Issue 17 24 May 2019
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© Ian Elvidge Issue 17 24 May 2019 24 May 2019 17 ‘…in those children we set in motion, waves breaking, carried away in their furl bits of ourselves…’ - Mariama Ba, from So Long a Letter I am having a love affair with modern African literature at the moment, and the lyrical profundity of this quotation from the Senegalese writer, Mariama Ba, speaks to the soul of an educator. When we teachers reflect on what we do, we are mindful that our precious charges carry away bits of ourselves ‘in the furl’ of the waves that are our students. Children are watching, we know. We teach children, before we inculcate knowledge and skill. And we shall never know for sure quite what they take away from their encounters with us. What a privilege (and responsibility) it is for us all, parents and educators alike, to influence the ‘waves’ in this century. I had the honour tonight to watch our Interact learners make presentations and receive accolades and awards at the annual Rotary/ Interact dinner. I shared with parents there how for me I have come full circle because as a young teacher at Milnerton High School (a hundred years ago) I ran the fledgling Interact Club there. Tonight, I sat proudly in the audience as our Curro Century City confident young leaders stood out among their peers with their poise and wisdom. Thank you to the staff involved in Interact: Mrs Judy Parr and Mr Kirk Armstrong for setting ‘these waves in motion’. I am excited at the prospect of these young servant leaders sharing ‘bits of [themselves] in the furl’ of the future. ELECTRONIC DEVICES Curro schools have made it our mission to ensure that the use of technology is integral to learning. The 2-in-1 devices our learners use are invaluable tools in the education process. Please make sure that they are not relegated to the bottom of the school bag like a forgotten, dog-eared textbook. They are so much more than that. Teachers regularly push additional resources, notes and practice tasks to them, as well as using them in the course of lessons as research tools, workstations, texts and interactive communication devices. Please check that your child has opened these additional resources. They must be active in their engagement with the learning process. Ask us at parent meetings how many pushed exercises your child has opened. There may well be a correlation with the outcome of the mid-year examinations. International research shows that one of the key indicators of a successful student is practise in the discipline. Practise really does make perfect. 2 24 May 2019 17 GRIT LOUNGE Several parents have indicated to us that the Lounge hours were not compatible with the times that working parents have available to visit the school. After consulting with Grit, I am pleased to announce that the Grit Lounge will now remain open until 18:00, twice a week from next week on, as well as opening up one Saturday every month, beginning with next Saturday, 1 June 2019. If your child needs Winter uniform and especially extra sportswear for the upcoming Nationals Tournament, this will assist. We have been assured that stock is available but get in soon with your orders because many schools have learners going on tour. On a side-note – all learners should be in full winter school uniform with a tie and blazer. NEW LOUNGE HOURS: 13:00 - 18:00 MONDAY 08:00 - 0900 / 12:00 - 15:00 TUESDAY 13:00 - 18:00 WEDNESDAY 08:00 - 0900 / 12:00 - 15:00 THURSDAY SATURDAY One Saturday per month (Dates will be discussed in advance) Our first Saturday will be on the 1st of June, we will be open from 09:00 - 12:00 RECYCLING Our children’s generation is taking far better care of the environment than we have in the past. Remember that CCC cares and we are recycling many items, and this is managed by the Interact Club. Utilize our recycling bins for your household recycling. In the words of the social anthropologist, Margaret Mead: ‘Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’ Thank you for helping us to change the world. Regards Mrs Bentley 3 24 May 2019 17 MID-YEAR EXAMINATIONS With the start of the examinations, I just want to appeal to parents on the following: • Please ensure that learners are at school on time on days when they are writing. This is very important because learners become extremely anxious when they arrive late for the exams. Besides that, late coming also causes a disturbance for the rest of the learners who are already sitting for their exams. • Learners must be dressed in their full school uniform. This includes a school tie. Should a learner not have one and are waiting on stock from the Grit store, please send a note/letter with them to inform the teacher. • We have had an incident where a learner’s school bag was taken and put in a different location. This may have been done as a prank, but it is viewed in a very serious light. Please encourage your children NOT to engage in such activities. It upsets the people involved and it wastes unnecessary time spent on trying to find a learner’s belongings. It also causes unnecessary stress for learners when realizing their books to study are gone. • We have found that some learners still come to the exam room without the necessary material, i.e. calculator, drawing equipment, etc. Please ensure that they have all the necessary items before sitting down for the exams. We also recommend having more than one pen as these have a tendency to stop working at the worst possible times. On a positive note, our learners have made a very smooth transition into the examinations. This is very encouraging, and we applaud our learners for making such good efforts to uphold the rules of the examination s. Kind regards Mrs Da Silva 4 24 May 2019 17 PRACTICAL EXAMINATIONS Our Grade 10 Consumer Studies learners made scones and muffins with a scenario of catering for a Mother’s Day tea. The outcome was delicious! 5 24 May 2019 17 © Shaye Elvidge © Nicole de la Cruz © Nicole de la Cruz © Ian Elvidge © Shaye Elvidge © Nicole de la Cruz ZEITZ MOCAA The Grade 10 and 11 Visual Arts learners as well as the Grade 8 and 9 Art Club learners had the opportunity to see some amazing contemporary art at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art in Africa! © Nicole de la Cruz 6 24 May 2019 17 SUPPORT FOR MAKAIRA Our very own Makaira Govender – who recently achieved her SA colours in vocals – will be travelling to New York in the June Holidays to partake in Talent America. We would like to assist Makaira in her fundraising campaign. There will be two campaigns that you can get involved in. Please contact Annalize Govender on 078 380 1345 to book your tickets or contact Makaira directly: 1. MAKE -UP MASTERCLASS –Saturday, 25 May from 14:00 to 17:00. The first is a professional make up Master0 Class – where mums, aunts, sisters, teachers can come and learn how to not only learn how to apply your make up, but also to take care of your skin. R350 per ticket – Finger lunch and goodie bag included! 2. FAMILY QUIZ NIGHT – Friday, 31 of May from 19:00 This is a quiz night and fun for the entire family. Prizes will be given to the top 3 teams. You are also welcome to bring along your own snacks and cold drinks. Carl the quiz master is fun and energetic – loads of laughter is guaranteed. R70 per ticket which includes a free boerie roll! Please come and support this talented Curro learner! 7 24 May 2019 17 DOROTHY VAUGHAN – MATHEMATICIAN Dorothy Vaughan (1910-2008) worked on the space program at NACA and then NASA as first a "human computer" and then as a computer programmer. Working during a time of segregation, she was the first black supervisor at NACA as the head of the West Area Computing unit and one of the few women given leadership positions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Vaughan https://guides.library.duq.edu/c.php?g=595421&p=4132713 We are looking forward to our learners becoming the next STEM champions! DAME ATHENE M. DONALD – PHYSICS, MATERIALS SCIENCE Dame Athene Donald (1953-) is a British physicist. Since 1998, she has been Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge, where she is also Master of Churchill College. Donald works within the Soft Matter and Biological Physics group at the Cavendish Laboratory. Over the years, she has moved from the study of non- living polymer and colloidal systems to research on the soft-matter properties of living systems, especially protein aggregation. She is particularly noted for her work using the environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). In 1999, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), and in 2010, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). https://thebestschools.org/features/50-top-women-in-stem/ 8 24 May 2019 17 INTERACT YOUTH AWARDS EVENING Mrs Bentley, Mr Armstrong, Mrs Parr, Vuyo Kwakweni, Tanaka Jaravaza and Christopher James attended Blouberg Rotary Club’s Youth Awards Evening recently. The event recognises the work that the Interact Clubs do in the area. A special congratulations to Christopher James who received the President’s Service above Self Award! 9 24 May 2019 17 HOCKEY GIRLS under 14 1 June DF Malan HS AWAY 10 August InterCurro @ Hermanus AWAY TBC Cannon’s Creek AWAY st 1 Team 8 June DF Malan HS AWAY 10 August InterCurro @ Hermanus AWAY TBC Cannon’s Creek AWAY SOCCER BOYS TABLE TENNIS under 14 st 16 July Meridian Pinehurst HOME 1 team 16 July Fairmont HS AWAY under 16 A 23 July The Settlers HS AWAY 30 May Pinelands HS AWAY 30 July Fairbairn College HOME 18 July Maitland HS