MIDRAND CHATTER 3 February 2012 - Midrand High School

MIDRAND HIGH SCHOOL
MIDRAND CHATTER 3 February 2012
Contact : (011) 315 0676 Email: admin@midhigh.co.za Volume 5 Issue 17
VISION: WE PREPARE MIDRAND HIGH SCHOOL LEARNERS TO BE THE
BEST FOR OUR WORLD
Achieving Academic Excellence since 1994!
Dear Parents
We have come to the end of a very busy first month of the new year. A number of
extra-murals activities are already underway:
Cultural activities: public speaking, athletics, house plays
Sports: athletics, chess, cricket (we lost against Wendywood with 1 run!), netball,
soccer. We urge you to encourage your child to take part as this contributes to their
holistic development. Extra lessons for matrics are scheduled after school and this
takes priority over other activities as long as you are sure your child is attending.
(Timetable of lessons available from the Deputy Principal, Ms Reddy, and has been
handed out to Grade 12 learners.)
Parents are reminded about the SGB elections that will be held on Monday 12
March 2012. Please see attached formal notice of the Nomination and Poll meetings.
Please see the information letter to parents and forward Profiles of eligible parents
who are willing to be nominated for these very important positions.
The MEC will be hosting a Community Imbizo with the main focus being the 2012
SGB elections. This Imbizo, supported by the SGB Associations, will be addressed by
Senior GDE officials and participants will be given the opportunity to
ask questions relating to SGB elections. We invite parents to attend this
event where information will be shared. The details for the Imbizo are as
follows:
Date: Thursday 16 February
Time: 18:30 – 20:00
Venue: Rosebank Primary School
Tel: 011-7881120
SCHOOL FEES: AN URGENT APPEAL
PLEASE DO NOT NEGLECT TO PAY SCHOOL FEES. WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL
CONTRIBUTION TO PROVIDE THE BEST FOR OUR CHILDREN! FINANCE
DEPARTMENT WILL BE OPEN TO RECEIPT PAYMENT.
Banking details: ABSA Midrand Branch: 537155
Account number: 3310147191
EARLY CLOSURE OF SCHOOL FOR CLUSTER ATHLETICS
Parents please note that school will close early on Wednesday,
15 February 2012 at 12.30 as a number of educators will be attending the grade 12
Road show where 2011 papers will be discussed.
Weather permitting we will be hosting our Cluster Athletics meeting on that day from
12:30. Should it rain on Wednesday 15 February we request that you make the
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necessary transport arrangements for departure at 12:30, to avoid your children
loitering in the streets as we would have to postpone the Athletics. Please refrain
from allowing your children to stay at home! We identified a number of learners
who absented themselves on Thursday 9 February because of the school athletics.
This situation will not be tolerated as it is in contravention of the Learner
Attendance Policy.
HOMEWORK IS FOR CHILDREN Article written for THE TEACHER
(January 2012) Shanette Tiquin, Shereen Dindar and Soraya Modan
Most parents sometimes feel as though they have returned to the classroom as they
spend hours doing homework with their children.
Shereen Dindar, education specialist and trained Demartini life coach and facilitator
from Mpumalanga, described homework as being a means of “re-enforcing what the
pupil has learnt at school and to cultivate a habit of being able to work indepen dently,
which requires discipline, for future projects once out of the school environment”.
Benefits of homework
“Homework teaches perseverance, self-discipline and internalises new concepts,” said
Shanette Tiquin, principal of the Carleton Jones High School in Carletonville. An
added benefit was that it drew parents and guardians into the school life of the child.
Doraya Modan, head of department at the Star International Primary School in the
Western Cape, said that “doing homework is important in order to ascertain whether
the pupil understands the work or not”. Modan said parents should be involved in
homework as “family involvement in education is crucial if parents want their
children to succeed in school and throughout life”. However, it was important for
parents to be “aware and understand how to help without crossing the line”. “Parents
must make a conscious effort to limit their help to the bare minimum,” said Modan.
“There is a major difference between assisting with homework and ‘doing’
homework. I believe that parents are supposed to assist with homework in order to
guide their children in sifting out important and relevant information required to
complete certain homework tasks,” said Dindar.
Let the child do the work
“Pupils accomplish nothing if their parents do their homework for them. In fact, the
self-esteem and perseverance of the child can be eroded. Parents are
simply fooling themselves at the child will not be able to cope in the
exam if the parents have been doing all the homework,” said Tiquin.
“Tasks done by parents and caregivers and not done independently by
the pupils are reflected in the classroom as children do not get the
opportunity to practise what has been learnt in class. On the other
hand, children who spend time on their homework, on average do
better in class and then in school as a whole,” said Modan.
Dindar said that “parents who continue doing their children’s
homework also deprive the child of being able to think independently
or develop their mental skills, since their creativity and personal opinions are being
stifled and their true worth would not be known, let alone be developed”.
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HOW PARENTS CAN ASSIST – EFFECTIVELY
• Designate a specific place for the children to do homework, away from
distractions.
• When frustrations set in, parents can combat this by helping children to get
and stay organised by encouraging good study habits, talking and
brainstorming a task before it is tackled.
• Re-enforce what has been learnt in other practical ways to develop
long-term memory.
• Attend to signs of stress in a calm way.
• Recognise and offer emotional support where needed.
• Work together to review, check and help correct tasks.
• Encourage children to complete homework.
• Encourage children to take pride in their work and make available
all possible resources so that children can conduct the necessary research.
• Carefully monitor whether or not they require assistance.
• Give children a few guidelines and then leave them to work independent ly.
They should only ask for assistance if they are unable to understand the
requirements.
UNIFORM & LATE-ARRIVAL at School
We are extremely concerned that a large number of learners have the incorrect
uniform at the start of the new year. This is not the manner we would like to start the
new academic year. Once again, learners are still arriving late to school. This will
negatively impact on the learners as the School Based Assessment has commenced on
the 02 February 2012, and these learners have already placed themselves at a
disadvantage.
TEXTBOOKS
We are extremely concerned that a number of learners have NOT yet collected the
necessary textbooks for the 2012 academic year. This is rather
disconcerting especially as the teachers are already well underway with
the syllabus. Another issue of concern is that a number of matrics learners
are in class without textbooks. This poor start to their academic year will
seriously jeopardise the results at the end of the year. We urge parents of
ALL learners without textbooks to rectify the matter as soon as possible.
GRADE 8 Concert
The Grade 8 concert took place on the 8 and 9 th February
2012. Our tadpoles worked hard at preparing for their
orientation concert. Thank you to all grade 8 parents who
attended in support of our children. We would like to thank
the Grade 8 Head (Mrs Els) the grade 8 teachers and the
Grade 8 Monitors for all their hard work in assisting the
grade 8’s rehearse for their concert. After listening to the
rendition of the Froggy Song and the School Song, we are
convinced that you have all become an integral part of the Midrand Family.
RCL Camp
The RCL leadership camp took place from the 27-29 January 2012 at the scenic
nature reserve in Hartbeeshoek. The learners must be commended for the impeccable
behaviour and sportsmanship. We are extremely proud of our newly elected RCL and
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feel safe in the knowledge that these learners will assist in promoting MHS. The
voting for the grade 12 senior executive took place at the camp, the successful senior
executives candidates will be announced at our Merit Assembly on 10 February 2012.
Thank you to the TLO, Mr Kinsey and Mrs Vijai for accompanying the learners on
camp.
MERIT ASSEMBLY
MHS annual merit assembly will take place on 10 February 2012,
were a number of learners who had excelled in the 2011 examinations,
will be honoured for their academic excellence. Congratulations to the
recipients. During this auspicious occasion we will inaugurate our
RCL and announce the RCL executive for 2012.
VALENTINE DAY CELEBRATIONS
The grade 12 learners will be hosting the Valentine day celebrations and
the Valentine Ball this year. Cupid will be making his appearance on 14
February 2012, and learners can order gifts, cards, roses etc from the grade
12 learners.
The Valentine Ball for SENIORS will take place on 17 February 2012
from 7pm until 11pm in the school hall. The Valentine Ball is open to all
senior learners (grades 10, 11 and 12) and NO outsiders will be permitted
to enter. Tickets for the V Ball is available from the Finance office.
BTE LAUNCH
We are looking forward to the BTE launch on 28 February 2012. We
are extremely fortunate that MHS was selected for this amazing
opportunity, and hope that the grade 10 learners are inspired to excel
academically. We remind all BTE parents and learners that your
attendance is required!
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:
10 February Merit Assembly & RCL Inauguration
13 February Netball practice starts ALL AGES
15 February Grade 12 Road show – Cluster Athletics from 12:30
17 February Valentine Ball (SENIORS)
28 February BTE Launch
1 March U/18 Netball trials and grading @ Rand Girls
5 March U/17 Netball trials and grading @ Rand Girls
6 March U/16 Netball trials and grading @ Rand Girls
8 March U/15 Netball trials and grading @ Rand Girls
19 March U/14 Netball trials and grading @ Rand Girls
12 April Netball League Matches start
"... as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or we
grow weak, and at last some crisis shows us
what we have become."
Bishop Westcott
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