News from the Horse's Mouth
01 June 2015
Newsletter 18
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Letter from the Editor |
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Please find the Scripture for the week here.
Some points of particular interest in the expanded sections below include:
Everest 2015 - Surviving the Avalanche - please refer to invite alongside. The communicator will also have details.
Our Facebook page has been well recieved and we thank you for "liking" our page. If you would like to send any photographs that we could possibly consider for the Facebook page please email them, with a very brief description, to socialmedia@thomasmore.co.za.
Have a great week, |
Google Calendars for parents
We plan ahead as far as possible for test dates and sporting fixtures, and so information gets added into these areas often. For this reason, we have set up a number of different Google Calendars to allow parents and students to access information as soon as it is available, so that they may also plan ahead.
We have a separate calendar for each Grade’s academic deadlines starting from Grade 5 onwards. This allows teachers to make sure that a grade is not getting overloaded with deadlines bunching up. We also have separate sporting calendars for each Phase of the school.
We have included a section at the end of the newsletter to explain google calendars in more detail. Your login details for the portal have been included in the email sent to you for this newsletter – please note the easy to use address for the portal: http://parents.thomasmore.co.za
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| Achievements | Extra-mural Calendars | Academic Calendars | ||
| Week Ahead | Quick Links | |||||||||||||||||||
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 If you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, your Father in heaven will forgive you. But if you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14-15 My two children were getting undressed to have a bath recently when they either deliberately or mistakenly threw a sock which was offset from its original trajectory into the wash basket and landed in the, you guessed it, the toilet bowel, which as you correctly guessed again had not been flushed! The shouts for dad echoed throughout the house (mum was busy shopping). Arriving at the bathroom both girls are staring at the rather sodden sock floating in the bowel as they await dad’s arrival. My daughters needed me literally to sort out their mess for them. However, they were very sorry for what happened! When we mess up in life we need to be humble enough to seek forgiveness. Often we are too proud to own up or we find someone else or something to blame. Saying we are sorry to someone releases us from the power that bitterness and resentment can have in our lives as (Hebrews 12:15). Even more so Jesus reminds us in the above scripture Matthew 6:14-15. Shalom (peace) God bless |
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Cultural activities have really come a long way in the last few years. This year alone we have seen the number of choirs and marimba bands in the school doubling as well as the emergence of a community orchestra. The High School Supper and Song talent show took place on Thursday evening. This wonderful event was an opportunity to showcase the exceptional cultural talent in the High School. As usual, auditions had to be held and it was simply not possible to accommodate everyone. The performances were of an exceptionally high standard and the event was completely sold out. The Country Fair (Sat 1st August) is in the advanced stages of planning. The convenor is once again Dean Swift, and many thanks are due to those parents who have come forward to assist the Parents’ Council in this huge event. Like the Long Walk, we will once again have to call on the parent and pupil body for their support. Please remember that we cannot leave these big events up to just the organising committee, and that everyone will need to help in some way, before or on the day. Firstly, we need to collect items for the Tombola stall. This has always proved to be a popular and profitable stand but it is entirely dependent on donations of items from the parent body. Collections of items will take place TOMORROW. The items required are small, new, low priced items that can be used for prizes. The second appeal will be for small grocery items. These items will be specified per grade and will be used as condiments etc. for the various food stalls. This collection will take place shortly before the event on Tuesday 28th July. For your donations, the pupils will be rewarded with a Civvies Day. May I remind parents that Parents’ Council fundraising goes towards the capital development projects on the campus. 2013’s funds went towards the two new Tuck Shops, with a contribution towards the construction of the new Primary School rain shelter. In 2014, the Parents' Council paid for the tarring of the gravel car park. Sadly Sister Cate Cooper has had to take the rest of the year off as she recovers from a severe Coxsackie viral infection. In adults this can affect the heart muscle and has to be treated with great caution. We are extremely fortunate that Sister Belinda Bentley, who has been standing in for Cate in recent months, is able to stay on until the end of the year. 
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Last year I congratulated Mesdames Conradie and Logan on an outstanding Supper and Song production, believing that it could get no better; how wrong I was! Thursday night’s offering was stunning, spectacular, entertaining and outstanding. It dished up fare on all parts of the cultural spectrum, and provided the audience with an evening of magic, wonder and enjoyment. Those who had performed before again produced the goods, but it was also very exciting to witness the unearthing of new talent! I am proud of all of them including those who worked tirelessly backstage, and controlled lights and sound. On a more sombre note, June exams are just around the corner. Please encourage your offspring to be fully prepared in all subjects.  |
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Congratulations to all those involved in the High School Supper and Song on Thursday! It was a wonderful, magical evening! It is also so very rewarding to see the potential identified in the Primary School come to fruition. Especially well done therefore, to those who came through the Primary School, and to all staff involved. We as a staff (Foundation Phase and Senior Primary) have rejoiced in the recent achievements of our children academically in spheres different to the outstanding English results attained late last year in national benchmarking, where we had two children come first nationally in their Grade Olympiads against thousands of entrants. This time we are celebrating Mathematics and computer results. While we do our best as a school to support the child/ren who are struggling academically by supporting them in a number of ways of which small group is but one of the measures implemented, we also do our best to extend those children who need enrichment, fulfilling our ethos of meeting each child where they are and enabling them to reach their own personal potential. In Maths, we entered a group of eleven pupils for the first round of the IMC (International Mathematics Competition), looking for a prospective 24 children nationally to represent South Africa in July in China at the International CIMC competition (China International Mathematics Competition). Four of our children made it through to the next round- and all four in the end were selected! We are indeed excessively proud of them and congratulate Faran Steenkamp, Brendan O’ Loughlin, Jessica Thomson (all Grade 7) and Saien Moodley (Grade 6) and all their teachers, not only those in the current year, as this is a result of team input. We were further delighted to be notified that Michaela (Grade 6) and Vasilios (Grade 3) Kapnias have both been selected for the South African C Maths team to take part in California at the year-end for Mental Mathematics in the Global PAMA (Pan American Maths Association) international competition. Both Michaela and Vasilios came first in their age groups, with Michaela doing exceptionally overall, being awarded a R100 000 all expenses paid luxury trip to California as a prize. On the computer front, Mrs Vairy entered our Grade 6 and 7 pupils into a National IT talent search open to pupils from Grade 6 to 12. This talent search was run by the University of Cape Town in conjunction with the Department of Science and Technology. The youngsters in general fared well, with 80% of our pupils coming in the first 1500 students out of the approximate 8000 who entered. Faran Steenkamp ended up, with others sharing the eighth spot grouping, while Saian Moodley who came second in our pupils, and Sarah du Plessis who took third place in our students, were also in the top 20 and 50 groupings respectively. We are very proud of all our children and their abilities and talents. Best wishes to our Grade 7s for their exams on Thursday and older siblings for theirs next week A reminder that the grandparents of our children performing marimbas or in the choirs for Kloof Rest Home, Rob Roy and other young-at hearts, is tomorrow at 3pm in the Habberton Hall. Please also remember to hand in Tombola items (there was a comprehensive list of suggestions on the communicator) tomorrow morning. Wishing you a blessed week ahead and our Grade 3s an enjoyable outing tomorrow to the African Birds of Prey.  |
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Weekly Achievers - Sponsored by Debonairs & Steers – Kloof
C Maths Congratulations to Michaela and Vasilios Kapnias who both took part in the C Maths competition last Saturday in Port Elizabeth. Michaela placed 1st overall and Vasilios placed 1st in his age group. Both have qualified to represent South Africa in the Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Competition in California in December. Michaela being placed 1st overall has won R100 000 to cover her trip expenses. Well done to both Michaela and Vasilios on an outstanding achievement.
ITPSA (IT Professionals of South Africa) Congratulations to Faran Steenkamp and Saien Moodley who took part in the IT Professionals Competition along with all our Grade 6 and 7 pupils. Faran placed 8th out of 8000 pupils, whilst Saien placed in the Top 20. 80% of our Grade 6 and 7 pupils placed in the Top 1500. These pupils competed with children from Grade 6 - 12, all competing at the same level. The test was supported by UCT & the Department of Science & Technology. We are exceptionally proud of all the Grade 6 and 7s - and congratulate Faran and Saien on their particularly good results.
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Dancing Congratulations to Leah Allen who came tie first for the "Lord and Lady Lurgan Bursary" for dancing. This is the third consecutive year that Lea has won the bursary in her age group. Well done Leah.
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HS Equestrian Rachel Kerdachi has been selected for the KZN Open jumping team. She will be representing KZN in SA Champs over the June/July holidays. Cayla van der Walt, competed at the Dressage South Africa Challenge. She competed in the Junior Novice Grade. She was also selected for KZN to ride in the KZN Team for this performance level and achieved her KZN Dressage badge for this achievement. Kayd Olivier, competed at the Dressage South Africa Challenge in the Junior Novice performance Level. She was chosen to represent KZN as a team rider for this performance level and was awarded her KZN Dressage Badge. She was also awarded the KZN Medallion for having achieved over 60% at a National status event. Shannon Swart, competed at the Dressage South Africa Challenge. She competed in the Junior Preliminary Grade. Well done to all our riders.
U9 Rugby vs Hillcrest U9B lost 20-0 U9A lost 15-0
U9 Rugby Tournament @ Northdene Lost to St Henry’s 10-5 Lost to Glenwood 15-0 Beat Atholl Heights 15-5 Beat Northdene 10-0 Man of the Tournament went to Max Buchan. Well done!
Grade 1 Soccer Tournaments Boys: vs Winston Park 2 lost 0-3 vs Hillcrest 2 drew 1-1 vs Curro HCA 2drew 0-0 vs Highbury 2 lost 0-1 vs Highbury 3 won 1-0 vs Highbury 4 lost 0-1 vs Curro HCA 1 won 2-0 vs Highbury 4 drew 0-0 vs Hillcrest 2 drew 0-0 Girls: vs Forest View won 1-0 vs Hillcrest 1 lost 0-1 vs Curro HCA 3 won 1-0 vs Winston Park 2 drew 1-1 vs Winston Park 1 drew 1-1 vs Curro HCA 3 won 3-0
Grade 2 Soccer Tournaments Boys: vs Winston Park 2 lost 0-1 vs Kloof 2 won 2-0 vs Forest View 1 drew 0-0 vs Forest View 2 drew 0-0 vs Winston Park 1 drew 0-0 vs Winston Park 3 drew 0-0 Girls: vs Kloof 1 lost 0-1 vs Atholl Heights drew 0-0 vs Hillcrest lost 0-1 vs Kloof 2 drew 0-0 vs Winston Park 2 drew 0-0 vs Curro HCA 1 drew 1-1
Grade 3 soccer tournaments Boys: Vs Winston Park 1 lost 0-1 vs Hillcrest 3 drew 0-0 vs Curro HCA 1drew 0-0 vs Hillcrest 1 lost 0-1 vs Curro HCA 2 won 2-0 vs Winston Park 3 won 1-0 vs Hillcrest 2 lost 0-1 vs Kloof 2 drew 0-0 Girls: vs Curro HCA 2 won 2-1 vs Kloof 1 lost 0-1 vs St. Mary’s 1 won 1-0 vs St. Mary’s 3 drew 1-1 vs Curro HCA 1 drew 1-1 vs St. Mary’s 1 drew 0-0 vs Forest View 1 drew 1-1 vs Winston Park 1 drew 1-1
FP Cross Country @ Fulton Well done to Alex Ric-Hansen for coming 1st in the U9 girls race & to Alexander Jackson for coming 5th in the U9 boys race!
Rugby TMPS vs Highbury U10A 43 U10B 5 - TMPS won U10B 22 U10C 27 - Highbury won U11A 10 U11B 12 - Highbury won 2nd 5 4th 32 - Highbury won 1st 7 2nd 35 - Highbury won
Rugby TMPS vs St Henry's U10A 30 - 15 (TMPS won) 2nd 12 - 27 (St Henry's won) 1st 10 - 0 (TMPS won)
HS Netball The following girls were presented with awards at the under 15 and 16 netball tournaments that were held over the past two Saturdays at Danville and Crawford North Coast respectively. U15 Caitlin Sumadraji: best TMC player U16 Lerato Malahleha: best TMC player Ashley Harper: All-star team
KZN Hockey Well done to the following pupils who have been selected for the KZN Hockey teams in their respective age groups: Robyn Phipps KZN U16A Hannah Robinson KZN U16B Selaelo Mashiloane KZN U13A Lola Lee KZN U13A Mia Chetty KZN U13B Stephanie Tshuma KZN U12A Ilé Bothma KZN U12B
HS Girls' Hockey at Thomas More College 14A TMC 0 14A Durban Girls' College 3
HS Girls' Netball at TMC
U16A Crawford North Coast Tournament TMC U16A 9 Crawford North Coast 5 TMC U16A 15 Northlands 5 TMC U16A 5 Durban Girls' College 10
Southern Rock Climbing Rumble #3 U15 Joshua Munstermann 1, Keshav Gounden 3 U17 Kim Dawson 2, Matthew Robbins 3, Rowan Hendry 4 U19 Charles Young 4, Sean Rudd 5 Well done to all who took part.
Inter-Schools Lead Climbing Round #2 U13M Faran Steenkamp 3, U15F Jenna Bentley 2, U15M Craig Smith 1, Joshua Munstermann 3, Keshav Gounden 4 U17M Zunaid Valodia 2, Kim Dawson 4 U19M Sean Rudd 2, Charles Young 3
2nd TMC 27 2nd Hillcrest 22 15A TMC 11 15A Hillcrest 0 14A TMC 5 14A Hillcrest 42
HS Boys' Squash 1st Boys 3 Glenwood 1
HS Boys' Tennis 1st Boys 15 Curro HCA 28
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| Google Calendars for parents | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
The Horse’s Mouth Newsletter has all calendar links available to be able to easily find whichever calendars you need to.
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:
There are navigation buttons at the top left to change dates easily to look back or to future events:
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:
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. |
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