Our children are growing up in a world that is very different to the one that their parents experienced as children. This is a world of technology and social interconnection. The common nicknames for this new generation are the iGeneration, Gen Tech, Gen Wii, Digital Natives. These names are still being bandied about and one will surely stick. Theirs will be a world where it will not be about remembering facts but rather learning about how to access them. One of the biggest challenges will be that almost all information will be accessible. Much of this sort of information would in the past have been withheld from children who were seen to be not yet ready. We can no longer shelter our children. We cannot wrap them up and protect them from influences that are bad for them. While this may now seem to be a time for technology education to improve in schools, the focus now needs to shift more and more to moral and values based education. It will be about teaching our children to be moral people and to make the right decisions for themselves. The value of Christian Education will become more and not less important in the world of the future.

The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be. (Paul Valery)

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Thank you to all those parents who supported us at the inter-schools cross country we hosted on Friday- and for your patience with the parking. Our marimba teams (2 Primary and 2 High School) and orchestra performed at the Indigenous Open Gardens at Cotswold Downs on Sunday and did really well. Thank you to the music coaches (Meg Logan, Sheila Chiles and Candice Mordecai-Jones) for all your input in coaching them and for being there for them. Thank you also to all those who assisted with transporting equipment, especially Gary Balarin and Roberta Ramasamy, and to the many parents who supported them.

This week is our Christian Arts festival with the theme, “Wonderfully Made” and all assemblies and LO lessons will be taken by the team from Kloof Harvest. We trust it will be special for our children.

Please remember that Thursday is a civvies day for our pupils in Grades 4-12 in return for providing a clean, used item of clothing or shoes- preferably adult- in good condition. We will be sending the adult clothing for males or females to the Churches who are hosting a “Pop-up Market” to give dignity to the needy. They will be able to “shop for items” but will not pay for them. A lot of work has gone and is going into this project which has been most successful elsewhere. Should we receive children’s clothing, this will go to the 1000 Hills as we have traditionally done.

YES, WE CAN DO WELL IF WE ARE PREPARED! This applies to all of us, but especially now to our Grade 7 s who should be into their studies in preparation for their first exams which start on Thursday 4 June. They have received info about this process from our SP Deputy, Mr Hooper, as well as my suggestions from the Horse’s Mouth last year. Here are a few more things to bear in mind:

General Exam Stress-Busting Tips:

· Believe in yourself. You wouldn't be in the grade if you didn't have the ability to do it. Therefore, if you prepare for the exams properly you should do fine, so do not worry excessively.

· Don't try to be perfect. It's great to succeed, but keep things in balance. If you think that "anything less than A+ means I've failed" then you are creating unnecessary stress for yourself. Aim to do your best but recognise that none of us can be perfect all of the time.

· Take steps to overcome problems. If you find you don't understand some of your work, getting stressed out won't help. Instead, address the problem directly by seeing your teacher or getting help from your class mates.

· Don't keep things bottled up. Confiding in someone you trust and who will be supportive is a great way of alleviating stress and worry.

· Keep things in perspective. The exams might seem like the most crucial thing right now, but in the grander scheme of your whole life they are only a small part.

 

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Weekly Achievers  - Sponsored by Debonairs & Steers – Kloof

IMAS

We have received late notification of another Thomas More College pupil who has been selected to travel with the South African group of 24 children to China to take part in the International Mathematics competition in July this year.  Congratulations to Saien Moodley, this an outstanding achievement, considering Saien is only in Grade 6, and the other pupils are all in Grade 7.  Well done Saien, we are very proud of you. 

Dancing

Well done to the following pupils who performed in the National Creative Youth Arts Festival “Dance for Joy!” held at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre on Friday 9 May:

Tara Saint, Emihle Nonxuba, Isabella Velleman, Sarah Clark, Rachael Easson, Sienna Raath, Sophie Buccimazza - Well done girls.

SP Rugby vs Kloof

U10A vs U10A - TMPS won 45 - 5

U10B vs U10B - TMPS won 10 - 0

U11A vs U11A - Kloof won 0 - 21

2nd vs 2nd - Kloof won 7 - 15

1st vs 1st - Kloof won 12 - 51

Equestrian

Tyler Jelf came 1st in pony riders eventing at Underberg last weekend with her pony Mamma Mia. Well done Tyler.

KZN Hockey

Congratulations to the following pupils who have been selected for the KZN Hockey teams:

KZN U18C Boys’ Outdoor Hockey Team: Jeremy King, Sihle Ngcobo, Karabo Malahleha

KZN U18 non-travelling reserves: Stuart Main, Gareth Davies

KZN U14 non travelling reserve: Gavin Blythen

KZN Cricket

Caitlin Downes was awarded the U19 Player of the Season atthe KZNCU Awards Dinner last Friday. Well done Caitlin.

Karate

A number of high profile Karate competitions were recently held around KZN and the following Thomas More pupils won medals: Samuel Haug (Gr.6) won Gold, two Silver and a Bronze; Ezra Haug (Gr.4) won a Gold medal; Connor Harris (Gr.5) won Bronze; Erin Alexander (Gr.2) won a Silver and a Bronze; Emma Simon (Gr.4) won 3 Gold and one Silver medal while her sister Caitlin Simon (Gr.6) won a Silver and a Bronze. A brilliant achievement by our pupils in a very competitive environment with many hundreds of participants. All these pupils are members of the Highway JKA Karate Club which meets at the St. Mary’s Sports Hall. Well done to all concerned!

Judo

Congratulations to Hanna Alexander who took part in the South African Judo National Ranking event in JHB last Saturdayand won silver. This retains her 2^nd place national ranking. Well done Hanna.

BMX

Congratulations to Levi Smith who participated in his first BMX race (KZN Leg 1 points Double Header) on Sunday 17 May at Giba Gorge.  Levi was the only 4 year old to race in the U6 & 7 category.  He was very excited to get to stand on the podium and receive 2 medals.  Well done Levi.

All of these calendars start out with basic information and then details are added as we find them out. E.g. at the start of a term, a subject test will be booked for a later date. As the time draws closer, the teacher is able to determine more fully what syllabus the class has managed to cover thus far, and will fill in details of what will be in the test at that stage.

It is important to note that this information is “live” and needs to be checked regularly. We have links to the different calendars available inside our website, found under the different Phase sections. We also have links to the same calendars inside the Parent Portal. The calendars that apply can be found under each of your child’s subheadings.

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The Horse’s Mouth Newsletter has all calendar links available to be able to easily find whichever calendars you need to.

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How to use the Google Calendar:

After you have clicked on the relevant calendar link, it will show you the default monthly view of the calendar:

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There are navigation buttons at the top left to change dates easily to look back or to future events:

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You are able to change the view of the calendar using the buttons at the top right to show only a week at a time, the default monthly view, or if you click on “Agenda” then you will see a list of events scheduled:

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Please note – it is not a good idea to print the calendar out, as the information might get updated and you will not realize this if you are referring to a print out of a calendar at a certain point in time.

To see more details about a heading in the calendar, you need to click on that heading – it will pop-up a small window giving you what details have been filled in already. This is where we have information such as which teams are playing and times, and also what material will be covered in a test/examination:

It is important to note here that it is also not a good idea to click on the bottom option “Copy to my calendar” here, for the same reason as printing, you will not receive updated information if anything changes in the live calendar.