Dear Parents

The cold weather has certainly arrived with vengeance.  Gosh, it has been really chilly. Thank you to those who remembered to remind the boys to bring a jersey to school (Gr 1 and 2) and who have packed a little extra lunch for those hungry tummies. We are trying to uphold the requirement of ventilation in the classrooms but it becomes really hard when it is so cold. 

While the Covid numbers seem to be steadily rising, we ask all families to keep an eye on any symptoms that may develop in your son.  A high temperature and often a sore throat or runny tummy seem to be the most common.  If your son does display symptoms, we kindly ask you to keep him at home for a day or so. If the symptoms persist and your son does happen to test positive, please note that he is required to spend 7 days at home, from the onset of symptoms. Kindly let the teacher know so that we can monitor the cases sensibly.

This week in the Chapel, Mr Tsotso spoke to the boys about listening and included a story about Mr Brown's dogs.  Interestingly my diary included a quote by Jenny Salt on this very topic:  How can we be better listeners? There are some basic skills that we can use: non-verbal listening skills such as eye contact, smiling, nodding, leaning forward slightly, perhaps even not having our mobile phones in the vicinity...reflective listening and asking a few fact-finding questions. With constant mask wearing, this has become increasingly difficult but, lets start to practise these skills at home, where it is safe to have no masks.  It seems that we have lost the art of active listening as covid has engulfed us.  Let us take time to claim back the smiles, eye contact and just being good listeners, with no devices in sight. As parents, lets lead by example, as hard as it may seem.

Wishing you all a restful (and hopefully a warmer) weekend.

Kind regards

SHARLENE GROOM
HEAD:PRE-PREP

Time: 18h00 to 19h30
Venue: Jagger Hall or online

Date: Thursday 19 May 2022

Time: 18h00 for drinks, talk starts at 18h30

Venue: Jagger Hall or online

Please click HERE if you would like to attend.

The Lord be with you

In chapel this week we listened to a reading from John10:26-33. We were reminded to listen to the Shepard’s voice and were encouraged to get to know the one who leads and from who's hands we can never be snatched. This week we aslo learned about David and Goliath and how David overcame lions and bears and was anointed by God to one day be king of Israel. When the Israel camp had been scared to take on the Philistines and their giant Goliath, David stepped up and trusted in God, even though everyone questioned his size and age. He responded with bold words saying - "when a young boy goes with God what can he NOT do or overcome?" He then went forth and overcame the giant. We concluded each lesson with affirmation words and phrases like, 'size doesn’t matter', 'trusting in God and knowing He is with us', 'it’s the size of the heart that matters', and many others.

Let us pray

Merciful, kind and loving God as we look forward to the weekend, we pray that we rest in the knowledge of your steadfast love, knowing that we will never be snatched from your divine custody. Allow us the courage to take on and overcome the challenges and situations before us, resting in the affirmation that no giant is too big and with you alongside us, we can do and achieve more than we deemed possible. Amen

The Grade 2’s have a Cultural Games Day planned on Tuesday to kick off their Life Skills theme ‘South Africa, Our Rainbow Nation'. They will play all sorts of fun games that have been experienced over generations in South Africa. 

This week the Grade R's visited the Salt River Fire Station. Bishops was the first school that had visited since Covid. The boys had an exciting time learning about what firefighters do, what they wear and the tools that they use. They went on a tour of the fire station and learnt about fire safety.

Grade 2

The Grade 2s have enjoyed learning how to greet and count in isiXhosa. Our isiXhosa teacher Ms Ngcwaliswa Siletile has been teaching the boys songs and rhymes, some of which I am certain you have heard your son sing.

Our focus in phonics for the past few weeks has been on learning the ‘magic e’ rule. The boys have been very creative and have carried this knowledge through to their art lessons where they have drawn lovely kites and

bikes.