St Johns Preparatory School

St Johns Preparatory School Houghton Tel: 011 645 3100/ 087 550473 21 February 2013 Newsletter Number 2

From the Headmaster

I would like to take this opportunity to applaud our Prep teachers for the work that they do behind the scenes, in the classroom, on the sports field, on the camps and on the playground: they console your son when he is hurt, they praise your son when he deserves it, they open your sons eyes to the wonders of learning and encourage him over and over again, building him up and setting him an example to follow. Thankfully, the majority of parents do recognize the fact that our teachers go the extra mile and appreciate their efforts. For this, I thank you. I know that your appreciation, be it via your short email, a note of thanks, or even just a smile and a verbal thank you, is so gratefully received. I would, however, just like to touch briefly on the sensitive subject of using emails to staff as a tool to convey anger or criticism. Email communication is a convenient form of quick communication and now exceeds telephone traffic in modern society.

Reminders from the Diary

26/02 Parent Information Evening 28/02 UIII Babanango Report Back 01/03 LII & UII Afrikaans/ isiZulu Assessments LIII & UIII Afrikaans/ isiZulu Assessments St Stithians Waterpolo Festival 02/03 St Johns Cricket vs St Davids 04/03 UII Camp - Kloofwaters 08/03 LIII & UIII Geog Assessment St Johns U13 Waterpolo Festival St Johns Cricket vs St Dunstans 11/03 Parent Afternoon 12/03 Parent Afternoon 13/03 Mass Athletics vs St Peters UII Instrumental Concert UII D&T Evening 14/03 LII Instrumental Concert 15/03 Athletics vs St Benedicts UI Instrumental Concert LII Camp Kloofwaters UIII Instrumental Concert 20/03 Athletics vs St Peters LIII Instrumental Concert

In recent months, however, I have seen members of our staff extremely distressed after receiving an unpleasant email from a parent. And far too often, once weve examined the actual issue, there has been a miscommunication or misunderstanding, which could easily have been resolved without the damaging email, sometimes sent in the heat of the moment. Remember, tone cannot be heard in an So the next time you feel like email and can be misinterpreted very easily by the youve been let down by a teacher, take the harder route of other person. making an appointment to come in and see us. There is not a I appeal to all our parents to phone or to come in single teacher at St Johns Prep and discuss any problems you may have with the who does not want the best for teacher concerned. Email communication cannot your boy even if at times this replace face-to-face or voice-to-voice communication. may involve disciplining him and Problems can become opportunities for development teaching him to accept the if they are brought to our attention through the consequences of his actions. correct channels and in a constructive manner. Very rarely is there a situation that we cant sort out through an honest, open meeting.

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I encourage you to keep your emails positive, brief and to the point; to address our teachers as you yourself would like to be addressed, and to teach your son to follow your example. I agree with what novelist and playwright Ian Hay wrote about teachers in a dedication to them in his book, The Lighter Side of School Life. His dedication read: To members of the most responsible, the least advertised, the worst paid and the most richly rewarded profession in the world. May I wish you and your family a wonderful mid-term break.

Patrick Lees Headmaster

With the help of our chapel collections, market day surplus and monies from lost property fines, we were able to donate R10 000 to TLC. Many thanks to all who continue to support this worthy cause.

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Creativity and the Curriculum

For the past six months, we have had several staff development sessions around the concepts of creativity and technology, both in the curriculum and in the classroom. At the International Boys Schools Coalition Conference in Melbourne in 2012, creativity formed the key focus of talks and discussions. The global action research group that I coordinate for the IBSC this year is also researching ways of enhancing boys learning, using technology to foster creativity. Their research projects will be presented at the annual conference in Richmond, Virginia, in July 2013. Sir Ken Robinson is much quoted on the subject of creativity, and if you havent already watched his famous TED talk which questions whether schools kill creativity, I do urge you to do so if you have a moment: http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=iG9CE55wbtY. His best-selling book, Out of our minds Learning to be creative, has also been revised and updated and makes for very interesting reading. He defines creativity as the process of developing original ideas that have value. This focus on developing creative skills in education has come about largely because of the rapidly changing times we live in. Because of the speed of changes taking place in the world, schools need to develop skills in creativity and innovation, enabling their students to be flexible and adaptable enough to cope with any changes, across a wide spectrum of situations in the workplace and in their own lives. Thomas Friedman, author of The world is flat, explains how those who are waiting for the recession to end so someone can again hand them work could have a long wait those who have the ability to imagine new services and new opportunities and new ways to recruit work ... are the new Untouchables Our schools have a doubly hard task, not just improving reading, writing and arithmetic, but entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity. " We need to develop thoughtful, creative, self-confident boys, who are numerate, literate, who can analyse information and ideas, generate ideas of their own and help to implement them, and who can communicate clearly and work well with other people. Ironically, all of these changes in global education come at a time when the South African curriculum, widely revised and now being implemented through the CAPS documents, has narrowed its focus at a Prep School level. Whilst we understand the need for concentrating on numeracy and literacy in South African schools and whilst there is much of value in these documents, we also feel very strongly that this cannot happen at the expense of subjects which encourage creativity, such as Art, Music and Drama. For example, the CAPS documents allow just 1,5 hours a week for the teaching of Creative Arts at Lower II Lower III level, where our boys have 3 separate lessons a week of Art, Music and Drama. Our timetable also allows for the teaching of research skills, thinking and study skills, a library period and a silent reading period to foster the love of reading. No provision is made at all for the teaching of a second additional language in the CAPS curriculum, where we have retained this option through our conversational language programme, and so on.

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It is worthwhile mentioning that the focus on creativity and creative skills does not lie solely in the creative arts subjects, but rather forms part of all lessons. Creativity is learnable it is not artiness and it refers to creative ways of thinking and doing, problem-solving, etc. Teaching boys creative skills includes, for example, teaching them how to think laterally; how to interpret questions in many different ways, and how to develop the ability to see many possible answers. Professor Erica McWilliam has written several very interesting articles around this topic, including a paper entitled, Teaching for creativity: from sage to guide to meddler, which we used as the basis for one or our staff development discussions at the end of last year. Teachers are also developing the use of technology in their classrooms. Almost all our teachers now have ipads and we hope to acquire our bank of 26 ipads just after half term, which our boys will be able to use in class, on a rotational basis. Almost all venues also have an interactive whiteboard and a digital projector. Mr Mulengas computer room has been transformed into a fully functioning MacLab, and we have two further computer venues which are fully utilised in virtually every period of the day. Boys use these venues for a variety of subjects, but good examples would be the use of the Singapore Maths online programme, Mathletics and the Reading Eggs software in English. We have an exciting journey ahead of us as we explore the potential of our creative curriculum and develop our technological teaching capacities and we hope our boys enjoy every minute of the journey. Margot Long longma@stjohnscollege.co.za

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St Johns Internal Evaluation & IQAA Survey Forms

Thank you to all those parents who completed and returned the IQAA survey forms so promptly. We had a high percentage of returns from parents in the Prep School (well over 80%), which augurs well for the rest of the internal evaluation of our school. The entire process is intended to gather evidence of levels of satisfaction in a number of areas, and to report back facts and recommendations to the Prep School community, Council and the Executive. The survey forms have identified areas that need to be investigated further. This will be done via focus and discussion groups with parents, boys and teachers. The topics for discussion will be published shortly and parents will then be invited to attend the focus groups. These will take place during the week starting Monday, 11 March. Wed like to assure you that information collected through these discussions will be reported on with integrity. The identity of participants will be kept confidential, but we hope to retain the essence of the concerns raised. Although our membership of the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA) requires a full audit every six years, we see this as an opportunity for authentic reflection and growth. It is also an opportunity to assess the outcome of some our medium-term strategies that have been implemented. The final report will be available in June. The executive of the school will then have the opportunity to implement changes, and will be in the position to use the findings to direct further strategic planning within the school. If you have any queries, please dont hesitate to contact me via email longma@stjohnscollege.co.za or pop in for a chat. Thank you for your valuable input into the process and for your support of the school. Margot Long Second Mistress Academics longma@stjohnscollege.co.za

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League Galas It was with some trepidation that I set off in the bus to St Davids for our first A50 League swimming gala this term. I couldnt help asking myself whether our move up to the top league had been premature and whether possible failure would dishearten the boys. I neednt have worried. The team had no such thoughts and were looking forward to the challenge! Their performance at the first gala was a solid start to the season and, as they have become more accustomed to swimming the 50m distance, our results have improved considerably as the season has progressed. Our U10 and Open age groups have been particularly strong. Although our U9s tended to be a little stage struck at first, they have become increasingly competitive each week and promise to do very well in seasons to come. The results have been as follows:

A team
Week 1
1 St Davids 2 APPS 3 The Ridge 4 St Marys 5 St Johns 5 St Teresas 7 Roedean
*LIII

Week 2
153 124 113 101 78 78 27 1 St Andrews 2 The Ridge 3 St Johns 5 St Teresas 96 88 70 52

Week 3
1 St Davids 2 St Andrews 3 St Johns 4 St Benedicts 5 Kingsmead 136 108 87 79 55 1 APPS

Week 4*
81 78 77 44 31 2 The Ridge 3 St Marys 4 St Johns 5 Kingsmead

4 St Stithians Boys 55

6 St Stithians Girls 52

and UIII boys away on camp

Week 1 Week 2 1 The Ridge B 2 St Johns B 3 Roedean B 4 KEPS B 5 St Teresas B 6 Assumption B Week 3 1 St Davids C 2 St Stithians B 3 St Johns B 4 Roedean B 5 KEPS B 6 St Teresas B 7 St Stithians Girls D 1 APPS B 2 Roedean B 3 St Johns B 3 APPS C 5 St Johns C Week 4* 105 82 58 58 27

B team
1 St Johns B 2 Holy Rosary B 3 Roedean B 4 KEPS B 5 Holy Rosary C

*LIII

and UIII boys away on camp

Our swimming captains, Stefano Cavalieri, Simon Shelton and Luca Allasio, and the other UIII team swimming boys have been remarkable. They have organised and encouraged their teams at every gala and have even composed a St Johns war cry which they shout out with great gusto at the end of each gala. Their excellent example of determined swimming and absolute commitment has filtered down to the younger boys and, suddenly, we have a keen, determined and very competitive team! Their great commitment to the team earned them 4CTs with Mr Lees on Wednesday this week.

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We have one more week of galas after half term. The A team will be swimming at St Teresas and the B team at KEPS. I thank the parents who have managed to get their boys to the early morning training sessions. I know that it can disrupt the organisation of a family in the morning rush to get everybody to where they need to be. I really appreciate the effort many parents have made to give their boys the opportunity to do a little extra swimming.

Buffelspoort Platinum Mile

Although I believe that an early introduction to open water events gives the boys another dimension to swimming, the thought of taking 11, 12 and 13 year old boys to swim the Midmar Mile makes me very nervous. It is such an enormous event that it is very hard to guarantee the safety of every one of my charges. It was very exciting to be able to introduce our boys to the Platinum Mile in the Buffelspoort Dam (near Brits) last year as a safer and more manageable option. The event is always held on the first Sunday of February (a week before Midmar) and, once again, I took a group of St Johns U3 and L3 boys to swim it. Mr Bell swam with the boys and they all managed to complete the event with little difficulty. Miss Joubert swam with the St Marys girls in the womens event. All of our St Johns swimmers were able to complete the distance in very competitive times. Unfortunately, although I have waited for as long as possible before writing this, the results have not yet been published on the website so I have not been able to include them in this piece.

Milan Prioreschi, Michael Smith, Gavin McPherson Stefano Cavalieri, Luca Allasio, Daniel Harding, Kieran McKenna and Matthew Monteith

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Congratulations!

Ethan Berriman participated in the Central Gauteng Aquatics Level 1 Championships last weekend. He finished first in the finals of the 50m Butterfly, the 50m Backstroke and the 100m Backstroke in his age group to earn the gold medal in each of these events. He has also qualified to swim in the Level 2 Champs in 50m and 100m freestyle. Well done Ethan!!

Improving the swimming at St Johns and building the team has been an exciting and very rewarding journey for me. It helps, enormously, that I teach the swimming lessons during the morning PE sessions because I have been able to spend time working on the basics of good swimming. It has been exciting to watch the boys gaining an understanding of the science of swimming, about streamlining, forces and resistance, and learning to apply these principles in the water. They have worked with fins, under the water and on the surface, to improve their streamlining and they have learnt the importance of long, efficient strokes, good starts and strong finishes. It has been remarkable to watch them remembering what they have learnt during their lessons and applying these lessons in their races at the galas. I have tried to make the teams as big as possible in order to include as many boys as I can. Although our primary goal is to ensure that every boy in the school becomes a strong swimmer who will have the ability to participate, with confidence, in any aquatic sport, the increase in skills levels has also created a greater depth of boys from whom the swimming teams may be drawn and there is little doubt that by the first term in 2014, we will be able to field 3 competitive teams. However, I would like to emphasise that in assessing the strength of swimming at St Johns, I do not look at the best swimmers but, rather, at the weakest. It is very easy to take a few promising boys and ensure that they produce good results at the galas. It is a lot more difficult to ensure that every boy in the school makes significant progress and that every boy becomes a strong (rather than fast!) swimmer. I can confidently say that, by looking at our weakest swimmers, the standard of swimming at St Johns has improved considerably. I have been a little distressed by the correspondence I have had with some of the parents, particularly of the U1 group, and believe that in their clamouring for a place for their son in the teams, they fail to see the purpose of teaching sport and Physical Education at our school. I can assure you that we know every boy well. We know his strengths and we know his weaknesses and we strive to make him the best that he can be in each of the disciplines we teach. When the time is right, he will be given the opportunity to swim (or play) for a team and we can assure you that he will not be forgotten. We look forward to the Tabloid Gala on Thursday where every boy will swim against a series of timed whistles to score as many points as possible for his house. Lynn Joubert joubert@stjohnscollege.co.za

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The Upper I boys are taking time to think about how special they are. They brain-stormed their ideas and then using their mind maps to help them, they wrote delightful stories about themselves. Me I am special because I love my life. Sometimes I stand up for people when they are bullied. I love myself because I am the only person I can be. I dislike it when people say I am fat. I dont like bullies at all. I absolutely hate guns. I love R and B music and my best place is Swaziland. Bafana Bafana is my favourite soccer team. I enjoy sport and playing on my PS3. The holidays are fun.

Mdvumo Dlamini Upper 1R

All About Me My name is Michael. I like burgers because of all the flavours and tastes. I also like hotdogs because of the flavours in it and the yummy crunchy parts. I dislike swearing because it can get you into trouble and it is bad language. I also dislike mosquitoes because they make you scratch yourself. My favourite hobby is camping because you can ride your bike and go in the rivers and canoeing is also fun. I also like reading Beast Quest books because they are interesting. I am special because I do so well at school and work so hard at most things. I am also special because I go to such a great school and I have teachers and a great mom and dad.

Michael Giltrow Upper 1L

All About Me My name is Nicholas Lowick. I am eight years old. I live in Oaklands, Johannesburg. I like pizza and I love having it at Colcaccios. I also like ice-cream as a dessert. My favourite past time is hiking in the Drakensburg with my family. I also enjoy camping there and swimming in the rock pool and sleeping on the trailer. I dislike it when people hunt animals. I really get annoyed when my dad changes the channel to a morning talk show. I am lucky to go to the best school because they have the best teachers. I am also lucky because I have the best family who can pay for me to go the school.

Nicholas Lowick Upper ID

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The UI's are currently covering the theme 'Body and Health Talk'. The focus at the moment is a study of the different organs of the body. After completing research at home on a specific organ, the boys completed a group project in class. This involved the placing of a picture and information of their researched organ on a life sized picture of the body that they traced. Much fun and learning took place as boys discussed (and argued!) where each organ belonged. There was the occasional 'mishap, for example, an upside down stomach attached to the heart.

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Why Music Theory?

The music department is offering music theory lessons to all interested pupils. These lessons are free. The music department is committed to provide opportunities for all boys to improve their music theory standard. Research has shown that when a pupil develops music literacy skills from an early age, these skills aid enormously in the process of interpreting written notation and translating notational text into practical sound. With an accelerated knowledge of music notation, pupils are able to access their repertoire with greater ease, and to start working together in ensembles, be it a choir or an instrumental group. Music theory is therefore paving the way for a better practical understanding of what needs to be performed, and how it should sound. UIII and LIII boys have an opportunity to choose Music as Subject, instead of attending the Class Music classes. Boys are expected to join an ensemble, and to perform at the termly concerts. The termly mark is therefore based on practical performance, as evaluated during the concert, as well as written theoretical work. Alternatively, pupils who do not want to take music as subject, as well as any other interested pupil in UII and LII, can attend lessons on the following days: Tuesdays 14:00- 14:30, Thursdays 14:00 15:00; and Thursdays 15:00 16:00. All U1 pupils can take theory lessons at 13:00 14:00 on Wednesdays and Fridays. Lessons are given in room 14, in the music department. We would like to encourage all instrumentalists to make use of the opportunity to further their music education free of charge. Parents can send a confirmation e-mail to Veronica Savage, indicating their preferred day and time. Please mail to savage@sjc.co.za Dr B Oosthuizen oosthuizen@stjohnscollege.co.za

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Chess
4 February St Johns vs The Ridge Seniors won 21 -11 Juniors won 31 - 5 Over all won 52 - 16 18 February St John's vs De La Salle Juniors won 37-27 Well done to the following boys who won both their games: A Qu, K Prior, G Thompson, A Van Der Riet, T Williamson and M Monyatsa. Well done to the following boys who won both their games: J Arthur, C Williams, N Haripershad, K Prior, G Thompson S Omand, T Martin and C Meyer.

4CTea 2013
For Settling In So Well At Their New School Joshua Botha Joseph Delmar Hamza Moosa Eli Osei

Swimming Ben De Sousa Displaying St Johns Boy Attributes Matthew Knight

For Excellent Leadership Of And Commitment To The Swimming Team Joshua Bailey Garryn Berry Stefano Cavalieri Kieran McKenna Gavin McPherson Nicholas Moschides Luca Allasio Nicholas Ching Dale Hallendorff Robin Swartz Thomas Deppe Thomas Sandilands Lloyd Magee Alex Thiel Michael Smith Jordan van der Walt Simon Shelton Ethan Chilvers

Excellent Batting at Cricket Dylan Wong Keagan Lion-Cachet For Winning Fizz, Bang, Pop Aaron Hooper and Dino Iozzo Spencer Clarke

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FREE and FUN to register and participate Join the 3.6m students already registered. Ensure your school is part of the worlds largest online education event! The World Education Games website has officially launched for 2013 - registrations are open and the warm-up period has begun! Your school can access the website for FREE FOR THE WHOLE OF February to warm up for the big event days in March.
March 5, 2013 - World Literacy Day March 6, 2013 - World Math Day March 7, 2013 - World Science Day

This year the World Education Games is bigger and better than ever - with a sleek new look, new features and lots of additional teaching resources to make the next few weeks a really exciting time in your school. *Note - if you are a Mathletics or Spellodrome user you do NOT need to register, simply sign into the World Educations Games with your existing username & password. * Be sure to check local start times, as the event may begin on the previous calendar day in your

Congratulations to Zeyn Mahomed who has been given the honour of being an ambassador for Mathletics (only one of two children in South Africa). Please support Zeyn and support the World Educational Games on 5, 6, 7 March. Here Zeyn shows off his Samsung Tablet which he won for his amazing achievement. Well done, Zeyn!

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Exclusive Books Kids Lit Quiz 2013

After many early morning sessions accompanied by muffins and hot chocolate to soften the blow, two teams of very proficient and enthusiastic readers took part in the Regional Round of the Kids Lit Quiz on Friday 15 February, in the Rene England Centre. One hundred questions, of a literary nature, in ten different categories, were asked of the forty-five teams from schools all over Johannesburg, taking part. At the end of the afternoon, the St Johns team of Sam Harding, Daniel Burke, Max Milella and Sean Morrison emerged victorious with 81 points, followed closely by the two Roedean teams. Our other team, Shaun Jacobs, Donato Moodie, Justin West and Kei Prior also displayed their literary strength and came out with 66 points and were placed 12th overall. The very next day, Saturday 16 February, the St Johns 1 team went through to the KLQ SA Finals, held at Roedean. The SA Finals, in which nine teams from around the country competed, were contested on a completely different level. This was a challenging and rather tense experience with teams having to use buzzers to answer questions and where points were deducted for incorrect answers. The boys were astounding with some of their answers to the most obscure literary questions. Right up until the very last question, our boys were in the lead, but were unfortunately pipped at the post by the Roedean girls and lost by one point! The Roedean girls will be attending the World Finals of the Kids Lit Quiz in Durban in July. The standard of questions was extremely high and we can be very proud of what our team achieved at the Regional and South African finals. They are testament to the fact that reading at St Johns is a priority and that it maintains a high profile in the school. Well done and congratulations to our champion readers! Nikki Sulter sulter@stjohnscollege.co.za

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Class Mums 2013

LII D LII H LII T UII B UII F UII H LIII D LIII M LIII T UIII G Nikki Hansell Robbie Cheadle Ruth Graca Jackie Hutchings Nicci Beswick Nicky Berriman Jenne Morrison Maria Cockram Fatima Haffejee Rose Dunbar Tiffany Williams Gill McPherson Adele Wong Greta Smart Deidre Smith nikki@premier.co.za robbie.cheadle@kpmg.co.za ragraca@mweb.co.za hutchings@acesurfer.co.za nicci@beswick.co.za nix@tagsolvent.co.za jennem@mweb.co.za cockram@worldonline.co.za neon@neonprint.co.za rosed@global.co.za tiffany@ignis.co.za gillian@mcpherson.co.za adelewong133@gmail.com gsmart1@mweb.co.za deidre@myconnection.co.za

UIII H

UIII L

Individual Achievements
Alex Thiel and Nick Siedle were both selected for the District 9 U13 hockey team. Well done, boys!

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Join us on 28 March, 30 March and 1 April at this years St Johns College Easter Rugby Festival. Enjoy a true Showcase of Schoolboy Rugby, with games relayed on big screens. A great week-end of schoolboy rugby is planned, with fun and entertainment for the entire family. Well have a variety of gastronomical delights and traditional family-based entertainment. SuperSport Rugby coverage will be screened on TVs in the main marquee. Funds raised from each years Festival have traditionally been utilised for various projects and activities throughout the school. These contributions have benefited the entire school from Pre-Prep through to College. For comprehensive information, please log on to the school website: www.stjohnscollege.co.za

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Notices
iCare
Whilst we hope and anticipate that all boys will feel able to approach their teachers or a member of staff should they feel that something is wrong, we understand that this will not always be the case. Some boys may feel unsure of how to approach a staff member or unsure of what they should say. For this reason we are continuing to use the iCare box, which is now located in Mrs Powells office. We also have an electronic version where boys can contact the Pastoral Care Team at iCare@stjohnscollege.co.za. The Pastoral Care team is hoping that the boys make use of these initiatives to highlight anything that they CARE about at St Johns Prep.

The aim is to provide the boys with an alternative avenue to voice their feelings around whatever may be on their minds. This extends beyond the reporting of just peer difficulties (such as bullying) the aim is to further enhance the quality of the St Johns experience. All notes placed in the box or sent via email will be treated confidentially and actions instituted where possible.

We ask that you encourage your son to make use of the iCare initiative so that we can make his day all that he hopes it can be. Hugo Meirim meirim@stjohnscollege.co.za

AFRIKAANS TUITION Is your son struggling to communicate in Afrikaans or having difficulty mastering the basics of the language (oral or written)? I am qualified to assist in both of the above areas and would be available to provide the necessary tuition between 15:00 and 18:00 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at St Johns Preparatory. Tuition will be provided on either a one-to-one basis or in group situations, lessons will last for an hour. Progress will be regularly monitored and pupils will be expected to perform certain tasks and complete basic written assignments. Tuition fees for individual lessons are R250 per hour and R150 per hour for group sessions. Should you be interested in the above, my contact details are as follows: Graham Carroll Tel : 011 534 1224 Fax : 011 534 1225 Cell : 076 858 9420

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Notices
Art club and extra classes
From the beginning of next term, Mr Poco is starting an Art Club (for LIII and UIII boys) and extra art classes for junior boys. Senior boys are encouraged to join the Art Club on Tuesdays from 14h00 -15h00 or Thursdays from 15h00-16h00. Juniors may arrange extra art lessons with Mr Poco at alternative times and on alternative days. We hope to see the senior boys joining the Art Club to create various exciting art works with mediums they do not normally use in class, such as print making, photography, oil painting and many more. This will be a fantastic opportunity for any boy who wishes to develop his art skills. For further information e-mail Bruno Poco on poco@stjohnscollege.co.za

Italian Language Lessons

Small age appropriate classes and individual tuition offered outside school hours at St Johns. Experienced mother-tongue graduate teacher using communicative method of conversation, maintaining cultural ties for solid IEB foundation. Contact Lisabetta on 082 682 2859 or Lisabetta@iafrica.com

EXTRA MATHS LESSONS

Lower III & Upper III boys in Mrs De Langes classroom Every Thursday 14h00 - 15h00 (Teacher recommendation only)

Shop At St Johns College New opening times from 28th January 2013
Tuesday and Thursday: 7am to 3pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 10am to 3pm For stationery and labels, as well as all your sports clothes, jerseys, bags and socks

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Letter from an Irish Mother to her Son For Mothers Day!

Dear Son, Just a few lines to let you know I'm still alive. I'm writing this letter slowly because I know you can't read fast. We are all doing very well. You won't recognise the house when you get home - we have moved. Your dad read in the newspaper that most accidents happen within 20 miles from your home, so we moved. I won't be able to send you the address because the last Irish family that lived here took the house numbers when they moved so that they wouldn't have to change their address. This place is really nice. It even has a washing machine. I'm not sure it works so well though: last week I put a load in and pulled the chain and haven't seen them since. Your father's got a really good job now. He's got 500 men under him. He's cutting the grass at the cemetery. Your sister Mary had a baby this morning but I haven't found out if it's a boy or a girl, so I don't know whether you are an auntie or an uncle. Your brother Tom is still in the army. He's only been there a short while and they've already made him a court martial! Your Uncle Patrick drowned last week in a vat of whiskey in the Dublin Brewery. Some of his workmates tried to save him but he fought them off bravely. They cremated him and it took three days to put out the fire. I'm sorry to say that your cousin Seamus was arrested while riding his bicycle last week. They are charging him with dope peddling. I went to the doctor on Thursday and your father went with me. The doctor put a small tube in my mouth and told me not to talk for ten minutes. Your father offered to buy it from him. The weather isn't bad here. It only rained twice this week, first for three days and then for four days. Monday was so windy one of the chickens laid the same egg four times. We had a letter from the under-taker. He said if the last payment on your Grandmother's plot wasn't paid in seven days, up she comes. About that coat you wanted me to send you, your Uncle Stanley said it would be too heavy to send in the mail with the buttons on, so we cut them off and put them in the pockets. John locked his keys in the car yesterday. We were really worried because it took him two hours to get me and your father out. Three of your friends went off a bridge in a pick-up truck. Ralph was driving. He rolled down the window and swam to safety. Your other two friends were in back. They drowned because they couldn't get the tailgate down. There isn't much more news at this time. Nothing much has happened. Your loving Mum P.S. I was going to send you some money but I had already sealed the envelope. Author unknown