A Tel: (011) 577-6000/6387 (Direct);
Fax: (011) 789-7519
ST STITHIANS COLLEGE
Private Bag 2, RANDBURG, 2125
|
Saints Honour: Honour God, Honour Others, Honour Self |
NEWSLETTER NO. 02 – 18 FEBRUARY 2005
FROM
THE DESK OF THE RECTOR
Dear One & All
ASSESSMENT & FETC
2008
The Further Education & Training Certificate
(FETC) will be introduced by Government in Grade 10 at the beginning of
2008. For a number of years now, the
Outcomes Based Curriculum has been the basis of education at the prep school
level and going up to Grade 9. This
phase of education from Grade 7 to Grade 9 is known as the GETC (General
Education & Training Certificate) and the final three years (Grades 10-12)
of a child’s school career will be known as the FETC.
We have attempted on numerous occasions to
communicate with the Saints Family about the changes that they can expect. These are outlined below:
·
Learners
will be required to do four compulsory subjects:
o
Home Language - at
Saints this will be English, although we will also offer Afrikaans 1st
Language for pupils wishing to take this option. It is envisaged that this subject will be
taught for 41/2 hours per week.
o
1st Additional Language - at Saints currently
this is Afrikaans, Zulu and S Sotho. It
is envisaged that this subject will be taught for 41/2
hours per week.
o
Mathematics or Maths Literacy - this is in line with the Government’s
national aims of improving numeracy across the nation. Therefore all the learners will be required
to do a form of Maths, which will be aimed at a more practical application of
Mathematics. It is envisaged that this
subject will be taught for 5 hours teaching time per week
o
Life Orientation, which is intended to promote various Life
Skills amongst the nation’s youth.
Essentially it includes Physical Education, Religious Education and Life
Skills. It is envisaged that this
subject will be taught for 2 hours per week
·
Learners
will then choose two core subjects from different Learning Fields. The fields (currently offered at Saints) are
as follows:
o
Languages
o
Physical
Science, Mathematics, Computer Science, Life & Agricultural Sciences
o
Human
& Social Sciences & Additional Language
o
Arts
& Culture
·
And
finally, the learners will choose a 7th subject as an elective from
the same learning fields.
We do not envisage a huge change to the subject
choices offered at St Stithians College.
What will change slightly are the rules of combination between core and
elective subjects.
St Stithians College has a Committee, comprising
representatives from the academic staff of both the Boys’ & Girls’
Colleges, who are looking at these details, potential difficulties and
implications. Once we have finalised our
plans, we will communicate this information to all parents and in particular to
the Grade 9s and their parents. As you
will notice, because of the changes to the teaching time that is expected for
some of these subjects, it may include some changes to staffing at the schools
and this will need to be carefully planned.
We will certainly keep the Saints Family informed of our progress.
LETTER TO THE STAR
Some parents and staff have questioned why St Stithians College does
not advertise in all the educational supplements published by the local
newspapers. I have attached for
information, a copy of a recent letter sent to the Editor of The Star, Mr
Moegsien Williams, which to date has not been published.
SECURITY UPDATE & DISABLED STICKERS
As reported to parents last year at a College Report Back to Parents,
the College has now undergone a fairly intensive review of the security
measures on campus. This has involved
consultations and discussions with our Management Committee (MANCO) and IMP
Security (who are consultants that assist us in our relationship management
with ADT, Armed Response and Anchor Security).
Firstly, we would like to advise parents that there are a number of cellphone
activated panic systems that the cellphone providers offer as a service to
parents. This is a mechanism whereby
cellphones can be programmed to send a panic signal, at the touch of a key, to
a tracker company that can then assist immediately when the system is
activated. As a school we are not in a
position to advise parents on which company to use, but our security
consultants suggest that parents do implement such a system with their
children.
Access control is reviewed on a regular basis. We have decided to revert to issuing stickers
to all College Parents. This
identification sticker, attached to the windscreen, will be used in conjunction
with the access control card system, but will allow our Security Guards to
distinguish between our own parents and visitors to the campus. We will be introducing stricter control
measures for such visitors to the College, particularly during school
hours. We will not be able to enforce
the same strict measures during the afternoons, when there are a number of
sporting and cultural activities happening around the campus which attract
hundreds of visitors through the gates, as this will cause congestion. The pull-over points for visitors at both the
Peter Place Gate and the Corlett Gate will be properly implemented and will
include CCTV surveillance, as well as visitors having to provide proof of
identity (such as an ID Book or a Driver’s Licence).
We have also decided to introduce a high security waiting area at the
Girls’ Prep carpark. The reason for this
is that the suggestion has
been made that from next term, the Peter Place Gate should become the main
College entrance and operate on a 24-hours basis, with the Corlett Gate (
May we remind all parents that to ensure
that these systems operate effectively, we need the assistance of all our
parents.:
·
Please
make sure that you attach the stickers to your windscreens, so that you are
easily identified as a Saints parent.
·
When
you sell a vehicle, please remove the Saints stickers from the windshield of
the car.
·
When
you collect children from the College, outside normal school hours, please
follow the security procedures that are in place in each of the schools, i.e.
kindly go to the Reception Area to collect your child and to sign him/her out
there. Children may not be collected
from the carparks but must be signed out with an adult. The Security Guards have been instructed not
to allow any pupil to leave the estate without the completed Sign-Out Form.
In
advance, may I thank all parents for their co-operation in this regard.
DIBAKOANE CHILDREN’S TRUST FUND APPEAL
On behalf of all the
Trustees of the Dibakoane Children’s Trust Fund, I write to thank the Saints
Family for so generously responding to the appeal issued in November 2004. Your continued support is greatly appreciated
by Daniel and Gladwell.
ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF INCOME FOR SAINTS – RMB
PRIVATE BANK INITIATIVE
For more information about the partnership,
please call 011 303 5551, email gmatthews@rmbprivatebank.com, or
alternatively visit the College website link (www.stithian.com
- Campus Matters page).
REMINDER
- SCHOOL CALENDAR 2005
The 2005 Calendar has been circulated via the
Rector’s Newsletter and is available on the website: www.stithian.com under Campus Matters. This year, Easter falls during the academic
term in March 2005. This has logistical,
traffic and parking implications for the Rugby Festival organisers and the
campus. In order to accommodate the
annual Easter Rugby Festival hosted by the Boys’ College, it has been decided
that Thursday, 24 March 2005 will be a school holiday for all Saints
learners. The College Executive
apologises for not picking this up prior to communicating the 2005 Calendar to
you in March last year.
COLLEGE REPORT BACK TO PARENTS – TERM 1, 2005
Please diarise the date for
this year’s first Report Back to Parents: Wednesday, 09 March 2005 at
19:00 in the GLT.
RECTOR’S REPLY TO QUESTIONS
Traffic Flow at the
“Not that I condone bad manners but the Security
guards are significantly hampering the traffic flow at the Peter Place gate - 2
cars at a time can cross the traffic - It can take you 15 mins to cross the
intersection - Something needs to be looked at - the cars stop at the stop str
- some yield left and others go right - What about 2 people here in the morning
where the traffic naturally stops - it will alleviate a lot of pressure.”
I
have noted your concerns about the traffic at
International Baccalaureate (IB)
“With so many South Africans having dual nationalities and making a
preference in sending their much loved offspring to a foreign country to pursue a higher education ... The
I.B. program is offered to students in grade 11 and 12 of high school. It
offers challenging subjects; a minimum of six; three at Higher Level and three
at Standard Level which students in the last two years of high school work at
with specialized subject teachers. They also have to submit an Extended Essay,
follow a Theory of Knowledge Course and perform Action and Service Activities.
Assessment are done both internal and external. I wonder why no
other school in
I am well acquainted with the International
Baccalaureate (IB) programme as a very good friend of mine is the Headmaster of
Waterford Kamhlaba in Swaziland, which is probably the pioneering school using
the IB in Southern Africa.
St Stithians College has always been committed
to offering a South African Matric, which is in line with our statement of
strategic intent (A
We have recognised, however, that there are foreign students who wish to pursue their studies overseas and in fact there are a number of South African students wishing to do so. It is for this reason that we offer a post-Matric A-Level option at which students can do their Cambridge A-Levels. We have investigated replacing the A-Levels with the IB, but have found the costs to be prohibitive. Not so much the registration costs but the curriculum demands which would have a serous impact on staffing levels at the College. Given that both A-Levels and the IB are relevant for access to universities in other countries we have decided to remain with the former at this stage.
Gum Trees
“Please let us know what is happening to the Gum Trees at the
Regards & thanks
(Aussie and
therefore Gum tree lover)”
I am afraid I don't know why they look sad, as they
are not actively managed at all. We do have a policy to remove all aliens
although there are no plans as yet to remove any along the Hendrik Verwoerd
perimeter. They provide an important screen for us from the road and businesses
along there, and we have too many other priorities of removing dangerous trees
near school buildings and where they endanger children at play.
Joggers/Walkers
“Please can a ruling be given on the times for
jogging, walking and any other form of exercise taken by parents or stray
exercisers so that these functions do not coincide with morning drop off
times for children? It’s becoming a minefield avoiding such dedicated
fitters.”
I
don’t think its appropriate to design such rules, but perhaps our
joggers/walkers could please note the concerns raised so that we don’t have any
accidents on the roads at the College.
QUESTIONS FOR THE RECTOR
If
there is anything you would like more information about, please do not hesitate
to send your questions to me at rector@stithian.com. Learners as well as parents are quite welcome
to send their questions.
eCOMMUNICATIONS@STITHIAN.COM
At
my request, the Director of Information Technology (Technical), Mr Gavin
Boxall, has written an article updating the Saints Family on eCommunication at
Saints. He writes as follows:
“No one would dispute the importance of good
communications, both within the St Stithians campus and, just as importantly,
to the greater Saints family. Traditionally, this has been achieved (with
dubious success) by printing something of great import, having it photocopied
literally thousands of times, managing the distribution of the copies to
hundreds or thousands of learners, and hoping that some actually got home in a
readable condition.
It came as no great surprise that this system pleased no one except the photocopier and paper suppliers. An alternative (or two) had to be found …
Our first attempt at reducing the wastage of tree by-products was to
place everything on the Saints web site – www.stithian.com.
Slowly, as everyone became familiar with the new publishing medium, people
found it easier to create information for the web – and newsletters became more
frequent. Parents, it seemed, found it easier (and more reliable) to access the
information, and newsletters actually got read. The only complaint was that
there was no prompt reminder to all concerned that something new had been
published to the web.
As we developed our school management system, PencilBox, we strived to
collect accurate data about every learner and parent involved with St
Stithians. Also, for the first time, we moved the onus to ourselves to ensure
that information was sent out to interested parties – and not collected by
those “in the know”. This meant a massive exercise of collecting email
addresses and cell numbers, as well as traditional postal addresses for every
learner, parent, sponsor and care giver.
We can now, via PencilBox, send out bulk email reminders to all or
selected parents indicating that a newsletter has been published, or an event
planned or changed, or even an SMS to say our switchboard has been struck by
lightning!
eCommunications@stithian.com
has come of age.
However, it cannot rest there – or it will fail just as surely as the
old paper chase failed. Firstly, of course, the system depends upon us having
the correct details for every parent and learner.
We are currently in the process of correcting some 300 email addresses
that we know to be incorrect. If you change your email address, or simply want
copies of St Stithians emails to go to another address as well, please just
reply to any newsletter you get giving details – and the database will be
updated. Every reply is read – Ripley’s Believe It or Not! If you want
statements to go to one email address, but newsletters to go to another,
likewise just let us know – we can do that, too. Also, if you prefer to receive
newsletters as attachments (perhaps just on one particular email address), let
us know – that can be done as well.
Secondly, whilst we intend to use it much more sparingly, it is
essential that we have accurate cell numbers for every parent and learner. The
2004 Matric students were thrilled to receive personalised result SMS’s the
moment they were released – a first for St Stithians. On a more serious note,
if we ever need to contact our parents urgently due to some event or
happenstance, SMS is the only reliable mechanism available.
We will soon be distributing (via email) reports
of your data within our database for verification, but in the meantime please
feel free to reply to any newsletter email with any updates you may feel are
pertinent.”
SAINTS FAMILY NEWS
o
We
wish Saints Parents Richard Loaring and John Barrow a very speedy recovery.
o
Congratulations
to Dr Irene Lategan, Head of Academic Support, on the birth of her second
granddaughter (Charley) in
NEWS FROM THE OLD STITHIAN ASSOCIATION
Old
Stithians Flyfishing Club
Following the interest generated from our
initial enquiries, herewith details of the inaugural open meeting of the above.
Who's invited?
All of the Saints community and their friends. This includes scholars, teachers, past
pupils, parents, members of the Saints Angling Club and their friends/family. Even if you've yet to cast a fly, come along,
you'll be pleasantly surprised at how willing the so-called 'experts' are to
impart their knowledge and help in this fascinating lifestyle. Areas on which
we'll focus will include freshwater and saltwater club fishing outings, fly
tying and casting sessions, ecological and environmental concerns, entomology
and general fly fishing tips, history and lore - of the latter this sport knows
no bounds!
The meeting will take the form of an open forum
where all suggestions will be welcome and where registration and form at of the
Club will be discussed. We will be working in close liaison with the Saints
Angling Club (Brian Webster i/c) which controls fishing rights on the school
dams.
If you wish to obtain further details or are
unable to attend but are interested in joining, please contact either Michele
Warriner on 011 886 3368 (am) and alumni@stithian.com
or Chris Williams, mobile 082 901 8010 and cwflyfish@telkomsa.net'
Please diarise : 17:00 – Thursday, 10 March 2005
- Venue: One And All'
GOOD NEWS COLUMN
Should you wish to contribute any Good News,
please send the details to: rector@stithian.com.
“We were absolutely delighted and amazed by
Matthew's outstanding Matric results, which were even higher than we, or he,
had hoped for. His achievement of seven distinctions and his inclusion in the
top 50 of the IEB were attainments that we are all exceptionally proud of. This
speaks volumes for the high standard of teaching , dedication and commitment of
all the academic staff at the Boys' College.
Please be so kind as to pass on our thanks to all, particularly
Matthew's matric teachers, whom we will also thank individually.
St Stithians has given Matthew an outstanding
start in life, and he will go forward to the future with confidence. He is very much looking forward to starting
his University year in
Thank you
all so much again. Our very best wishes for the coming year, and we wish
the school every success in the future.
Yours
sincerely
Alan,
Marguerite and Matthew Hedding”
With kind regards.
STEPHEN LOWRY
RECTOR
LETTER TO THE EDITOR, THE STAR
31 January 2005
Mr Moegsien
Williams
The
Editor
The
Star
Dear
Sir
THE STAR - TOP SCHOOLS SUPPLEMENT – 25 JANUARY
2005
Your
Special Projects Division Feature "Top Schools" published on Tuesday
25 January 2005 bears comment. We
believe it is misleading to call it a "Feature" as the only schools
quoted in the body of the articles are from the eighteen that paid for
advertisements placed on the same two pages of the feature. Clearly only those schools participating in
your advertising campaign were going to receive any copy coverage. The headline is therefore deceiving as it
suggests the articles are a genuine journalistic attempt to identify what constitutes
a "
We
also know that by writing this we run the risk of crying "spilt
milk", because our schools decided that taking out an advert in your
feature was not part of our advertising and marketing strategy. However, the issues of quality in our education
system are far too serious for the future of our nation for us not to comment.
Some
years ago, one of Independent Education's Sunday competitors ran a Top 100
schools survey. Thankfully that has been consigned to the proverbial
dustbin. What was scary about that one
was that many schools did not participate in the "survey" and so did
not feature, and therefore the impression in many people's minds was that they
(the non-participating institutions) were not high quality schools. That is even more flawed than the League
Tables in the British education system.
We
think it would be wonderful for Independent Newspapers to really go out and
identify for the nation what are top schools.
They are not necessarily schools with high fees and world-class facilities
where 95% of the student body comes from well educated middle to upper-middle
class families with a rich supply of intellectual capital and a family culture
of academic pursuit and growth. Yes, of
course, those schools will produce the top results in the country. But we as a
nation need to ask, will those schools (including ours) produce citizens that
will make a difference to our country?
Will they grow our economy so that all will benefit, or will they participate
in an economy that continues to make the rich richer and the poor poorer? We need to ask whether our schools (all of
our schools and not just those featured in your "feature"), have
really come to terms with the South Africa of the 21st Century or are they
still just producing more of the old "traditional" values of the 20th
century.
If
your journalists started conducting such research it would be possible to
identify schools in suburbs, townships and rural areas that are truly doing a
marvellous job. Schools that don't have
high fees, that don't have involved parents, but still manage to keep dedicated
and committed teachers and Principals who do exceptional work for our nation.
Perhaps
Independent Newspapers could investigate whether the more well to do former
Model C and Independent Schools are making a difference, whether they are
producing top candidates. And when you
do, please don't talk to the Marketing Directors, talk to the students, past
students and the parents.
Yours faithfully
Signed
by:
Stephen Lowry et al
GENERAL NOTICES
2005 SAINTS CALENDAR
Term 1 (58 Days)
Staff Development Days: Mon, 10 & Tues,
11 Jan 2005
School Opens Wednesday,
12 January 2005
School Closes Friday,
08 April 2005
Half-term: pm
Thursday, 24 February - am Tuesday, 01 March 2005 (return to school)
Public Holidays 21 March 2005 (Human Rights); 25 March 2005
(Good Friday); 28 March 2005 (Family
Day)
Term 2 (63
days)
Staff Development Days: Tuesday, 03 May 2005
School Opens Wednesday, 04 May 2005
School Closes Friday, 05 August 2005
Half-term: After
sport Saturday, 25 June - am Monday, 04 July 2005 (return to school)
Public Holidays 16 June 2005 (Youth Day)
(Saturday 18 June available for sport)
Term 3 (60
days)
Staff Development Days: Mon, 05 & Tuesday, 06 Sept 2005
School Opens Wednesday, 07 September
2005
School Closes: Thursday,
01 December 2005
Half-term: pm
Thursday, 20 October 2005 - am Tuesday, 25 October 2005 (return to school)
SAINTS UNIFORM STOCKISTS
Cramers: Bryanston
Shopping Centre Tel. 011-706-1412
McCullagh
& Bothwell: Hyde Park Corner ,
The
Stythian Shop: Situated
on the Saints Campus Tel. 011-577-6262
SAINTS SMALLS
The
Saints Smalls can be used to advertise almost anything to the Saints Campus. It
is distributed to students & staff twice a term (beginning & end) and
can be found on the Saints website at http://www.stithian.com/saints_smalls.htm.
Adverts
must be written onto Saints Smalls Advert forms which are available at each
School’s office and must be handed in at the Saints Girls’ College Reception
(Elaine Boardman), together with the appropriate cash attached to the advert
(R20.00 per entry for Saints Families, otherwise R80.00)
Deadline
for 2nd Edition 2005 : Friday 18th March 2005 by 13h00
Enquiries : Sue Farrell 082-371-7846 or Saints.smalls@discoverymail.co.za “
ST STITHIANS PRAYER GROUP
Would you like to join the St Stithians
Prayer Group?
We are Christian parents who come together to pray for
life at Saints. We meet from 07:45 to
08:30 on Wednesday mornings, at the One & All. Anybody who has it on his/her heart to
support the College in prayer, is very welcome to join us. For further information, please contact: Mrs
Jill Gorven – Tel: 083-348-4602
LEARN ISIZULU
- Are you tired of
not being able to speak isiZulu?
- Are you embarrassed
that your son/daughter knows more isiZulu than you do?
- Have you always
wanted to learn isiZulu?
So join us ... When? Tuesday
mornings: 7:30 – 8:30 Or Wednesday evenings: 18 :00 – 19:00
Where? In
the Language Lab (next to Mears Hall)
More details? Please phone: Thoko/Lizette at
082 680 8646