from the headmaster - st peter’s · pdf filefrom the headmaster ... have spies (as in...

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Weekly Newsletter of St Peter’s Girls SP School

FROM THE HEADMASTER I have been speaking to the Senior Prep girls about the importance of good manners a lot lately: saying please and thank you at every opportunity and greeting adults at all times. However, as I mentioned to the Senior Prep teachers, this is not something that one person can drive and reinforce. It has to be reinforced and owned by teachers and by parents every day! Hence this urgent appeal to parents to insist that your daughter says please and thank you and insist that when at school or if they see a teacher out of school that they greet in a formal manner – not just ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello’, but ‘Good Morning/Afternoon Mrs Amm’ or whoever it may be. I told the girls at Prayers last week that I have spies (as in you the parents) and that my ‘spies’ report to me, in order to assess how we are doing. Currently I think we’re at four out of ten – so there is plenty of room for improvement. A significant, sustained team effort is required to get our score to eight or nine out of ten! On another topic, I was recently sent a very pertinent article for parents, entitled ‘The treacherous journey of friendship for girls.’ It makes two valuable suggestions as to how parents can guide and assist their daughters:

- Ensure that all devices are put away at night. - Make the time to listen to your daughter.

THE TREACHEROUS JOURNEY OF FRIENDSHIP FOR GIRLS By: Steve Biddulph In any list of things that make childhood great, friends would have to be right up there. For girls especially, the network of friendships they navigate among is crucial to their well-being. Yet in recent years, it's often become a toxic mix, with as much hurt as help. If you sometimes despair at your daughter's friendship pain, then you are not alone. Friendship for girls has changed. On talkback radio a few weeks ago, a caller gave this perspective. Her daughters ranged in age from 11 to 19. But her youngest daughter’s experience was immeasurably nastier and more destructive. Put-downs, exclusion and bullying in person and online were rampant. In that one decade, she had seen girlhood change. That isn't just a fluke – those are the exact years we have seen girls' mental health decline across the Western world. We believe there are two causes for this. The first is the one everyone focuses on: the rise of social media. It allows communication from a distance, so that nastiness can arise without seeing the harm it does. We don't see the sorrow and tears our words create, and it can easily become a game. And the ‘always on’ nature of social media means there is no respite, and anxious checking of mobile phones goes on into the early hours. It's affected the sleep of millions of girls.

Edition: 18 8 June 2017

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THROUGH THE KEYHOLE GIRLS PREP SCHOOL 8 June 2017


The second cause, though, is deeper. It's the disappearance of adults – especially older women – from the lives of girls. Mum, aunties, mum's friends, grandmothers used to feature daily in girls' lives. Now we are just too busy. So the peer group has taken over that need for affirmation and wisdom, and they just can't fill that gap. We've abandoned our girls (yes, dads, too) and they have made the peer group more important than it should be. The first step is to limit online/social media time. For many families, putting all phones on the chargers, in the kitchen, at seven o'clock, has become the choice, as they fight to get back their daughter's peace of mind. Helping girls to navigate friendship is also important. In primary school, she will come home hundreds of times with friendship angst consuming her. She will come to see if you have time to talk. If you do, it will just be a matter of hearing her out, and staying calm and patient. There are some friendship lessons every child must learn, such as that it's OK to not always go along with your friends. A friend can differ and still be a friend. And that compromise is important, but never compromise yourself. They need to understand that you can't trust some people and that we all make mistakes. Girls with inner strength who know they are loved will still experience pain on the path to learning about friendship. But they will fall back to knowing they are worthwhile, and not depend on the fickleness of their peer group, or worse – the approval of boys. Being a good human always wins through in the end. Have a good weekend! Nibe nempelasonto emnandi! Darrel Webb (Headmaster)

SPORTS DEPARTMENT Please take careful note of the arrangements for next week’s sports lessons as we are playing hockey in all lessons for Grade 3-7. Girls are to have their own stick, shin pads and gum guard and they must please remember their hat and water bottle. Liz Ashmore (Director of Sport) [email protected]

MUSIC DEPARTMENT Individual music lessons are available at our school. The online application form can be accessed through the following link: https://goo.gl/forms/nC4TYDxtqz6hxbMy1. Lessons in Cello, Voice, Flute, Violin, Piano, Guitar, Drum Kit, Percussion, Clarinet and Saxophone are available. Pupils receive one lesson per week, of thirty minutes duration at R180 per thirty-minute lesson. Marguerite Schmitt (Head of Music: Girls School)

mailto:[email protected]

https://goo.gl/forms/nC4TYDxtqz6hxbMy1

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FATHERS’ DAY CHAPEL SERVICE: THURSDAY, 15 JUNE AT 07:30 We invite all Dads or ‘special men’ in our girls’ lives, to join us at our Chapel Service on Thursday, 15 June at 07:30, for a service dedicated to ‘Dads’. We hope that you will be able to arrange to come to this Chapel Service, before heading on to your place of work afterwards. We look forward to you joining us.

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FRIDAY, 9 JUNE (BRING A TOTAL OF R35) HOT DOG DAY (R25), CIVVIES DAY (R10) AND CARTRIDGE COLLECTION

1. A REMINDER THAT TOMORROW IS CIVVIES & HOT DOG DAY! The cost is R35 (for a hotdog, chips & juice + R10 donation to charity) Thank you to those who have volunteered to help serve. Please meet us at the Royce Hall at 08:30 (for Grade 0 –2) and 09:30 (for Grade 3 – 7). Jen, Marcia & Mark (Hot Dog Day Co-ordinators)

2. INK CARTRIDGES Please remember to bring in your ink cartridges to school. There will be a collection point (big green and white cardboard boxes) in the Chapel car park throughout the day for empty ink cartridges. There are permanent collection points at both the Girls Senior and Junior Prep. Thank you for your continuing support this year! Monica Sloane (Community Partnership)

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GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER

GRADE 7 SOCIAL

MUGOCHI MUCHACHARI Mugochi Muchachari is the owner of Muchachari Garden Services (MGS). His company is contracted to the Prep and the College to maintain our fields and gardens. The school grounds were originally managed by a large landscape company who placed Mugochi at St Peter’s as a supervisor in 2004. The school approached Mugochi to set up his own business to maintain our fields. He hasn’t looked back since. Mugochi is firmly committed to the gradual indigenization of the campus and the return of the original animal, bird, reptile and insect species that occurred here. Mugochi’s special initiatives have been:

Organic composting of our fields

Establishment of a commercial composting programme

Managing an exotic tree felling operation which creates an income for the squatter settlement across the road, who sell the fire wood.

Mugochi is married and has eight sons.

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ST PETER’S FAMILY DAY FORTHCOMING WEEK

Saturday 10/06/2017 06:00:00 13:00:00 Grade 7 Market Day

Saturday 10/06/2017 08:00:00 13:00:00 Grade 3,4,5 C-F Team Netball Festival Gr 3,4,5 Home

Saturday 10/06/2017 08:00:00 13:00:00 Grade 6 C-F Team Netball Festival Gr 6 Brescia House School

Monday 12/06/2017 13:00:00 18:00:00 ABRSM Music Exams Chapel

Wednesday 14/06/2017 REMINDER: CHAPEL COLLECTION FOR TOMORROW

Wednesday 14/06/2017 17:00:00 19:00:00 Grade 7 Production Rehearsal Royce Hall

Thursday 15/06/2017 08:00:00 13:30:00 Grade 7 Production Dress Rehearsal Royce Hall

Friday 16/06/2017 PUBLIC HOLIDAY

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This week:

The 2018 Scholarship winners were announced in Chapel this week.

Congratulations, girls – we are very proud of you!

Grade 6 visit to a Museli factory. Grade 3 art in the garden

from the headmaster - st peter’s · pdf filefrom the headmaster ... have spies (as in...

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