8 June 2010
Dear Parents
This has been quite an unusual end to term without exams and their accompanying results. Nevertheless the term has been full and the girls and their teachers are certainly ready for the noisy and exciting soccer diversion. The April break was shorter than usual and saw much activity. The first Netball and Hockey teams played in tournaments up in Gauteng and a combined Dance and Drama group went to New York. Those girls and their teachers will especially relish time with their families in the holiday ahead.
The first half of the Winter Sports Season has been highly successful with well over 200 girls competing every weekend in matches. Highlights of the season include Jenienne Curr and Kayleigh Scheepers attaining School Honours for Rowing after their first term success at the SA Championships and Robyn Charter being awarded Honours for her spectacular achievements in swimming. DSG has 13 Hockey Provincial representatives participating in tournaments this holiday. Special mention must be made of Angela Ruck who will be representing the U18A side for the second time. We wish her and all the other girls memorable and successful tournaments. Four of our Squash girls, Brittany McCreath, Melissa Thompson, Nicole Ware and Jenna Roux will also be representing EP in squash tournaments this weekend. Mr David Wright has sent out weekly highlights throughout the term so I shall not dwell further on our sport.
Under the leadership of Mrs Mandy Carver, the Chapel Choirs of SAC and DSG joined with choirs from seven other schools to produce Carmina Burana in the Guy Butler Theatre. I was proud to see pupils, past and present, as well as a number of our teachers participating in the orchestra. Well done to all the teachers and pupils on an exceptional evening. I dragged myself there feeling quite exhausted and left an hour later feeling rejuvenated and lighter.
Hayley Jackson has excelled in the Music arena. She has been selected as one of just 16 violinists to be a member of the National Youth String Orchestra. They will be performing three concerts in the main programme of the Grahamstown Arts Festival and will also be joining the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra for further concerts. Congratulations, Hayley!
Our school production was a double bill comprised of a workshopped play called Orpheus and Eurydice, exploring the theme of love and death, and a programme of Dance entitled Magpie Love(d) you, also portraying various aspects of love. The critical acclaim of Ismail Mohamed who is the Director of the National Arts Festival is worth sharing. “It was a remarkable testimony of how schools can combine creativity and academics.” There were well over 100 pupils across the two schools involved, which is a feat in itself in schools as busy as ours. Well done and thank you to the cast of actors, actresses and dancers and also to Ms Sheena Stannard, Ms Sarah Seymour, Ms Hermien Potgieter and Mrs Christa Snyman.
Last Friday we had a most enjoyable Inter-House Music and Dancing evening. The standard was extraordinarily high, particularly for something which is entirely pupil run. Courtney Koopman won best solo performance for Crewe House. Merriman won the best big group and Crewe dancers won in their category. Crewe House was the final overall winner for the evening,
Two of our girls also fared exceptionally well in this year’s English Olympiad. Congratulations to Joy Adonis who was placed in the top 100 nationally and to Claire Proctor who was placed in the top 50. As a result of this, Claire has been awarded free tuition towards her first year of a degree at Rhodes University.
Congratulations to our prefects. They, together with the prefects from SAC, staged a Freedom Day Celebration. In the process pupils were able to showcase their talents and educate our pupils on the history of our country. Well done to Michelle Horak, Claudia Kelly and their team!
It gives me great pleasure to announce our academic scholarship winners for 2011. These exams are written by any girl wishing to attend the DSG and I am proud to say that both winners are present DSG pupils. Well done to Claire Ter Morshuizen who has won the 2011 Grade Eight Scholarship and to Rachel Hunter, the recipient of the 2011 Grade Ten Scholarship.
On behalf of the entire DSG community I would like to wish Caitlin Dugmore and Lilla Kelly well as they begin their pupil exchanges to Australia. These girls were among some strong applicants and I congratulate them on their selection. I know that they will be excellent ambassadors for us. They will bring two girls back with them to live and attend school here as a reciprocal exchange. When I arrived here our exchanges had all but fizzled out and I thank Mrs Shirley Gardyne for her hard work in reviving them for us.
For the past four months Ms Dianna Illocco has been visiting us from the USA as an exchange student teacher. She has been a wonderful asset to us and we have her appreciated her maturity and commitment towards the teaching profession. We bid her a fond farewell and wish her a happy, successful career in education. Next term we shall be joined by a French student teacher from Switzerland as well as several students from Rhodes University.
After a very successful first six months here, I have appointed Ms Pam Bowren as full-time Sports Coordinator. In her short time here Pam has proved to be highly efficient and competent and it is good to be able to welcome her onto the permanent staff.
It gives me great pleasure to announce the promotion of Mr David Wright to second Deputy Head. David begun his career at the DSG as a LO teacher and moved from there into the role of Director of Sport. He has displayed a sincere interest in young people and commitment towards the profession. He has taken on roles outside his realm of responsibility and has shown wisdom beyond his experience. I welcome him onto the senior management team and I look forward to the efficiency and dedication that I know he will bring to the job. David’s portfolio will be Student Affairs which will include discipline, pupil leadership and extracurricular activities. Mrs Melanie Webb will continue to head up Academic and Staff matters and will stand in for me when I am away.
A few housekeeping matters:
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Girls must not take a sleep-out if they have weekend commitment. To argue that they excused themselves from the student coach is not acceptable.
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At the end of term 2b exams will finish with a few days left to revise and work through papers. Please do not remove your daughters from school early. This is an ongoing request from us yet some parents continue to do so.
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Please will you keep the san sisters informed if your child is sick so that they can keep the medical records updated?
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Girls may not visit residences of either their or other parents’ homes if the adults are not in town. When parents are in town, the girls need to be signed out, as per normal.
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A weekend sleep-out finishes at 18h00 on Sunday. Girls may not miss evening chapel and they may not return only on the Monday morning.
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Girls may not drive in cars with people under the age of 21 except with special permission from me and the parents.
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Application and renewal of Study Permits for over-border pupils need to be applied for four months in advance. Girls without valid study permits may not attend classes or be admitted in the Houses.
I am pleased to announce that we have signed an agreement with the Confucius Institute to offer Mandarin as a third language from 2011.
There is not much activity this holiday due to the soccer world cup. Mr David Wright will be coaching the U16 and U18 EP Hockey teams in back-to-back tournaments. Mrs Roxandra Darnagon Britz has had her artwork selected for the Spier Contemporary Art Exhibition. This is widely regarded as the most prestigious contemporary art exhibition in South Africa where 100 artists out of 2700 are selected. Ms Britz will be exhibiting in Bloemfontein this holiday. Mr Richard Antrobus will perform two shows, Stilted and Hats, at The Grahamstown Arts Festival. We wish them all well in their endeavours.
Over this World Cup period there has been a heightened awareness of human trafficking. Sadly I believe teenage girls will be at risk in a host of other ways too. It is my wish that your girls stay close to their families this holiday and that you all have a happy, safe time celebrating World Cup 2010 together.
Yours sincerely
Shelley Frayne
Kelly Long represents South Africa 10th May 2012
Kelly Long represented South Africa at the 5th International Sustainable World Project Olympiad in the USA
