9 October 2015

Dear Parents,

TEXT BOOK REQUIREMENTS FOR 2016

The booklists reflecting the textbook and stationery requirements for your son/daughter for 2016 have been placed on the school website ( Hard copies of these booklists will also be available from the school office.

Please read the contents of this letter carefully so that the end of year proceedings may run as smoothly as possible.

SECOND-HAND SALES:

We will still be facilitating the second-hand “market” as before which will allow you to sell books from 2015 and buy books for 2016. We do, however, encourage you to sell/buy all second-hand books before this day by making your own private arrangements and not to exclusively rely on this facility.

Date: Wednesday 2nd December 2015

Time: 18h00 – 19h00

Venue: Hall

Tables will be set out in the hall for you to display the books that you wish to sell. Remember you determine the price that you wish to sell your books at.

As a guideline, the following pricing for second-hand books is suggested:

-A book in good condition (can last for another 3 – 4 years)

=60% to 70% of the cost of a new book;

-A book in average condition (can last for another 2 – 3 years)

=50% of the cost of a new book;

-A book in poor condition (e.g. damaged spine, written in or torn pages)

=25% to 30% of the cost of a new book.

Please use the new book prices on the website to price your old books.

Please bring change for buying and selling.Capitalism is always a bit messy, but it works. That is essentially what we are doing in the hall. Enjoy the experience and get into the swing of it.

… Page 2

2.

PURCHASING OF NEW BOOKS

New and a few second-hand books may be purchased from the school’s own bookshop which is situated in the quadrangle next to the Streams ramp.

WHEN:

BOOKSHOP OPENING TIMES December 2015
Saturday 5th December / 09h00 - 13h00
Monday 7th December / 07h30 - 13h00
Tuesday 8th December / 07h30 - 13h00
Wednesday 9th December / 07h30 - 08h00
10h00 - 12h00
Friday 11th December
(while reports are being handed out) / 14h00 - 15h00

The shop will be open briefly in January ONLY for new pupils. These opening times for January 2016 will be advertised.

PLEASE NOTE:

  • Purchase of textbooks cannot, unfortunately, be charged to the school account. Bank cards and cash may be used. No cheques please.
  • NEW POLICY for ordering textbooks for Grades 10-12

If a book required by a Gr 10-12 student is not available on the shelf to be purchased, and has to be ordered,it will need to be paid for in full before the order is placed. This new policy has become necessary because many books that are specifically ordered come from overseas and are not returnable. Unfortunately, in the past, some students have not been buying the books that are ordered for them and the school has had to carry the cost.

If the price that the ordered book arrives at differs from our listed price a credit will be passed or the difference will need to be paid in.

The policy for ordering books for Grs 0 – 9 remains the same as before ie. The book is paid for on collection.

… page 3

3.

  • E-Books:

The bookshop does not sell e-Books. The students need to purchase them off the internet.

Unlike last year I have not recorded the availability of eBooks on the textbook lists because their availability is very dynamic, changing from month to month.

The onus is on the individual families to research and purchase eBooks should they be required.

A few general websites where eBooks may be researched are (and there are many more):

Please note that clean, hard copies of the Afrikaans literature books used in the SHS must be bought as these need to be used in the examinations.

  • It is very important that new textbooks are purchased (or ordered if there is no stock on the shelf) this side of the December holidays.If we have shortages we can then order over the holidays.Textbooks ordered in December generally arrive in January or February. Experience has shown that it is very difficult to obtain books from the publishers in January. Books that are only ordered in January usually arrive in March, April or even May.
  • We have done our best to “guesstimate” how many books are needed but there are bound to be inaccuracies, as well as the fact that publishers are notoriously late in printing books. Should this be the case, we will be taking orders at the bookshop, which will be issued as soon as the books are available. We will notify you as soon as the order arrives, and the book may then be purchased from the bookshop (or collected from the bookshop if the student is in

Gr 10, 11 or 12 and has already paid for the book).

  • If a book is marked “NEW”/ “NUUT” on the booklist, there will not be any second-hand books available on the second-hand market.
  • Please understand that your children are expected to have textbooks on day one of the first term, so that effective teaching can begin.
  • IF POSSIBLE (if the book is still going to be used in 2016) sell all your child’s textbooks. WITH ALL THESE CHANGES IN TEXTBOOKS, IT IS STRONGLY ADVISED THAT YOU DO NOT HOLD OVER ANY TEXTBOOKS FOR SIBLINGS.

Please note that there has been a significant increase in the price of some textbooks over the last year. This is especially evident in books that have come from international publishers. It is largely due to the exchange rate (£ to rand) as the rand has weakened considerably over the last year.
The school is very aware of the costs to parents and in choosing textbooks there has been careful consideration of the cost vs. the quality offered by the books.

STATIONERY

No stationery will be sold from the bookshop. Please purchase the required stationery as specified on your son/daughter’s booklist at any retail outlet.

Please do not hesitate to contact me in connection with textbook queries.

Kind regards,

Lynn Budge (TEXTBOOK CO-ORDINATOR)