DEBATING CLUB
The Grade 6 and 7 Debating boys have come a long way in a short time. This is under the guidance and mentorship of Coach Itumeleng Mohanoe from the Coach Itu Academy.
The following boys Felix Jackson Grade 6, Finn Berman Grade 6, Lafika Mabandla Grade 7 and Lithalethu Tuku Grade 7, participated in the Gauteng Provincials, they placed 17th out of 80 schools, our school being the only Primary School to participate. This competition took place during the August break.
Our Debating Club is currently participating in a ‘Best of 5’ against St. Marys Preparatory School (Waverly), and we have already won the first two rounds. Our young lads have had to prepare motions in both Opposition and Proposition on topics such as ‘This House would like the Legalising of Graffiti in Public Spaces ‘and ‘This House Believes that Elected Politicians should use only State Services’. The case studies and preparation for these motions require in depth study as well as understanding of both sides. It has given our boys the opportunity to see different perspectives even if they don’t necessarily agree with the motion. It is truly wonderful and interesting to witness our boys in action!
HOOKED ON BOOKS
With crazy stories, amazing titles and imaginations tickled pink, the boys were lucky enough to have two shows – one for the Senior Prep, and one for the Junior Prep. The JP also had a Book Character Dress-up day, which made for a very colourful audience.
There was a book rush in the library after the show, it was inspiring, to say the least.
TOUR DE MATHS
Tour de Maths is an inter-schools Mathematics Problem Solving Competition open to learners in both primary and high schools throughout the country. All the events post-Covid have taken place online, and there have been five of these events this year. The following Grade 7 boys took part in this year’s competition: Soham-Zhy Ravjee, Adam Gardee, Matthew Jennings, William Boland, Nyiko Mabunda, Oliver Bouilliart, Connor van der Walt, Adam Stoutjesdyk, Calvin Wagner and Ethan Stein. We were delighted to hear that The Ridge was the top placed primary school in 2021. We also had all the top 3 prep school students for 2021: 1st place: Soham-Zhy Ravjee, 2nd place Calvin Wagner, 3rd place Oliver Bouilliart.
TENNIS TOUR
Undoubtedly, the highlight of the tennis calendar each year is the annual weekend-long Sun City Tennis Tour. This year, we took two open teams to compete. The A team comprised of N Vogelzang, J Stapleton-Smith, A Ball, A Muralidhara, M Hume and D Van Niekerk. The B Team comprised of J Heeger, S Sargent, C Wagner, C Herman, A Bleazard and S Slettovold. Both teams competed in a number of singles and doubles matches against some familiar schools (St. Johns, St Stithians, St Peters, St Davids) as well as some unfamiliar school (Reitz, Kyalami Schools, Cornwall Hill). The boys had a wonderful time gaining valuable experience and competing against so many schools, as well as having fun at The Valley of the Waves in between fixtures. I am proud to announce that our A Team finished sensationally in second place in the A section, losing in the final to a very powerful St Stithians side. Our B team also competed superbly and finished in third place. Well done to the boys – their grit, determination and sportsmanship did our school proud. Mr A Pretorius
GRADE 0’s HAD A BUSY WEEK
The Grade 0’s had wonderful time this week learning about the wonderful birds that live in South Africa, they spent some time building puzzles and also improved their maths skills with simple addition.
BASKETBALL TOUR
Our basket ball team participated in The Kearsney College Centenary Basketball Festival. They played a number of challenging fixtures and placed 4th in the tournament. Well done!
CARE TO LEARN ASSEMBLY
We had the opportunity to host Jo-anne from the Princess Alice Adoption Home in our Care To Learn Assembly. The boys learnt more about what the home does, and the babies they care for.
Princess Alice is extremely grateful for the Ridge’s ongoing support, especially over the last two years. Our Grade 1 and Grade 5 boys collected an incredible donation of nappies, formula and toiletries for the babies as part of our Action Day drive, and were also able to hand over a cheque to Princess Alice for R6350. Well done boys!!
GRADE 4’s LEARNT ABOUT DISTANCE
During their maths lesson the Grade 4’s learnt about distance. They were required to measure various distances including the distance from the school to the traffic circle on the Valley Road.
HOCKEY VS ST STITHIANS
JP HERITAGE DAY CELEBRATIONS
On Heritage day the Grade 3’s learnt about each other as they shared interesting information. Afterwards they did beading and painted biscuits to celebrate!
NEWS FROM THE LIGHTHOUSE
October is global dyslexia awareness month, so the Lighthouse has been shining a light on Dyslexia. This year the focus was on “Invisible Dyslexia”, exploring the entire theme of visibility within our community. The reason for highlighting this “invisibility” is because dyslexia itself is not always a visible learning difference, so students with dyslexia can feel unsupported, unseen and invisible. We also want to encourage everyone to value the importance of dyslexic thinking.
Awareness days and weeks are so important – but what makes a real difference is being included and having a sense of belonging every day.
“If we are to solve the big problems of our time. We need innovators, storytellers and entrepreneurs more than we need a world free of spelling mistakes.” – Asma Elbadawi, poet, activist and dyslexic. Please take a moment watch her powerful poem in this video link:
“We encourage you to share this video for some child-friendly insight into what it might feel like to live with dyslexia, from the perspective of a person with dyslexia. The video is based on the real-life story of Nessy creator and best-selling author, Mike Jones.” – Jacqui Haddow.
“Below is a fact sheet is a quick reference guide to understanding dyslexia and supporting students with dyslexia.” – Zoë von Klemperer.
OLD BOYS ASSEMBLY CLASS OF 2016
On Friday 1 October we welcomed back the Grade 7 Class of 2016 and their parents. We wish our Old Boys well as they sit for their matric finals in the weeks and months ahead.
Congratulations to old boy Uzayr Ballim (2017) on his appointment as the Second Prefect of St John’s College.
Congratulations to old boy Nick Lane (2017). We wish him well in his leadership role.
Congratulations to Thomas Roy (2017) on his appointment of Head of School at Hilton College for 2022.
