ABBOTTS COLLEGE

PRETORIA NEWSLETTER

2 of 2019

March 2019

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

The end of term 1 IMPORTANT DATES

The first term of 2019 has come and gone, with much of it disappearing in a blur. Time truly flies when you are busy and active. At Abbotts College Pretoria East, things have certainly not been standing still. Some of the activities of the term are reflected in this newsletter, but for a more complete picture of the day-to-day events, please follow us on Facebook or, going forward, Instagram as well.

For the Abbotts College students, term 1 saw two Mark Reading cycles completed, despite a very short term as opposed to previous years. Although this meant a very intense academic assessment cycle for students, the benefits are undeniable: while most schools are yet to issue their first report for the year, Abbotts students, parents and teachers can refer to two reports already in order to identify trends and to track progress effectively. Most importantly, intervention strategies can be agreed upon and implemented much earlier, with a number of individual parent meetings and other forms of contact, which have already taken place during term one.

Finally, before we go our separate ways for the holidays, I wish to also express my gratitude for the great support shown for our Saturday teaching initiative during open day on 2 March 2019. Thank you also to parents for their support in this matter, in ensuring that their child attended class. There was but a handful of students who did not arrive, and they will surely have experienced falling behind by not grabbing this learning opportunity with both hands. The benefit for Abbotts students is obvious: with term 2 being an examination term, spending an extra day with their teachers is worth gold.

Happy holidays to all, and may you come back refreshed and ready for the final preparations for the mid-year examination.

(For a more comprehensive calendar, see the d6 communicator)

Tuesday 02 April: Term 2 starts Thursday 04 April: Parents evening (by appointment) Friday 05 April: Campus sports day Thursday 11 April: Mark reading 3 test Cycle Start 10:00 – 14:00 SANBS blood drive: parents welcome! Tuesday 16 April: Grade 12 Hospitality evening Wednesday 17 April: Inter Abbotts sports day Friday 19- Monday 22 April Long weekend

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT CONGRATULATIONS

Please note that the Abbotts College Silver Lakes page on Facebook has been closed in favour of the official Abbotts College Pretoria East page. Please be sure to visit the correct page (see below).

Please note that Workers Day (1 May) and National Election Day (8 May) are not connected to long weekends. Normal school will continue in those weeks, except for the two Wednesdays as mentioned above.

Parents Evening We would like to extend our invitation to all our parents and guardians to attend out Parents Evening scheduled for Thursday, 04 April 2019. This will enable you to discuss the academic progress of your child, particularly to discuss their Term 1 results. At Abbotts, we live transparency as a value and encourage students to accompany their parents/guardians to the Parents Evening.

The meeting will commence at 17:00 and will end at 20:00.

Bookings to see teachers are essential. Please contact Gayle Demmer (gdemmer@abbotts.co.za) to book your sessions by 12:00 on Thursday, 04 April 2019.

Appointments are made for 5 minutes with a subject teacher. There is a 2 minute break before the next appointment commences. Please make every effort not to run over your allocated time with the teacher.

Should you need a longer appointment, feel free to contact the relevant teacher at a later stage to arrange this.

Congratulations to Mrs Maidi Raphahlelo with the birth of her son

TESTS and REPORTS The MR 2 report is available from the parent portal STASY (Schools and Tertiary Academic System).

Thank you to all parents and students for their patience and support as all schools and tertiary institutions within the Advtech group migrated their reporting format from printed and emailed reports, to reports being published on the parent portal. There were certainly some teething problems, with a number of parents experiencing frustrations to access their child’s report. Yet, we experienced great support from parents in adapting to this new format. Thank you! I am confident that as more developments and improvements are made to the portal, the benefits and convenience will be clear for all to see and experience.

Should there still be parents who cannot access their child’s report, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Gayle Demmer at reception on 012 809 1208.

COMMUNICATION Please refer to the channels of communication as described in Newsletter 1. Parents are encouraged to download the D6 Communicator.

• The d6 Communicator is a very handy tool and we would like to revive the utilisation of this tool. Please go to https://d6.co.za/education/downloads/ select South Africa from the drop-down menu, and then Abbotts College Pretoria East. It is a free tool which does not take up much space and it pops up automatically with new communication from the school.

ABSENTEEISM PROCEDURE Parents are requested to follow the correct procedure when their child will be absent from school.

Contact should be made with either

Phenny Nchabeleng at reception, or the

grade head, to inform the school of the

child’s absenteeism.

Parents of children who are absent and

who have not informed the school will

receive an sms confirmation that their

child is not at school. Should a parent be

under the impression that their child is at

school yet an sms is received, please

contact the school urgently.

Parents who should receive an sms but

do not, must please update their contact

details as soon as possible.

Absenteeism on a test day can only be for

medical reasons and must be supported

by a doctor’s note. This is in line with the

requirements of the Department of

Education.

Upon returning to school, it remains the

responsibility of the student to catch up

on any work missed.

OPEN DAYS We are very proud of the way in which our students and teachers responded to the Open Day on Saturday 2 March. Prospective parents walking around the school grounds on open day, could experience first-hand how things really are at Abbotts College Pretoria East. During lessons it was very quiet outside, with no students shirking their responsibility or wasting their opportunity for excellent teaching. As a matter of fact, when visitors poked their heads into the classrooms, everyone was actively busy with their academics. Well done to every student for making the best of being at school on a Saturday by positively benefiting from the academic time. There will be two more such Saturdays this year.

Parents who know that a friend or colleague’s child can benefit from the Abbotts system, are encouraged to alert such parents to our open days. However, no one has to wait for an open day: an appointment can be made at any time to meet with the principal or one of the deputies.

The next open day will be on Saturday 11 May 2019. This will again be a normal school day for Abbotts students. As this date is only a week before the start of the mid-year examinations, the opportunity for some extra teaching on a Saturday in preparation for the exams, should be used well by all students.

GENERAL A blog has been established on the Abbotts College website. Parents and students are encouraged to read the valuable articles published.

CALENDAR AND IMPORTANT DATES The year calendar has been added to the D6 Communicator. Please familiarize yourself with the content.

Some very important dates to diarise:

2 April: School re-opens (Same date as public schools; date different to what is published on the website. Reason: Making up for the day missed on 14 March.

4 April: Parents Evening

5 April: Sports day

11 April: SANBS blood drive 10:00 – 14:00, parents welcome! Mark Reading 3 Test Cycle start 17 April: Inter-Abbotts sports day

19 April: Good Friday

22 April: Family Day

23-26 April: Career Information Week

1 May: Workers Day

7 May: Parent Evening: Invitation only

8 May: Election Day

10 May: MR3 report released

11 May: Open Day (Saturday)

13 May: Mid-year exams start (TBC)

FACILITIES Some more improvements to the facilities have taken place:

Below is a list for your information.

The air-conditioning in reception has been repaired, to allow for a more comfortable experience for parents and visitors.

The staff rose garden has been established.

Several maintenance matters on the school buses have received attention, from shattered windscreens to tire replacements and major services, as well as roadworthy renewals.

Repairs to the roof have been undertaken during the holidays

Some much needed painting of walls will take place during the holidays

SCHOOL ACTIVITIES Below are some photos of events that have taken place in the second half of term 1.

The SLC collected some money on Valentine’s day by selling heart-shaped sweets. All proceeds were donated to Paul Jungnickel House for adults with disabilities.

SLC at YFM interview, Khanya Mtsweni & Retha Sebati to listen to the interview visit our facebook page

The Drama students went to Monte Casino to watch the Agatha Christie classic “The Mousetrap” as academic enrichment activity.

Design and Visual Arts Student went to the Design Indaba in Cape Town

The School camps took place at the end of term.

For more photos, or to stay up to date on a daily basis, please visit the Abbotts College Pretoria East Facebook page.