Dear Parents
National Women’s Day:
“South Africa commemorates Women's Month in August as a tribute to the more than 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 in protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women. The Government of South Africa declared August women's month and 9 August is celebrated annually as Women's Day.”
Friday is a public holiday and therefore a school holiday.
Senior Primary Sports Day:
All Grade 4 to 7 parents are invited to our Intermediate and Senior Phase Sports Day on Thursday, 8 August 2024. We will once again be keeping with the theme of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
NB. No learners from Grade 1, 2 and 3 will be allowed at the Grade 4 to 7 Sports Day, neither will any high school learners be allowed at Sports Day. Parents do not have the liberty to allow their children permission onto our field as “right to admission is reserved.” Thank you for respecting our rules.
Entrepreneurs’ Day:
Our Grade 7’s will host their second fundraising day on Tuesday, 6 August 2024. Many items will be on sale as learners will have the opportunity to buy items from market stalls. Proceeds of the Entrepreneurs’ Day will go towards the Grade 7 learners’ “Excursion - 3 Day Tour” fee. All Grade 7 parents need to settle outstanding “Excursion Tour” fees by Thursday this week as the trip is on Monday.
Olympic Torch Run 2024
Months of preparation with the Metro Traffic Department and 3rd Party Insurance to meetings and organisation of precision with 15 schools brought together, a day to remember for many years to come. With Sherwood Primary starting from 8 a.m. and Morningside ending at nearly 11 a.m., we celebrated the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Credit must be given to Mr Singh (Chief Organiser) who ran for most of the 27.5 km. Many thanks to the entire incredible staff of Morningside who showed a mark of excellence at the ceremony to give our learners and the torch runners an electric excitement that sent goose bumps flooding through from Sherwood, Manor Gardens, Glenmore, Port Natal, Durban Primary, Penzance, Orient, Clarence, Durban Girls College, Maris Stella, Clifton, Livingstone, Gordon Road
Girls, DPHS to Morningside. We were graced by the presence of our Durban Central Chief Education Specialist, Miss Nomusa Princess Shamase who lit the “Olympic Flame” brought through by the Friendship Torch across the 15 schools.
Foundation Phase Sports Day:
Each year gets better… from the incredible novelty races to the sheer fun. As one parent commented, “I must truly commend you, the staff, and the children for your outstanding ability to have a balance of calm and excitement. The day was thoroughly organised, and everything was done to perfection.”
“Congratulations to the amazing Foundation Phase Department for creating special memories.” Results were as follows…
Winners’ Cup: Buxton – 118 Runners up Cup: Duncan – 111
Spirit Cup: Clarendon – 109 Sportsmanship Cup: Athlone - 105
Elocution Contest 2024:
Congratulations and well done to Asra Rahiman (Gr.1), Michaela Saunders (Gr.2), and Himaliya Naidoo (Gr.3) for representing our school at the Inter School Elocution Contest held at Clarence Primary on 24 July 2024. We are proud of our little ones for their great efforts, confidence and courage to stand up and speak. “First steps into the making of future leaders!” May they continue to shine ever so brightly!
Report by Mrs S. Govender
U9 Netball Tournament at Gordon Road Girls' School:
The u9 team enthusiastically participated in their first tournament of the year where they played against Gordon Road, Glenwood JP, St. James and Sycamore School. Although inexperienced, they were well prepared and played superbly by executing all the receiving and passing drills practiced. They scored 2 - 0 against Gordon Road to secure a win. Well done girls!
Report by Mrs A. Korte
Netball at Gordon Road Girls School:
Our Netball season has officially drawn to a close after Saturday, 27 July 2024. Our U13 lady birds secured 3rd position at the GRGS Netball Festival. A hearty “Congratulations” goes out to Leah Tondo, Buhle Nkosi, Azande Mbonwa, Kirania Kandan, Yandiswa Ngcobo, Mamello Msiya, Elsie Gatebe and Nongcebo Mcineka who represented our school. Always remember this quote by Steven Thornley: "It's not the team with the best players that win. It's the players with the best team."
Report by Mrs J. Bremmer
Chess:
Our junior and senior learners participated in the Gordan Road Girls' School JR Mthembu Chess Tournament on Saturday. They each played 6 matches using their skills and strategies winning
some of their games. This was their first tournament for the year that afforded them the opportunity to compete on a competitive level.
Report by Mr T. Barath
The World Robot Olympiad KZN Provincials:
On Friday, 2 August, seven out of eight Grade 7 learners teamed up with their allies from DPHS to participate in the World Robot Olympiad KZN Provincial competition at Curro, Salt Rock. For many weeks this year our Grade 7 LEGO Robotics team: Jaden Ramiah, Zachary Sardinne, Zaheer Sheik, Raziel Ibrahim, David Gabu, Mayil Singh, Leah Tondo and Jiya Perumal worked on building, breaking and re-building their robots, followed by pain-staking hours of measuring, coding, testing and re-coding repeatedly.
The program is totally learner-centred and it has not been an easy road for the team. There are several character building and self-development outcomes that we expect from the learners when working on projects like this, with team mates from another school, and I would like to commend our learners on their perseverance and composure throughout this year.
In the wake of a very intense and demanding competition this weekend, I believe it’s only right to make special mention of the qualities that were on display from our learners and teachers in the build up to this event. We recognised the need for some additional hours of practice away from the bustle of the combined Tuesday practices with DPHS, so thank you to Miss Vengetsamy for deciding to commit her Thursday afternoons to supervise practices at our school and to Mr Boodhoo who recognises the value of preparing our learners for the fourth industrial revolution by purchasing additional kits that will continue to benefit our
growing coding and robotics syllabus.
We congratulate the three girls who received bronze medals in their category on Friday, but we also recognize the input from Jaden Ramiah and Zaheer Sheik who excelled at coding in their teams and who made contributions to aid the girls who blossomed literally at the final hour. Raziel Ibrahim who contributed strategically to team Morningside and our achievements at the event. We also congratulate Zachary Sardinne for receiving a silver medal in the same category with his team mates from DPHS. I would like to also commend David Gabu who was part of an outstanding team selected to participate in a higher level of the competition with older children. They showed great determination in the face of technical challenges on the day.
Finally, I would also like to thank the parents who supported us by committing to Sunday practices and late evenings. The skills, values and lessons taken away from this outweigh the celebrations and disappointments of the competition itself. The standard in KZN is usually high and progress to Nationals is sometimes possible for teams that didn’t finish on the podium at the competition, so we wait for the results from around the country with bated breath. Our recent success at coding and robotics events makes me very excited for the future of our learners at Morningside Primary School.
Report by Mr R. Singh
With warm regards
Mr N. Boodhoo
Comments