Latest News
By | 24 Aug 2010
Dear WGJS Family
Term 3 has already been overflowing with excitement and tremendous achievements.
Our girls performed incredibly at the Orchestra Eistedfodd and achieved an ‘A+' (85%-90%) Congratulations to all our excellent young musicians.
Thank you to the teachers involved and all the parents that came to support us!
Well done to the girls who played in the ABRSM violin examinations. Although we are still awaiting the results, all the girls played well and it was a very enjoyable experience.
There is an obvious desire to win. This desire does not simply magically appear. It needs to be cultivated, nurtured and become the driving force in the hearts of each Wynberg Girl. This passion is what leads our girls to achieve.
"The starting point of all accomplishments is desire. Keep this in mind: feeble desires bring feeble results just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.''
I challenge each girl to strive for her personal best in the current test and assessment series.
SAFETY AND SECURITY
The events of the past few days regarding the strike have once again highlighted that as a staff at WGJS, we strive to ensure the safety of each and every girl. This becomes extremely difficult if not impossible when all and sundry have access before school and after school to enter the school premises. My request is that only learners enter the premises and proceed, unattended, to their classes. Should a parent need to proceed to the office then they are to collect a visitors badge from the security at the gate. I thank you for your support in this necessary safety precaution.
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TEAM - Miss Whitfield
Our General Knowledge team came FIRST when they competed against four other schools on Friday afternoon. Congratulations to Grace Brain, Ashleigh Thompson, Amy Tayler, Paige Buxey, Beth Petersen and Saabira Swart.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Saleehah Domingo, a Grade 7 learner, has been selected to participate at the SA Karate Championships in Durban next month. We wish her well.
REPORT COLLECTION
Parents are requested to diarise Tuesday 21 September to collect their daughters' school reports.
Reports may be collected from the Vera Lawton Hall between 15h00 and 19h00 on Tuesday 21 September 2010. Reports are confidential documents addressed to parents and as such, will only be handed to parents.
Should a parent wish to arrange an appointment with their child's teacher, then they are requested to contact the teacher and set up a suitable appointment time.
The school bursars will also be available on that evening to discuss arrear accounts and accept any payments or payment plans should your account not be up to date. Please contact Mrs Yardin or Mrs Korck should you wish to discuss your school account prior to this evening.
SCHOOL MAGAZINE
Mrs Laubscher and her team are already hard at work on this project in between all their other activities. We thank our Magazine Team for their hard work and diligence Everyone looks forward to this annual publication.
Should you wish to advertise in the 2010 magazine, kindly send your contribution in jpeg format to jullau@wgjs.co.za
Should you wish to advertise, the costs are as follows:
Business Card - R200-00
Quarter page - R300-00
Half Page - R500-00 (B&W) R 650-00 (Colour)
Full Page - R800-00 (B&W) R1 200-00 (Colour)
Sponsorship costs:
Full page - R100.00 Half page - R50.00
Advertisements must be sent and paid for in full by 8th October.
EARLY LEAVING REQUESTS
Numerous requests are received on a daily basis for children to leave school early or take time off for holidays.
This request will only be accepted in cases of emergency or for unavoidable medical appointments. We cannot sanction time taken off for holidays and can only note parents requests for such.
No additional work will be provided by teachers for children taking time off for holidays. It remains the duty of the parents to catch up on missed teaching and learning.
To ensure the safety of learners, children may only be collected by their parents or by a third party with written consent from parents, during school hours.
MUSIC DEPARTMENT - Miss Leonard
WHAT? The movie, Grease
WHERE? School Hall
WHEN? This Friday, 27 August, 13h30 - 16h00
TICKETS @ R25 each - includes a burger and cooldrink, only available until THURSDAY!
There will be an orchestra rehearsal after the movie on Friday, 16h00 - 18h00 in preparation for the Orchestra and Choir Festival on the 9th of September. Please note that tickets for this concert will only be available at the door.
NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY - Mrs Baerecke
Ashleigh Thompson, Grace Brain, Saabira Swart and Franquay Adamo took part in the regular quarterly "Inter Schools Literature Quiz", hosted by Micklefield. There were 19 teams participating and our girls were placed 2nd. Grove won by a very narrow margin! Congratulations to our young ladies, who each won a new book, kindly donated by Exclusive Books.
Each Grade 3 to 7 learner is currently completing the task of making a "Matchbox Book" in her library lesson. Inside the box is the illustrated story of any children's classic. All Grade 4 to 7 girls are currently doing their unprepared reading, as well as ensuring that they read the required number of classics by 10 September, as indicated at the start of this term.
Many new fiction books are being processed and will be put on the shelves during the next 3 weeks. The titles will be displayed on the noticed board in the Library. Should you wish to donate one of these books, kindly notify me.
Finally, all "Readathon" forms and money should have been handed in by last Friday. Should your daughter still have hers at home PLEASE send it to school TOMORROW. It is imperative that ALL forms are returned. The names of the girls who were winners of any of the "Readathon" competitions will be displayed on the special mention notice board at the entrance to the office area.
"A library is a hospital for the mind." (Anonymous)
MY SCHOOL / MAKRO CARDS
A reminder to please swipe your MySchool and Makro cards. This is an income generating tool which requires little effort with big benefits for the school.
FUN RUN DAY - Saturday 30 October 2010
COMING SOON: Very important information about this wonderful event. This is certainly a date to diarise as a day of fun for the whole family.
GETAHEAD EDUCATION SOFTWARE
Evalunet, one of South Africa's premier developers of educational software and producers of GetAhead, has negotiated a special deal with our school.
Buy this year's grade and get next year's grade FREE!!!
On the 16 August 2010 our school launched the Getahead School Project.
Your child will also stand a chance to win an Apple iPod, as well as software for the rest of her school career!
GetAhead will benefit your daughter by.....
- - Developing a greater interest and insight in schoolwork;
- - Improving thinking and concentration skills;
- - Helping to revise schoolwork at her own pace
GetAhead is proudly South African, curriculum based and therefore RELEVANT to our learners.
Evalunet will be making a generous cash donation to our school based on the number of GetAhead products ordered. We encourage you to seriously consider this project in the interest of our school, but more importantly, in the interest of your child's education.
www.getahead.co.za
CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK:
If someone were to pay you R10 for each kind word you spoke and collect R5 for each unkind word, would you be rich or poor?
Yours sincerely
D E CAWCUTT (MRS)
PRINCIPAL
By | 11 Aug 2010
Dear WGJS Family
WWW - Wonderful Women of Wynberg
August is Women's month.
We certainly have the most Wonderful Women at Wynberg Girls' Junior School.
We can all learn skills and information but people who really influence our lives and shape our futures are often the unsung hero's. Who is your role model?
Each parent has the huge task of setting a good example and being a good role model. It certainly gets one thinking about the responsibility we as parents and particularly mothers, have in shaping the type of lady we wish our daughters to grow up to be.
Are we currently educating the next president of SA, the future millionaires and businesswomen of the future at WGJS?
I encourage each one of you to discuss this aspect with your daughters and share with them women who may have influenced your lives positively. Take time too, to thank these special people.
WGJS staff members share their role models - mothers feature highly, aunts, dads, grans and fellow staff members:
Aunty Kate: She lived life to the full - a strong woman, fixing cars during the war, taking part in everything possible, giving generously of her time and huge, tight bear hugs;
My dad taught me to be independent and to do things for myself. Also taught me to always strive for excellence;
My mom: always willing to help others, she's a great mom, friend and person.
My mom: for her strength and perseverance through adversities.
My friend: she is a young mother, scientist and currently studying for her masters. She has strong moral values and wisdom. She sacrifices things in order to help others. I aspire to be like her
Mrs Baerecke: I want to be like her when I grow up. She is a lady who handles what life throws at her with grace and integrity. She is such a positive force, her enthusiasm, encouragement and kindness make her one in a million.
Are you a role model? Perhaps today is the day to ensure that you too can be honoured for your values, integrity and enthusiasm to LIVE life to the full and leave a legacy.
Achievements
We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Louise Emkie, a member of our maintenance team, on passing matric. We are proud of you!
Nikita Dellis, Chloe Scholtz, Courtney Cottle performing in The Spiders Web at the Cape Town International Convention Centre later this month. Michaila Goliath is currently away as she participating in an Ice Skating competition. We trust they will all enjoy this experience.
Young Entrepreneurs Finals
We wish to congratulate our Young Entrepreneurs for 2010. The Grade 6 finalists are: Lisa Wiener, Emily Suttle, Abigail Sivertsen, Nicole Jutzen, Verushka Snyders, Lisa Veldsman, Nina du Plessis. In third place, Satara Lumb, second place, Megan Mulholland and first place, Abigail Kempster. The grade 7 finalists are: Melissa Guthrie, Nuraan Nicholas, Nazeera Loonat, Kirsten Hilario, Caitlin Cairns and Caitlin Hurry. In joint third place, Franquay Adamo and Melissa Van der Westhuizen, second place, Grace Brain and first place, Tasneem Rawoot. Well done ladies, your presentations were of an exceptionally high standard.
Music Department - Miss Leonard
Did you know?
- High school music students have been shown to hold higher grade point averages than non-musicians in the same classes.
- Playing a musical instrument has cognitive benefits. A Stanford study has found that musical training improves how the brain processes spoken word - this could lead to improving the reading ability of children who have dyslexia and other reading problems. (www.supportmusic.com)
Our orchestra will be participating in the Eisteddfod on Friday, 13th August. The Eisteddfod takes place at Rondebosch Boys Preparatory School. Good luck to Miss Galliers and the girls, and thank you for all the time you've put into the preparation for this event.
On the 19th of August, six of our violinists are taking part in the ABRSM violin examinations. Good luck to Lisa Stephens, Nirvana de Villiers, Razaana Manuel, Rebecca Bredenkamp, Megan Eastman and Paige Buxey.
My School Card
A request to parents to remember to swipe their cards. Should you not have a myschool card, please collect an application form or apply online.
Similarly, a Makro card is also available. If linked to WGJS, we receive a percentage of the purchase amount.
Money Matters
Many parents are not familiar with the South African Schools Act and their liability to pay school fees. We would like to bring your attention to the following:
- a. In terms of Section 39 of the South African Schools Act, parents are liable to pay compulsory school fees.
- b. In terms of Section 40 and 41 of the South African Schools Act, the school may enforce the payment of these compulsory fees.
- c. In terms of family law, parents are jointly and severally liable for the payment of the school fees irrespective of their marital status.
- d. In the event of non payment of school fees the school will institute legal action against both parents irrespective of maintenance and court orders which may exist between the parties.
- e. Parents who are unable to pay school fees may apply for the exemption of these fees. These exemptions are not funded by the Government, but rather by the paying parents.
- f. This is a statutory requirement and thus this debt is a priority debt and must be paid before any other debt.
- g. All other debts list are contractual debts and thus the criteria of indebtedness in terms of Section 86 the National Credit Act is applicable to those debts and those debts may be restructured.
- h. This debt may not be referred to a debt counsellor
Taken from "Arista Training - A to Z of School Fees"
Thank you to all the parents who ensure that their school fee accounts are kept up to date. Should any parent experience financial difficulty regarding school fees they are urged to communicate this to the finance office.
News from the Library - Mrs Baerecke
During "Readathon Week", various competitions were held. The winners of the daily "Mystery Competitions" were Beth Petersen 7B; Emily Suttle 6B; Tai-Li Lee 4B; Haanim Samaai 3F and Mia Sim 1B. They each received a brand new book, as did the 3 winners of the "Wish for a book" event - Mrs Makinson, Sabrina Otto 2M and Danielle Martin 6R. The winners of the Grade 1 and 2 colouring-in competitions will be announced during the week.
Please note that ALL forms and sponsor money must be handed in by 20 August at the latest.
"When I discovered libraries, it was like having Christmas every day!" (Jean Fritz)
Readathon Week was such a fun week. Many thanks to all the moms, dads and grannies for helping the girls dress up in colourful crafty costumes. Thank you, Mrs Baerecke for organising this very successful event.
Safety
We wish to ensure that our children remain safe and secure and are pleased that our girls are not waiting or wandering around the playground after closing time.
During this past week we had an unpleasant incident where an unknown lady entered the school building and simply walked off with one of our girl's bags. With this in mind, we request all visitors to the school to report to the front office for a visitors badge. In this way we can hopefully provide a safer school.
In closing, we would like to wish all our Muslim families well over the fast.
Yours sincerely
D E CAWCUTT (MRS)
PRINCIPAL
By | 28 Jul 2010
Dear WGJS Family
"Your attitude determines your altitude." This wise saying is nothing new. Sadly however, we often forget to adopt the correct attitude to all our activities, events and daily challenges.
|
Orchestra Eisteddfod
|
Friday
|
13 August
|
18:00
|
RBPS
|
R10 (for parents, participants free)
|
|
Music Movie afternoon
|
Friday
|
27 August
|
13:30
|
WGJS
|
R25 (available from 16 August)
|
|
Music Rehearsal day
|
Saturday
|
28 August
|
08:00
|
WGJS
|
-
|
|
Orchestra & Choir Festival
|
Thursday
|
9 September
|
19:00
|
WGJS
|
R25
|
- Sat 31/7 "Tantalising Tales" (6 - 8 years) by Sally Boulle: 11h00
- Sat 31/7 "Book Boggling Quiz" (8 - 10 years): 15h30
- Sun 1/8 "Book Boggling Quiz" (9 - 12 years): 16h00
Bursar's Office
It has come to our attention that a number of parents are sending cash to school with their children for various reasons and are not enclosing it in envelopes.
We request that ALL monies sent to school are placed in a clearly marked, sealed envelope. Please include your daughter's name, class and purpose for payment on the envelope. This is to ensure that money sent does not go missing between home and the bursar's office as well as to ensure the safety of the learners. These envelopes are then to go to your daughter's class educator at the start of the school day and will be collected from the class by the Finance Office daily.
Should you need to send money for various reasons on a particular day, please enclose the correct monies in individual envelopes, as not all monies are receipted by the Finance Office and need to be distributed between various outside service providers and extra-mural educators.
Please note that under no circumstances do we give change.
Parenting 911 - Ken Resnick
No doubt all parents remember the sleepless nights when their babies with teething, suffering from colic or other midnight worries. As children grow, other challenges face us as parents. How do we deal with a child who does not have a good attitude, how can we get our children to participate in household chores, keep their rooms tidy, and countless other challenges?
WE CAN LEARN FROM THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN THERE AND DONE IT.
All our parents are invited and encouraged to attend a Parenting course by Ken Resnick on 4th August at Wynberg Boys' Junior School from 18h30 - 21h30. His parenting course is being discounted from R1500 to R100 for a three hour session.
He presents an enjoyable evening with excellent easy strategies to make aspects of parenting less of a fight and more of a pleasure.
The talk is for parents of children from Grade R to Grade 4. A number of tickets are still available, and we encourage you to attend this very informative presentation. Please send payment in a clearly marked, sealed envelope to our Finance Office to secure your seat.
Parenting Evening - St Joseph Marist
‘Kids and TV' is the topic to be addressed on Thursday 29th July at St Joseph Marist, Belmont Road, Rondebosch. Time: 19h30- 21h30. The cost is R20.00 per person. For more information, please contact 021 685 6715.
Music evening at WBHS
Congratulations to our awesome choir, and fantastic music teachers. The performance at the annual Campus Music Festival was truly wonderful. Well done!
DATES TO REMEMBER:
August 2 Young Entrepreneurs Finalist Awards
6 Grade 6 Cake Sale
9 National Women's Day
Thought for the week:
Do not judge a book by its cover.
Best wishes
D E Cawcutt (Mrs)
PRINCIPAL
By | 13 Jul 2010
Dear WGJS Family
Wow - what an amazing 5 weeks we have experienced in our country. One could not help getting swept up in soccer fever through the unity displayed by the flying of flags, cheering and even the sound of vuvuzela's. It certainly made me proud to be a South African.
Similarly, I feel extremely privileged to have the opportunity to take on the leadership at Wynberg Girls' Junior School. On my first walk through the corridors it was wonderful to see the many exhibits and art works in support of the World Cup on display. This attests to the amazing skills and talents that are being refined at our school.
The history of our school has laid the foundation for excellent achievement: academically, culturally and on the sports field. There are many events planned for this term. I encourage each parent to be part of their child's education and look forward to meeting you at these functions. I also wish to encourage each girl to strive for personal excellence and so make you and us proud.
A special "welcome back" all our teachers and a big thank you to our cleaning and maintenance staff for ensuring that the school is clean and tidy for our return.
It was with shock and sadness that we mourn the passing of Mr Ron Condie, husband of Mrs Wendy Condie on 30 June. I am sure that you all join me in offering our deepest sympathies to her and her family.
We also extend our condolences to the Mrs Kassen and Jarita on the death of their husband and father, Mr Rajin Cassen.
May God's presence surround them and our prayers and thoughts comfort them at this sad time.
Safety
It is vital that no girls remain on the school grounds after closing at the end of the school day. Only learners participating in scheduled activities may remain at school. All other girls must be collected within 30 minutes of closing or alternatively attend Aftercare. Should any parent have an emergency whereby they are unable to fetch their daughter timeously, they are requested to contact the school office on that day. No girl may wait for a sibling or lift club unless by pre-arrangement in cases of emergency.
DATES TO REMEMBER:
July 13 Extra-murals begin
26 - 30 Readathon week
In Conclusion
An education at Wynberg Girls' Junior School is a gift. I trust we will continue to unpack this gift carefully and treat it with the respect our wonderful school deserves.
Wishing you a great week.
TODAY'S QUOTE
People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care -
John Maxwell
Kind regards
Mrs Dee Cawcutt
PRINCIPAL
By | 08 Jun 2010
Dear WGJS Family
There have been a number of events this term that have been cause for immense pride in our school.
The soccer day was a great occasion for all who attended and I must thank all those involved in a successful day.
The new winter sports uniforms saw our girls looking smarter and more professional than any other school. The girls wore their uniforms with so much pride, it was a joy to watch.
The Prestige Concert was a highlight that at times, gave me goose bumps. Our girls achieved very well in the various music eisteddfods. These included the choir eisteddfod where our girls achieved 90 - 100% and 80 - 90% and several girls achieved the highest marks in their particular music categories over the term. Sonja Stock achieved 92% in her Unisa exams last week, which is a major achievement as she will be added to the Unisa Roll of Honour. The clarinet choir achieved a diploma at their eisteddfod (90 - 100%). Well done girls!
Our general knowledge team won the first interschools' event of the year. Some of the girls involved in the team were the same girls who came second in South Africa in the "Kids Lit Quiz".
On the sporting front, Lauren Jonathan made it into the Western Province netball training squad. Lauren, Jamie Southgate and Tasneem Rawoot made the Zonal B Hockey team, while Nicole Hendricks made the A team. Emily Suttle and Saleehah Domingo made the Western Province Gymnastics team and went on tour to Oudtshoorn. We are proud of all these girls.
As I have read and signed all the academic reports this last week, it was interesting to note how many of the girls were commended for their positive approach to academics and how much they have improved over this term.
There are so many other girls who have achieved in and outside of school.
Well done to all of you. We are proud of every Wynberg girl.
PA/Fundraisers And Events Co-Ordinators - Lyn Makinson
Well done to everyone who took part in our "Two Thousand and Ten Global Cup of Soccer" and what an awesome final match between Denmark and Spain, with Denmark taking home the coveted trophy with a victorious 1 - 0 win. We could see that all the girls and their parents thoroughly enjoyed themselves on a truly beautiful morning in true South African style, with plenty of cheering and with the odd vuvuzela being blown. To everyone who was involved in ensuring that the day was a great success - THANK YOU for your time, effort and enthusiasm. We look forward to our last fundraiser of the year, our Fun Run/Walk which takes place at the beginning of the 4th term.
Flowers - Miss Weston
Thank you very much to the parents who provided flowers for 'The Prestige Concert' on Thursday. We are also very grateful to Giulietta Harrison for her beautiful flower arranging.
News from the Library - Mrs Baerecke
Next term is our very exciting READATHON 2010 (26 - 30 July). The theme this year is "Children's Classics", (eg Oliver Twist, Wind in the Willows, Heidi, all Fairy Tales, Alice in Wonderland, Secret Garden etc) so put on your thinking caps! A list of titles to help you is on the notice board outside the library. Fancy Dress Day is on Friday 30 July. A detailed letter and the sponsorship form will be handed out on the first day of school. During the holidays, please secure at least 5 sponsors for the "Big Read", which will take place on Friday 30 July.
The "FAMILY READING CHALLENGE" will be held on Thursday 12 August.
As a family, experience the joy and fun of reading together - and then join us for a quiz evening based on the book list. Teams will answers the questions by writing down the answers after they have discussed them as a team.
Throughout the evening there will be spot questions with prizes - aimed at the younger children to keep them involved. This is a fun evening to get together with other reading families and learn
more about the books and authors on the list and challenge your memories too! Your team may have up to 6 people and the cost is R30 per family. Should you be interested, contact Mrs Baerecke in the Library for further details.
"There is no substitute for books in the life of a child". (Mary Ellen Chase, 1952)
DATES TO REMEMBER:
June 9 School closes at 11h30
July 13 School opens
Extra-murals begin
26 - 30 Readathon week
IN CONCLUSION
There is a concern that the girls who are left to fend for themselves on the school grounds after school hours are in a vulnerable position both physically and socially. Some of these girls are left until after 18h00 each day. Although there are only a few girls, the Governing Body feels that in the interest of the wellbeing of the girls, we must insist that arrangements are made for all girls to be collected at least half an hour after their school day or extra-mural ends. As from next term, any girl not collected on time will be escorted to the aftercare, where they can be cared for. There will be an aftercare charge of R50 levied for each occurrence. I am sure that as parents you will support the Governing Body's decisions around caring for our girls.
Thank you to all the Wynberg families for all the support and the hard work throughout the term. We look forward to Mrs. Cawcutt's arrival next term and all that lies ahead for Wynberg in the second half of the year.
If you are lucky enough to be able to enjoy some time off with your families may it be a time of joy and good memories. If not, please ensure that your girls are well cared for in a structured and caring environment.
Best wishes
SR PAYNE
ACTING PRINCIPAL
