Monthly News – Carlswald House Preparatory April 2012 Principal’s Message Mothers Hold their child’s hand for a moment And their hearts for a Lifetime. Sunday the 13 May is Mother’s Day. It is a day where mothers the world over are celebrated and acknowledged for the tremendous influence that they have on their own children and on the next generation of adults. Motherhood is not always easy, in fact I am sure that there are times in every mother’s life when the following thought crosses her mind – “Why did I ever decide to have children!!” However, for the vast majority of mothers, that is a very fleeting thought. We revel in our children, and believe that they are the most precious of gifts. We forget about the tough times and the sleepless nights – that is as it should be – our children truly are gifts to be treasured! And so I wish each of our 345 and CHP mothers a very blessed and happy Mother’s Day. May you be thoroughly spoilt by your children and receive hugs and kisses aplenty. The very exciting first term is now behind us and we are gearing ourselves up for a busy second term. I would like to take this chance to reflect on some of the events of the first term:  345 and CHP held two very successful Open Days. Prospective parents were extremely complimentary of our facilities and the general “feel” of our school. Karen Beevers and I have been inundated with queries about enrolment, and the future of both 345 and CHP looks good.    We said a sad good-bye to Karon Pierson at the end of March, but are happy in the knowledge that we will still see her occasionally. She is still very much part of 345 and CHP. We are delighted that the astroturf has now been laid on our sports facility. The children will be starting to use it this week. The Grade Ones have completed their first term of ‘big school’. All of them are in the process of mastering the skills of reading, writing and numeracy. Their first formal school reports were sent out and a successful Parents’ Evening was held. Below are a few examples of the children’s holiday news. They wrote these sentences on their own. Well done boys and girls!  McCullagh and Bothwell notified us during the holidays that the new Grade 0 uniforms and Grade 1 sports uniforms were ready. As you can see from the photos, our Grade 0s arrived on the first day of term looking so smart and proud of themselves! Moms and Dads, please remember to put the shorts underneath the tracksuit pants so that as the day warms up your child can take off the tracksuit and play in the t-shirt and shorts. This also saves on the ‘wear and tear’ of the expensive tracksuit. Uniform Recap:Grade 0 Winter Navy blue sports shorts A green/red golf shirt with embroidered badge A navy blue sweatshirt with embroidered badge A CHP tracksuit White socks White trainers Summer Navy blue sports shorts A green/red golf shirt with embroidered badge A navy blue sweatshirt with embroidered badge White socks White trainers Grade1 Winter Navy blue sports or school shorts (boys) Navy blue sports shorts (girls) A white golf shirt with embroidered badge CHP jersey A CHP tracksuit White socks White trainers Summer Navy blue school shorts (boys) Navy blue skirt (girls) A white golf shirt with embroidered badge CHP jersey White socks White trainers Grade 1 Sports Uniform (not compulsory for 2012) Navy blue sports shorts A green/red golf shirt with embroidered badge A CHP tracksuit White socks White trainers Kind regards Megan Raines Birthdays Happy Birthday to all our little ones for April Photos are on the communicator to view We hope that everyone had a lovely day. Congratulations Congratulations to the Muleso family on the birth of their baby daughter. Condolences Our thoughts are with the Marais family as they mourn the loss of their mom and granny. Messages from the Teachers     Winter is around the corner and coughs, colds and flu are becoming more prevalent. Please DO NOT send your child to school with a temperature, or if he/she is feeling ill. It is not fair to your child, it is not fair to the rest of the children and it is not fair to the teachers. The teachers are not permitted to dispense medicine during the day. It is also not wise for you to medicate your child before he/she comes to school – a medicated child is not as alert as he/she should be, and accidents are more likely to happen. Please remember to put your child’s name on all clothing, especially the costly school uniforms which are all alike and therefore difficult to identify. Please check and sign your child’s homework/message book every day. Please contact the sports coaches directly regarding the extra-mural sports. School Communicator Please ensure that you have all loaded the Communicator onto your computers! As you will see we are slowly phasing out the newsletter. The communicator will be our only means of communication with parents. If it is not loaded, you will miss out on important information from the school. Please return the disc to the school once you have loaded it. Admin – School fees Please be reminded that school fees are payable in advance by the 5th of the month. It would be greatly appreciated if parents could settle their accounts timeously. For any queries please contact Karen Beevers on 082 373 4451 or email [email protected] MySchool Card Thank you to all of the parents and families for supporting MySchool card. Well done to the following top three families for using their MySchool card while shopping. The Samson Family, The Roodt Family and The Riggs Family If you would like to order your very own MySchool card please contact Karen in the office, or order online at www.myschool.co.za. Any friends or members of your family may have a MySchool Card to support our school. “Happy Shopping” Dates to diarise Sunday 13th May Mother’s Day Saturday 19th May Sports Day (letter re arrangements to follow) Wednesday 27th June Puppet Show Friday 29th June Close at 12pm (Half term Break) Monday 9th July Return to CHP (Half term Break Ends) Terms for 2012 Term 2 - 2 May–8 August Term 3 - 11 September–7 December