The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Matthew 1:1

I believe that one of the missions of our school is to encourage leadership skills amongst our children that they will one day if not already, impact our world with qualities such as the prophet Micah tells us:” The LORD God has told us what is right and what He demands: "See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Seeing the matrics finishing their finals I hope and pray that as they go out into world they will do just that.

People worldwide seem to be fed up with leadership today be it political or economic and so it was in biblical times when the Kings of Israel and Judah just did their own thing and had turned from God even the great Kings like David and Solomon eventually did. However, throughout the Bible we read that God would be sending a new King from the line of Abraham, from the tribe of Judah and a descendent from King David –the Messiah or Anointed One –the Christ. That is why when we read the first book of the New Testament we don’t start straight away with Jesus’ birth but with the genealogy of Jesus as it is He who fulfils all the criteria of being the Messiah-this servant King.

So with Christmas fast approaching we are once again reminded, not only of the love of God who came amongst us to reveal Himself as the true King and how we should live our lives as servant leaders but it also gives us the assurance that Jesus will once again return as the King of Kings and restore the world as it was in the beginning and His kingdom will reign forever.

As we draw towards the end of the year we can reflect back on what have been some very troubling times. There is no doubt that in many corners of the globe, leadership is in crisis. We all know of the problems in South Africa and just north of our border in Zimbabwe. If anything these have been completely overshadowed by the ridiculous shenanigans in first world counties like the United States and Brexit in the United Kingdom.

I recently came across a profound quote from Afrikaner author Laurens Van Der Post (13 December 1906 – 16 December 1996), who was a close friend of Prince Charles, godfather of Prince William.

He wrote in his book “A Walk with A White Bushman”

“I hear people everywhere saying that the trouble with our time is that we have no great leaders any more. If we look back we always had them. But to me it seems there is a very profound reason why there are no great leaders any more. It is because they are no longer needed. The message is clear. You no longer want to be led from the outside. Every man must be his own leader. He now knows enough not to follow other people. He must follow the light that's within himself and through this light he will create a new community.”

It is interesting that these words were written in 1986 but for me they still ring true today.

Christmas is a time of celebration and I do encourage all to attend the Carol Service on Sunday evening. This promises to be a delightful event. Details of times can be found in the header of this newsletter.

 

In the business of education, RELATIONSHIPS are what I refer to as our CORE ECONOMY. As a headmaster, my staff is my priority; their growth, their inspiration, my relationship with them as individuals and as a staff team, their relationships with each other, their relationships with your children and, ultimately, their relationships with you, the parents.

The demands of Independent schooling are immense, be they professional demands, performance demands, managing adolescent social demands, parent demands and organisational demands. Educators are constantly balancing these respective demands and myriad of relationships whilst trying to empower and grow our young people for their world, a world which carries vastly different demands to the one which we all experienced as youngsters.

Whilst we are a loving and nurturing school environment, one can quickly forget that a crucial aspect of loving and nurturing is allowing our young people to grow their capacity for resilience by being scratched by difficulty and being responsible for the decisions they make. Our young people are heading into a world reality that is more uncertain than ever before – our country requires problem-solvers and “builders”. Our country (and its vastly beautiful peoples) continues to cry out for an understanding of identity and what it means to be a rainbow nation. In this context of national ambivalence, it is paramount that Thomas More College grows young people who will build a future of promise, a future of opportunity and a future in which we will be proud to have been blessed with Madiba’s legacy because our young people will have rendered it a Living Legacy. This is why I teach.

This will not be easy or convenient. Acknowledging and owning the truth seldom is.

But, we don’t have the future in our grasp, we only ever have NOW. The past is important as a point of reference and to realise a deep, profound understanding of where we are NOW, but we cannot live therein. Thus, NOW is all we truly have and over which we can exercise the incredible responsibility of choice. Hence, I choose to be in education, NOW. Similarly, your children are being educated NOW, and it is not easy. Education is challenging simply because it is like no other business; it is the business of relationships. Academics, sport, cultural pursuits, outreach endeavours, leadership development and the many other aspects of teaching and learning all happen within (and because of) those relationships.

In an essay titled A Testament of Hope (published posthumously in 1968), Martin Luther King Jnr asserts that “People are often surprised to learn that I am an optimist. They know how often I have been jailed, how frequently the days and nights have been filled with frustration and sorrow, how bitter and dangerous are my adversaries. They expect these experiences to harden me into a grim and desperate man. They fail, however, to perceive the sense of affirmation generated by the challenge of embracing struggle and surmounting obstacles.”

 

Well done to our sportsmen and women on some pleasing results in this last term and a huge thank you to staff for all you have done and to parents for your support.

The Grade 7 end-of-year function this coming Thursday should be yet another very special, magical event, which will see the Music School undergo a transformation. We wish our Grade 7s a truly special evening! Thanks to the Grade Head, Mr Conway, and the Grade 7 teachers and parents for the preparation going into the function.

A reminder about the following as we draw to the end of the academic year:

· Grade 7 end-of year function- Thursday 1 December from 17:30 to 21:00 sharp- in the Music School

· No school for Grade 7s on Friday 2 December but pupils must come to Awards in evening

· Compulsory Sport and Cultural awards – Friday 2 December at 6pm. (Children to be here at 17:15- to classes)

· Christmas Craft Market from 16:30 to 18:00 on Sunday afternoon, 4 December

· Carols evening- Sunday 4 December at 18:00 ( Christmas craft market beforehand, from 16:30)

· Final Assembly (4^th term awards) - Monday 5 December from 11:00 to ± 12:30. Pupils may go home from classes after this.

· Tuesday 6 December- pupils may go home at 12:45

· SP Speech Night – Tuesday, 6 December at 18:00. (Children to be here by 17:30- to classes)

· Wednesday 7 December- reports handed out, school closes at 11:30 and Aftercare at 12:30

While the adage goes, “Never judge a book by its cover’, another saying, “First impressions count” also holds water. As this year starts to draw to a close, please assist us by keeping your children looking smart in their school clothes, and by ensuring that their uniforms and shoes are clean and tidy. We also still expect both boys’ and girls’ hairstyles to comply with the school regulations right to the year end. This means that a number of our boys still need regulation haircuts so that they will look neat and tidy at our final award ceremonies and functions which are coming up. We would value your support in upholding our school rules.

Best wishes to you all for the penultimate school week. 

 

Barbara Taljard
Primary School: Headmistress
btaljard@thomasmore.co.za

PS Weekly Achievers

Mathletics

Congratulations to Zipho Mgidi, Connor du Plessis, Thomas Buchan and Michael Sim for attaining their gold certificate in Mathletics.

Dancing

Tamryn Harland joined a new studio, KZN dance, for the fourth term, where she continued with her modern and took up tap dancing for the first time. She participated in the SADAP stage award on 27 November for tap and modern. In Pearl Tap level she was awarded a Gold Plus and for her Topaz Modern level she was awarded a silver plus plus award. Well done Tamryn.

Music

Congratulations to Courtney Sim who achieved a pass with distinction (91%) for her music exam from Trinity College for Grade 3 Rock and Pop in keyboard.

Equestrian

Congratulations to Kyra Blakeway who competed in the SA Adult Champs over the last week and was placed 1^st and 3^rd in two of the classes at 1m10.  Well done Kyra.

Judo

Congratulations to Holly Ahlschlager who won a bronze medal for Judo in her weight category for the Novice Judo Competition in November. Well done Holly.  

Karate

Congratulations to Erin Alexander who took part in the annual Rob Ferrier JKA karate competition on Saturday 26^th November 2016.

Erin won gold for both kata & kumite. Well done Erin. 

Motorcross

Congratulations to Levi Smith took part in his first Motorcross race on a PW80 at the 'Legends of Motorcross' event in PMB on Saturday.  Levi placed 1st in the Demo class.  Well done Levi.

Cycling - BMX

Congratulations to Levi Smith on being awarded the Most Improved Junior Rider at the Lahee Park BMX club Prizegiving on Sunday.   

Well done Levi.

Cycling - MTB

Congratulations to the following pupils who have been awarded KZN MTB Provincial Colours as a result of their excellent

performances achieved in Mountain Biking this year:

Cian Leveridge

Courtney Smith

Devon Smith

Keagan Brand

Liam Theunissen

Mitchel Potgieter

Tiffany Keep

Travis Stedman

Cycling

Congratulations to Anvia Bredenkamp who competed in the Quattro Roag Marathon 2016 series.  The series consisted of 9 races throughout KZN.  To qualify you have to compete in a minimum of 6 races.  Anvia competed in all 9 events, winning 8 of the 9, thus winning the series in the U12 category.  Well done Anvia.

SP Cricket 1^st vs Northdene

TMC 161 all out, M Davey 38, N Riddle 33

Northdene 70 all out, B Ballack 4 for 16

TMC won by 91 runs

1st Team Dads vs Lads

On Sunday, the 1^st XI Lads beat their Dads by 12 runs.

SP Cricket 3rds vs Northdene

Northdene batted first 47/10

M. Doyle 2 / 10

D. Thackray 2 / 5

T. Sibisi 2 / 13

E. Gregory 2 / 2

TMPS 48/1

TMPS won by 9 wickets

SP Cricket U10A vs Northdene

TMC 185/5 in 25 overs (Ryan Browning retired 52, Max Buchan retired 53 and Brayden Doran 19)

Northdene 76/4 in 25 overs (Bryan Ireland 2 wkts/5 runs)

Thomas More won by 109 runs 

SP Boys’ Water Polo

U11A vs St Henrys U11A lost 1 – 3

1^st vs St Henrys 1^st lost 3 – 6

2^nd vs St Henrys 1^st lost 2 – 11

1^st vs Atholl Heights won 14 – 3

SP Girls’ Water Polo

U11 Internal Game:

Sharks 2 Dolphins 0

U11A vs St Marys U11A won 8 – 2

1^st vs Atholl Heights 1^st won 14 – 2

Garvz Academy

Congratulations to both Josh Lobban and Michael Alexander who both received the best player in their age groups at the GARVZ Academy Awards evening last week. Well done boys.