Dear Friends,
Term 3 has been a busy one. The Grade 2-5’s ended it with their production of The Bush Book, we have celebrated trees and our South African heritage during our September Spring month and we held our annual sports day when Bushbuck in red challenged Duiker in yellow. See more from our teachers below…
Sport – Kevin Mackenzie & Idah Khumalo
Sport this term was athletics and cross country with volleyball after half term. The practice was geared towards Sports Day and all children ran hard and tried their best at all times. Sports day was an exciting day and all the children had a blast.
They sang Shosholoza when walking onto the field and proudly sang the National Anthem with their hands held firmly on their chests.
The Gr 1 – 5 started the day with cross country. They headed into the mountains while the rest of us were encouraging them from down below. After they left the little children were ready to start their activities. They ran with bean bags on their heads, with cups filled with water and hopped over each other like frogs. As the older children returned from their cross country race they waited for their turn and cheered for the little ones. The bigger children did the egg and spoon race, bean bag race and sprints. After all of that they did a tug-of-war. The parents also took part in their own tug-of-war.
After all events, the points were tallied and the Duiker team emerged victorious. The children all did their best and have had a great term.
Outdoor Challenge – Nikita Peters
This term’s Outdoor Challenge took place on the 14th of August. The children each took part in a fantastic challenge teaching them different skills which they could use in nature. We have 6 activities that are covered over a 3 year period. The children who have completed all 6 do either an hour horse ride or go to All Out Adventures for a Cable Tour. The other activities are done in close proximity to the school. Happy Horse and Bird Watching help the children learn to respect the animals around them whether they were domestic or wild. Green Fingers shows the children the importance of growing plants and that plants are not only for decoration but are important for the cycles of life to continue. Forest Adventure teaches the children about the different parts of the Cavern’s beautiful forests and the various kinds of creatures that live within it. Camping Fun teaches the children how to build a tent and learn the skill of making a fire. River Rafting highlights the importance of water safety.
Arbor Day – Sue Kraupner
We celebrated Arbor Day on Friday 4 September, a bitterly cold day!
Innocent and Wiseman kindly dug holes for us and filled them with manure collected from the horse stables. Each class planted a tree around our field and watered it.
The teachers explained the importance of planting and tending to trees and our environment to the children. We planted a bottlebrush, Yellowwood and 3 white stinkwoods, all indigenous to our area
Heritage Day – Melanie Roux
The children at RDP had a great day commemorating their heritage. Everyone came dressed in their traditional clothing. The children made a fire outside and a big pot of pap was cooked. It was served up with tomato and onion sauce and was enjoyed by all. The children were proud to display their heritage in their traditional outfits. They danced, sang and played on drums while doing traditional Zulu dancing. Fun was had by all!
Our School Play – The Bush Book – Judy Evans
What excitement! The children practised hard all term for the much anticipated night that we would present The Bush Book. The stars of the show were the Grade 2 – 5 pupils. They were all dressed beautifully in their outfits. Some performed as elephants, others monkeys or vultures with Baloo, Mowgli, Shere Khan, Kaa, Shanti and Bagheera all taking to the stage with butterflies in their tummies but they blew the audience away. They spoke with confidence and had such fun performing on the stage in front of their parents as well as Cavern guests. The Bush Book was based on The Jungle Book but had a South African twist with the setting being in the African bush. The night was a huge success and the children made all the teachers and parents very proud. It was a night to remember.
Dragon Rock Reptile Centre – Stacey Buchanan
This term the Grade 1 class learnt about Reptiles. On Wednesday 16th September we went through to Dragon Rock Reptile Centre in the Central Drakensberg. There we learnt that there are 175 different types of snakes of which only 13 are dangerous. We were able to interact and hold a corn snake, a file snake, a Mexican fire leg tarantula, an American alligator and a bearded dragon. When given the opportunity to hold the creatures, some children were brave enough to be the first to hold them, while others stayed close to their teacher. We were informed about the more dangerous snakes that they keep at the centre such as the rattlesnake- when we were very quiet we were able to hear the sound that the rattlesnake makes to defend itself. To top off our amazing experience at the centre, we were able to hold the Burmese python they call Custard, before returning to school. It was a wonderful day with many conquering their fears just a little by holding a reptile.
Falcon Ridge – Marianne Hohls
On the 15th of September the Grade 2 class went on an outing to Falcon Ridge as an extension of the bird theme they learnt about in class. We learnt some interesting facts about various types of birds of prey, and had an awesome time wandering around the facility to ‘meet’ the huge (and sometimes scary) birds. The highlight of the day would have to be the show, where we witnessed a phenomenal display of birds swooping through the crowds to catch their ‘prey’.
Save the Dates – 2016
#Ride4Education Royal Drakensberg MTB Challenge – Saturday 9th April
#Walk4Education Big 5 Hike – Saturday 14th May
Final word
As we live and love life in this rural valley we are often sheltered from the economic crises, the crime and the challenges our country faces. At times we step out in the great world and are reminded of the importance of teaching, of education and of doing something to help improve the lives of others. There are many folk who make this happen and valuable funding that assists us in our efforts. This term we are highlighting the incredible work done by our relatively young but very committed staff. We thank them all for their effort and hard work particularly when faced with huge challenge to get our little folk to keep moving forward.
Teachers affect eternity; no one can tell where their influence stops. ~ Henry Brooks Adams
View more images in the 3rd term Gallery on the website…
We look forward to the final leg of our 2015 academic year and wish everyone a restful and happy holiday.
With best wishes from the berg,
Megan & Loretta