1 June 2012 - St Columba's School

St Columba’s School
01 June 2012 Volume 17.2012
Inside this issue:
From the Principal’s
desk
1
Grade7 Fun Day 1
Grade one sock
drive
Pre-Primary
News
Merits
Calendar of
Events
Sports News
1
2
3
3
4
Uniform Policy 5
St Columba’s School
107 Howard Ave
Benoni 1501
PO Box 17224
Benoni West 1503
Phone: (011) 421-3057
Fax: (011) 421-8009
E-mail: admin@stcolumbas.co.za
“Where children love
to go to school.”
Visit us on the web:
www.stcolumbas.co.za
From the Principal’s Desk
I have included in this week’s Newsletter
an article by Nikki Bush which seems very
pertinent for us all. Taking responsibility
for our own actions, and realising that
there are always consequences for these
actions, is something that we need to
teach our children. They are constantly
faced by choices and they need to be
helped as they grow up to make the correct
choices, to be ready to stand up for
these choices, and to take the consequences
that follow making a bad choice.
It is never helpful or beneficial to children
if we make excuses for them and refuse
to let them face up to consequences. The
more we love our children, the more we
demonstrate that love by standing by
them in accepting consequences even
when this is difficult.
Grade 7 Fun Day
Congratulations
The planning for Fun Day is underway.
Every year the Grade 7 pupils undertake
their special charity project to raise funds
for the Avril Elizabeth Home for the mentally
handicapped in Germiston. The St
Columba’s Fun Day is one of the highlights
of the school calendar with three
special aspects in mind: the Grade 7s
take on the responsibility of organising
the day, the whole school has fun and at
the same time we are all aware that this
is a special project to help those less fortunate
than we are. We always hold our
Fun Day on the Friday closest to 9 June,
the feast day of St Columba, our patron
saint. This will be next Friday 8 June. We
all attend Mass in the morning and then
have the Fun Day.
Tickets in bundles of R50 for the Primary
School and R20 for the Pre-School will be
available from Monday.
A variety of food and activity stalls are on
offer on the day, planned, organised and
run by the Grade 7s assisted by the Grade
6 pupils.
We close school for everybody at 12:00.
There is no AfterCare on St Columba’s
Fun Day. Thank you
Congratulations to Ennio Zotti and
Nicholas Francis who have been appointed
as prefects for 2012.
Grade one sock drive
Thank you to all the Grade Ones who
have brought socks to school. Visit our
classrooms and you will see them! We
are hoping to collect many more and
hang them up on the tennis court on
Friday 8 June (St Columba’s Fun day).
This is open to all classes. You may
bring your socks to Mrs Sutherland or
hang them up yourself on the 8 June.
Thank you for your support.
Many thanks to Ian Crawshaw for all
the lovely year books donated to the
school and to Lorena Ribeira for the
Hannah Montana book.

“Write it on
your heart
that every
day is the
BEST day
of the year.”
St Columba’s School
Pre-Primary News
A reminder that we are constantly busy
with assessments and, despite the cold
weather, would appreciate it if your child
is at school every day. We don’t let them
play outside when it is very cold.
Grade R classes: please make sure your
child is dressed in the correct winter
school uniform. This includes the correct
type of earrings and hair accessories.
Please refer to the attached uniform notice
if you are unsure.
Make sure all clothing and shoes are
marked!! There are many similar jackets,
boots, and various items of clothing without
names which causes confusion when
they are to be claimed.
Congratulations on the birth of a new baby
boy for Nahom Laeke (Gr 0N) and his
family. We rejoice with you!
If you could donate birdseed and any old
ribbon, bows and large newspapers it
would be much appreciated.
Every choice has a consequence
“Each one of us must make the miracle
happen…..It starts within us, with
the recognition that we do not live in a
vacuum. Each one of us is a constituent
part of a greater organism: our
community, our country, our continent,
our world,” said Archbishop Desmond
Tutu in his Freedom Day article in the
Sunday Times of 31 April 2012.
What The Archbishop is referring to
relates to the importance of bringing
up children who will be contributing
citizens (in time, actions and money),
rather than people who will just take,
consume and expect without giving of
themselves in return. To this end we
must bring up our children to make
responsible choices precisely because
they don’t live in a vacuum. Being responsible
means making the most appropriate
choices, or taking the most
appropriate actions, in any given situation.
Choice and responsibility go hand
-in-hand leading to respect for self as
well as for others and for property.
Tutu calls on parents to teach their
children values at every level of the
socio-economic scale. My feeling is
that when we teach responsibility we
are actually teaching values – what is
good or bad, right or wrong, acceptable
or unacceptable. What are the conse-
Page 2
A GIFT FROM GOD
My hands are small, please don’t expect
perfection when I make a bed, draw a picture
or throw a ball. My legs are short,
please slow down so I can keep up with
you.
My eyes have not seen the world as yours
have, please let me explore safely: don’t
restrict me unnecessarily.
Housework will always be there. I’m only
little for a short time – please take time to
explain things to me about this world, and
do so willingly
My feelings are tender, so please be sensitive
to my needs, don’t nag me all day
long.( You wouldn’t want to be nagged for
your inquisitiveness). Treat me as you
would like to be treated.
I am a special gift from God, please treasure
me as God intended you to do, holding
me accountable for my actions, giving me
guidelines to live by, and disciplining me
in a loving manner.
quences of good or bad value choices? It
starts with learning to look after possessions
– books; games and toys; tidying up;
helping with chores, and respecting each
other, in the home.
So, it all boils down to understanding the
connection between consequences and
choices. Our children need to learn to
make good choices rather than bad ones:
� If you choose to leave your towel on
the floor, you are choosing not to
watch TV tonight.
� If you choose not to do your homework
tonight, you are choosing to
be in trouble with your teacher tomorrow.
� If you choose not to eat your supper,
you are choosing not to have
pudding.
By using the words “you choose” you are
empowering your child with the opportunity
to take responsibility for their own actions
or face a consequence that they
don’t like. When things get personal it
becomes a very real learning experience
for a child rather than a theoretical one.
Children learn best through the consequences
of their own actions: “If I choose
this, then I choose for this to happen.”
This is a great foundation for making good

Volume 17.2012
MERITS
Kiara Singh, Thivassen Naiker, Kgaogelo
Gule, Keiran Rowles, Jessica Mendes, Tarik
Mathura, Justin Brown, Michael de Lange,
Lethabo Maboa, Kai Gossman, Sheharin
Perumal, Joshua Walker, Ennio Zotti, Kade
Wood, Gabelo Maseko, Aaron Nagiah,
Sanam Singh, Dario Pequenino, Shakira Naidu,
Ryan van Aardt, Liam Stidworthy, Tatum
Bailey, Lindani Mhlanga, William Harrison,
Madeline Scrase, Kyle McCallum, Jennifer
Drölle, Gabrielle Padiachy, Nathan Ukunda,
Calvin Luiz, Marcel Duval, Nicholas Francis,
Brayden Read, Tanvir Singh, Fuaad Mohammed
Calendar of Events—Term 2
Saturday 2 June 08:00 InterVeritas Netball Tournament
Friday 8 June
Grade 1
Aswika Shiba, Maramawit Malugeta,
Tyreece Porthen, Zander Young
St Columba’s Day - School closes at 12:00. NO
AFTERCARE
Friday 25 May Mini Netball & Football at Ashbury
Friday 1 June Mini Netball & Football at Kathstan
Friday 29 June School closes normal time for Mid-Term Break
Monday 9 July 07:40 School Opens
Friday 20 July Cross Country Meet – Woodlands
Monday 23 & Tuesday
24 July
Travelling Bookshop
Friday 27 July Cross-Country Meet at Kathstan
Wednesday 1 August 07:45 Sports Awards
Friday 3 August Cross Country Meet at St Dunstan’s
Monday 6 August Parents Evening – ALL parents
Wednesday 8 August 12:00 School closes – NO AFTERCARE
Every choice has a consequence
(continued)
judgement calls and taking personal
responsibility for them. It is a vital step in
creating a child who will be a responsible
citizen in society one day.
NIKKI BUSH
Creative parenting expert, inspirational
speaker and co-author of Future-proof
Your Child (Penguin, 2008), and Easy
Answers to Awkward Questions (Metz
Press, 2009)
nikki@brightideasoutfit.co.za
www.brightideasoutfit.com
Page 3
Self-respect is
the fruit of
discipline: the
sense of dignity
grows with the
ability to say no
to oneself.
Rabbi Abraham
Heschel

Sports News
Inter-Dominican Netball
Tournament
The day has arrived! On Saturday the
following schools will be visiting us to
enjoy this annual tournament.
Dominican Convent Belgravia, St Catherine’s
Germiston, St Catherine’s Florida,
Veritas College Springs and St Dominic’s
Boksburg.
We are very excited to host this tournament
and know that our girls will make
them feel very welcome and be great
ambassadors for St Columba’s.
Our players are all to be at school by
08h00.
Refreshments and boerewors rolls will
be on sale.
Our Moms and dads are most welcome
to join in with this day of fun and excitement.
Netball
On Thursday 24 May we played against
Jan Celliers. This is the first time we
have played against their school. We
met up with a friendly and very pleasant
group of girls who are passionate about
their netball too!
Congratulations to the u/9 B team, winning
their first match of the season 7-4.
What a great feeling it is to win.
Our netball girls will be playing against
Reddam on Thursday 7 June. The u12
andu13 teams playing away at Reddam
and the u9,u10,u11 teams will be playing
here on our grounds. Good luck,
girls!
Football
On Monday the football boys played a
match against Ashton.
Our u/9 team lost 5-1; u/11 lost 2-1 and
our u13A&B teams drew 1-1 each.
Well played boys!
Mini-Netball
Page 4
The Grade One netball girls have really
being doing St Columba's proud in the
Curro Serengeti and Ashbury’s tournaments,
and have played 6 games in total,
so far. We have won 5 matches and
drawn 1. We are so happy that each girl
has had a chance to participate in a
match! Well done, and keep it up girls!

Uniform Policy
Page 5
GIRLS
HAIR
Hair accessories are to be navy blue following the regulations set out below:
� No butterfly clips
� No gel may be used.
� Hair which reaches the bottom of the collar needs to be tied up neatly.
� Hair needs to be clipped away from the face; fringes must be short or clipped
back
� No material scrunchies or fluffy bands, only navy elastic or navy toweling bands.
� Long hair which has been tied back into a pony must be plaited as well in order
to keep the hair neat and off the face.
� No ribbons are to be worn with the pony and/or plait.
� No material headbands are to be worn, only a thin navy Alice-band..
� No hair extensions or artificial braids are allowed. Braided hair needs to be
neatly done flat against the head.
� No tinting or highlighting of hair.
Uniform
� Socks must be white in summer, and turned down once.
� Winter socks are navy blue with light blue stripes at the top. They are to be
pulled up to just below the knee under the trousers.
� Summer dress and winter skirt (Grade 6 & 7 girls only) must be a maximum of
4 fingers off the ground when kneeling.
Other
� Nails are to be kept short.
� No nail polish.
� Earrings may be silver or gold, solid piercing studs or small sleepers.
� Only a single pair of earrings is permitted. These are to be worn in the bottom
hole on the ear lobe.
� Watches need to be practical and colourful fashion-accessory watches may not
be worn.
� No lip gloss is to be worn in school uniform.
BOYS
HAIR
� No gel or spiked hair.
� Hair must be kept short, it must not touch the ears, and must be three fingers
above the collar.
� No step hair-cuts.
� No tinting or highlighting of hair.
Uniform
� Shirts are to be tucked in at all times
� Socks must be pulled up at all times.
GENERAL (Boys and Girls)
� Takkies for sports and P.E. are to be mainly white. No slip- on varieties permitted.
� A navy blue Dri Mac may be worn over the blazer in wet weather.
� Blazers and uniform to be clean on arrival at school.
� No tattoos may be worn.
� No jewellery other than a religious symbol around the neck or arm.
� School regulation hats or caps are to be worn for all outdoor activities and at
break time.