Jesus said: ⁹“This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed (holy) be your name,¹⁰your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.¹¹Give us today our daily bread.¹²And forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one’. Matthew 6:9-13

Having recently celebrated mums and dads day and this week Grandparents day at school, it reminds me of how important families are, as they are the very foundation of society. I believe it’s how God intended it to be, as He reveals through His word how much a loving parent He is to us. It is where we learn the necessity and the need for authority over us, if not; society will descend into chaos and anarchy. The dynamics of family life will also help us cope later on with how we treat others.

We very much hold up families in our weekly prayer life of the school as you are the very bedrock of this community. With so many families struggling at the moment and I especially think of those who have lost loved ones, our hearts and prayers go out to you. We need to be a praying community and I thank all those who hold this school up to God in their daily prayer life.

There is so much written on why we should pray it would be good to just cover a couple of reasons: For the Christian, praying is supposed to be like breathing, easier to do than not to. Prayer is a form of serving God (Luke 2:36-38) and obeying Him. We pray because God commands us to pray (Philippians 4:6-7). Prayer is demonstrated for us by Jesus and the early church (Mark 1:35; Acts 1:14; 2:42; 3:1; 4:23-31; 6:4; 13:1-3). If Jesus thought it was worthwhile to pray, we should also. If He needed to pray to remain in the Father’s will, how much more do we need to pray?

Finally, God richest blessings for the July holidays and for those who are travelling away from their homes may the Lord protect you on your journey.

This has been a long and very busy term at the school. The winter sports are very demanding and after the June examinations, the school needs a really good rest.

When we return after the holidays, there will once again be construction on campus. This time it is the turn of the High School, with extensions and improvements to the “B” block. This project is rather similar to what was done to the “A” block some years back. A new floor will be added which will include 4 new classrooms. All will have storerooms. In keeping with our new initiative for innovative teaching spaces, the central two rooms will be joined by soundproof movable panels allowing the two rooms to be joined to form a double room.

During the construction phase we will be providing temporary classrooms in the carpark immediately above the High School. This will thus no longer be open to traffic. We will also be changing the flow of traffic in the road down past Pickering Field. Except for large buses the traffic flow will be one-way downhill. Departure from the lower parts of the school will thus only be possible uphill past the Astroturf. We are hoping to complete the project before Christmas.

We thank you for your understanding. These construction projects can be inconvenient, but we are determined to ensure that our facilities are continually improved and updated.

 

As we approach the end of the first semester of 2017, it is both good and apt to acknowledge the robust and dynamic six months we have enjoyed this year.

As Mr Cuthbertson has discussed above, we welcome the onset of the Block B building project which commences in the coming weeks. Whilst we will need to be resilient in dealing with the short-term challenges and discomforts of temporary teaching spaces and contractors on campus, we remain excited by the incredible value this project will add to our teaching and learning endeavours on campus. I ask for your patience and care whilst driving on campus next term as you will experience a minor restriction of traffic movement as a result of the building project. Thank you in advance for your understanding and support.

I am looking forward to Blake Kerdachi Inter-house Winter Sports Festival this Wednesday and Homegrown on Thursday, while the Grade 8s will be embroiled in a challenging Design and Technology task on Thursday. It promises to be an appropriately dynamic end to a dynamic term.

On that note, I wish all members of the Thomas More community a blessed mid-year break and, if you are travelling, may you do so safely. Rest deeply, breathe deeply and, most of all, live fully.

In closing, it is right to thank our educators and support staff – one and all – for a phenomenal term across the gambit of activities that characterise our kaleidoscopic school.

 

A reminder that all of our Primary School pupils will be given their Parents’ Council Country Fair raffle forms some time this week to make it easier to get then filled over the holidays.

This is an exciting, full last week of term. Our choir will be going on a full day trip on Wednesday, performing at Laddsworth Primary School in Hilton and being given the opportunity to appreciate a performance by the Drakensberg boys’ choir in the afternoon. We trust this well deserved outing is memorable and most enjoyable.

Our Inter-house Cross country takes place this Thursday morning from 08:00 to 10:00. Pupils may come to school in their Phys. Ed shorts and house t-shirt and takkies. They should also bring their school tracksuit to put on top of this after their run.

This is followed by our Senior Primary Non-academic day (NAD Day), which is always such fun for our pupils who find it invigorating and inspiring.

It is hard to believe that the holidays are already upon us after what has been a very hectic term. When we review what has been achieved, it is all credit to our dedicated, hard-working teachers, supportive parents and happy, contented and energetic pupils! I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to all our teachers. The commitment, energy and willingness to go the extra distance are appreciated! While teaching is very rewarding, it is also a very demanding profession! We have a very special team here at Thomas More and we are grateful to them for their loyalty and the high standards they set in all they do. We also appreciate all the support we receive from the admin staff who keep the cogs turning, and from our maintenance, cleaning, estate and kitchen staff who also do a superb job.

To our parents, thank you for your support and the contributions you make, whether being a loyal sports supporter, taxi to and from sport matches, on committees, as a class rep/ mom or reading mom, or just being there to support your child in all his/ her activities and homework! Thank you too for sending in the extra sandwich for the 1000 Hills Outreach, winter woollies or that extra jar of peanut butter, or loaf of bread to assist the 1000 Hills Community over the holiday period and for the response to the Parents’ Council request for tombola items for the Country Fair.

As I was writing report comments and visualizing our pupils and how they had fared during the term, not only was I thrilled in general at the progress made and the accomplishments of many, but I was also saddened when I realized again that there were a few relocating. To those leaving our Thomas More family, thank you for the contributions you have made to our school, for the role you have played and the memories you have created. As you leave us, you will always take a little bit of Thomas More with you. We wish you well and trust you will hold our school flag high wherever you are, and remember us fondly. Do stay in touch- we would love to know how you are faring.

Friday is break-up day at 11:30 for the SP. There are no hard copy reports. These will be released through the parent portal at 12:00 on the last day of school.

We wish you a most enjoyable and safe holiday and shall see you all back at school on Monday 24 July. 

 

Well done for making it to the end of this very long term. It takes an enormous amount of planning and energy to keep abreast of the busyness of our children’s lives and this often makes we wonder if we aren’t too busy! Do we spend enough time finding islands of quiet time for ourselves as adults and surely we should be teaching our children to do the same?

Country Fair planning is well under way and I thank all class moms for their enormous effort in co-ordinating the stalls in the Excitement zone. Please remember that the 5^th August is a compulsory school day and we look forward to each parent’s support in order to make the day a success.

The second term has had its fair share of events for parents to attend and we are grateful for your attendance at these events – it really means a lot when you can share in your child’s school life. Thank you for supporting us, even in the small ways of little deeds of help and expressions of gratitude when due.

We look forward to sharing the third term with you in the development of your precious children.

Wishing you some quality time to relax and recharge before we begin the busyness of another term.

Sonya Teclai: “Self reflection is a humbling process. It’s essential to find out why you think, say and do certain things.”  

 

Weekly Achievers 

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

Please send us photographs of your children enjoying their Weekly Achiever vouchers at Wetrock to tmc@thomasmore.co.za.

Dance

Congratulations to Sarah Clark, Ella Krautz, Sienna Raath and Tara Saint who all received outstanding results for their I.S.T.D. Modern Theatre Dance examinations.

Cross Country (Ward)

Well done to all our runners who competed at the Ward Trials on Friday, the results as follows:

U11

Dayna Deeble 1st

U12

Liam Theunissen 4th

Ethan McCormick 5th

Ezra Haug 10th

U13

Buhlali Mhlanzi 1st

Jessica Smith 4th

Gymnastics

Congratulations to Jordan Trotter who represented Natal for gymnastics at the Central Zone Festival in Johannesburg and was awarded a Gold. Well done Jordan.

SA Karate

Congratulations to Connor Harris who participated in the AUSC Zone 5 Karate Championships. He came third for kata but unfortunately didn't place for kumite. Well done Connor.

Duathlon

Congratulations to Liam Theunissen for being selected to represent the KZN team in Duathlon.  He will be competing in the SA champs at Midmar Dam on 2 July.  Well done Liam.

SP Toppies 'n Tots