Dear Parents and Learners
We have come to the end of a very busy first term. I thank the parents who have supported us by ensuring that their children have started the year with a positive attitude.
Mrs Vania won second place for Excellence in Secondary School Teaching at the Provincial Teaching awards – well done.
Congratulations to Mr Kunene – he has been appointed as a facilitator at the Johannesburg South district office as of 1 April 2017. We will miss him but wish him well in his new job. It is with sadness that we say goodbye to Mr Breedt who, after 12 years at Willowmoore High, is retiring for health reasons at the end of March. We wish him well and hope his health improves. Mrs Kuhn left the school in the middle of March. Thank you to both these educators for your service to our school. Mrs Plaskitt assisted in the LO post for the remainder of the term – thank you for being willing to step in at a moment’s notice and take on all the work that was required.
“Project Distinction” is a community based organisation which gives back to the community by recognizing the efforts of learners in achieving good matric results. Our top 10 learners from 2016 all received cell phones and free data and Bhavisha Lala received R20 000 towards her study bursary. We are very grateful to people who selflessly give back to the community.
The public speaking teams have been doing very well and the learners have achieved B and A symbols from the adjudicators. The debating team participated in a debate sponsored by the Canadian High Commission and came second. The choir is practising regularly each week. Homeroom teams participated very enthusiastically in the Iron Man Competition. Second place went to Mrs Silverthorne’s homeroom and Mr Cook’s homeroom won the event. Well done to all the learners who took part.
Interact would like to thank all its members and their parents for their support during term one. Our Fun Walk was a great success with neighbouring schools like St. Francis College, Wordsworth High and Benoni High also participating. The funds raised were used to support our beneficiaries, Almond Tree, Benoni Hospice and Lifeline. The Interact Fun Walk raised in excess of R17 000 towards charity – a fantastic effort on the part of all. Over 200 teddy bears were collected in support of the Lifeline Project “Show that you care”. We have also supported the school’s welfare department in organising dignitary packs and food parcels. The Spur evening was well supported and good food and fun was had by all. Thank you for your generosity in supporting all these initiatives.
The hockey boys have played very well in all their matches and are enjoying playing on the astro-turf.
The annual House play competition was held on Wednesday evening. Thank you to the parents who supported their children. The plays addressed many pertinent issues in society today and the casts did a wonderful job in making their audience members think about these issues. Well done to the Neptune cast for winning the competition this year with a play written by their director Goitseone Mzimba.
Disciplinary meetings have taken place on a regular basis this term and I thank the members of staff and governing body who sit on the panel for spending hours trying to help these learners. Please check your child’s cell phone messages and question them about where they are going and who they are going with. Teenagers need quite a lot of monitoring so that they do not end up in a situation that they cannot control. We are also concerned about the number of learners who smoke along the road to school. This is unacceptable.
Proud to be South African day: 2017 is the International Year of Sustainable Tourism.
Willowmoore High is a proudly South African school and this annual event is a significant day on our calendar. This year it will be celebrated on Tuesday 25th of April. On this day normal school lessons and times will continue as usual but the learners of Willowmoore High are permitted to attend school in traditional dress or clothing that promotes South African tourism or national heritage. A levy of R10 will be asked for the privilege of wearing this dress and all proceeds of the levy will be donated to the media centre so that new reading books can be purchased.
Other activities on the day include:
- A display of affordable books for purchase which will be held in the hall by various book sellers. We encourage all our learners to bring their money and add to their libraries.
- At break the Human Rights Ambassadors (HRAs) will be selling various items related to culture in South Africa, the exact nature of which will be advertised beforehand so we encourage everyone to support their efforts.
- The school will host a series of traditional games – come and learn to play new games and participate in a competition. An entry fee of R10 per participant for the competition will be required. This event will be concluded by 16:30.
The Google Cyber Security conference attended by Mrs Sanders and Mr Cook encouraged us to be aware of electronic communication. Be careful what is put on social media as all electronic communication is recorded in Vault. Everyone needs to learn to use electronic communication responsibly.
Lateness: We are starting to deal with a lot of late learners in the mornings again and will need to start with detention sessions. Far too many learners are asking to go home early for many different reasons – we are still teaching as we need every minute of contact time. Please try to arrange appointments after school hours where possible. We will not release children into the care of just anyone, it must be a parent or legal guardian.
Reminders:
- To download the d6 communicator for Willowmoore High to your device or computer, go to http://www.school-communicator.com/download.Follow the choices presented for either an internet enabled device or a computer. The school identification code is 6064.
- Google Classroom: If you have a mobile device, download the Google Classroom App from the App Store. If you have a desktop computer, you need to log onto the internet via your co.za email address, select Google Classroom from the list of menu options off the “chocolate box” next to the email address signout option. Enter any classroom space using the specific key code provided by your educators. The educators will upload notes, memos and suggested learning information for the specific subject. You may communicate with your educator by e-mail on the Google Classroom. If you do not have access to the Internet at home, there are various places around the school that can be used in the afternoon until 3pm.
Road safety: We are appealing to all learners to walk on the side walk provided when coming to school and going home in the afternoon. The road surface is quite narrow and just allows for cars to pass. Be careful when crossing the main roads as some drivers take no notice of learners. Please exercise good manners and keep yourself safe on the roads.
Uniform:
As we are moving into the colder months of the year, learners are reminded that school green tracksuit pants need to be worn for PT – no other tracksuits will be allowed. New green tracksuit pants are available from the accounts office, room 34. The cost of these is R 260 for smaller sizes and R 280 for larger sizes.
PT kit is generally being worn correctly and I thank all of the learners who follow the rules. Take careful note of the following:
- A long sleeve black vest may be worn underneath the school T-shirt for those learners who need to cover their arms for PT.
- Only tracksuit pants or school shorts are allowed. No ‘skins’ will be allowed underneath shorts.
- On very cold days, the school jersey, blazer and dri mac are to be worn with the PT kit. No other hoodies are allowed.
Please remind the learners that ID cards are necessary and must be worn as part of the school uniform. If the card is left at home, washed or misplaced, a temporary ID card for the day will cost R 10. New ID cards cost R 15. Please pay your money on ordering.
We wish you a good holiday break. School re-opens on Tuesday 18th April. Please ensure that your child is correctly dressed and that hair is within the school regulations for the start of a very short term before examinations commence.
Mrs L Sanders
Acting Principal