Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he finally became hungry.

The devil came and said to Him…” Matthew 4:1-3

The reason why Lent is a period of approximately 40 days is taken from this scripture Matthew 4:1-3 in which Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where He fasted for 40 days. It was for Jesus a time for reflection as He began His ministry and during this time He battled against the devil who flung temptations onto His path. Each time however, Jesus replied with a definite ‘No’ to the following temptations:

Material possessions - Temptation to turn stones into bread

Fame and status - Temptation to jump down from the Temple

Power and authority - Temptation to have control of all the kingdoms of the world

So in saying ‘No’ to the devil Jesus was going to continue with His mission and purpose to save us– the way of the cross. So what is the message for us today? Do we know what it is like to struggle with life’s purpose? Do we easily fold to temptations instead of seeking God’s help and fight the good fight of faith ‘as Paul terms it in his letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 6:12). Choosing to follow Jesus is not the easiest path but as Jesus tells us, "If anyone wants to come with me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross every day, and follow me continually”. Luke 9:23. Not an easy path to take but it is the best. For we have a route, a pathway for life’s journey. Which is solid underfoot; with a direction to aim for and if we falter we always have a helping hand to support us.

The Sponsored Walk on Friday was a fine example of the wonderful atmosphere that seems to pervade at Thomas More at the moment. High School and Primary School walked together and there were many scenes of Matrics and Junior Primary pupils forming one big group. The spirit was amazing.

The Long Walk on 5^th March is now less than 3 weeks away and excitement is beginning to rise. We have posted a YouTube of scenes from last years walk on the school Facebook page. The accompanying music is “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus, which has such appropriate words that it seems almost to have been written for our walk.

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down, but
No I'm not breaking
I may not know it, but
These are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep goin',
And I, I gotta be strong
Just keep pushing on,

If there is one event that sums up the spirit of this school it is the Long Walk. It is about teamwork, support, effort and the fact that determination will overcome challenges. This will be the 15^th Long Walk that I will witness. I never cease to be amazed by the type of child that does well in this event. There doesn’t seem to be a physical type. I have seen all shapes and sizes do well. This is about determination. I have seen children grow in confidence when, although they do not seem to be athletic they prove to themselves just what they are capable of. More so than any other event in the calendar, this event changes children in a positive way. Be it in the Sponsored Walk, or the Long Walk, our pupils will probably walk further than most other children ever do. They will prove to themselves that they can overcome difficult challenges.

I hope that the parent body will respond to the appeals for help on Long Walk Day. We need 700 officials on the day if we wish to make this a safe and successful event. 

 

Education must be about so much more than a set of matric results. While communities and the media place such a premium on these stories in January every year, I always feel saddened for that pupil who achieved a 60% aggregate for the first time, or the learner who improved significantly from a Diploma pass to a Bachelor’s Degree pass. Unfortunately, these significant success stories are never reported. Of course I celebrate enthusiastically those who achieved at the top of the pile, but I celebrate with equal excitement the human stories of resilience, determination, commitment and sheer guts within the full gambit of our results. If my early impressions of TMC have any value and validity, then I tell you proudly that I am not alone.

On this note of cherishing the individual, I thought I’d share with you some of the focus points I have covered with your children in my recent assemblies. I started the year by exhorting our pupils to find their uniqueness and celebrate it. I showed a YouTube video clip (Welcome to the grind) to remind our pupils that despite the grind of life, they must choose to recognise their uniqueness and celebrate it unashamedly. Acknowledge it, grow it, cherish it.

Then, we moved on to a video clip of Diversity’s audition for Britain’s Got Talent. Here we focused on that it is our diversity that empowers and strengthens us. Although every member of this prolific dance crew is very good at his art, they are all vastly different with regard to background, culture, size and physical ability. They used these very differences to be the “complete package”. Thank goodness we are all different. Let us use these differences as cause for celebration and personal growth.

My underlying theme, however, has been my unequivocal, urgent disapproval of any form of bullying at Thomas More College. Every child has the inalienable right to feel safe and secure and, subsequently, to have the freedom and support to explore said uniqueness with verve. This is TMC’s legacy. May it continue to live and thrive in all of us, always.

In conclusion, I want to thank Mr Phil “Happy Feet” Lanz and our staff for a wonderful Sponsored Walk. Similarly, I must thank all our parents for supporting this endeavour by sponsoring our pupils. This money will, quite literally, change the lives of communities less fortunate than us. I also want to thank Mrs Candyce Brehany for the Valentine’s Day orders of chocolates and roses, as well as for the outstanding Valentine’s Disco.

I must thank our coaches and managers for another week of excellent sporting opportunities for our children. So too, we thank Mrs Logan, Mrs Conradie and their team of administrators and directors for the hard work going on behind the scenes presently as we prepare for the inter-house One-Act Play Festival.

I wish the entire TMC family a dynamic week ahead. 

 

Our children had a most enjoyable Sponsored Walk- now we would appreciate your support in bringing in the funds, so much needed to meet our Outreach objectives and help those worse off than we are.

I also trust all the PS families had a good mid-term break and an opportunity for quality family time in their hectic lives. Speaking of hectic, I appeal to you all to drive carefully on our campus, as we have children and adults walking and I would hate to hear anyone had been hurt. The traffic is hectic, but we ask your co-operation in the best interests of all our children’s safety.

There is another safety I wish to draw to your attention, and that is online safety, and safety on the net. Because 9 February was Safer Internet Day, do make February the month to discuss all things related to your child’s digital safety. The following extract is adapted from a Nikki Bush article:

One of the facts that shock kids most is that the internet remembers everything – even what they have deleted. It is a sobering realisation for many, to think before they post in future.

In just the same way as we do (or should do) regular backups of the content on our computers, search engines do exactly the same thing and they keep multiple versions over time, called a cache. The only way to have something permanently removed from a cache is through a legal process. You may have removed something from your Facebook timeline but it can still come up in a search on Facebook because you don’t know how many people might have it on their timelines. In the same way, you can remove a tag on a picture someone else has posted of you, but you cannot personally remove the picture. You would have to ask them physically to remove it, but it would still be saved in the Facebook cache. The internet remembers everything. I hope this is a good enough reason to have a conversation with your children about the importance of being a responsible user of social media and technology. Their digital reputation depends on it.

♦ Parents, please activate your privacy settings on your social media profiles. We all love to post pictures of our children, but you must remember to choose who can view the pictures. If you post it to public with no privacy settings on, then this means anyone in the world can view these, including paedophiles and predators waiting for some cute pics of children to pore over and maybe even sell on to others.

♦ Many older children will have their own devices and be on social media. Privacy settings apply to both parents and our pupils. Discuss positive steps you and your child can take in terms of what gets posted and who can see it. Be aware that everything that you and your children post on social networks is owned by the networks the minute you have clicked ‘post’ (check terms and conditions– most of us don’t!). Reputation management is an important conversation to have with your children.

Wishing you all well for the week ahead. Thanks to those hosting the Kingswood boys on Tuesday evening for our SP 1^st team cricket match Wednesday afternoon. Grade 6 and 7 parents- please remember the ‘Meet the Heads” talk for High School on Friday morning at 07:30 in the Habberton Hall. 

 

Weekly Achievers 

Dance

Congratulations to the following pupils on their Modern Theatre Dance achievements:

Sophie Buccimazza and Lauren Bigalke - Merit Certificates

Sienna Raath and Bella Suttie - Distinction Certificates

Alessandro Buccimazza, Sarah Clark, Emihle Nonxuba, Sienna Rath and Tara Saint - Disctinction for Tap Dance

Well done to all our dancers. 

Equestrian

Kate Dutton competed this weekend in the Valentines Eventing show at Treverton. Kate came first in the 70 cm Juniors and 3^rd overall.  Well done Kate.

Jemma Daniel, Grade 11, and Pohlands Whistle Down the Wind won both their Novice tests at the recent SANESA held at Shongweni.

They were also selected for the KZN Novice Dressage team where they competed in December at Junior SA Champs in Johannesburg and the KZN team won. Well done Jemma.

Congratulations to Ruby du Plessis,  who represented TMC in SANESA Q1 on her Pony Chanooka.  They earned a 1st place for their level 0 (40cm) ideal time round and a 2nd for their 40cm competition round and jump off.  Well done Ruby.

HS Girls’ Tennis

TMC 1^st Team 16 Westville GHS 2^nd Team 0

HS Boys’ Water Polo

TMC U14A 11 MHS U14B 1

TMC U15A 10 MHS U14A 12

TMC 2nds 1 MHS U16A 22

TMC 1^st Team 5 MHS 2nds 7

TMC U14A 10 CLL U15A 0

TMC 2^nd Team 23 CLL 1^st Team 0

TMC U15A 8 Kloof U15A 4

TMC 1^st Team 27 Kloof 1^st Team 1

HS Girls' Indoor Hockey

TMC U14B 2 CNC U14A 1

TMC U16B 11 Grosvenor U16A 0

TMC U16A 3 Fatima U16A 4

TMC U16A 1 DGC U16A 2

TMC 2nds 5 DNC 1^st Team 0

TMC 1^st Team 2 Maris Stella 1^st Team 3

HS Cricket

MHS U14 B 144/5 in 35(Rowles 30). TMC U14A 87 (Bartlett 30). MHS won by 57 runs.

MHS U/14D 105/7 (Singh 35 NO) TMC U14B 102/9 (Wynn 26; Potgieter 16/2) MHS Won by 3 wickets.

TMC U15B 127/3 (Blythen 60, Buchanan 31). MHS U15D 103/6 (Youldon 2/8). TMC won by 24 runs.

MHS U15B 85 all out (Evans 3/10, Naidoo 3/14). TMC U15A 86/4 (Blythen 40). TMC won by 6 wickets.MHS 4^th Team158/9 (Foster 50; Watts 3/15). TMC 2nds 108 all out (Olivier 38). MHS won by 40 runs.

TMC 1st Team 130 all out (Wesley 34; du Toit 3/18). MHS 2nds 131/5 (Buys 33, Lasock 38 NO). MHS won by 5 wickets.

SP Netball vs Curro HCA

U10A drew

U11A won 6 - 2

u12A won 8 – 4

U12B lost 3 – 1

2nd Team won 9 -1

1st Team won 22 - 2

SP Netball vs Sarnia

U10 A won

U10 B played Sarnia A and lost by one goal.

U11 A won

U11B play Sarnia A and lost.

U12 A won

First team won 9-1

SP Cricket vs Highbury

3rd team lost to Highbury 4ths by 9 wickets.

4^th team lost to highbury 5^th by 41 runs.

5^th team lost to highbury 6^th by 7 wickets.

SP Cricket U10 A vs Highbury U10 A

Highbury – 172 for 2 after 25 overs

TMC – 57 for 10 after 16.5 overs

Alexander Jackson – 13 runs

SP 1^st XI vs Highbury

TMC 152 for 6, M Sim 69, M Davey 25no, H Brimelow 22

Highbury 144 for 9, I Motsoahae 3 for 27, M Sim 2 for 29

TMC won by 8 runs

Cycling

This past weekend saw the SA Road Cycling and Time Trial Championships held in Westville and Wartburg. The racing was hard and tight with seconds separating positions. Many TMC riders took part in both events and 3 SA titles were won by TMC Riders.  Well done to all riders.

Time Trial Boys' U14 (15KM) - Travis Stedman (Grade 8) = 2nd

Girls' U16 (15KM) - Tiffany Keep (Grade 10) = 1st

Boys' U16 (15KM) - Cian Leveridge (Grade 10) = 5th

Joshua Clipstone (Grade 9) = 16th

Road Race Boys' U14 (51Km) - Travis Stedman (Grade 8) = 1st

Mitchel Potgieter (Grade 8) = 12th

Girls' U16 (51KM) - Tiffany Keep (Grade 10) = 1st

Courtney Smith (Grade 10) = 9th

Boys' U16 (85KM) - Cian Leveridge (Grade 10) = 12th

Joshua Clipstone (Grade 9) = 22nd 

Grade 2 and 3 Interschools Gala

6 1^st places

7 2^nd places

7 3^rd places

7 4^th places

6 5^th places

3 6^th places

3 7^th places

2 8^th places

Congratulations to Andrea Ho (Swimming Coach) for swimming the "8 miler" at Midmar this last weekend. All the proceeds from Andrea’s races went to the Princess Charlene Foundation. Well done Andrea!