The START of 2020!

The year has started with a bang and we are fully into the matters of education. Your sons have settled in by now and their class teachers have been getting to know them a little better. #essequamvideri #queensforever #ourbloodisorange

We had a portfolio committee visit by members of the Legislature in Bisho and Department of Education officials. They were very impressed by what they saw and heard and I wanted to let you know that your child’s school is in good hands. Unfortunately, the electricity and water supply has not been fully corrected yet, but we live in hope. The rains have been welcome and we look forward to much more in the coming weeks.

We have a number of new staff members this year and I would like to introduce them to you now.

Mrs Juanita Adkins has replaced Mrs Nadia Wilson, who resigned at the end of last year to relocate her child to Bloemfontein. Mrs Adkins is an experienced educator who joins us from Gali Thembani Special School. She is teaching in the InterSen Phase.

In Grade 3,

Ms TJ Harvey takes over from Mrs Louise Wade who has relocated to East London.

In the InterSen Phase, Ms Camilla Wigmore has joined us. She has been teaching at Southbourne and she fills the spot left by Mr Brown, who has moved to KZN.

Mrs Kate Muller replaces Mrs Nadia Wilson, our Remedial Teacher in the Learner Support Centre. She joins our Psychologist, Ms Miche Adolph who joined us last year.

Mr Mike Morgan is our new Sports Officer and he replaces Mr Grant Knoetze, who has moved into the classroom.

We also have a new Intern/Learnership. Mr Uhuru Vanda replaces Mr Ty Lottering, who has changed his course of study to pre-school. Mr Vanda is an Old Queenian and we look forward to his input on the sports fields whilst he completes his teaching qualification.

Those, together with our committed and hard-working staff who have been here for a number of years will be looking after your child this year.

GENERAL MATTERS

We have channels of communication for you to follow. If you want to speak to someone about your child whether it is a bullying, stealing, progress problem, etc., please first contact your child’s teacher. If no success is gained, make an appointment to speak to the Grade Head. If you still do not get any satisfaction, then contact the teacher or person responsible for the problem. If it happens to be an academic matter, and the teacher and the grade head cannot assist you, then speak to Mr Hartley as the head of academics. If it is a sports related problem, speak to your child’s coach and then to Mr Morgan. Once all avenues have been followed with no success, then make an appointment to speak to me and I will try to sort the problem out. I do not want an issue to become a problem. Let’s try to sort it out before it becomes a problem, but you must follow the correct channels.

We are in this together. Your child’s education is not only the responsibility of the teacher. You hold some of that responsibility as well. Remember the analogy of the three legged pot! It cannot stand on one or two legs. On that note, I was reading an article on teaching children good morals. There are 8 moral values you can teach your child which we at school speak about all the time:

Teaching your child good morals

Teaching your child good morals may be one of the greatest challenges of parenthood. Morals are complex and abstract, and are a concept that is often difficult for children to grasp. And because morals can differ across cultures and religions, it can be even more complex to explain to children why the morals your family lives by are important and valuable.

Children are often ruled by emotion and by a desire to be liked and fit in, which can lead to poor moral decisions. But children who are taught moral values early and regularly are more likely to develop the sense of conscience needed to make them think twice before they respond. All children will make mistakes and behave poorly at times; the important thing is to use these bad decisions as a learning opportunity.

"A child's moral growth is an ongoing process, and all kids slip up from time to time. You still have a tremendous influence on your child's behavior." Dr. Michelle Borba, author and child expert states. Allow your child to learn from mistakes and use the consequences of those errors in judgment as a chance to reinforce your values.

Remember that although your children will eventually turn to friends, especially in the early years parents are the number one model they turn to for an example of how to behave. “We might tell our children how to act in the world and how to behave, but they absorb our behavior like a sponge and usually model it,” points out Dr. Thomas Plante, Professor of Psychology at Santa Clara University. Morals are an area where there can be no compromise; make it your goal to behave in a moral fashion at all times. If you can’t do so, you certainly can’t expect your children to.

Raising a moral child in a difficult world takes some effort, but these simple methods will make it easier:

•Teach your child the morals you would like them to live by from a very young age

•Use moral missteps as an opportunity for learning and reinforcing values

•Be a model of moral behaviour in everything you do.

•Remember that morals are taught over time, and reinforced throughout a lifetime

Teaching your child good morals and values is a challenge for every parent, but this fundamental area of everyday life can be passed on from parent to child. Focus on teaching morals early and reinforcing them at every opportunity, and don’t forget to stand as an example yourself.

8 Moral Values to Teach Children

Raising a family in a society that is fast-paced and ever changing can make it confusing to know just which values to teach your children. As a general rule, it’s up to you to teach your children what to believe, and how they should live their lives. But when it comes to teaching and instilling moral values, I’d love to pass on a few values to teach your children from a young age. These are simple and common everyday values that are quickly fading from our younger generation.

1. Respect: One of the most important values to teach your children is respect. Having worked in several daycare facilities, I’ve seen children who have no respect for authority at all. It’s exasperating to the teacher, and to the parent when they arrive to pick up their kids. By teaching your kids respect, you are doing the world, yourself, and your child a favour! Life will go much easier for them with a little respect under their hat.

2. Obedience: Obedience is something that doesn’t come naturally, for any of us! It seems more “fun” to want to break the rules, doesn’t it? Kids see it this way too, so you must be firm and consistent. You can reward good behavior to give your children incentive to be obedient. And be patient, sometimes this one takes a while to catch on!

3. Politeness: Remembering to say “please” and “thank you” isn’t a difficult task, but if kids are never taught or reminded, they will never do it. As adults, we all know that sugar attracts more flies than vinegar! So start teaching these morals from the start and they will come naturally.

4. Responsibility: Believe it or not, children can be taught responsibility from a young age! You don’t need to be overbearing about it, but giving your kids easy chores to do, like picking up their toys, putting away their clean laundry, or helping clear the table helps instill discipline and responsibility, two traits that will be helpful later on in life. Another way to teach responsibility is to make sure your kids brush their teeth or do their homework without being reminded.

5. Humility: I know this one may sound a little strange, but humility is an important aspect of life that we often overlook. Having humility has to do with not being prideful over accomplishments and achievements, but for children, it’s more about knowing to say they are sorry for acting up or doing something they shouldn’t. A good parent will always teach their child to apologize when they are wrong!

6. Good Manners: Good manners may not necessarily be a moral value per se, but you will find that for the most part, good manners are sorely lacking in the young people of today’s generation. It’s not always because the parent doesn’t teach the child, sometimes it can be due to other kids at school or daycare who have an influence on your child. Make sure to set a good example for manners at home and try to push through any influences that may be overshadowing your small one’s life.

7. Friendliness: You will find that friendliness comes naturally to most kids; it’s just their trusting nature! This is a good thing, but remember to keep a close eye on your little one and teach them the dangers of talking to strangers. Encourage friendliness and socializing when possible, this will help them down the road as they get older.

8. Honesty: We’ve all heard it said, “Honesty is the best policy.” It’s as true today as it ever was! If you teach your children honesty from a small age, you won’t need to worry about it as they get older. One struggle that parents face is wondering how to deal with a child that will not tell the truth. If you start teaching honesty as a moral value right away, you will have no need to worry about it!

We all have different styles of parenting, and each one is great in its own way. These morals will be helpful to your child as they become an adolescent, and on into adulthood.

If you have not yet downloaded the D6 Communicator app on your phone and on your computer, please do so, as it is one of the most important means of communication from the school to parents. It does not cost a cent and it will help to keep you informed.To download the app is simple: Simply go to www.d6.co.za/education/downloads/AppDownloads/Select device ( iphone, android, mobisite, etc)Select Country, School (Queen’s College Boys’ Primary School) and follow the prompts.

Be aware of what your child is watching on television. They should have a routine at home that is conducive to helping them. Do not allow them to watch inappropriate movies, or stay up late! At this age, your child should be in bed and asleep by half past seven. (Eight ‘o clock at the latest for the older child)

Promote conversation with your child. Read to them and get them reading to you every evening. It could be while you are preparing supper. Cell phone and SMS talk are not going to help your child improve their grades. Have family time. Do not use abusive or crude language in front of your child. They are like sponges and they will take in all they hear and see. And on that note: If you have a problem with your child’s teacher, do not talk about it in front of your child because they will then build up a negative image of their child’s teacher and lose respect for all teachers. This can lead to behavioral problems for your child down the line.

Discipline: In recent times, parents have been neglecting their duties as parents and this has become evident throughout the country in the way young people are treating and speaking to their parents and to adults in general. It is NOT the school’s responsibility to discipline your child. That is your duty! If you have an undisciplined or ill-disciplined child there are going to be problems sometime down the road. We pride ourselves on the manners and behavior of our children. This does not just happen! We chip away at these values daily. Try to help us to instill good values in your child.

Punctuality: Be punctual for meetings and deadlines. Be punctual when you need to fetch your child from school or aftercare. We cannot have your child sitting alone in the dark waiting to be collected at six in the evening when he should have been collected at five or earlier.

Should your child not be involved in an extra-mural activity, he should go home. Too many boys are left loitering on our grounds and their transport only arrives after five to collect them. This is when they get up to mischief. Often boys are not at their pick up point when their transport arrives and then they are left behind.

School Fees

Pay your school fees on time. We have endless problems with people who fail to pay school fees and then we have to resort to strong arm tactics to get the money out of them. This is a quintile Five school. That means that school fees are payable by all our parents. If school fees are not paid, you will be handed over for collection. This could be embarrassing. A large portion of our school fees pays the salaries of our staff and if all parents paid their fees on time, school fee hikes could be kept to a minimum.

Dress code: We are proud of our uniform. Please ensure that your child’s uniform stays neat and complete! If a button goes missing sew it back on immediately. If the tracksuit gets torn, repair it. They will not be allowed to go on outings or sporting fixtures if their uniform is not in a good condition.

There is a tuck shop at the school and some small meals are available. Please do not send your child to school with R50 a day for tuck – this is unhealthy! Rather prepare a healthy snack for them to enjoy each day. Please do not send your son to school with, or drop off Fast Food for your son’s lunch box. Only a cake on the occasion of your son’s birthday may be dropped off. We are not encouraging responsibility if we are to run after our children with their belongings every time they forget something at home.

Clothing Shop: Our school branded clothing is stocked by Louis Sports in town. There have been some changes this year with the PT shirts. The three orange stripes are not being used so they will be phased out over time and replaced by the black shirt with the badge.

There may be extra costs from time to time. Things like class outings, visiting groups, like Wooden Productions, civvies days, etc. Please try to assist us as far as possible.

If your child gets sick, please keep them at home and don’t send them to infect the rest of the class. We do not want miserable children at school as this is not beneficial to either the child, his class or the teacher. Encourage healthy habits like washing hands, wiping runny noses with a tissue, and general cleanliness. Please let the school know if you are keeping your child at home or out of school for any reason.The school times will be discussed with you at your meeting with your teacher. All children should be at school by 07:25 each morning.

Grade 1 – 2 boys will be expected to take part in the ball skills program. This will be from 12:30 until 13:30 on selected days. Teams may be selected to participate against other schools from time to time, however, this is not the norm for Foundation Phase children and the coach’s discretion must be respected. Please do not interfere with the selection of teams. This is a part of his education and there may be disappointment from time to time. Always encourage your child to try hard.

Whilst on the subject of sport, all our boys are expected to take part in at least one summer and one winter activity. This is compulsory please help us to achieve this.

We have a policy regarding the changing of classes. No parent, except in exceptional cases, will be able to request the movement of a child from one teacher to another. The allocation of children to a class is done according to set criteria. Amongst them are: academic merit, special needs or children with barriers to learning, - and so on.

No child may be moved from one grade to the next either until after the end of the year. Please don’t request a teacher to move the child to another grade as all children are already captured on the SA Schools Administrative System. I mention this because it has been asked!

Cell phone policy: The school policy on cell phones is that they are not allowed! No child may bring a mobile phone to school. We also discourage toys to be brought to school as they may get broken or go missing. The school will not accept any responsibility for any such losses. Sports coaches will have a phone on them and will let parents know when they leave a venue or when they are expected to arrive back. Any cell phone found in a child’s possession will be confiscated and returned on the last day of the term.

Finally, I would like all parents to apply for a My School card if you do not have one already. It is simple, doesn’t cost a cent and businesses give money to the school when you buy something for yourself. If you buy something from Woolworths or Engen shops or Waltons then the school gets a percentage paid into our account. It costs you nothing and yet it raises funds for the school. You can register online, just go to the My School website. Once you are registered, you simply swipe your card when making a purchase and the school will be given a percentage.

Let’s make 2020 a great year. With your support, we can do it!