He is not here: for He is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Matthew 28:6

With Easter just less than two weeks away we once again look at what God has done for us. “He is risen,…” these three words for me are some of the most important words ever spoken in the history of the world and they are spoken by an angel to Mary Magdalene as she looked into Jesus’ empty tomb. He is risen, are the words which are the bedrock of our Christian faith and without them no resurrection of Jesus. He would have been just another great man of compassion with an amazing teaching but he would still have been just a man and not God in human form. Who do you think Jesus is? Is He Just a man - or God who so loved the world that He gave Himself for us?

I would like to wish everyone a blessed, safe and restful Easter holiday and rejoice with me on Easter Sunday with these words: He is risen! He is risen indeed!

The long awaited High School Hong Kong sports tour is now underway. The 1^st XV rugby boys face 4 games in the next two weeks with the netball 1^st team girls playing eight matches. The Vocal Tenacity choir have also been away, attending workshops and a choir festival in Gauteng. A number of other tours to Pretoria and Cape Town will also take place during the holidays.

I was somewhat amazed at my Assembly on Friday, that no one in the audience was aware that our Long Walk, which was first held in 1963, was a response to a challenge by President Kennedy. He was concerned about the levels of obesity in the US population and challenged the nation to become more physically active. He quoted the example that President Theodore Roosevelt had, in the early 1900's, required all US military officers to walk 50 miles in 20 hours. A teacher at the then one year old Thomas More College took to the idea and arranged the first Long Walk between Greytown and Cato Ridge. The rest is history as we have now completed the walk in 54 consecutive years.

This has been a short but compact term packed with activity. Enjoy the two week break! The second term will be just as hectic as academic pressure builds towards the mid-year exams and we face the very busy winter sport season. 

 

It is somewhat sobering to acknowledge that the conclusion of the year's first term is already here.

While I have moved between being overwhelmed by the incessant energy of our school to quiet moments of deep appreciation for the commitment of our staff, parents and pupils, one thing remains consistent: members of the TMC family are proud to be members of the TMC family.

I am constantly energised by those pupils who do lead in their own unqiue way. Such leadership abounds at TMC. I also acknowledge the blessing that our high school staff is. Our educators shirk not from the hard yards and long hours. Mr Malcolm Wight and his incredible ground staff, as well as Mrs Michelle Wight and her logistics planning, render our campus and functions smooth, slick and most tasteful indeed. Thus, while I am amazed at our busy-ness, I am equally amazed at how the entire TMC family pulls together to make every TMC moment one worth remembering.

I must thank the high school staff for allowing me the space to look, listen and learn this term. They have guided me both patiently and in good-humoured fashion. The high school management team has been outstanding in their meticulous planning of what has been a stellar term. It would, however, be remiss of me not to extend a special vote of gratitude to Mr Shane Cuthbertson, Mrs Lisa Paterson and Mr Stephen Ireland for guiding me through the subtler nuances of our wonderful school.

Such suppport and commitment comes from a place of care, and not from a place of ego. And it is that very condition of healthy humility and unbridled exuberance that seems to underpin the mullti-faceted dynamism that is TMC.

I wish to thank Mrs Taylor and Mrs Kotze for facilitating our first Vocal Tenacity tour, and we wish Mr Garrett, Mr Oberholzer, Mr Ncongo, Mrs Dunlop and Miss Joubert an outstanding time in Hong Kong with our rugby lads and netball lasses respectively.

May you all have a wonderful holiday and, if you are travelling, do so safely.  

 

Our Zenith graduation is this evening in the Ken Mackenzie Centre at 18:00. (Participants need to be at school by 17:00.) We look forward to seeing the progress our Grade 7s have made and to hearing their speeches tonight. Thank you to parents for your excellent support for this worthwhile activity, as well as to those teachers who plan to be there this evening, sacrificing their time to support their pupils.

Due to inclement weather, the Senior Primary Inter-House gala has been postponed to tomorrow, still from 08:00 to 13:00. Children may be collected from their class after the gala as the school day will officially end at 13:00. We hope to see parent support tomorrow.

Please remember there are no extra murals this week in the Senior Primary, except for tennis matches and the rugby and hockey trials. In the first week of the new term, only rugby pre-season training for trials will take place. All extra-murals start in the second week for the Senior Primary.

Our Senior Primary interviews are also scheduled for tomorrow, 15 March, from 15:30- 16:30 in the Habberton Hall. You will receive your SP child’s report today (because of the Inter-house gala which is now tomorrow). We trust you will study it closely and then avail yourselves of the opportunity to see the relevant teacher/ teachers. Teachers are not at liberty to start e-mailing parents detailed responses to queries in lieu of attending the parent info evening, which is specifically designed to answer any parent queries or concerns. During the course of a term, they are available for mutually agreed upon times to meet. Do please take into account that they also coach sport and do extra-murals, so are not just available if you pop in, as their classes need to take priority.

You will be able to access the report on the parent portal on Friday after the reports for the SP and HS are released simultaneously.

A huge thank you to everyone for all the support this term, from our dedicated teachers for their unfailing commitment, loyalty and support over this short term and to you, the parents, for encouraging and supporting your children in their activities, commitments and functions. It is much appreciated

Wishing you all the best for the holiday, especially to our Grade 7s and History teachers leaving on Wednesday to go on the Grade 7 cultural tour to Cape Town, which returns on Monday.

Best wishes to Mrs McCreedy who will be on accouchement leave from 4 April to 31 July inclusive. We welcome Mrs Caroline Jooste, who has Grade 6 and 7 teaching experience in both English and Geography, who will be filling in for her.

We trust that you will have a blessed Easter and a special time with your family and look forward to seeing you back at school on Monday, 4 April.

All the best for the very busy last week of term! School closes at 11:30 for the Senior Primary on Friday this week. 

 

What a wonderful term it has been. Although busy, the children have risen to the occasion and managed their busyness well. Through our sporting, cultural and outreach programmes much fun has been had and this has been balanced by hard work on the academic front. We have been blessed by the children’s sincerity and their spontaneous sense of humour, making our days so worthwhile.

Thank you to you our parents for your amazing support throughout the term. At the beginning of the year I mentioned a quote about it taking a community to raise a child – thank you for entrusting your precious cargo to us and for working together with us as for the good of each little one in our care. We come to the end of the term with tired children who have worked hard and can be proud of their efforts.

We look forward to a healthy, productive second term and wish you all a blessed Easter marked by wonderful quality time with your children as we break from Friday 18^th March and return on Monday 4^th April.  

 

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Weekly Achievers

HS Senior Debating

Both teams won their respective debates. TMC 1 beat St Henry's and Jordan Pieters was awarded Best Speaker.

TMC 2 won their debate against Hillcrest, beating them by 1 point.

SP Toppies 'n Tots Golf Day - Term 1

Winners – Josh and Leon Breytenbach

Hacker Award – Les Dedekind

Freshee Award – Mike Thackray

Longest drive – Boy – Saien Moodley

Longest Drive Girl – Darian Maclean

Longest Drive Dad – Jason McGarry

Closest to pin - Boy – Leyton Hutcheson

Closest to pin Girl – Dani Rockey

Closest to pin Dad – Nolan Doran

SP Cricket U10A vs Curro HCA

U10A TMPS 135 / 3 (M. Buchan 16, R. Hoffman 14, B. Doran 38, R. Browning 29*no)

U10A Curro HCA 124/ 8 (R. Browning 3/16, M. Buchan 2/23)

TMPS won by 11 runs

PADSSA Cricket Trials

Congratulations to Hayden Brimelow, Michael Sim, Matthew McMurray and Kellen Coombs who were selected to attend the final round of the U13 PADSSA Cricket trials last week Friday. 

HS Boys’ Hockey

TMC U14A 0 Crawford LL U14A 1 - lost

TMC U16A 3 Crawford LL U16A 0 - won

TMC 1^st 3 Crawford LL 1^st 0 - won

SP Netball vs Kloof

1^st team 11- 19 lost

2^nd team lost

3^rd team lost

4^th team lost

U12A drew 5 all

U12B lost

11A lost 2-3

11B lost 1-4

11C won 4-1

U10 won 5 – 3

U10 lost 6 – 0

SP Netball vs Atholl Heights

1^st team 12-13 lost

2^nd team 3-7 lost

U12A 4 – 2 won

U12B 14 – 1 lost

U11A 6 – 1 lost

U11B drew

U10A 7 – 0 lost

U10B 4 – 0 lost

Grade 2 Mini Cricket

Lost to Highbury

Lost to Highbury

Lost to Northdene

Grade 2 & 3 Gala @ Forest View

4 x 1^st places

11 x 2^nd places

5 x 3^rd places

8 x 4^th places

3 x 5^th places

2 x 6^th places

5 x 7^th places

2 x 8^th places

Mountain Biking

Congratulations to Keagan Brand (Grade 5) who took part in the SA Cup Down Hill Mountain Biking (U12 Sprogs age group) and placed 2nd.  Keagan placed 10th in the SA Cross Country.  In the previous weekend he placed 4th in the Provincial Cross Country.  Well done Keagan.