News 

Mr Leo Stagg writes:
“The Martial Arts Club travelled to Winterton on Thursday 10 May to partake in an
interclub skills workshop and Gyeorugi (Sparring).

The workshop was well attended with 20 Winterton children attending, as well as a large parent support group.

The Clifton children displayed their skills with Bo Staff, Bokken, knife defence and break boards after which they shared these skills in a brief training session with the Winterton children. This was well received and the children had fun while learning new techniques. Finally, the children fought each other in open sparring showing the difference in the skills learned. Although the Clifton children were more advanced, fun was had by all and the workshop ended on a high note. Well done to the Clifton children on a perfect display of manners and discipline.”

Sport

After much work, the results of the sports survey and the school’s responses are ready for presentation. A new sports policy document is being presented to the coaching staff on Wednesday 16 May, the general staff on Thursday 17 May and the Parent’s Association on Monday 21 May at 16:30.
There will be two presentations for parents, Tuesday 29 May at 16:30 and Monday 4 June also at 16:30. Separate invitations have been sent for these presentations. Please RSVP to Mrs Coetzer with your preferred date.

Captains
Congratulations to Bruere Venter on being selected as the School Squash captain for 2012.

Junior Primary

Mrs Jane Forbes writes: “Thank you to those parents who responded positively to our correspondence of earlier this year and have had the tests done. You may be interested to know that as a result of these screenings two children now have glasses and one child has been referred to an E.N.T. specialist.

Ideally these tests should be carried out by the end of the reception year and a reassessment done at the end of the Grade 3 year should nothing untoward arise in the interim.

We request that copies of any reports received regarding the tests be sent to school for filing and reference purposes.”

Mrs Jane Cahill requests: “Please could we all make an effort to change our mind-set and start looking, at what we once called rubbish, trash or junk, as a resource. With this in mind, could the children at Clifton, start consciously looking at and collecting useful elements from “rubbish”

It would be greatly appreciated if the following could be brought to the Art Department for creative purposes:
cool drink cans, yoghurt lids, plastic bottles, coloured plastic bags, polystyrene trays, bottle tops, newspapers, magazines and cardboard.

We are hoping to get bins specifically for these items. These will be put at the back of the hall near the squash courts. It would be wonderful if a little care could be given by cleaning all the contributions first, so that we don’t create a health hazard.

How exciting to be unlocking creativity and looking after our planet at the same time!”

We extend our deepest sympathies to Mrs Mary Crawford and her family on the loss of Mary’s mother last weekend. Please keep the Crawford family in your thoughts and prayers.

Last week was Mrs Jen Pretorius’ final week as our Capitol Caterers unit manager. We said farewell to Jen in a special assembly on Thursday morning and I am sure you will all join us in wishing Jen every success as she begins a new life in Hermanus.

We welcome Ms Taz Pearson to Clifton as our new unit manager. Taz has come to Clifton after experience at Alexander High School, The Wykeham Collegiate and stints at Marion Villa and the Himeville Arms.

A number of staff and children have been booked off this past week with the nasty flu bug that is doing the rounds and Mr Quinn is currently recovering after having three abscesses drained and two root canal procedures performed – eina!

We have finalised our Grade 1 replacement for Mrs Di Stephen. We had a number of excellent applications and after reviewing a shortlist of three candidates, I am delighted to announce that Mrs Lorna Bruwer has been appointed as the Grade 1 teacher. Lorna, who has been in locum tenens in Grade 1, will take up a full-time position with immediate effect.

Mr Brad Roets has tendered his resignation from Clifton. Brad would like to pursue a career in high school education and is keen to make the move sooner rather than later. Brad has requested to be released from his contract at the end of this term.

Congratulations to the following staff who were selected for the Inland Country District Hockey teams after the Midlands Quadrangular held in Pietermaritzburg on the 4 and 5 May:
Inland Women’s B: Louise Jelliman (Captain), Jane Mullins (Jane was the top goal scorer in the B section) and Chene Witthoft (who was also the Most Promising Young Player).
Inland Men’s A: Rory Smith

Places for Grade R in 2013 are filling up quickly. Parents who have not yet completed the application process for Grade R are advised to do so sooner rather than later as we limit the number of spaces available in Grade R.
Parents of day-scholar children wishing to board next year are also requested to inform Mrs Laing of an
impending change as the number of boarding spaces are also limited.

Mrs Lisa Abbott is offering support maths teaching after school on Mondays, Tuesday and Thursdays for Grade 5 to 7 children identified by their maths teachers as needing support. This is Mrs Abbott’s extra-mural duty, so no cost is incurred for these additional lessons. If parents feel their child (in addition to those identified by the school) may need some maths support please consult with your child’s maths teacher.