Second Term Final Newsletter

Dear Parent(s) / Guardian(s)

Thank you for your support at the Founder’s Day Assembly and the Camps Bay Schools’ Variety Show last week – both events were very successful. Simon Trappler, a past pupil in the Preparatory, Primary and High School, who has just qualified from UCT with a BA.LLB degree as a lawyer, was the guest speaker. Thank you to Mrs Sophia Mortakis for organising the stunning birthday cake with the school crest and motto ‘Strive for the Highest’ on as well as for the cup-cakes for the pupils to enjoy to celebrate our 103rd birthday. The Camps Bay Schools’ Soiree was a ‘hit’ – both Friday and Saturday nights were sold out. The Camps Bay Primary number was called back for an encore on Saturday night! Thank you to our resident choreographer, Diane Knight, for choreographing our dance item. Thank you to the High School for the facilities, Mr Vic van Heerden and his support team for their hard work setting up and cleaning up after the event, Mr William Cawood and the committee of teachers from all three schools for arranging the programme as well as to Mrs Vivienne Ashcroft for marketing the event, general organising and the organising of the refreshments.

I would like to draw your attention to an interesting article by Gregory Ramey, a child psychologist, which I read in the Sunday Times, dated 17 May 2009. It deals with the dangers of use of cellphones by pre-teens – please read the article, as it is most informative.

KIDS SHOULDN’T HAVE CELLPHONES IN THE FIRST PLACE, BUT IF THEY DO, INSIST ON RULES FOR THEIR OWN GOOD, SAYS GREGORY RAMEY
I don’t think pre-teens should have their own cellphones, but many parents disagree. If you insist on indulging your child with this luxury, please consider these six things:

Have your child pay part of the cost. Isn’t this just another example of parents buying stuff they don’t need with money they don’t have? Insist that your child completes regular chores to pay for the phone and be strong enough to terminate phone privileges if your child doesn’t comply with this expectation.

Monitor text messages. Young children have no understanding of the risks of the electronic world and it is your job to protect them. Inform your child that you will be regularly reviewing text messages. Please don’t tell me about the privacy rights of a 10-year-old. Their safety and security takes priority over their privacy.

Place limits on phone and text messaging. A pleasant diversion can easily transform into an annoying habit and even an addiction for some people. Kids can become preoccupied with this mindless diversion from real life. Limit the number of minutes and text messages that can be used monthly.

Discuss respect and etiquette. Talk about cyber-bullying and gossiping with your kids. My concern with texting is that it is just too easy to immediately communicate any fleeting thought or feeling. Kids need to be careful about gossiping or expressing a transitory feeling about a friend, teacher or coach. That text can then be re-sent or used in ways for which it was never intended.

Have an explicit discussion of sexting with your child. Phones and cameras are a dangerous combination for many pre-teens. Twenty percent of teenagers admitted to electronically sending or posting nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves. A 15-year-old from Pennsylvania, US, recently got into legal trouble for sending what she felt were harmless pictures she took when she was at a sleepover when she was 12 years old. Talk with your child about these situations. When I discussed this recommendation at a parents’ workshop a few weeks ago, a mom responded that she felt her nine-year-old was too young to learn about sexting. If you feel that your children are too young to learn about sending and receiving sexually explicit pictures, then they are too young for a cellphone.

Establish privacy and safety rules. Kids should never give out their cellphone number or accept text messages from strangers. Lots of kids in my office are telling me about their “friends” from across the country, people they are meeting on the Internet and text messaging throughout the day. Most parents are unaware of their kids’ dumb and dangerous practice of sharing intimate feelings and personal information with total strangers. We need to prepare our children for this new electronic world, but that doesn’t mean putting them in situations they cannot handle. Delay the cellphone until your child is a teen.

© 2009 The New York Times News Service
Gregory Ramey is a child psychologist and vice-president for outpatient services at the Children’s Medical Centre of Dayton, Ohio

ACADEMICS
Teachers and pupils, with the support of parents at home, need to turn our attention to academics and be focused in the preparation for the Assessment Weeks from 1 June to 12 June 2009. Pupils will be writing a number of tests during this period and need to be studying and preparing for the various forms of assessment. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our pupils good luck in the forthcoming assessments and exams. Remember: only through hard work and studying will you achieve your potential and the results you expect and deserve.
GRADE 7’S: The grade 7s, in preparation for high school, will be writing more formalised exams during Assessment Week and the school day for grade 7s will close at 13h00 daily. If pupils have sport, they will be allowed to study in the exam venue or in the library from 13h30 to the end of the day, after which they will then attend sports practices during the normal times.

Sports practices and matches continue during exams – sport during this period is a ‘break’ from studying after which pupils go home ‘refreshed’ to do further studying.

JUNGLE GYM: Our new Jungle Gym has been erected on the playground. The colourful base will be placed by the end of this week so the Jungle Gym should be in operation by next week. Well done and thank you to the parents that have assisted in driving this project, particularly, Noleen Knott, Michele Harvey and Nike Romano. Our children are very excited and can’t wait to climb and play!

SPORTS MATCHES: A number of our sports fixtures were cancelled this week by the opposing schools, which is most disappointing. I telephoned the principals at the various schools to inquire why the matches were cancelled and received apologies from sports co-ordinators and coaches! I do hope you were informed timeously by sms. In line with our sports policy, matches will not be cancelled by Camps Bay Primary except in exceptional cases weather permitting and in these instances Mrs Hamber and I will make the decision at second break.

PTA: SENÕR CHEF FUNDRAISER: Please support this fundraiser by selling spices and Ina Paarman products. Well done to Grade 4J which is the leading class. We need ALL parents to be supportive of this fundraiser by the PTA and we are compelled to complete the fundraiser by Monday 1 June with all forms handed in to Mrs Caldis. We need the funds to purchase our Smartboards which have been ordered! Grade 7s – you need to start selling if you want delivery of the Smartboards! We receive 25% of all sales and thus far we have raised only R4800-00!
We need a big drive in the last few days of this fundraiser. Thank you for your support.

All order forms for the Senõr Chef fundraiser should have been handed in today. If there are any outstanding orders, they will be accepted by Monday, 1 June, at the latest. All orders must be accompanied by the appropriate amount of cash. Thanks to all who worked hard to sell the products. Details of how much money was raised and all the prize-winners will be announced shortly.

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.

Adam Fagan
Jessica Way
Deana Rodrigues
Angela Yeo
Theo Thesen
Dylan Grobler
Zoë Sutton
Kelly Glover

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE QUIZ: Camps Bay Primary school competed in the first round of the Inter-schools’ General Knowledge Quiz and came 3rd out of 33 schools! The average achieved amongst all the schools was 64%, our average was 78%! Our team consisted of the following pupils: Maya Greyling, Hannah Fagan, Joshua Guenther, Henry Müller, Alexander Dickie, Jason Meek and Ethan Philander as our reserve. Well done, boys and girls, we are very proud of you!

GRADE 4 CAKE SALE: A reminder of the Grade 4 cake sale that will take place tomorrow, Friday, 29 May 2009 at second break for Grades 1 – 5. Grade 6 and 7’s will be able to purchase their goodies at 13h00 due to the fact that they will be going on an outing to the Baxter Theatre. Please remember to bring your money for all the yummy goodies there will be Pizza, popcorn, cake and hot chocolate on offer!


CULTURAL:
NOTES4NOTES WILD WEST BARN DANCE: Notes4Notes looks forward to hosting a Wild West Barn Dance on the second last night of term Thursday, 25 June 2009 18:30 for 19:00. Tickets cost R50 for Adults and R10 for Scholars. We are running a Family Special ticket offer of 4 – 5 tickets for a cost of R100. This is a real family event where the whole family can dance together and socially we can all get to know the school family. Diarise this date and watch out for further details.

GRADE 7 FAREWELL FUNDRAISER - VODACOM FUNNY FESTIVAL: The Grade 7 parent body have secured a block booking for the Vodacom Funny Festival on Saturday, 20 June at 5pm at the Baxter Theatre. They will be selling the tickets at a cost of R110 each (normally R120). These tickets are being sold to raise funds for the Grade 7 Farewell. Tickets are available from Mrs Caldis, the Bursar. Please support.

DRUMMING LESSONS: There will be no drumming lessons for two weeks. The reason is a happy one! We wish Ian Black our drumming teacher a happy marriage and honeymoon. He tied the knot on the 23 May 2009.

BALLET: Dear Parents, “Watching Day” this term will take place on Saturday 6 June 2009, at the Camps Bay Primary School hall in Dunkeld Road. The times are as follows:
Times: 12:00 to 12:30 Pre-Reception
12:30 – 13:00 Reception
13:00 - 13:45 Primary Grade (Grade 1 School)
13:45 – 14:30 Grade I Ballet (Grade 2 School)
14:30 – 15:15 Grade III Ballet
15:15 – 16:00 Grade IV Ballet
16:00 – 16:45 Grade V Ballet
Look forward to seeing you all. Mrs G and Lisl.

GENERAL:
THANK YOU: Your support and generosity is greatly appreciated.
A very big thank you goes out to Mr Phoplonker (father of Fuzail in Grade 3) for his donation to purchase a bench for the school!

Thank you to Donna Ingram’s grandfather who very kindly donated plants for our school gardens!

LOST: The following items are missing. Should you find them please hand in at the secretary’s office.
Trinity Britow has lost her spectacles. They are multi-coloured around the front section of each lens and have brown arms on the side. They were lost along with her orange spectacle case.

Moms please check your son’s shoes. Cole Goldie’s brand new Green Cross school shoes (size 3) went missing after changing for soccer on Tuesday in the boy’s toilet. Each shoe is labelled with his name inside.

CHANGE OF DETAILS: If your contact details or address have changed since January 2009. Please advise the office. Thank you.

RECYCLING – greenOFFICE FUNDRAISING INITIATIVE: Please remember to support the greenOFFICE fundraising recycling initiative by bringing your empty ink and laser cartridges and putting them into the greenOFFICE recycling bins. One bin is located in the printing room and the other one outside the kitchen. We hope you will all support this initiative. Thank you.

OLD TELEPHONE BOOKS: A reminder that we do recycle old telephone books –they must be kept separate and placed in the plaswood structure at the recycling facility along with all the cardboard. Thank you.

SATURDAY SOCCER: All parent(s) / guardian(s) and children are invited to partake in Saturday morning soccer at 9am on the promenade opposite Winchester Mansions. This is a fun morning activity for parents and kids alike. Please call Tracey Rushmere for more information or for a weather call on 082 376 3383.

THE ROCKERFELLAS: Band including Dads from both the Primary and Prep school will be playing at Dizzy’s in Camps Bay on Saturday 30 May at 22:00. Bring your friends and come for an evening full of well known rock ’n roll! (Cover charge R20).

PROVISIONAL DATES TO DIARISE:

DATES TO DIARISE – 2nd TERM 2009
May 2009
Fri, 29
Shavout
Grade 4 Cake Sale
Grade 6 & 7’s to the Baxter
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

June 2009 continued
Wed, 17
SGB Meeting
Sat, 20
Vodacom Funny Festival at the Baxter in aid of Gr 7 Farewell.
Wed, 24
Grade 5 Cake Sale
Thurs, 25
Notes4Notes Barn Dance
Fri, 26
Term 2 Ends at 11h00.



Proudly Camps Bay Primary

Stuart Collier
PRINCIPAL


S E L L I N G B E E

GUITAR LESSONS: All ages. General style, professional musician and tutor. 20 years experience in the business. Contact Otis 021 790 1433.

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: http://www.carootutoring.co.za/

REEF WETSUIT FOR SALE: Full length Reef wetsuit for sale age 11 – 12 in good condition. Contact Daniel Harper on 021 423 7681 or 083 779 7681.

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.

DOMESTIC SEEKING VACANCY: Our domestic worker’s sister from Zimbabwe is looking for a job in Camps Bay or Hout Bay. She is 26 and if she is anything like our fabulous cleaner, then I can highly recommend her! Please call her on 071 810 7721 or call Janette on 072 947 3511.

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.

TUTOR AVAILABLE: Seven years experience teaching English as a second language. Can tutor in English, Piano and Natural Science. Please call Matthew on 083 574 9450.

NAILS IN NO TIME- SPECIAL OFFER!!!! Full set of Gel or Acrylic Nails for only R200.00. Special offer for Matric Dance as well. Call Lee Stodel on 021 4392060 or 0832707060

WORK WANTED: Beulah Dlova is seeking employment. She is currently living in the area and is available for any work Monday to Friday. Please call her on 083 585 2436.

M.A.M.E.T. (MARTIAL ART MOVEMENT & EXERCISE)BODY CONTOURING FLOOR WORKOUT: For Women Systematic training system which shapes, defines and tones the body and improves fitness I would like to ascertain your interest in attending abovementioned classes in the Camps Bay area. In the event that you are interested kindly advise what days and times classes would be most suitable to you. Email Tanya on: lilac.sky@hotmail.com Cell: 083 379 1807 / 021 438 5662