Dear Parents, Staff and Boys NEWSLETTER 2 APRIL 2015
“… What hasn’t changed is the fundamental quest at the heart of the parent-teacher relationship: a search for trust between adults who love their children and other adults who want to help those children reach their full potential.”
Michael Thompson – clinical psychologist and educational speaker
FROM THE HEAD OF ACADEMICS
Hints for Homework
Jason has his evening planned. He will do his Maths homework before dinner, then, follow up dessert with English and Science. After that he can unwind from his busy day. Sound impossible? It’s not. Help your son make homework go like clockwork with these strategies.
Think it through
Before your son starts his homework, have him make a to-do list, which he should already have in his school diary.
Suggest that he number the tasks, from toughest to easiest. He must start with the hard stuff. This “save the easiest for last” strategy will help him finish his homework on a high note, perhaps inspiring him to put in a little extra study in preparation for the next cycle test or up-coming exams.
Think about time
Ask your son to consider different time slots that he can use to get work done. For instance, maybe he can set aside a weekend morning or Sunday night. Sometimes he may have time to complete a homework exercise during class if his classwork is completed. Encourage your child to complete one homework task at school each day. The more he does then, the more time he will have for relaxation later.
Think positive
Help your son to see homework as a chance to prove his independence by getting his work done on time and by himself. Boost his confidence by telling him, “Homework gives you a chance to show all that you can know.” Give him the thumbs- up when he does just that.
Mrs F Kapp
RELIGIOUS REFLECTION
We kiss His feet
"Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered." —Hebrews 5:8
We kiss His feet. When looking at the cross on Good Friday, and the One who hangs upon it, we have no other response that seems appropriate. He is Our King, Our Lord, Our love, and He hangs on the cross that our sins have deserved.
Every Good Friday we have an opportunity to reflect on the love that God has shown us by the sacrifice His only begotten Son made. The cross brings us face to face with Jesus' suffering. He was alone and his death was agonizing and humiliating, but it was the greatest act of love ever made. He did it for us. He paid the price for our iniquity. He, who was without sin, took the sin of the world onto himself.
We are transported back to that “place called the Skull”, and kneel beside His mourning Mother. His blood drains into the ground before us. We look up and see the feet of Our Lord, a nail has been driven through them and he supports his weight upon it. They are covered in dirt and blood. What are we to do? What can we do to comfort our innocent Lord who lies upon this bed of pain for us? Before the entire world, we lean forward and kiss His feet. In doing so, even then, He consoles US! He gives us the joy of being able to show our love for Him and He helps us to love Him more. What an outpouring of generosity from our loving Jesus.
We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Good Friday is a wonderful opportunity for us to make our peace with God. To acknowledge the things we have done which are wrong and to ask for His forgiveness. To reflect on His suffering and to realise that if you were the only person in the world, He still would have gone through it all just for you. He loves us that much!
Mr G Hanouch
VIRTUE OF THE MONTH
April, 2015: The emphasis is on the “Cross”. “Whoever wants to become my follower must take up his/her cross and follow me” (Matthew 6:24). Among all the religious symbols in the world, none is more universal and even powerful than the cross of Jesus. If we listen to the words of Jesus and take up our crosses we will leave nothing undared to transform the world because the Cross of Jesus is a sign of “Hope” in today`s world.
Cell phone policy:
We know how boys are with technology and that it can be a very powerful and useful tool. For young boys, however, it can be a very distracting force. We have reminded boys of the rules around cell phone use and we would like parents to support us in keeping our boys socially engaged and away from the fixation of their phones. Below is an extract from our cell phone policy, the whole policy being on our website.
From the time boys enter the school grounds until the end of the school day, cell phones must be turned off and placed out of sight. Phones may not be used before school or during breaks unless permission has been granted by a member of staff. Should, at any time during the school day, the cell phone ring, a message be received or a boy be caught playing with his phone, it will be confiscated and a red entry issued. On confiscation the phone is handed to Mrs Stoltz and placed in the school safe for a period of two weeks from the date taken. Only parents may collect the phone from the office and they will be required to sign receipt of the phone.
While our wi-fi network is firewalled and closely monitored, we have no control over content boys have through their 3g or similar and we expect boys to be engaging socially rather than huddled around screens gaming or on social media. Please ensure that if you have allowed your son to bring his phone to school, that he use it responsibly, for his own safety and balanced development. If your son tells you a teacher has allowed certain cell phone use, rather be a little suspect and drop that teacher an email with a query.
This is a letter from St Anne’s Home to our Outreach Boys
On behalf of the Ladies of St Anne’s I would like to thank you all for what you did for them. They haven’t stop talking about it all.
The “pamper packs” were absolutely amazing and everything in them is going to be so useful.
Thank you all once again.
Much appreciation and warmest regards.
Jean (Cokayne)
Matron/Administrator.
GRADE 5’S EARTH HOUR
St Benedict’s is working very hard to achieve accreditation as an Eco-School. The Grade Five group decided to use Earth Hour as an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of water and caring for our Earth. We held a Cake and Candy Sale to raise money to buy a rain water tank to harvest rain water. A big “thank you” has to go to all the boys and their moms and dads who put in a great deal of effort and supplied not only delicious but also beautiful goodies for us to sell.
A special “thank you” to the class moms who helped put everything together; we appreciate all your hard work.
CONGRATULATIONS
-To Connor Reynolds and Massimo Mordini on receiving their Leaping Wolf Badge from Scouts South Africa. This is a fine achievement!
-To Jonathan Barbeau on passing his Gr 1 Music Theory with Merit and Shyam Chunilal on passing his Grade 1 Music Theory. Well done!
-To Dylan Geddes on obtaining his Level 1 First Aid Certificate. Well done Dylan.
-To Conor McElwee .Well done on the initiativeto host an Earth Hour party and for collecting and donating 26 solar lanterns to Iputheng school in Alexandra.
Some of the boys who attended the party
LOST AND FOUND
Henry Haden has lost a red Christmas shopping
bag which contained his All Star takkies.
Please help Henry find this bag! If found please
hand it in to Mrs Stoltz.
A SPECIAL PLEA
One of our cleaning staff’s dwelling burnt down this week. She is in desperate need of bedding, linen, crockery, cutlery etc. Whatever you may be able to assist her with would be greatly appreciated. Kindly hand in your donation to Mrs Stoltz.
A WORD FROM THE PIPE BAND CAPTAIN
I would like to bring to your attention that the Pipe Band season is about to start.
For those of you who do not know what that means, our Bennies Pipe Band members will start competing in competitions from 18 April until 25 July this year. Please read the upcoming newsletters for dates of events and their respective venues.
We at Bennies are also hosting a gathering on the 11 July this year. If you would like to know what lies ahead as a member of the Pipe band, why don’t you join us at one of the gatherings to find out? There is normally lots of piping from Novice bands, to Grade 2 adult bands, as well as food and gift stalls.
Hope to see you at one of the gatherings and if not at least at the Bennies Gathering.
Let’s pipe and drum on to a successful season.
Regards
Michael Jeanrenaud
Pipe Band Captain
SPORT QUERIES
Mr Badenhorst
Given Mr Badenhorst has now joined his new school in Cape Town, all queries that may have been addressed to him should now go to Mr Reed. Mr Reed will, with the assistance of the sports staff, take on Mr Badenhorst’s responsibilities until his successor has been finalised.
MERITS OF THE WEEK – 1 APRIL 2015
4C / Rivaldo Feldman / For working diligently and always giving of his best. A true “Bennies Boy” with exemplary manners.4P / Jordan Jeronimo / For his excellent improvement in his writing and his diligence in class.
4S / Keanu Ramos / A wonderful, positive week with smiles and hard work. Keep it up, Keanu.
4R / Aidan Young / For being a super all-rounder! His work is always neatly presented and of a high standard! Always kind and considerate to all around him! Well done, Aidan!
4B / Jordan Liao / Beautiful neat work and outstanding Maths times tables results! Well done and keep up the good work Jordan.
5K / James Powell / For working diligently in class and doing so well in his Problem Solving exercise in Mathematics.
5W / Dominique Martinaglia / For working so hard in English and for creative Art Homework.
5G / Daniele Patrizi / For making South Africa proud at the go kart competition held in Italy last week.
5Z / Luca Correia / For an amazing improvement in his attitude as well as his school work. Keep it up Luca.
6V / Christopher Viljoen / A super effort in improving his presentation.
6M / CallumMeerholz / For his wonderful sense of humour.
6E / David Craig / For being diligent and responsible towards his work.
6S / Declan Hutton / For his fantastic art work.
7P / Tristan Potgieter / For a brilliant EMS cycle test result . Well done.
7M / Dylan Geddes / For being such a diligent worker, catching up his work when he was ill and for being such a helpful young man.
7I / Alessandro De Stefano / For a great EMS cycle test result.
7E / TsaoneModira / Well done on being so responsible and making a concerted effort to catch up all your work.
SPRING CLEANING
Easter is traditionally a time for spring cleaning, so why not take some time this long-weekend to clean out your cupboards? We'll take all your old towels, linen, clothing, shoes and bags and you can make space for some new ones! We are reaching the end of the clothing collection campaign and the final day for returning bags will be Wednesday, 8 April. More white bags are available from Mrs Stoltz and lost or unreturned bags will be levied at R5.
Many thanks for the great response we've had so far!