Dear Parents
Welcome back to the 3rd term. I hope you were able to have some rest over the holidays.
COVID
Very sadly, Paul Steven, father of Maximillian in Grade 5, passed away due to Covid. We extend our deepest sympathy to Kim, Max and their family and friends. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time.
Two Prep staff members have been isolating this week due to Covid infection.
MONDAY, 26 JULY
School starts on site this Monday. We will follow Covid protocols as strictly as possible at school. Please remind your son of the importance of adhering to these protocols when with others – they are no doubt sick of hearing about this but please keep up the reminders.
Here are some of the details:
- School gates will be open from 07h00 where boys will continue to be screened and sanitise their hands before entering.
- Start and end times are back to normal: 07h30 and 14h15 (13h30 on Fridays with Grade 3s ending at 13h00).
- Where boys are not able to physically return to school for Covid related reasons, please ensure that your son’s Form teacher is informed so that teachers will include him online.
- Our extra-murals will commence from Tuesday following the winter programme as per last term.
- Hot lunch will start on Monday.
- We are trying to ensure that classrooms are as ventilated as possible so please ensure that your son is warmly dressed.
STAFF
We welcome Caroline Duck (5S) who taught remotely last year and joins us full time from this term. She is an English and Drama specialist and taught for a number of years in the UK, principally at the Grey Coat Hospital School, a Church of England School in Westminster where she also directed the annual school plays. In addition, she has worked in creative production and lectured in Live Performance and Screen Acting at AFDA.
UNREST SA
As I said in my previous letter to you, we start school against the background of a frightening spate of looting, violence, destruction of property and loss of life. And the calculation of the death toll is still rising.
How we get our boys to understand this without frightening them is the challenge for the adults in their lives. Our history teaching and talks marking our public holidays, such as Freedom Day and Youth Day, give them a background. But we have to continue to keep them aware of the terrible disparity in our society – not of their making – and ask them what they can do about this in their own small way and how do they live now in a spirit of respect and care for others, practising for how they will need to live as adults. They will be the new leaders that will have to fill the servant leadership void in our country and effect the change so badly needed. They do not have to feel guilty for receiving such a privileged education but with it comes a responsibility to step up and make a difference.
Finally, I wish our Muslim families Eid Mubarak as they observed Eid al Adha on Wednesday.
May this be a good term as more and more adults are vaccinated. Most of our staff have been vaccinated and our stance remains one of encouraging all in our community to be vaccinated.
May we all keep safe, stay healthy, and look after our boys as they live through a time none of us has experienced before.
Kind regards
GREG BROWN
HEADMASTER |
