Well done

The following Grade 3 & 4 boys were selected to play for Johannesburg Northwest Cricket

Tiago Smith, Christian Pereira, Dylan Roux, & Komo Matlala

PreSchool Nativity Concert

Thanks to Tessa Elliot for these great photos.... more to come.

Fly with me

The Grade 2s had to create an aeroplane.... the specs were:
2 pieces of paper
A polystrene meat tray
Glue, sticky tape
(and whatever else you would like!)

And then of course it had to be able to fly more than 1 meter.

So on the 13th of November they all constructed their flying machines and then tested them out on the top field.

The winners all received a prize.  Well done to all who made a successful flight!

Go Carts

One of the assignments that the Grade 7s did this term was to design, build and race go carts... it all happened on the 13th of November.... looked like lots of fun!

Letterland

The Grade 0s learn their alphabet by following the Letterland principles.  And to reinforce what they've learnt over the past year, they had a dressup day on the 13th of November... here are the photos of the cute littlies...

Fireman Fred

Robber Red

Clever Cat

Zig-Zag Zebra

Quarrelsome Queen

Kicking King

Bouncing Ben

Lucy Lamp Lady

Jumping Jim

Poor Peter

Naughty Nick, Sammy Snake, Oscar Orange

Golden Girl

And some Pretty Princesses

And even the teachers dressed up... Kicking King & Golden Girl

Toy Run - in memory of Ally Stark

We were all shocked when Ally died on 25 October 2009.  The Hanekom family (in Grade 2N) are taking part in this year's Toy Run on 29 November 2009 and are doing it in memory of Ally... a very thoughtful gesture.  The whole idea behind the toy run is to donate toys for unprivileged children.

If you would like to help out, please donate a toy and bring it to school.  You can leave it in the office, or hand it directly to Debbie Hanekom or Cathy Sanders... by no later than Friday 27th November 2009.

(This is a total unofficial request, no obligation necessary)

Please complete our survey

We are ever trying to improve our school and thus are needing your feedback.  Please click on the link and complete this survey.

Your feedback will be treated in the utmost confidentiallity.  If there are any questions to which you can't answer yes/no, please complete the comments box.

Please take note...

We are nearing the end of term already  (!) and here are some important dates to take note of:

EXAM TIMES
Exams start as follows:
Grade 4’s Monday 16th November
Grade 5 – 7’s Wednesday 18th November
School will finish at 12:00 for the whole school (Grassroots – Grd 7’s) from Monday 16th November.
There will be a waiting class from 12:00 – 13:30
After care will run as normal.
There will be no extra murals during exam time.

PRIZE GIVING
Prize giving will take place at Church Alive, Cnr Castle Hill Drive and Mountainview Drive, Northcliff on the following days:
Juniors (Grades 1 to 3) - Thursday 26th November 08:00 – 09:30
Seniors (Grades 4 to 7) - Thursday 3rd December 08:00 – 09:30

Learners may be dropped off at Church Alive from 07:30, alternatively they should be dropped off at school. Learners will then walk with their teachers to Church Alive. Once prize-giving is finished learners may go home with their parents, alternatively they will walk back to school with their teachers and remain at school until collected by parents. Waiting class and aftercare will run as normal.

Parents are most welcome to attend prize-giving. There will be refreshments after prize-giving.

Concert Photos/DVD

Should you wish to order a CD of the concert photos, costing R100 or a DVD of the concert, costing R100, please enclose payment in a sealed envelope clearly marked with your child’s name, class and order (CD / DVD).

Please note... these are NOT the "mommy" photos that were published on the blog under "concert photos" but rather ones taken by Thru The Lens.... So order them now!

Grade 0 and Grade 1 Welcome Party

Last week Wednesday saw us hosting the newest littlies coming to our school... the Grade 0s and Grade 1s of 2010. One of the moms kindly took photos and this is a sneak peak at the fun that was had...

We look forward to meeting each one of these children next year and wish them many happy years at our school.

Liberia - reportback in photos

These are photos that were taken by Megan van Wyk during the mission trip to Liberia.

Sure looks like it was an interesting trip.  For more details speak to either Mr or Mrs Norel, Mrs van Wyk or Miss Anastassopoulos

Ally Stark

It's hard to say goodbye and especially to such a dear sweet child.

Alexandra Stark, known to us all as Ally.  These are just a few of the pics I've taken of her over the last two years that I've gotten to know her.

Grade 1S Easter Hat Parade

At some of the birthday parties we went to

And of course at the school concert this year.

Ally's funeral will be held at 2pm on Thursday 29 October at Liberty Church, Cnr West & Hill Street in Ferndale.

Our heartfelt condolences, thoughts and prayers got to her whole family.  This is not an easy time and thank you for allowing me to say goodbye in this way.

If you would also like to leave your message for the family, please just click on "comments" and write it on this post.  We will forward them on to the family.

Measles Vaccination

This will take place on Thursday 29^th October 2009.  Parents are requested to please return the completed consent form to school on Monday 26^th October.  No child may be vaccinated without the completed consent form.

A day with elephants

Diane Bothner won the raffle prize at our car day.  She has sent us two pictures from the day out with the elephants.

"We had such a wonderful time (despite the spitting rain and wind) and were so excited.  We saw 6 adult elephants and a 6 month old baby.  We got to feed all 6 adults – Abigail was even brave enough to put her hand in the elephant’s mouth."

Wow it sure looks like it was fun.... definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we all should get to have!

BOOK PACK WEEK

You will need to pay for your book packs for next year during the week of MONDAY 26 TO FRIDAY 30 OCTOBER 2009

The prices for the book packs are as follows:

GRADE 0 R600

GRADE 1 R700

GRADE 2–3 R650

GRADE 4–7 R700

Payment may be made as follows: cash, cheques, debit cards or credit cards.

PLEASE NOTE THAT : NO EFT’S WILL BE ACCEPTED.

Should you be paying by cheque or cash, please put it in an envelope, clearly marked with your child's name, class and amount.

Please help us help them...

One of our grade 7 learners, Amber van der Kallen was involved in an accident during the holidays. Both her parents and an older sister died in this accident. Both Amber and her sister Bianca are still in hospital in Cape Town with serious injuries.

The family has no medical aid and we want to appeal to our school families to assist us in raising money for their further medical treatment.

A special civvies day will therefore be held on Friday 23 October. There will be a mininum cost of R5 per learner. Please continue to pray for Amber and Bianca.

School closing

SCHOOL CLOSES ON

WEDNESDAY 23^RD SEPTEMBER

AT 11:00

AND RE-OPENS ON

MONDAY 12 OCTOBER

AT 07:50.

Reaching into Liberia

In the beginning of October Mr and Mrs Norel, Mrs van Wyk and Miss Anastassopoulos will embark on a trip to Liberia, West Africa where they will assist a war torn country to rebuild schools and train teachers.

The PTA is very excited about this venture and wanted to share some of the vision and plans with all the parents.

Plans for the schools in Liberia in the future:

• Sustainable educational material – biblically integrated lessons and reading.
• Basic teaching practices - flash card approach
• Work with 3 schools who will pass on information to 3 more schools. (If this is repeated 4 times - more than 100 schools will be reached.)
• The ultimate goal: teacher’s association in Liberia to help each other and link with international organisations.

How is NWCS involved?

• Creating an awareness of world missions - in the children and in the local community
• Releasing 4 staff members from NWCS to go to Liberia for one week in October 2009
• Creating a platform for community involvement

As parents how can you be involved?

• Prayer – for the safety and protection of Mr Norel and the staff as well as Wisdom and Strength for all that God has in store for them
• The PTA are making up packs of pencils and crayons to send up with the teachers. If you have some unused crayons and pencils at home please send them to school in a clear “glad” bag. Please leave them at the school office.
• If you would like to assist financially we would ask you to speak directly with Jacky Stonley
• The learners have been challenged to take part of their pocket money and put it towards the purchasing of the “Challenge” newspaper.

If you would like to know more, there is a board up by the school noticeboard with ALL the details. Please pop in sometime and have a look.

Our Prayers are with all the teachers as they head up to West Africa. May God’s peace and Wisdom be with you.

Grade 7 Market Day

The Grade 7’s and Mr de Beer will be hosting a Market Day on Wednesday 23 September during school hours. This day forms part of the Grade 7’s project for EMS.

Lots of Fun, Food and Fabulous things to purchase and lots of games to play.

Proceeds to be donated to the Charity of their choice.

Prices range from :

Games R4 to R5

Eats R3 to R15

So learners come prepared to support the Grade 7’s.

Order your water

NWCS PTA, in association with Premier Water, has launched a range of branded mineral water for use by the school in the tuck shop and for purchase by parents, friends and relatives of the NWCS community to use at work or at home. The product prices are very competitive and orders for water will be able to be placed electronically via our blog page (there will be a link up shortly on the right---->)

Payment should be made by electronic transfer to Premier Water.

Delivery will be made every fortnight morning and orders can be collected from school when dropping your child at school.

NWCS will receive 40c for every bottle of water sold.

All bottles can be re-cycled by placing the used bottles into a plastics recycling bin, which will be located at NWCS to ensure we remain environmentally friendly.

The NWCS “water depot” will be open shortly and orders can be placed throughout the year, including the holidays.

Spring Walk - photos

We were absolutely blessed with a beautiful sunny spring day for our school walk. The attendance was great, the enthusiasm was abundant and the fun was electricfying. And so we set off at 8:30 for the walk... once around the block for most (4km) and twice for the very energetic!

Halfway round there was a most welcome watering hole... juice/water and oranges for the humans and a well-deserved drink for the four-legged participants too.

And even Keegan got to go for the "walk".... so if you missed out know that next year you will be able to make it round!

After the walk there was lots to see and do to keep everyone amused.... stalls to buy eats and drinks....

slip 'n slide for the children to cool off in (or just get more dirty with the mud!), clowns and mimes. The Fairlands Police helped with the marshalling around the course - thanks so very much.

And not forgetting the whole reason for the walk.... the Sports Committee arranged to have professional cricket coaches on hand to help out our boys (and girls) with their cricket game.

The day was brilliant. Now it's up to YOU.... please collect all the sponsorships and donations and bring it to school ASAP.