Dear Parents, Staff and Boys
ACADEMIC REVIEW
St Benedict’s Prep is reviewing its academic systems, as is a healthy thing to do from time to time. We are moving with the times in terms of asking staff to use more technologically appropriate tools and in doing so review the way boys are being assessed. The present Academic Policy states that our approach is one of Continuous Assessment and so we use a variety of assessment tools in each subject on an ongoing basis. We are also aligning ourselves more closely with the National policy and as such will also be considering the way we complete formal assessments.
At all times, assessment has to be about providing opportunities for boys to show the skills they have learnt and the levels of mastery acquired. We do not engage in teaching and learning for the sake of marks, but to develop boys who are mastering the skills that will allow them to be thinking, resourceful, intelligent individuals. Marks and skills ratings are indicators of their development.
Part of our obligation is to get boys be aware of the importance of formal assessments in the National Curriculum, like tests and exams, and so we gradually increase the weighting of formal assessments as the boys get older. By the time boys reach the senior phase in Grade 7, they should be very comfortable with exam structures and preparation skills so as to meet the rigours of college.
The extract below from a recent article in Independent Education is very illuminating:
Teaching young South Africans at a university level over the last few years, as well as speaking to dozens of teachers and headmasters from around the country at all education levels, provides clarity on a number of serious concerns in terms of South African education.
Several glaring issues have become noticeable to me after a very short period of time, including too much memorisation, a lack of comprehension and analytical thinking, and a general limited understanding of the current world we live in.
Young South Africans are great at memorising things. If you tell them a fact, especially a fact on an upcoming matric examination, they will remember it. We can’t downplay this aspect of learning. It is an important part of gaining knowledge, remembering and recalling specifics. It is one of the domains of cognitive learning, but unfortunately it is one of the simplest parts of the learning taxonomies.
South African students not blooming
It is the next five categories in the cognitive domain of Benjamin Bloom’s 1956 taxonomy1 that I believe the South African youth are lacking, generally speaking. Once one has a certain ‘knowledge’, you then have to be able to comprehend this knowledge, be able to interpret it and then extrapolate on the facts. If you can do this, can you apply this material in new situations? Can you analyse the material and break it down into parts? Can you synthesise the information and assemble the parts together to see or form new patterns? Can you evaluate and judge the value of the material? Okay, done? Now what does all this together tell you… ?
we need to teach learning skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration and communication and creativity and innovation.
We need to teach more than just what is going to be in a particular exam.
We need make lessons more hands-on and creative, and then be more careful when measuring stated goals and objectives to determine if the learner is in fact ‘learning’.
There are numerous problems in South African education, but enhancing actual ‘learning’ has to be one of our top priorities. _
Dr Scott Firsing ( Independent Education, Autumn 2015)
We expect the review to result in a somewhat different reporting structure, one which we hope parents and boys will appreciate. The most important factor is that parents and boys are aware that there is no sudden shift in the ways things are done, but we will gradually refresh the best-practice assessment strategies and criteria so as to meet the objective of boys receiving recognition for their level of skills development and mastery. More to come on this as we phase in any different structures.
Simon Curtis
THE WEEK AHEAD
Saturday / 14 March / OPEN DAYMonday / 16 March / Chess vs St Mary’s – Away
Tuesday / 17 March / Grade 4 Social networking
RELIGIOUS REFLECTION
THE RUSHING AND DASHING CLUB Opens its membership to the following:-
· There’s not enough hours in the day
· Rushing from one place to the next
· Dashing around on wheels not knowing how one arrived at the destination point
· Grabbing a meal and digesting it in speed mode
· Talking to each other at a turbo boost speed
THE SLOW DOWN CLUB Opens its membership to the following:-
· Be still and take each step gently at a time
· Drive carefully
· Sit down at a family meal and savour every morsel of a wholesome home cooked meal
· Talk to each other face to face about the eventful day
· Give thanks to God for the blessings in life, the gifts of nature, life and especially for the beauty of family life.
MEMBERSHIP PRAYER Almighty Father, help us take time to Be Still so we may feel Your Presence in all that we do for Your greater glory. Lord, hold us securely in the palm of Your hand. Your touch feels like the gentle rain, Your love for us glows like the rays of the sunbeam, Your peace flows like a river in us and Your Holy Word nourishes us like water to the seeds. May the germination of the seeds grow into plants that feed the World with the Fruits of The Holy Spirit. We ask this in Your Name Jesus Christ Our Lord and Saviour. Amen
Special Olympics feedback letter:
It is with great pleasure to let you know that it was very interesting to work with you and the St. Benedicts Prep College Boys. Thanks for the exposure even to the young boys of the preparatory school.
I must admit your group of the older boys they are such a pleasure to work with. Hoping you had great time with our athletes, and learned a few more things from them and vice versa.
May I follow up if the link has been followed, and invites send to friends or individuals who never came across the Special Olympics or persons with intellectual disabilities.
www.specialolympics.org/videos.aspx
or www.youtube.com/SpecialOlympicsHQ. Please let me know if this exercise has been carried out!
From now on Special Olympics South Africa will keep in touch and let you know of opportunities across the board regarding the local-international youth activation, summits and or social change summits.
May you have a great month, and we will keep in touch
SOUNDS OF CELEBRATION
St Benedict's Marimba Band and Choir will be performing in the Sounds of Celebration II Concert on the 17th March at 20:00, at the Theatre of Marcellus at Emperor’s Palace. The concert promises to be a feast of music from many countries including Greece, Japan, Israel, the West Indies, Scotland and, of course, South Africa. It is open to the public and tickets are priced between R40 and R100. Bookings can be made at www.ticketpro.co.za. For more information please contact Mrs Chalmers: .
CULTURAL REPORT
This week has been a busy one on the cultural side. Our Choir and Marimba Band are playing and singing at Open Day tomorrow. Our Choir boys are progressing well with The Voice for Life Programme. The Pipe Band boys are learning their scales and grace-notes. Our Marimba Band has been practicing diligently and having fun on Tuesday afternoons! The Art Club meet on Monday afternoons, and the Mosaic Club meets on Thursday afternoons. Our chess boys have been putting their skills and comradery to good use. The Chess team is playing the usual match on Monday evening. This week the games are against St. Mary’s Primary School. Good Luck!
Cultural Events for this coming week are:
Date / Event / Club/Group / Time15/3 Saturday / Open Day / Choir / 10:15-11:15
15/3 Saturday / Open Day / Marimba Band
15/3 Saturday / Open Day / Mosaic Club / 9 -12
16/3 Monday / Playing against St. Mary’s Primary / Chess / 15:45-19:15
Please wear your full summer uniform whilst participating in these events.
GORDON GROSSETT
Head of Culture 2015
CHOIR REPORT
Most people think it is only about singing which is not accurate. We are a team that has a lot of fun like Choir Camp and performing in front of different audiences. Gordon Grossett and I believe that we belong to a choir that is full of opportunities and are without a doubt the best choir around. What’s more is that we still have a lot of potential. All the boys in the choir are very enthusiast and excited for the new year of 2015. I personally am excited for the Voice of Life programme which teaches us to improve our singing skills. We are grateful for our excellent teachers, Mr Strijdom and Miss dos Santos, who are truly exceptional. We perform at first Friday masses and will be singing at open day. We are going to blow your socks off!
By: Sebastian Liu
MERITS OF THE WEEK – 11 MARCH 2015
4C / Dylan Odgers / Well done on your excellent English Cycle test and brilliant Speech. You are a star!4P / Robert Emmett / For a better attitude in class and for his excellent Maths result. Well done!
4S / Zhi-An Lin / For his fantastic improvement and beautiful, neat work in Afrikaans. His books are a pleasure to mark.
4R / Dylan Capazario / For breaking two records at sports day yesterday! Dylan has also been working to a high standard in all subjects, and is a fab example of a Bennie’s boy!
4B / Gavin Scott / Working diligently, neat presentation of work always and a kind friend to all. Well done Gavin!
5K / Bevan Richards / For working hard and being such a good, well behaved supporter at the SA Rowing Championships.
5W / Raul da Rocha / For hard work in English and a good Spelling test.
5G / Matthew Lundie / For doing brilliantly yesterday in the 800m. Well done!
5Z / Sam Straw / For working so hard and diligently in class and for being a true Bennies boy. Always prepared to help where he can.
6V / Luca Krummeck / For his excellent painting skills in art.
6M / Robert Hallaby / For his commitment to his school work.
6E / Byron Naidoo / For his exceptional behaviour at the Special Olympics.
6S / Aiden Govender / For his kind, caring nature and always having a smile on his face.
7P / Thabiso Khumalo / For being a brilliant superfast runner!!!
7M / Chase Wentzel / For an outstanding Life Orientation Cycle Test result.
7I / Dudley Peacock / For an improvement in his organisational skills.
7E / Luke Lawlor / For his exceptional behaviour and super integrity.
SOCIAL NETWORKING TALK -17 MARCH
Please be advised that St Benedicts has arranged for a talk on Social Networking to be presented by D.A R.E ((Drug Assessment Rehabilitation Education) to Grade 4.
Social networking is prevalent throughout the world today and is done by almost everyone as this service is so easily able to cross all borders such as countries, time zones, age groups, etc. in real time through electronic means.
Social networking brings with it many advantages but, indeed, also may dangers for those who are not aware of such dangers. D.A.R.E will present both of these faces of social networking in their talk.
Healthy Eating:
We have been asking boys to make healthy choices when making purchases at the school tuck shop. We hope that parents are reinforcing this at home as we try to get them to eat something healthy that will sustain them for their long days. Sugar highs and lows from sweets and fizzy drinks do not promote the best diet for learning and so we hope to get boys to make the right choices when presented with options. Please note that bubble gum is strictly banned at the school, even in the form of suckers and fireballs
Simon Curtis
Headmaster
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