Inter-schools Gala

Dear Parent(s) / Guardian(s)

A wonderful thing happened to me at school this week. Five delightful girls in Grade 4 approached me and wanted to chat to me in my office. My first thought was ‘oh dear’ – another incident on the playground, however, the girls informed me that they wanted to raise funds for a young girl who has ‘muscle disposure’ (muscular dystrophy). The girl’s name is Chaeli and she is a disabled teenager who raises funds for other disabled children to acquire hearing aids, wheelchairs and other equipment. I claimed ‘what a wonderful idea girls, but how are you planning to raise funds’? The girls replied in unison that they would like to sell cup-cakes at breaks. I was blown way by the initiative shown by these Grade 4 girls. ‘Now that’s the Camps Bay way’! The five grade 4 girls, namely, Kelsey Mayhew, Julia Landstedt, Katya Allen, Carmen and Meghan Howell, will be selling cup-cakes from the kitchen every Thursday at both breaks until the end of the term. Please support this wonderful initiative shown by this group of grade 4s. Good luck, girls.
(The young 14 year old girl who they would like to assist is a member of the Chaeli Campaign whose maxim is Administered by Adults – Powered by Kids. The aim of the campaign is to change the life of one differently abled child at a time in a significant way)

Enclosed with this newsletter is an article on research on parenting and the schooling of children. It was forwarded to me by two parents and makes for interesting reading. I have included the first part in this newsletter and will include the second part in next week’s newsletter. Please read it as it makes for fascinating reading. The article is entitled: ‘When Parents and Schools Align’ by Patrick F. Bassett who is the President of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) in the USA.
Last week Friday, Camps Bay Primary hosted an Inter-schools relay gala in our pool on an intensely hot afternoon! We competed against all the neighbouring schools, namely, Llandudno, Sea Point, the German School, Weizmann and Jan van Riebeeck. Congratulations to the Camps Bay Primary Swimming team which won the gala. We are very proud of you, swimmers. Thank you to all the PTA Moms who organised the pizzas, cool drinks and other items on sale.

PHOTOGRAPHY FOR SCHOOL MAGAZINES / WEBSITE / MARKETING MATERIAL: Together with this newsletter each child would have received a letter apropos photographs for the School Magazine / Website or marketing material. Please complete the reply slip and send it back to your child‘s class teacher, if applicable.

GRADE 7 SOCIAL: It is our final get together as parents at this school for our grade 7s.
Lets all meet at GLEN BEACH! When: Friday 13 March Time: 5.30 - 9.00 p.m. Bring:- picnic candles, ball games, guitars for a sing-a-long, boogie boards. For any queries or to check if the event is going ahead should the weather be poor, please contact one of us to find out alternative arrangements. Marianthi Dickie 082 658 5542, Deneal Ball 0833001216, Linda Ransome 0824123048, Marianne Engvall 0722812494

NOTES4NOTES FIRST CONCERT: Diarise our first concert for the year that is planned to take place on Wednesday 18 March 2009 in the hall. Renowned classical Latin and Flamenco guitar player, James Grace, will be performing. Enjoy an evening of music while supporting our music fund. Pies, ice-cream and drinks will be on sale! This is a real family evening – book a table through Debbie at the office. Ticket prices: Adults R40 each and Children R10.

MERIT AWARDS: Congratulations to the following pupils, each of whom was presented with a merit award at our assembly last week. We are proud of each one of you and would like to encourage you all to continue doing your best at all times.

Sasha Meek
Sive Tuku
Emilio Wettlaufer
Siphumle Mvandaba
Carmen Howell
Mia Neethling
Devon Massey
Alice Piller
Jarryd Londt
Jessica Page
Kai Millar

STEEL BAND: Please note that Steelband practice will take place from 12H15 until 13h30 this Friday 13 March due to sporting events. Thank you.

SPORT:
JUDO: In the Western Province Judo Open Championships, Aphiwe Tonisi and Ryan Coetzee were placed first and second in their age and weight groups respectively. They have been selected for the Western Province Judo Squad. The final trials will take place on 16 May 2009 and if they finish in the top 3 again they will be awarded Western Province colours. Well done! We are very proud of both of you, boys.

SUPERVISED HOMEWORK CLASSES: There are still 6 openings left in the supervised homework class. The cost of this class is R200 per month and it is available from Mondays to Thursdays from the end of the school day until 16h30. Please call Mrs Karakondis on 021 438 8091 or 083 568 7217.

THANK YOU: We would like to express a sincere thank you to ‘The Clay Oven’ management and staff for their continuous support of our school. They have very kindly provided ‘yummy’ pizzas at all our sporting events at a reduced cost with friendly and efficient service!

LOST: The following item has been lost should you find it please hand it in at the secretary’s office:
Nicol Black’s blue and white striped swimming towel.

FAMILY FUN PICNIC: Taking place at Camps Bay High School this Saturday 14 March 2009. Picnic hampers for 2 available at a cost of R175 a hamper (first 40 sold will include a free bottle of wine). Kids burgers will be on sale at a cost of R25 supplied by Ardi’s. There will be music, live bands, jumping castle, waterslide and fun stalls!! Please contact Lynette on 021 438 3029 or Sandi on 021 790 7531 or email: sandi@houtbay.com for more information. Entrance fee: Adults R20, Scholars R10 only applicable if not buying Picnic Hampers or Hamburgers from the High School.

“THE ROCKERFELLAS”: Including Dads from both the Prep and our Primary school are playing in a concert in Jurgens Park in Tamboerskloof on Sunday 15 March 2009. The event starts from 13:00 and is free of charge. Bring a blanket, food, drinks, family and friends! Jurgens Parks is situated in the corner of Buitengracht Road and Burnside (opposite Rafiki’s).

PROVISIONAL DATES TO DIARISE:

DATES TO DIARISE – 1st TERM 2009
March 2009
Fri, 13 - Grade 7 Social
Sat, 14 - Family Fun Picnic at Camps Bay High School 16h00 – 20h00
Tues, 17 - General Knowledge Round 1
Wed, 18 - Notes4Notes Concert
Tues, 24 - Grade 7’s go to camp.
Fri, 27 - Grade 7’s return from camp.
Fri, 27 - Parent (Adult) Social
Tues, 31 - Inter-house General Knowledge Quiz
April 2009
Wed, 1 -Reports issued to Parents
Fri, 3 - 1st Term ends at 11:00
Wed, 15 - 2nd Term begins.

Proudly Camps Bay Primary





S. P. COLLIER
PRINCIPAL

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Article: Part 1
When Parents and Schools Align (Patrick F. Bassett, Winter 2009)Patrick F. Bassett is president of NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) in the USA.

To educate children and adolescents, good schools know that they must also spend time educating parents. When parents are not on the same page with educators, kids move through the chiaroscuro of misaligned home and school life, receiving conflicting messages rather than similarly focused ones from both sides. Accordingly, I'd like to share some observations that parents and educators can contemplate together. In choosing a school, parents should place high value on their child's peers. When considering the quality of "better schools," too many parents miss one of the most essential drivers of student and school achievement: the peer group and kid culture at a school.

While elementary school-age children continue to identify with the values of their family and the example of their parents, by middle school the psychological separation from parents begins. In other words, by middle school, parents' influence on their children begins to wane in proportion to the influence of peers. Thus, the quality of one's peer group is critical to healthy and successful development. Fortunately, there's a "test" one can apply to peer groups: the cafeteria test. At the schools you are considering for your child, observe not only classes but also the cafeteria, using what Malcolm Gladwell calls your "blink reaction" to the various groups and cliques you find there. Do you see a group of kids with which your child would feel comfortable? Do you see groups that you'd like your child to avoid? How do students speak to and treat one another? How do they interact with adults? Ultimately, you want to choose a school where the groupings are few but healthy, where it's cool to be "smart," where the athletes also participate in the arts and artists in sports, where everyone strives to perform academically.

Too little parenting is selfish and irresponsible; too much parenting is unhealthy. Novelist James Baldwin once observed that, "Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them." Independent school leaders and veteran teachers constantly remind new teachers and staff members that the educator's job is to model the values they wish their students to display. This works well when the values of teachers and parents match up, but it's a problem when the parents' and school's values conflict. Too often, we see one of two extremes with parents: either a lack of responsible parenting ("under-parenting") or zealous hovering and controlling parenting ("over-parenting").

Under-parenting occurs when parents are afraid to establish boundaries for their children, or when love and approval are conditional, even conspiratorial. A parent once told me about "The Deal" his kids said prevailed at their upper school: Dad says in so many words and gestures, "As long as you perform well academically and athletically, I won't scrutinize too carefully what you are doing on the weekends." But it is exactly their children's behavior on weekends, and weeknights, that parents should scrutinize, since this is when most trouble happens. A wiser "deal" to strike: "I'll trust you to do your homework, to show up for your activities, and to stick to rules. But if you break the rules and violate the trust, then we go back to not trusting you for a time and supervising you more closely." And, by the way, the more your child is involved in salubrious activities - sports, arts, student government, etc. - the less direct parenting you need to do. Contrary to admonitions by some cultural observers, don't worry about your teenager's "over-packed" schedule; be thankful for it - since those activities tend to self-organize a child's time and interest. And in all these activities, your school's coaches and advisors are parenting allies offering your children healthy adult role models.

Over-parenting occurs when parents adopt the "helicopter" mode: hovering over their child incessantly and swooping down to the rescue when the first hardship occurs. As psychologist Wendy Mogel puts it in The Blessings of a Skinned Knee it can be a blessing for, say, a child to fall off her bike - if parents encourage her to pick herself up, dust herself off, get back on the bike, and learn to ride. If constantly rescued, the child learns dependency. If encouraged to endure life's bumps and bruises and "try again" when something is hard but worthwhile, the child learns independence, courage, and determination.

In school, there's a blessing in letting children wrestle with learning without parental interference. As Stanford researcher and psychologist Carol Dweck documents in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, having a "growth mindset" - one that views failure as an opportunity to work harder or to consider the task at hand more deeply - is one of the greatest assets a child can have.

The most dangerous "helicopter" parents are those who want to intercede whenever their child has a setback - argue a poor grade, make excuses for an absence, or, in its worst manifestation, bring an attorney to school to fight a disciplinary action. The lessons students learn from such over-parenting is lifelong dependency: "I'm not capable of fighting my own battles or accepting the consequences for my bad behaviour, so thank God my parents will rescue me." This may be why colleges are reporting problematic parents trying to register classes for their children, why workplace employers are reporting parents trying to negotiate their children's first job contracts, and why an increasing number of parents are seeing their college-graduate adult children moving back home "to save money."