DATES TO DIARISE - TERM 413 OCTOBER – 10 DECEMBER, 42 DAYS

NOVEMBER5 Sports Awards (Evening)

6 Barn Dance and Art Auction

8 Intersen Phase Prizegiving Evening

9 Valedictory Ceremony

10 School Closes

SCHOOL TIMESMONDAYS TUES-FRI

GRADES 1 AND 2 07h25 – 13h25 07h25 – 13h10

GRADES 3 TO 7 07h25 – 13h55 07h25 – 13h40

SCHOOL SHOP HOURSDAY TIME

MON, WED 12h30 to 15h00

TUES, THURS 07h00 to 11h30

FRIDAY 12h30 to 14h30

Email address: bpsschoolshop@gmail.comPhone: (011) 706-0524 / 071 886 8550 (Wendy)

LOST PROPERTY HOURSMONDAYS AND THURSDAYS 13h30-14h00

DIRECT PHONE NUMBERSMrs. L. Fyfe BUSINESS MANAGER (011) 244-0903Mrs. M. Britz ADMISSIONS/PRINCIPAL’S PA (011) 244-0905Ms. C. Devlin BOOKKEEPER/ SUPPLIERS (011) 244-0923 Mrs. L. Baard SCHOOL FEE OFFICE (011) 244-0904

SCHOOL BANKING DETAILSBank: Standard Bank Fourways Crossing

Code: 009953 Account Number: 023385103

EDITION NO. 40 TEACHING TOMORROW, TODAY 5 DECEMBER 2014

CONTACT USTelephone: (011) 706-1263/706-0524 | Web: www.bryanstonprimary.co.za | Electronic newsletter:newsletter@bryanstonprimary.co.za

SCHOOL CLOSING -TERM 4Tuesday 9th December: a normal school day. School will NOT be clos-ing early but at normal school times.

10th December: collection of re-ports ONLY, from 07h00-9h00. We kindly request that parents DO NOT drop learners at school on this day. Staff will not be available to super-vise them as they will be attending meetings.

BARN DANCE AND ART AUCTIONJoin us for wonderful evening of family entertainment! Barn and line dance the night away, ride on the mechanical bulls, or capture the moment in our photo-booth, and Dads can enjoy a beer in the Beer Tent!

Food and drinks will be on sale throughout the evening.The event is combined with the annual Art Auction, so come along and bid

on a great piece of art as a Christmas gift for Granny and Grandpa – or just to treat yourself!

Tickets available from the finance office or at the door for R100 per person. Support your school’s fundraising efforts at this fun filled event!

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPALTHANK YOUTo all Parents, Staff, BFC, SGB and learners for all your hard work and contributions to Bryanston Primary during 2014. Your dedication and support is greatly appreciated.

HAPPY HOLIDAYSTo our parents who are going away and to those just relaxing at home, the Staff of BPS wish you well over the holiday period. Please travel safely and remember to buckle up on our roads this festive season. Happy holidays from all at BPS!

FAREWELLWe wish our Grade 7 learners and their parents well. May your journey into high school be a smooth and prosperous one. We wish you all the very best for your future!

STAFF We take this opportunity to thank the following staff members for their contribu-tion to BPS during their time with us. We wish you well in your future endeavours.

• Mrs T Stiles• Mrs V Reid• Mrs M Swanepoel

• Mrs C Beeslaar• Miss R Fuller• Mrs P Pattni

We are happy to announce that all of the above positions have been filled for

2015. Mr Leon Botha, Principal

December 2014 Dear Parents, Staff and Learners As always, I can’t believe the speed with which this year has flown by. Perhaps I’m just getting older but it seems to pass by quicker each year. We have had a very challenging year in many ways with difficult decisions needing to being made. Looking back I can see that these were right and our school is much stronger for it. This year has also been a tough one for most families. The increases in food, petrol, electricity and commodities haven’t made things any easier. Keeping this in mind, we made it a priority of keeping our school fee increase to a bare minimum while still maintaining excellence in the classroom and on our sports fields and in cultural activities. Our classes still remain small, our academic results continue to be outstanding and with the high quality of our educators, we continue to provide our children with a great education. By the time they venture into secondary education they are well grounded, balanced and ready! As a School Governing Body (SGB), we know and understand that the partnership between the school management and the SGB plays a major role in the success of the school. Effective governance structures are in place to support the processes within the school to deliver a quality, relevant and effective education for all our children. Our motto “Teaching Tomorrow Today” expresses that Bryanston Primary is a school where we continue to push the boundaries of education to the benefit of our children and our country. The parent members of the SGB are passionate about the school and share a collective vision that translates into excellence. The SGB parent members contribute a skill set that enables the SGB, as a team, to provide guidance and support in the areas of leadership, facility upgrades, financial management, best education practices, classroom related technological progression, hiring of quality staff and ensuring above all that the school is kept relevant and suited to the ever changing needs of the children.

School Leadership Bryanston Primary School (BPS) follows the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) regulations for the selection process for the appointment of a new Principal. This process is very tightly regulated, monitored and controlled. We started the process immediately after receiving Mr Wadvalla's resignation at the beginning of December 2013. We worked during the limited time available, in light of the end of the school year and commencement of the holiday period, to advertise the post in the first available edition of the Government Gazette published in January 2014. We reviewed all CVs received from the GDE in response to the advertised post in the Gazette for Principal, and immediately thereafter we conducted interviews in March 2014 based on the strict criteria we set. Following this initial review and interview process, the SGB put forward a recommendation to the GDE not to make a permanent appointment at that time, but to re-advertise the post. Following a further rigorous selection process conducted over many months in accordance with the requirements of the GDE, the SBG panel put forth its recommendations to the GDE, which then took the decision to make a permanent appointment for the position of principal. We had the pleasure of announcing that the GDE had appointed Mr Leon Botha as Principal for Bryanston Primary. Mr Botha has served as our Deputy Principal and filled the role of Acting Principal since April 2014. The SGB is committed to supporting Mr Botha and the School Management Team (SMT) as they embark on this new chapter in our school's leadership. The position of Deputy Principal will be advertised in the next vacancies issue of the Government Gazette. Looking at the GDE time frames for this process, a new Deputy Principal should be appointed by March 2015. The SGB will embark on the GDE interview process for Deputy Principal as soon as possible. The SGB would like to express their thanks to the BPS staff who really stepped up to the challenge during the last few months: A note of thanks must be expressed the GDE and especially to Ms Zetta van Eck, Deputy Chief Education Specialist: Institutional Development and Support who spent countless hours, evenings and Saturdays assisting us with the GDE interview process. Her support, guidance and commitment went beyond all expectations for which we are extremely grateful.

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Academic Achievements We continue to achieve outstanding academic results. The Conquesta Olympiad The Conquesta Olympiad is an examination written in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland and gives us a good reflection of our academic level compared to independent and international schools. We use it as our benchmark and develop our learning programmes from any of the weaknesses identified in this Olympiad. In the Foundation Phase (Grades 1 to 3) we achieved 96% for Maths (Platinum) and 86% for English (Platinum). In the InterSen Phase (Grades 4 to 7) we achieved Maths (Higher Grade) 80% (Diamond); English 79% (Diamond) and Natural Sciences 84% (Diamond). This has been our best performance since starting Conquesta in 2010. It is important to note that not only did we attain the amazing achievements but we were also placed as part of the Top 20 schools internationally in the following areas:

• Mathematics: Grade 2, 3, 5 and 7 • Natural Science: Grade 4, 5, 6 and 7 • English: Grade 3

The 2014 results will only be published in February 2015.

Annual National Assessments (ANA) The Department of Basic Education conducted the Annual National Assessments (ANA) during September 2014 for Grades 1 - 6, Grade 9 in all public schools and Grades 3 or 6 in all independent primary schools that are eligible for a government subsidy. The Annual National Assessments are standardised national assessments for languages and mathematics in the intermediate phase (Grades 4-6) and in literacy and numeracy for the foundation phase (Grades 1-3). Grade 1 – 6 write the ANA’s but in 2015, Grade 7’s will also write the exam. We will not receive the official results for the 2014 ANA’s until February 2015 but we have internally calculated that we have achieved above 80% average for both English and Mathematics.

Information, Technology and Communication (ITC) Our Head of ITC and the SGB ITC Representative continue to attend technology seminars throughout the region and are focusing on lessons learnt and establishing relationships with schools that have implemented iPad/tablet programmes. While we have decided that the timing for the introduction of iPad/ tablet programmes in our curriculum has not yet arrived, and we plan to focus on core subject teaching in

2015, we will continue to consider possible implementation of such a programme from 2016 onwards.

BPS chosen as a “school of the future” Based on us consistently achieving excellent academic results, the Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has chosen Bryanston Primary as a "school of the future" as part of the ’21 School Programme’. This means that we have and continue to achieve excellence in the 9 key areas identified: 1. Basic Functionality; 2. Leadership, Management & Communications; 3. Governance & Relationships; 4. Learner Achievements; 5. Curriculum Provisioning & Resources; 6. Quality teaching & Learning and Educator Development; 7. School Safety, Security & Discipline; 8. School Infrastructure and 9. Parents & Community. The staff and SGB were commended on this achievement. We know that the BFC also plays an integral role. The GDE will be meeting with the Principal on a weekly basis to look into how we achieve this. Admissions for 2015: The GDE have confirmed that we must admit all Learners on our 'A' waiting list, i.e. learners residing in the area, infrastructure allowing. This list is capped as the application process is closed. This means that there is no difference from our admissions for 2014.

New School The GDE have also acknowledged the growing need for an additional Primary School in the District. We have recently received confirmation that the GDE will be building a new school in Woodmead which should assist in the oversubscription to the schools in our district.

Parent Involvement “When parents become involved in education, children learn

more effectively and schools become more successful.” However, effective parental involvement must go beyond the process of parents helping children with their schoolwork. As a BPS parent you have the following options: 1) Stand for the SGB / provide support as a coopted member and/or 2) become an active member of the Bryanston Fundraising Committee (BFC) and/or other committees and/or 3) support school events. It is the BPS community that ensures the continued success of our school.

SGB Maintenance Programme The SGB commissioned an Independent Maintenance Report on all school infrastructure. This highlighted all maintenance needs as well as major maintenance work that will be required over time. This will allow us to forecast and budget correctly. From this we requested a maintenance schedule so that we could start the SGB Maintenance Programme. This programme will extend past 2014 and will be handed over to the newly elected SGB to continue. We are delighted that

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our maintenance project is underway. You will have noticed a lot of work happening, this includes (but is not limited to): General maintenance

• All roofing was repaired, waterproofed and repainted

• Hand railings were all painted • Palisade fencing (perimeter and internal), gates and

carports were painted • Boundary wall painted • Our beautiful gardens were professionally pruned

and shaped • New garden next to the Teacher’s parking in honour

of our former principal Mr Wadvalla • Hall curtains replaced • Refurbishment of foyer • Refurbishment of reception doors • Pool repairs: Stripping and fixing of water leak,

filtration system upgrade • Wooden floor boards in hall were re furbished • Bathroom upgrades • New school signage • The GDE replaced the floors in the art room

Sporting upgrades completed in 2014 Cricket:

• Installation of netting, like the one found on the roof of the nets, on all sides and in all nets • Poles covered in a cushion with a sponsor’s name on it to promote the company • Relaying of the ‘carpet/turf’ to a thicker and more durable one

Netball: • Netball court surface re surfaced • Fencing replaced around netball court

The ‘Cottage’ refurbishment / Pavilion project will take place in 2015

• Renovations to the ‘Cottage’ (just inside the main gate) to create a Pavilion which will include:

• Canteen (Tea station for visiting Parents) • Male and Female toilets • First Aid station • Change rooms for visiting teams • Under cover viewing area / Learners can also wait under cover for their parents here if it rains

Grade 0 Playground The Grade 0 playground has recently undergone a complete revamp, which was fully funded by BPS Grade 0, and is looking phenomenal with new play equipment, jungle gyms, climbing frames, etc. and an artificial grass floor. Thank you to the GDE for the jungle gym and sandpit, it was a welcome surprise! Mrs de Melo, the BPS Grade 0 Principal, has graciously allowed our Grade 1 and 2s access to this area! We are delighted as play is such an important part of learning. Municipality account The electricity billing query was resolved after 5 years and the final amount owing came in within what we had budgeted for.

Next SGB Elections – March 2015. There are over 24 000 public schools across South Africa, and in just five months, each one will go to the polls to elect SGBs to oversee the running of the schools for the next three years (2015 – 2017).

In Closing Thank you to our Headmaster Mr Botha, the SMT, teachers and staff for their dedication and commitment and to our parents for their ongoing support of our school, our functions and our committees. Special mention to the BFC who works tirelessly in raising funds for our school which are used for special projects that are outside of our school budget. A special note of thanks to Mr Aaron Radomsky who has served on the SGB for the past 6 years (2 terms). His youngest son is finishing Grade 7 so this is their last year at BPS. Mr Radomsky has selflessly given of his time providing input and support to both the SGB and the BPS community. Thank you must also go to Mr Gary Dodge who fulfilled the role of SGB Treasurer for 4 years. Mr Dodge has stepped down from this role due to work commitments but continues to provide invaluable insight to the SGB as an Independent Advisor. A very big thank you must also go to the SGB Team who have dedicated countless hours, evenings and weekends fulfilling this critical role for our school. On behalf of the SGB, we would like to wish you and your family a wonderful holiday and festive season. I’m sure you are all looking forward to having some ‘down time’ with family and friends. We look forward to seeing you in the new year! Kind Regards Vicki-Leigh Grant SGB Chairperson

YEARBOOK 2014It is that time of the year that we wind down and bid farewell to yet another academic year. It has been an eventful year, filled with excitement both on the sports field and in the classroom. This year has also marked 60 years of educational success for Bryanston Pri-mary. To place on record some of the accomplishments, a Year Book containing memories and moments of 2014 has been compiled and published.

The cost of the year book is R110.00 per family. Please send this amount in a sealed envelope clearly labelled with your child’s name to his/her register teacher.

Should you wish to purchase more than one yearbook, please place the full amounts in the envelope and mark the quantity required clearly.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTSPAYMENT OF SCHOOL FEES VIA DEBIT ORDERA new form must be completed if you wish to pay school fees via debit order for 2015. The form is available to download from the school’s website or at the Finance office.

A copy of the form can be emailed to debtors@bryanstonpri-mary.co.za and the original form must be dropped off at the finance office.

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WORKBOOKS FOR 2015Workbooks for 2015 can be bought at the school from Monday 27 October. Money can be sent to register teachers. Books are compul-sory for all learners. Prices are as follows:

GRADE 2 PACK R170GRADE 3 PACK R215VIVA MATHEMATICS GRADE 4 - 6 R125

MYSCHOOL CARDSThese are now available from the School Shop, so pick one up the next time you are there and start swiping for Bryanston Primary fun-draising!

LOST PROPERTYLost property will be open during the holidays on the following dates: December 15, 16, and 17, from 9:00am to 11:00am.Any grade 7 parents wishing to donate their child’s uniform to the school, please leave it at lost property or at reception.

CAR SEATS FOR KIDS CAMPAIGN 2014It has been an amazing year once again for our Scholar Patrol learners and their Car Seat for Kids Campaign.

We have collected over 50 car seats this year and have donated them to Wheel Well & Renault SA who in turn, will distribute these car seats to low income families.

Thank you to the entire Bryanston Primary family for your continued support in our endeavours to keep our roads and our little one’s safe while travelling. We have made a difference to many lives and it’s all thanks to you!

Many blessings to you and your loved one’s for the coming festive season and travel safely. Remember to always buckle up. Road safety is everybody’s responsibility.

Mrs T Roman

Bryanston Classifieds

THE BRYANSTON CLASSIFIEDS(Adverts are placed on a monthly basis at the beginning of the month and removed at the end of the month)

This service is offered by Bryanston Primary School for advertisers to market their products or services to the BPS community in the school newsletter. The school cannot be held responsible or liable for any damages or misleading claims resulting from the information con-tained in the classifieds. Placing an advert in the Bry-anston Classifieds does not mean that the school en-

dorses or recommends the product or service on offer.Price structure for BPS Classifieds:• BPS Families R150 per advert Maximum 30

words.• Non-BPS Families R300 per advert Maximum

30 words.

PAYMENT AND ADVERTISING MATERIALBy EFT only. Bank: Standard Bank Fourways Crossing | Branch Code: 009953 | Account Number: 023385103. Please use the reference: CLASSIFIEDS+Your Name and send proof of payment and advertising material to Mrs M. Braghini on mandyb@bryanstonprimary.co.za.

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TINKY’S ARTS & CRAFTS HOLIDAY PROGRAM

Come join us for a morning of exploring the arts and crafts world.Dates: 12th December; 18th, 19th December; 8th, 9th January

Times: 8:00 to 12:30Each day we will do an art lesson and a craft project.

Includes: All materials, juice and a snack

Artists covered: Kandinsky, Mondrian,V an Gogh, Picasso & Klimt

Crafts covered: Ceramic painting,mosaic, fabric painting , decoupage and recycling craft

Price per day: R250 or R1000 if you book and pay for all five days in advance

Booking is essential and a payment is up front either by EFT or cash on the day

Banking details as follows: Standard Bank, Fourways 009953 Acc no. 204951550

Phone Michele 0794050671 or email tinkysart@gmail.com

BACK TO SCHOOL 2015: LABELS

We offer the following labels to help your children claim back their belongings at school.

• Iron On• Sew On

• Stationery• Shoe

• Lunch Box/Juice Bottle

Contact: 073 9065 189/011 465 1484 or abentisilabels@gmail.com