News from the Horse's Mouth
Newsletter 25
|
Letter from the Editor |
|
|
Please find the Scripture for the week here.
Stock Shop Primary School Hockey bags in stock now!
Message from Parents' Council Chairman As we begin a new term we, the Parents’ Council, wish to provide an update of our activities which culminated in another hugely successful Country Fair. It is most relevant to note the tremendous input that so many made; all these cells of commitment and activity were expertly orchestrated by the Country Fair Committee and the result was a day we can be most proud of. To all that helped, the Committee, the Class Moms, the Staff and many Pupils who gave of their time – we are truly appreciative! Our 90% finalised numbers indicate that we will have raised R225 000 – a great achievement in that we have not increased the price of tickets over a number of years now.
This year the Parents’ Council has decided to apply the funds we raise to two causes. Firstly we will fund a roof for the Music School foyer. This will provide the campus with another superb all weather facility. The Parents’ Council was a substantial contributor to the original purchase and refurbishing of the Music School and it is appropriate that we contribute to enhancing this facility further. We will also fund the purchase of a new school mini-bus. You may have noticed the new branding applied to one of the busses – a second will be on the road shortly thanks to the funds you have helped us raise.
So far this year we have had three 150 Club draws. The winners of a term’s school charges, whereby the eldest child’s account is paid for the term, have been: · The Heads family – Jenna Heads - Grade 12 · The Galt family – Jason Galt Grade - 11 · The Cheary family – Jordyn Cheary - Grade 5
Our last formal event for the year is Night Racing at Greyville which will take place on 20 November 2015. This event offers a superb opportunity to celebrate the year end and beginning of the festive season with friends and clients – we look forward to seeing you there! Wayne Jaggard Chairman: TMC Parents’ Council
Have a great week, |
Fundraising Initiative Hay Hoe BP Service station situated at 6 Underwood Road Pinetown is making a donation to TMC for every litre of petrol sold to a TMC parent. Each parent should a received their card in the last week of last term. Your card number will be recorded with the number of litres purchased by the card holder. In addition TMC parents who use this petrol station will be entered into a monthly draw for a food/goodie hamper to the value of R250-00 and 2 free car washes. Simply by filling up at Hay Hoe Service Station you are supporting the fundraising initiative for our 2016 Overseas Tours. Thereafter, the funds raised by the Hay Hoe Service Station initiative will go towards Parents' Council Fundraising.
School of Music We have a new vocal coach Marijke de Bruin who has joined the School of Music. She will be running small groups of music appreciation from Gr R to Gr 7 in the afternoons. She will also be teaching private vocal lessons. If you would like to find out more about the small groups, please contact The School of Music on 083 990 5011 or Marijke on 082 802 4399 as these will be starting ASAP. We continue to have piano drums guitar and violin as instruments on offer too.
|
| Achievements | Extra-mural Calendars | Academic Calendars | ||
| Week Ahead | Quick Links | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41:13 The words “fear not” are mentioned 340 times in the Bible, almost once for each day of the year. It is a comfort to realise that God like a loving father holds our hand in times of great stress and fear. Sometimes it takes courage to trust God in situations where we just want to run away from life. There is a story of a man on a cruise ship who rescued a girl who had fallen overboard. That night at a party given in his honour he gave the shortest hero speech ever. He said “Ladies and Gentlemen”, “I just want to know one thing – who pushed me?” Sometimes as much we like to think of ourselves as heroes we are not naturally courageous. We often need a push! We need to step out and trust in God’s promises. So for every time you do the thing you fear to do, fear I believe loses its hold on you and you become stronger and more dependent on God, which is the way He planned it. As Jesus reminds us in Matthew 10:29-31 ”Aren't two sparrows sold for only a penny? But your Father knows when any one of them falls to the ground. Even the hairs on your head are counted. So fear not! You are worth much more than many sparrows”. Shalom (peace) God bless |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The recent takeover bid of the ADvTECH Group by CURRO Holdings has certainly caused quite a stir in education circles. While CURRO own 41 schools, ADvTECH has a bigger and more varied portfolio of just over 70. This includes the Crawford, Trinity House, Abbotts College and Centurus College and Maravest schools as well as a number of tertiary brands such as Varsity College, Vega and Rosebank College. While the initial bid was rejected, CURRO has however not rejected the possibility of going directly to the ADvTECH shareholders. They do after all have the backing of the PSG group, an investment holding company. Unlike the ADvTECH group, where the individual identity of each school is encouraged, CURRO schools are given a standard look and feel with centralised policies, uniforms and buying. Two very different models! The schools that have been bought up these two “for profit” groups have generally been started by entrepreneurs, small churches or small companies. The sellers have been able to walk away with a whole lot of cash in their wallets. They have been the “low hanging fruit”. The big established and traditional schools are very different. They are generally owned by trusts, with carefully worded clauses that protect the assets from being sold. In most cases the proceeds would have to be donated to another like-minded educational institution. To my knowledge, none of this type of school has been bought up. Thomas More College falls into this bracket. Independent schools like Thomas More College operate under ISASA, the largest and most inclusive independent (private) schools association in the Southern African region. It is a non-profit organisation that represents its members and provides them with services to protect their interests, promote best practice and support quality education and school sustainability. In spite of the emergence of CURRO and ADvTECH, ISASA’s membership is growing and it currently has 753 member schools.  |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Just a reminder this week to Grades 8 and 9 parents of the change in date for Parents’ Evenings in September, as per my e-mail, and notice on the School Communicator.
 Allan Chandler |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Thank you to all those parents who supported us yet again at our athletics last week. Your support is appreciated. Well done to our junior and senior victor and victrix ludorums and to all our pupils on their good sportsmanship, camaraderie and behaviour. You made us very proud of you all. I was also thrilled to see- and hear- how well you all still did in the hockey matches, despite being tired from the athletics -and how positive you all were. Thanks to all staff involved too! We trust we will see our families supporting either your own child/ren, or your child’s friends at our annual “Stars come out to Shine” this Wednesday 12 August in the Habberton Hall - no cover charge. Congratulations to all those who auditioned and were selected from the many who were all good and wished to take part. Those performing need to be at school on or before 17:15 on Wednesday. Tea and coffee will be available in the Habberton Hall on the evening from 17:15 to 18:00, when the show starts.There will be no interval and the show should be over by ± 20:00. Our Pre-Primary have been very active with the Grade 0 Tour de More last week, where it was rewarding to see those not yet able to do so master cycling without fairy wheels, to seeing them show their talents this coming Friday 14 August in their own Sports’ Day. We look forward to parent support for this. Thank you to all those who were able to be there for your child when cycling- all part of capturing special moments and building a personal history. We trust those attending the international tour 2016 fundraising initiative, the Mark Banks comedy evening will enjoy themselves. There are still seats available for the show suitable for children on the Thursday evening. Tickets available at the High school library quad at break or via Marie Steyn. Wishing you all the best for the very busy week ahead and best wishes not only to our hockey players but also our soccer ones for their first matches this coming week-end.  Barbara Taljard |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Weekly Achievers - Sponsored by Debonairs & Steers – Kloof
Mathletics Congratulations to Zipho Mgidi, Bethany Steenkamp, Meyka Chetty and Ntando Mfeka for achieving their Gold certificates in Mathletics. Well done.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Dancing Congratulations to Summer Thornton who performaned in the Natal Dance Festival in multiple categories and received the following awards: Modern Trio - Gold, 1st Place Ballet Solo - Gold, 1st Place Modern Duet - Gold, 1st Place Modern Solo - Silver, 2nd Place Bollywood Group - Gold, 1st Place Summer was also awarded the trophy for the most promising Ballet Dancer (novice) overall. Well done Summer.
Congratulations to Cadi Harper for achieving a merit in Cecchetti Classical Ballet test 1. Well done Cadi.
Junior Debating The Junior Debating team lost to a very strong Glenwood team in the semi-finals of the Surban Coastals and District League. Jordan Pieters and Nicholas Leisegang were placed in the Top 5 in the Durban Coastals and District League based on their individual speaking scores.
Senior HS Marimba Band Congratulations to the Senior High School Marimba band on their fine achievements at the International Steelpan and Marimba Festival held over the weekend of the Country Fair. The team was placed third in the "In the Mix" category, first in the "Strictly Classical" category and received the category winner prize for the "Battle of the Bands" section for their striking outfits. It was a rich and rewarding experience for all who attended. Well done.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Equestrian Congratulations to Kayd Olivier who has been entered into the KZN Dressage Championships running 20 - 23 August at Shongweni Club. All the best Kayd, as you go into the selection for the upcoming Junior SA Dressage Championships.
Paige Haarhoff competed in the Oxford SA Show Jumping Championships at Shongweni Polo Pony Club. It was a very long and tiring 4 days of Show Jumping but in the end very rewarding. Overall, Paige came 5th in her class (80cm) which is a wonderful achievement as there were 34 in her division, mostly adults. Well done Paige.
HS Polocrosse Congratulations to Joel and Chloë Visser who were selected for the Midlands U19 Polocrosse Team to compete at the Inter-Provincial Tournament this past weekend in Paddock. They placed 2nd in their category. Well done.
Gymnastics Tamryn Harland made the KZN Gymnastics team on Saturday, and was awarded her KZN colours, and received a bronze medal, sadly just missing the silver by 0.2 points.Tamryn has participated in 2 other competitions recently, where she obtained silver medals, of which she came 2nd overall in her age group in one of the events.Tamryn will be representing KZN at the beginning of September in Pretoria. Well done and good luck Tamryn.
Cycling Thomas More cyclists did well on their home track at the Spur Schools Mountain bike race held on 8th August at TMC. Well done to Courtney Michell (Gr 1); Garreth and Dylan Bell (Gr 2); Levi Smith (Gr 00); Keagan Brand (Gr 4); Justin Keep (Gr 6) and Joshua Clipstone (Gr 8) who all raced hard on the Fun yet challenging course. Congratulations to Liam Theunissen (Gr 4); Dean Gregson (Gr 7); Cian Leveridge (Gr 9) and Tiffany Keep (Gr 9)who all made it onto the podium in their respective age groups. Thomas More had 4 cyclists compete in their age groups at the South African XCO (cross country) mountain bike championships held during the school holidays in Stellenbosch. Well done to Keagan Brand (Gr 4) for a well deserved 5th. Cian Leveridge (Gr 9) who had a great race to come 5th in a very competitive age group. Joshua Clipstone (Gr 8) unfortunately crashed during the race but still managed to finish 22nd and Tiffany Keep (Gr 9) rode well to take the win and SA title.
Congratulations to Kai McCormick (18km) and Milla Douglas (10km) who participated in the Illovo Mountain Bike Race in Eston last weekend.
Rock Climbing KZN Climbing Awards for 2014 were presented on the 24 July to the following climbers: Back row L to R: Mr Gerald Camp, Charles Young, Daniel Bentley, Craig Smith Front row L to R: Jenna Bentley, Joshua Munstermann, Amy Freeman, Kristen Rosser Absent: Zunaid Valodia, Sean Rudd, Faran Steenkamp, Bridget Theunissen and Dakota Wheeler. Absent Past Pupils: Justin Steyn and Alex Williams. Well done to you all for receiving your KZN Climbing Blazers for 1st time recipients and KZN Climbing Ties for 2nd time recipients. Congratulations to the folloiwng girls who have been selected for the various Highway District Soccer teams for their age groups: Tayla Kymdell, Frankie White, Caitlin Downes - U19 Lexi Reeves, Savanna Daubinet - U16 Tatum Olivier, Kimerley Lerwick - U15 Courtney Sim, Kayleigh du Toit - U14 Carmen Vincent - U14
HS Boys’ Indoor Hockey U16A Boys’ lost to Westville BHS U16B 5-4 2nd Team Boys’ lost to Northwood B 6-1 1st Team Boys’ beat Westville BHS 2nd Team 4-3
HS Boys’ Soccer vs Clifton U14A won 3-2 U14B lost 4-1 U15A lost 2-1 U15B lost 4-2 U16A lost 2-1 U16B lost 2-0 1st Team drew 1-1 2nd Team drew 0-0
HS Girls’ Soccer vs Crawford La Lucia U14B won 6-0 U14A lost 5-3 U16B lost 4-0 U16A won 3-0 2nd Team won 3-0 1st Team won 2-1
HS Boys’ Soccer vs Hilton U14B lost 8-0 U14A lost 7-1 U15A vs Hilton U15B drew 2-2 U15B vs Hilton U15C drew 2-2 U16A lost 1-0 U16B lost 8-1 1st Team lost 2-1 2nd Team drew 0-0
HS Girls’ Softball 1st Team vs Kloof won 14-9 U16A Team vs Durban GHS drew 13-13 U16A Team vs Kloof HS lost 12-13 U14A Team vs Kloof drew 12-12
HS Girls’ Tennis 1st Team vs Gelofte won 31-26
HS Golf Golf vs Northwood lost 3-1
KZN Surfing Congratulations to Courtney Sim on being selected as the Reserve for the KZN Surfing team. Well done Courtney.
SP Boys' Hockey vs Crawford LL U10 A lost 4 -2 U10 B lost 4 -2 U10 C won 1 – 0 U11 A won 3 – 1 U11 B won 2 -0 3rd XI won 3 – 0 2nd XI won 2 – 1 1st XI drew 0 – 0
SP Girls' Hockey vs Crawford LL U10 A lost 4 – 2 U10 B won 2 – 0 U11 A drew 1 - 1 U 11 B won 4 - 0 3rd XI drew 0 – 0 2nd XI won 3 – 0 1st XI won 3 - 1
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Google Calendars for parents | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
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. |
Back to Top
"
"
"
"
"
