Dear Parents

The weather has played games with us this week - from sweltering temperatures to rain and wind. Thank you to parents for responding to our "we do not cancel sport" policy.  All boys, regardless if sport does not take place outside for any reason, will be supervised until the end of that session. We often show videos of that particular sport, go over sportsmanship and etiquette during that time, even if the boys need to be indoors instead of outside if the weather does not permit.

The boys have been running races outside.  We have track lines painted on our field and they have loved "versing" each other! So much fun and the starting positions have been something to behold so if your son speaks about his races, he is possibly trying to explain the above to you.

Thank you for responding to our appeal to reinforce greetings.  It is already starting to make a difference, but we kindly ask that you continue to do so.  Together with your input at home and our input at school, we can win this challenge!

Each section of the school will be celebrating the life and contribution of Archbishop Tutu in different ways during the course of this term. At the Pre-Prep we will link this to Human Rights Day. Our aim is to educate our boys about his life and times, on their level, his contribution to South Africa, celebrating his life as well as the values of integrity, empathy and courage that he espoused and lived.

We would like to wish our Chinese families a very Happy New Year! May you all enjoy a wonderful weekend.

Kind regards

SHARLENE GROOM
HEAD: PRE-PREP

Valentines Day 2022

Little people are not always able to fully understand the history of Valentine's day, or the significance that adults attach to it.  We therefore use it as a way to share our LOVE.

This year we are reaching out to our furry friends. Many pet shelters are desperate for some dog and cat food and perhaps your unused doggie beds, hamster and bird cages, collars, bowls, blankets, toys etc.  We have a resident feral cat called Thunder who we also feed so any cat food will keep her going in the weeks ahead.  Thunder has been tagged and spayed but she helps to keep the rat population down on our campus. For this collection, please could you send your goodies to school during the week of the 14th (on Valentine's Day would be the best option) but we will continue to collect during the course of that week. We like to decorate our school with red and white goodies so if you are able to join a group of our moms on Friday 11th for an hour or so, to help make our school beautiful, please would you let your class rep know. I will communicate further details with them.

Boys may come dressed in anything red/white/pink. Any bottoms are suitable, shorts or longs.

Since Monday the Department of Corporate Governance and Traditional Affairs has published amended regulations. The following affect us directly:

• testing positive for Covid and having symptoms requires seven days' isolation
• testing positive for Covid but without symptoms requires no isolation
• contacts of those who have tested positive do not have to quarantine unless they develop symptoms
• no social distancing measures will apply in the basic education sector (all schools).

We now await the Departments of Health and Basic Education publishing a more comprehensive set of regulations, particularly as they pertain to schools. So, at this stage, unless we are informed to the contrary, mask wearing remains mandatory, as does screening and hand sanitising on entering the school. We will advise you if there are any changes in this regard.

Message from our Youth Pastor

The Lord be with you

This week we continued from the book of Luke 5:1-11, where we learned about how Jesus went fishing, how He found His first disciples and how He helped them turn a winless night into a victory morning.

The boys have participated well and engaged with how we are able to catch fish in abundance and reach our goals when in the presence of Jesus, and how we are to help each other receive our blessings when we allow Jesus onto our boats as passengers.

Let us pray:

Gracious Lord let us find space for you in our lives and encourage us to never give up and strive to be disciples worthy to follow you, in Jesus Holy name.

Amen

Lunch Boxes

We respectfully ask parents to please be mindful when packing lunch boxes.  Boys are not permitted to have sweets, yoghurt with added sweet toppings, chips, fizzy drinks or fruit juices. Trying to manage boys after such feasts is really challenging. Protein of some sort is a good addition to the lunch box - little meatballs/cocktail sausages, chicken or something similar is great if you are meat eating or an adaptation of those if not. Veg sticks with a little dip or blocks of cheese or crackers are equally easy. A sandwich is a winner (but not with Nutella please). Thank you for taking some time to consider the sugar content of whatever you pack. Please no Energade or Powerade or energy drinks.  Water is an important addition. Pretzels are fine but when dipped in chocolate, they are not.

Communication

We met with class reps this week around guidelines for communication.  We get reports from our newsletter and at the moment it is really alarming to see how few people read it.  We therefore have asked Class Reps not to repost the newsletter on the WhatsApp groups but to rather refer you to the newsletter for clarification.  When emailing teachers, please know that often they are busy teaching and then head straight onto the sports field or to meetings and often cannot respond immediately.  Kindly give them time to respond - the school policy is a 24hour turnaround allowance for responses.  No parent may call, message or WhatsApp teachers on their personal cell phones.  All correspondence must be via email which is the schools official communication platform.  If you have anything really urgent, please communicate via the class rep who is in touch with the teacher. If you are concerned and need something urgently, please feel free to contact the front office (021 6591037 or bmanyela@bishops.org.za) or me via email. I am more than happy to check up on something urgent for you and I will receive your notification immediately.

The Grade 2 boys had lots of fun in art creating beautiful ships using bright pastels on black paper. They also enjoyed Phys Lit in Woodlands Pavilion on a rainy Thursday and were able to have fun at cricket when the sun came out later in the day.

Grade 1

The Grade 1 boys discovered interesting facts about Pets this week. There was much discussion about what would make the ideal pet and how to be a good pet Parent. The highlight of the week was taking care of their pet for the day! Thankfully all Pets survived the day and were tenderly tucked into their ‘chair bag’ bed for the night!