Therefore, make it your habit to confess your sins to one another and to pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective. James 5:16

Over the weekend Angus Buchan called for a day of prayer for the nation and over a million people gathered in Bloemfontein in what is being called the biggest recorded prayer gathering in Africa. South Africans took to their knees this weekend in Bloemfontein to pray for our country.  That’s awesome and many thanks to Angus for leading it. We constantly need to keep in our prayers our leaders and the people of this land. Irrespective of who is in charge, which often causes controversy as it has done here in this country and elsewhere in the world. But Jesus reminds us in Matthew 22:21: “Then he said to them, render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's”. Paul also reminds us in Romans 13:1 “Every person must be subject to the governing authorities, for no authority exists except by God's permission”. Therefore as Paul continuous in his first letter to Timothy 2:1-2 “First of all, then, I urge you to offer petitions, prayers, intercessions, and expressions of thanks for all people, for kings, and for everyone who has authority, so that we might lead a quiet and peaceful life with all godliness and dignity”. That is what we need in this country right now our prayers and as James states in his letter: “The prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective”. Let’s hold onto that promise and start praying.

The Nelson Mandela Exhibition by Matthew Willman last week was a resounding success. In addition to the two social events, Matthew took assemblies and classes throughout the week. He has a very engaging manner and the children were spellbound. I am very proud to be able to say that Matthew is a product of Thomas More College. His commitment to the school since he left has been astounding.  Thanks is extended to Matthew for affording us this wonderful experience, as well as to the Past Pupils' Association for co-ordinating the exhibiton with Matthew.

With another long weekend ahead of us so soon after the holidays, it is difficult to pick up the necessary academic momentum. Teachers and parents will have to increase the pressure after the weekend. The children will certainly have had more than enough free time.

 

I wish to share with you my message to your children in assembly today:

What are you doing here?

Here at Thomas More College, specifically? Do you ever take pause to consider your WHY? To consider this WHY would awaken your senses to your possibilities. But, to see possibility, you must be fully present and engaged.

Why did we ask you to fill in that page from your report in the final week of last term? It was to spark an awareness of who and how you are in class. It is so easy to get lost or distracted in what can often seem like a mundane routine of traversing from class to class, from teacher to teacher, without really engaging fully with what you are actually doing, experiencing, saying, seeing, hearing and thinking. A passive disposition such as this can often result in you becoming a Curriculum Casualty – you just go along passively, letting things happen to you. This inevitably leads you to become dislocated and disengaged with your abilities and potential.

When this happens, parents often blame the teachers first. At Thomas More, our teachers are qualified; we come to class prepared; we want to open your eyes to possibility; we want to make a difference. However, there is no magic wand here – unlocking your individual gambit of possibility is up to you - your own buy-in is required to embrace your own unique set of abilities and possibilities.

This school is not designed for you just to survive. How will you flourish? How will you thrive? You have a birth-right to thrive and flourish and, as Mr Maurice's assembly last term evidenced, we have every opportunity in this life, right now. Whilst it is your birth-right to thrive, it is a privilege to do so at a school such as Thomas More College with its incredible facilities, qualified and committed staff, and wide range of opportunities.

What does TMC require from you as a starting point, as your personal kick-start towards unearthing and nurturing your personal possibilities?

Your own level of academic aspiration is required. It is not the “school’s job” to teach you this. You should imbue this disposition of academic aspiration in yourself. We also expect you to embrace a disposition of independence, self-reliance and self-motivation. I expect you to engage fully in class - this is where deep learning for understanding happens. If you don't understand something, ASK, LISTEN, ENGAGE, ASK AGAIN. Don't just journey passively, and then demand extra lessons as the test or exam is upon you.

We spend so much of our time here, and by the time you leave, it must beg the question of us all: what have you done here? I wish for some simple things for you, boys and girls:

1. learn to value yourself, the best version of yourself, because you can and should;

2. that we are all someone of resilience who acknowledges challenge, disappointment and problems as the most awesome, valuable opportunities to grow yourself;

3. that your own thinking about things becomes deep and broad;

4. that you have re-awakened your own innate curiosity and creativity - you were born with oodles of both;

5. that you are a confident collaborator, particularly when required to collaborate with people who are vastly different to you, and you celebrate that difference and regard it as valuable - and you will only do so if you value yourself to begin with - differences of opinion won't come across as being right or wrong, or a threat to your person - they will simply be a robust mechanism to consider otherness.

If we can instil these 5 dispositions, and you can embrace them, you will thrive and flourish.

That's why I'm here.That’s why your teachers are here.

Why are you here?

 

Please remember:

· Extra murals start today- but sport has been cancelled due to the weather. Children will be supervised in sport coaches/ teacher’s classrooms.

· The Inter-House cross country tomorrow has been postponed until further notice- probably sometime towards the very end of term (normal school day will run tomorrow).

· Merit Assembly on Wednesday from 07:30 to about 08:15. Parents welcome to attend.

Some of our Grade 6 pupils have unfortunately been pushing boundaries with regard to their use of cell phones at school. This is despite the fact that they have been verbally warned, and have had discussions around this in assembly, Dean’s periods, during computer lessons and from the Grade Head and class teachers. As a result of this misuse, no Grade 6 child will be permitted to have a cell phone at school, from tomorrow, for the rest of this term. There is always someone around should they need to make contact with you, as parents, so there is really no need for this any way. I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause but believe we are doing the right thing in terms of their maturity and understanding the responsibilities which come with being accountable for something. Hopefully the other grades will heed what has happened and comply with our cell phone policy as stipulated in both our code of conduct and our computer user policy. In the case of a real and genuine issue (e.g. a child going from school to the other parent, if divorced, or going on a sleepover date), parents are please to write a note and send to school with the cell phone in an envelope that can be handed in to Mrs Hardcastle during the school day for safe keeping and collected at the end of the day.

School closes at the normal time on Wednesday and there are still extra murals, even though it is a long weekend, with no school until the following Tuesday. Please do try to remind your child about bread buddies on Wednesday.

Wishing you all the best for this very short week and a most enjoyable long weekend.  

 

Weekly Achievers 

Kindly sponsored by Wetrock Adventures - visit www.wetrockadventuresco.za for further info.

Achievements from last week of 1st Term.

Dance League

Well done to the following girls for making it through to the next round of KZN trials:

U14 : Dominique Chetty and Alexandra White

U16: Kailin Wiggett, Phoebe Blair, Thando Dlamuka, Kayleigh du Toit and Hannah Sida.

We are very proud of them.

Talent Africa/Performing Arts

Congratulations to the following pupils who have made it through the regional round for Talent Africa/Performing Arts:

Tannah Brickley - Jazz solo - Gold

Ramp modeling - Gold

4 x group dances - Gold

Shayne Cohen - 5 x group dances - Gold

Micha Murray - Contempory solo - Silver

5 x group dances - Gold

Megan Matthews - 3 x group dances - Gold

Well done to all our girls who competed.

Equestrian

Congratulations to Emily Masson on winning three rosettes at a recent jumping competition.  Well done Emily.

Congratulations to Emma Croucamp who jumped a clear round at 40cm on her horse Cracker at the SVS Training Show on 26 March.

Cricket

Congratulations to Kai McCormick for his outstanding batting performance against Highbury in the 2nd last week of term.  He made 83 not out.  Well done!

HS Boys' Hockey

TMC U14A vs St. Charles- Lost 2-0

TMC U16A vs St. Charles- Lost 11-0

TMC U16B vs St. Charles- Lost 8-1

TMC 1st Team vs St. Charles- Lost 5-1

TMC 2nd Team vs St. Charles- Lost 2-0

HS Girls' Hockey

TMC U14A vs Kloof- Won 6-0

TMC U16A vs Kloof- Won 2-0

TMC 1st Team vs Kloof- Won 4-2

TMC 2nd Team vs Kloof- Won 2-0

HS Rugby

TMC 1st Team vs Felixton - Won 14-10

TMC U14A vs Felixton - Won 34-5

TMC U15/U16A vs Felixton - Won 12-0

PADSSA Hockey

Congratulations to the following girls who will play in the KZN Trials for PADSSA on 25^th May:

(U12) Kaelah Balarin, (U13B) Jorja Robertson .