Learning is not always fun!

Dear Parent(s) / Guardian(s)

I read an interesting article in the Sunday Times (26 April 2009) this weekend by Gregory Ramey, a child psychologist in the USA, and his article also appeared in the New York Times. The gist of the article is that ‘learning is not always fun’ – it is hard work. Too often teachers, parents and pupils go out of their way to try and make learning fun and if learning is not fun then pupils are not interested or the teacher is not a good teacher! I have included an extract below for your educational reading:

School should always be interesting and every teacher should be loving, funny and a great entertainer. This belief system leads to unrealistic expectations, causing many children to blame teachers when learning gets tough or boring.

Annie, who is in grade 4, does very well in some subjects but terribly in others. After many hours of testing by a school psychologist, it was determined that she was an above-average pupil who was unmotivated about school.

The real problem wasn’t her laziness but her views about education. For years, her parents and others kept telling her that “learning is fun”. While that is sometimes true, apparently Annie never heard that learning can also be boring and hard work.

Parents need to reset their children’s outlook about education. I tell kids that school is work, similar to what their parents do every day. There are times when it is fun and exciting, and other times when it is boring and tedious.

SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY: Enclosed please find a letter on the election of School Governors to serve on the School Governing Body which all schools, nationally, have to conduct before the end of June of this year. Camps Bay Primary’s election will take place on Wednesday 27 May 2009 at 17h30 in the Bernie Segal Memorial Hall. Please diarise this date and make an effort to attend – it is an important election for the future of our school and we have to have a quorum of 15% of the parent body present for the election to take place.

CHARACTER COUNTS: Next week, I would like to launch ‘Character Counts’, in the Assembly, for this term which involves a focus on a character building trait in each assembly and for the week. Character traits such as respect, caring for others and each other, honesty etc will be focused on to develop and encourage sound values and principles in the school.

ASCENSION DAY: Please take note that the Camps Bay Schools will be closed on Ascension Day 21 May 2009 this year. The three schools took a joint decision to close on this day as in the past it has been difficult to continue with the academic programme as teachers and pupils often stay away for religious reasons. This decision is in line with WCED policy for schools to request closure on one school day per year. It was decided that all three schools should make a collective decision to prevent further absenteeism and confusion, however, I would like pupils to utilise this day to complete assignments and do some revision and studying for the Assessment Week which takes place 10 days later from 1 June to 12 June 2009.

You are cordially invited to attend the following events so please diarise the following dates:
Founders’ Day Assembly 22 May 2009 at 09h00
Camps Bay Schools’ Variety Concert 22 and 23 May 2009
Please see further information below on these events. The Camps Bay Schools’ Variety Concert should be a ‘hit’ as the teachers from all three schools are performing!! The Camps Bay Primary staff has ‘put on their dancing shoes’ and have been hard at work rehearsing their ‘number’!

WINTER SPORT: The winter season brings the rain and cold but sport carries on! Please be aware that we will be having half-hour theory lessons on days when it is raining finishing at 15h00. Please do not collect your child before the time as this is a team activity where at times paid coaches will be giving the lesson. Apart from theory lessons on rainy days, we would like to show sport videos or DVD’s to pupils in place of practices – if you have any sport videos and DVD’s which you no longer use at home, please could you consider donating them to the school to show to the pupils. The school library would like to build up a collection of sport videos and DVD’s to have ready for use of rainy days. Thanking you for your support.

TEAM UNIFORMS FOR SOCCER AND NETBALL: Uniforms for soccer and netball will be handed out for matches, however, there will be a deposit required of R50 per uniform. This will be returned to you once the uniform has been handed in at the end of the season.

SWIMMING: All swimming (extra-mural and early morning) will start from Monday, 4 May 2009.

FOUNDERS’ DAY: Founders’ Day is taking place on Friday 22 May 2009. Each school will be hosting a special Founders’ Day assembly. We would like to extend an invitation to all parent(s) and guardian(s) to join us in celebrating this special day in the history of our school. The times for the assemblies at each of the schools are indicated below.
· Camps Bay Prep Assembly – 08:15
· Camps Bay Primary Assembly – 09:00
· Camps Bay High Assembly – 10:00

CAMPS BAY SCHOOLS’ VARIETY SHOW: The Camps Bay Preparatory, Primary and High Schools will be combining their talent to stage a variety show to be held in the Camps Bay High school hall on Friday 22 May and Saturday 23 May. The cost for tickets on Friday will be R20 for children and R30 for adults, there will be a cash bar and tuck-shop available. On Saturday 23 May the ticket prices are R60 each and this includes platters of snacks and a cash bar will also be available. Both nights will start at 19:00 and should be over by 21:30 at the latest. Make sure you book in time to avoid disappointment. All booking may be done through Vivienne Ashcroft or our school office. Tickets will be available from 4 May. Come and support your school and see your teachers on stage!!

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.

Ashley Rangwani
Trinity Britow
Khanyisile Pani
Theo Madzivadondo
Katelyn Jones
Luka Augoustides
Fuzail Phoplonker
Mila Schelin
Matthew Guenther
Stacey Bester
Shannon Alexander
Garner Brown

WELL DONE: We are very proud of the following Camps Bay pupils who have excelled in their sporting arenas:
Gadi Friedman recently competed in the Western Province Triaq Swimming Gala in George and was awarded 4 gold medals and 4 silver medals. Well done, Gadi - what a great accomplishment! Unfortunately Erin Kensley who was also invited could not attend due to unforeseen circumstances.

Mikaela Füscher was recently featured in the ‘Get It’ magazine’s May edition. Last month she was also nominated by the South African Figure Skating Association to compete in Paris, France. Well done, Mikaela! What an awesome achievement! J

GRADE 3 CAKE SALE: Thank you to all the Grade 3 parent(s), guardians and class representatives who supported this sale by making yummy goodies to be sold and/or assisted in any way. A big thank you also goes out to all the boys and girls who supported the Grade 3’s - they were able to raise R1800!

RECYCLING – greenOFFICE FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE: Together with your newsletter today each pupil would have received a flyer from greenOFFICE informing you of the fundraising recycling initiative that we will be running. We will be implementing this programme today. There will be a bin at the photocopier and one outside the kitchen where you will be able to bring your empty ink and laser cartridges. We hope you will all support this initiative. Thank you.

JUNGLE GYM COMPONENTS: We are appealing to anyone who has any Jungle Gym components that they are not using to please donate these to the school. We would like to use these components as part of the Jungle Gym which is on order. Please contact the office should you be able to assist us.

DRAMA AND CAMI MATHS: Drama and Cami Maths have been inadvertently left off the second term extra-mural calendar, we apologise for any inconvenience and wish to remind all parent(s) / guardian(s) that:

Cami Maths will continue to take place on a Wednesday from 14:30 – 15:30 in the computer lab
Drama will continue to take place Tuesdays. Grades 3 and 4 at 14:30 and Grades 5 – 7 at 15:30.

CHESS: We are looking for a chess enthusiast who will be willing to come and give tips of chess strategy to enthusiastic pupils once or twice a term. If you are interested, please contact the school office. Please note there will be NO chess taking place this coming Monday, 5 May 2009.

BALLET & CLASSICAL GREEK: The Eisteddfod started yesterday 27 April on a high note. An adjudicator who is fair and compassionate towards the children makes it all worthwhile. Please note that lessons will continue on Wednesday at the usual times, except for Grade 5 Ballet that will run from 16:30 to 17:00. These times will apply for this Wednesday 29 April and next Wednesday 6 May. Good luck to all those who are still to compete in the Eisteddfod. Mrs Gruneberg and Lisl.

ADULT ART CLASSES: I will be offering two courses this term: The first is a seven week water-colour course in which we will explore colour and water-colour techniques through process art. The second is a seven-week, colour-energy course. In this course we explore colour-mixing, acrylic painting techniques and the effect of colour generally and on the individual. For further details please contact: Kerith Gibbs 021 438 1503.

LOST: The following item has been lost. Should you find it please hand it in at the secretary’s office. Thank you.
Nastar Abdulla has lost her fleece top. It is clearly marked with her name, please check to see if you have taken her ‘fleece’ in error.

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: Camps Bay High school is about to launch an exciting new venture this year. By the end of the year we aim to raise R80 000 that will fund a Habitat for Humanity project. Habitat for Humanity is an organization that builds homes for families in need. Our students will not only be raising the R80 000, but they will be helping with the build! We are very excited about launching this project bu we do need some help. We encourage you as parents to get your children involved as much as possible as this is a great opportunity for them to be involved with our community. If you as parents would like to get involved, are able to donate money, have ideas for fundraising, or would like to know more information, please get in touch with the school and we will be able to help you.

One of our first initiatives in order to collect money is to sell beautiful silk roses for Mothers’ Day at the 3 schools. The roses will be yellow, red, white and pink and will sell at a cost of R5 each. Please support this initiative. Thank you.

PROVISIONAL DATES TO DIARISE:

DATES TO DIARISE – 2nd TERM 2009
May 2009
Fri, 1 Public Holiday – Workers’ Day
Fri, 8 Prep School Open Day
Wed, 13 CBHS Comedy Fundraiser
Wed, 20 Grade 5’s depart for SOS Camp
Thurs, 21 Ascension Day – School Holiday
Fri, 22 Grade 4 Cake Sale, Grade 5’s return from SOS Camp, 3 School’s Concert at CBHS
Sat, 23 3 School’s Concert at CBHS
Wed, 27 CBPS SGB Elections
Fri, 29 Shavout

June 2009
Mon, 1 Assessment week starts.
Wed, 10 Notes4Notes
Fri, 12 Assessment week ends.
Mon, 15 School holiday
Tues, 16 Public holiday – Youth Day
Wed, 24 Grade 5 Cake Sale
Fri, 26 Term 2 Ends at 11h00.

Proudly Camps Bay Primary

S. P. COLLIER
PRINCIPAL

S E L L I N G B E E


BLINKWATER SELF-CATERING ACCOMMODATION: Spacious self-catering accommodation with breath-taking views available until 20 December 2009 at R5000 per month. Suitable for a quiet single person. For more information please visit www.capestay.co.za/blinkwater/ or call Barry on 083 297 3863.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Photographer available for social or corporate functions, weddings and special birthdays! Please call Barry on 021 438 9177 or 083 297 3863 or visit www.barrypix.com for more information.

BEAUTY TREATMENTS SPECIAL OFFER: I am raising money for the prescribed textbooks for a child who due to financial difficulty did not have theirs through the first term of this year. By contributing 50% of each payment for Beauty Treatments you book with me I hope to raise the R340 (I have already given the books to the child). So think of a treatment you most need/want and it will help towards the total. If anyone is aware of any other kids still without text books I shall extend this through May. Please quote this fundraiser ad when booking so I know you want to contribute. Janette 072 9473511
CAROO TUTORING: One-on-one, in your home, all grades, all subjects. We have the right tutor for your learner’s needs. Please contact Vicky or Emma on Tel: +27 (0)21 713 3830 or Email: info@carootutoring.co.za or visit Website: www.carootutoring.co.za

FOR SALE: Cockatiels-hand reared by pensioner needing some support! Make beautiful pets and have been lovingly tamed. Call 021-6714934

KARATE FOR SCHOLARS, BOYS AND GIRLS: Daily classes in Greenpoint taught by Shihah Bas van Stenis. Discipline, self-esteem and confidence are hallmarks of our teaching, with girls specifically being empowered. Recommended by child guidance councillors. Phone 021 439 4635 or 083 538 5643.

SEEKING ACCOMMODATION: Our General Assistant, Happymore is seeking alternative accommodation he is able to pay R400 per month. If you are able to assist him please call him directly on 078 408 7610.

SEEKING EMPLOYMENT: Family relocating to Switzerland is looking for a placement for their Xhosa nanny / domestic worker of 13 years for 1 – 4 days per week. She is kind, reliable and excellent with children. Please call Christine on 083 462 7871 or Stefan on 083 379 6766.