Welcome back to the 2nd term. I hope you enjoyed some form of a break or at least a respite from the school run. And to all our Muslim families, a belated Eid Mubarak.

Tuesday’s heavy rains, keeping the boys inside all day with extra-murals, were quite a challenge for our boys and staff, managing all the energy and enthusiasm, “caged up” as it were. Rain is always welcome, but it was good to see boys on the fields and cricket net areas today, as well as lining up to head to College for sports practices after school.

As I wrote last term, we are concerned about the breaks over the next month. This week is the only five-day week until that of 5 May, so keeping our boys focussed and on task is very important. It will be so easy for them to get into holiday mode as though at the end of a long term, and any slowing down on their part will take away from valuable work time. Please check the calendar and weekly schedule carefully as the days before the Easter Weekend and the 28 April to 2 May break will be full school days, including extra-murals in the afternoons.

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING
Last term Kate Stamper and Laura Cook, in our BSU, offered a Coffee Connection talk on Executive Functioning and below is a short summary of points to work on in developing our boys’ Executive Functioning skills which are so important to ensure that they are able to and do function optimally.  Some of these will seem very simple and obvious, but we notice more and more boys lack these basic abilities. I think, in our very busy lives, some of these are neglected in the early years, but the good news is it’s not too late. Please take stock of these and encourage your son to improve these skills. Also, it is important not to outsource the tasks that develop these skills to domestic workers, au pairs or tutors.

Mastering the Juggle: Helping Your Child Get Organized
Strong executive functioning—skills like staying organized, managing time, and completing tasks—is key to school success and lifelong independence. When these skills lag, it leads to frustration for both children and parents.
We need to be intentional in how we support our children. Doing too much for them can be disempowering, while expecting too much too soon sets them up for failure. The goal is to find the "sweet spot"—offering support and scaffolding while gradually stepping back as they grow in competence and confidence.

Top Tips:

• Create space to think. Before stepping in, ask your child, “What do you think you could do to solve this?” Let them take the lead.
• Encourage reflection. Ask questions like: “What went wrong?”, “What could you try next time?”, or “Is there a better way?”
• Establish routines. Predictable structures at home reduce mental load and ease stress.
• Use visual supports. Calendars, checklists, and reminders can boost memory and keep things on track.
• Support planning. Help break large tasks into smaller steps. Use weekly and monthly planners to map out priorities.  The school diary has these planning pages.

Everyday Essentials for Parents:

• Model it. Show good habits with time, organization, and follow-through.
• Stay involved. Know the school calendar, systems, and read the newsletter.
• Check the diary. Ensure tasks are complete before signing off.
• Stay equipped. Make sure your child has the necessary stationery and that everything is labelled.

For those unable to make the last talk, it will be repeated this term.  Keep a look out for details to follow in the upcoming newsletters.

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
As we continue in the second semester, we think it would be useful for you to be aware of the criteria for Academic Achievement Certificates and Academic Honours. Karen Dallas, Our Head of Academics, explains as follows:

“Academic acknowledgement is important as we get to recognise and celebrate the positive progress, hard work and achievements of our boys through various means and at different times – merits, Good Work visits, special mentioning at assemblies, Headmaster’s Letters, Reports and at formal celebrations such as Final Assembly and Prize-giving. The criteria for the awards at Final Assembly and Prize-giving are:

• Academic Achievement certificates are presented for obtaining an average of 85% and above for the semester in Grade 4, 83% in Gr 5 and 80% in Grade 6 and 7. These averages are calculated from the six academic subjects -English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, Mathematics, Science and Social Science. These certificates are handed out in the Final Assembly in June and December
• Academic Honours Awards are presented at Prize-giving for obtaining an average of 87,5% for the year in Grades 4-6, and 85% and above for the year in Grade 7. “

Kind regards

GREG BROWN
HEADMASTER

Time: 13h30
Venue: Lutgensvale

Whale Trail Meeting

Time: 15h00 to 16h00

Brooke House Movie Night - Grades 3 to 5

Time: 17h00 to 19h15
Boys may wear civvies and bring pillows and blankets
Proceeds will go to Zonnebloem House and the children’s stationary needs for the remainder of the school year

Skeeles 7s Festival

We desperately need more volunteers to assist in the Tuck Shop and Egg and Bacon Stands at the Skeeles Festival this weekend. Please click HERE to offer your services for just 30 minutes.

Please click HERE for the programme.

As part of the Sports Performance and Wellness Programme, we have designed this questionnaire to help us better understand your child's schedule, commitments, and overall well-being. We kindly ask you to answer each question in the following link, with your child, as accurately as possible.

SPW Schedule Link 2025

Please complete this by Thursday 17 April 2025

As Easter approaches, we are excited to continue to support the boys and girls of St Paul's Primary School in Bo Kaap and deliver a wonderful gift of chocolate goodies mid April! Boys are encouraged to bring a strip or box of marshmallow eggs Collection baskets are ready in the library.

Congratulations to our Wednesday Morning Assembly Concert performers from 26 March. Special mention must be made of brothers Minggu Xiao and Mingjun Qiu who performed a duet rendition of Pachelbel’s Canon.
Back row: Kuhle Cossie, Tariq Eskinazi (announcer), Minggu Xiao, Sam Neethling, Andre Kuys, Noah Kihlstrand-Spencer
Front Row: Christian George, Mingjun Qiu, Harry Sorvaag
Seated: James Johnson and Joshua Moore.

Congratulations to our performers at the Wednesday Morning Music Assembly on 9 April:
Back: Nityam Jeram (announcer), Altaf Dawood, Chris de Wet, Andre Kuys
Front: Mingjun Qiu, James Johnson, Vahaan Moodley, Chris Stodel