by appointment only, will take place on 7 and 8 June 2010.

ST. MARTINS WINTER SPORTS FESTIVAL

The annual St. Martins Winter Sports Festival takes place on Saturday 5 June, 2010. Pupils involved in the festival will receive letters in the next few days, and transport will be provided by the school.

J. Robus

 LOST PROPERTY

There is so much lost property at the moment, it seems to be bulging out of the doorway and making its way down the corridor! I would like to appeal to the boys and girls to take great care of their school uniform, make sure that it is labeled and place their items of clothing in their school bags as they start peeling off the layers throughout the day.

INTER-HOUSE NETBALL

Inter-house netball for the U9 - Open girls will take place on Thursday, 3 June 2010, as there are no inter-school fixtures due to KPS having a bye! Once again, the girls will receive a letter with further details closer to the time.

J. Robus

 BARN DANCE

The barn dance on Friday evening was held in the school hall. We had over 150 people learning the square dance, line dance and doing the Hokey Pokey all decked out in boots and stetsons. The musician, Delia Layton, entertained us with her guitar and the broom stick game, which had everyone in fits of laughter. Thank you to everyone who attended.

 KPS PTF

SOCCER

Congratulations to Marco Afonso, who was selected for the final squad for the Johannesburg Primary Schools Football Association after participating in the Ken Holmes Festival this past weekend. He is going to represent the area at the Bill Stewart Tournament in September 2010. Well done, Marco!

J. Robus

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE GENIUS

Week 5: Bradley Beningfield              Gr 7W

Week 6: Claire van Zyl                       Gr 6O

CHAIN OF VALUES

Our core value for this term is Teamwork. The Grade 0’s have focused on “Communication in teamwork”

Teamwork involves dealing with, and relating to other members found in your team, whether it is on the sportsfield, or in other situations.  Effective communication amongst the members of the team is crucial for the success of the team, and the emotional health of the team members. This involves:

1.  Having a team member mindset

-    Accept that other people may have a different way of looking at things than you do

-    Be willing to listen with an open mind

-    Keep the team’s goal in mind

2.  The importance of listening

-    Listen to what is being said, even if  you are not directly being spoken to

-    Don’t daydream when someone else is talking

-    Avoid ‘rehearsing’ what to say when it’s your turn to talk

-    Having a notepad and pen or pencil ready to write down ideas, dates, times, etc.

3.   When it’s your turn to talk

-     Draw upon what you have learned from the conversation by actively listening

-     Stay focused on the project when talking

-     Give honest feedback

Earthling Communication; The Seven Deadly Sins of Not Listening; Dan Bobinski; September 2009

Warm regards

Kim Deirino

Deputy Head – Junior Preparatory