8 April 2009
Dear Parents
It is with a sense of satisfaction and achievement that I write the closing letter of the first term of 2009. Having just completed a Head’s comment for every girl in the senior school, I am satisfied that there is an ethos of academic rigour in place and that we have not lost sense of our primary focus. We have also enjoyed success in a number of sporting and cultural arenas and more and more girls are developing a pride in the school, its uniform and its values and traditions.
As will always be the case in a full boarding scenario, the term has been packed with activities and pupils and staff are in much need of a rest, as well as some private time-out! I wish to thank my staff - academic, admin and grounds - for their hard work and dedication. They are a remarkable group of people and many of them give generously of their time and expertise, often way beyond the call of duty.
In my last letter when I welcomed new staff to the DSG, I neglected to welcome Ms Sarah Seymour. Ms Seymour has joined our staff in a part-time capacity to teach Drama and Dance. She has also taken on the role of teacher-in-charge of Debating and has run the Grade Eleven Speechmakers’ course. She is an energetic and innovative young woman and has been a tonic in the staff common room and beyond. I welcome her most warmly and I congratulate her on a very successful first term as a teacher.
Next term two of our teachers will be going on Long Leave. Mrs Thea Steele will be replaced by Mr Les Mallett in the Design and Technology department. Mr Mallet has years of experience in teaching and we shall enjoy the presence of another man in our staff common room for a short while! Mrs Steele has graciously agreed to come in and teach the theory in the senior grades. Ms Sheena Stannard’s classes will be ably covered by Ms Sarah Seymour, who takes up a full-time post for a term, and Ms Zoe Reeve, a Drama Masters Student at Rhodes University.
Exciting news has been a decision taken by Council to fence in the perimeter of our property and, thanks to the professional expertise and time of two Council members, Mr Colin Meyer and Mr Peter Ellis, the erecting of a palisade fence which will run down African and South streets, will begin this holiday. I would also like to acknowledge the generosity of the St Andrew’s College Council. Some of the fencing that will be done is on their property or on shared space, and they have been very generous and accommodating in helping to ensure that as a girls’ school we are more secure.
Hand-in-hand with palisade fencing will come increased security. We have outsourced all security and plan to have one access control point at the main gate in the future. Some frustrations have been expressed by pupils and parents at having to walk or drive around to the main gate. Please support the school in its endeavours to be more conscious of security by accommodating this small inconvenience.
You will also find in your daughter’s report pack a flier advertising a self defence workshop for women. The aim is to empower our girls to defend themselves in the event of an attack and also to create awareness around personal safety. We will run two five hour courses over the weekend of 23 – 24 May. Please will you consider this course with you daughters; they will be asked to sign up at the start of next term and, depending on the numbers, the cost will be between R180 and R200.
Although I have spent some time on security and I need to assure you that Grahamstown is still a very safe place and the DSG has experienced no major incidents. Unemployment is rising, however, and in these troubled times people could become desperate. Some of the girls still take unnecessary risks and tend to view rules such as signing out, being in threes for outruns and town leave etc as an erosion of their freedom rather than as an endeavour to keep them safe. Some of you will know that I am firm when they transgress in these areas and I trust you understand and support my stance.
In my last newsletter, I attached a comprehensive sports report. That was towards the end of the Summer Season and so there is not much that is new to report since then. I do however wish to mention a few highlights:
Rowing:
DSG earned three gold medals at the SA Championships. Congratulations Kayleigh Scheepers and Jenienne Curr on winning the pair and Jenienne Curr for winning the scull in her age group. Well done also to their coach, Alex White!
Waterpolo:
Ten of our girls represented Border in Waterpolo teams in the various age groups. Special mention must be made of Shelley Snyman and Cayley Tonkin who were selected for the SA Schools Waterpolo team and to Cayley Tonkin who has made the SA women’s side. We are very proud of this phenomenal achievement!
Shooting:
Laura Bryan was recently awarded Gold in the under 16 Western Province Air Rifle Championships. Well done, Laura!
Squash:
DSG is proud to have the SA U14 numbers 1 and 2 in its pupil body. Congratulations to Brittany McCreath and Melissa Thompson.
During the holiday three sporting groups will be on tour. The First Hockey team will tour to Cape Town, George and then return to Grahamstown for the Kingswood Festival; the First Netball team will tour to Gauteng, Bloemfontein and Graaff Reinet; and the U14 Tennis girls are participating in a tournament in Knysna. We wish them and the adults accompanying them successful, safe and memorable tours.
On the cultural side we have been as busy as always. The senior dancers put on a very slick performance entitled Balancing Bach and I thank them and their teachers, Ms Hermien Potgieter and Ms Sarah Seymour. We have had two Music Concerts as well as a concert staged by the music teachers. These were of their usual high standard and I wish to thank the Music department for the range of opportunities they provide for our pupils and the tremendous exposure they give to them.
Sadly, I was on a marketing trip in Zambia during the Junior Inter-House plays but I am told that it was an excellent evening with some superb performances from our young actresses. Well done and thank you to Megan Hobson who heads up the Cultural Portfolio and to Mr Bauke Snyman and Mrs Sheena Stannard. Mr Snyman and Ms Gerda Oosthuysen have already left with a group of pupils to attend the KKNK festival in Oudtshoorn. I trust that it will be an enjoyable experience for them. As mentioned previously, Bauke’s play is being performed there; we are very proud to have an accomplished, recognised playwright on our staff!
The Matric Dance was a wonderful occasion and a fitting finale for our Grade Twelves. The theme was ‘Casablanca’ and the Grade Elevens and Dance Committee of 2009 did a superb job in organising this magnificent event. Well done to the pupil organisers and to Mrs Denise Strydom for all their hard work, and congratulations and thank you to the Matrics. They were dignified in dress and behaviour and they had a good time. I was very proud of them!
The long-awaited renovations to the Grade 8 and 9 dormitories in Espin are underway. One room is already completed and we are delighted with the fresh, new look. We are hoping that the other two rooms will be completed in the holiday but if this is not possible, I will accommodate some girls in The Grange for a short while next term. After the rooms, we will fix up the bathrooms in Espin. Mrs Preston and her girls have lived in unsatisfactory conditions for some time and I thank them for their patience. The end is in sight!
The Grade Eights have just returned from their Outdoor Education excursion. They appeared quite worn-out but also buoyant from the experience. I wish to thank Mrs Shelly Roodt for organising and accompanying these girls. It comes at a time when teachers are under enormous administrative pressure and I appreciate her generous time away from her family and work commitments.
I wish to end this newsletter with a tribute to Dr Tim Nuttall. I include an extract of my farewell speech to him in a recent DSG assembly:
“DSG and SAC are unique in that we have a coordinate model – we are traditionally monastic schools – all girls at DSG and all boys at SAC - but we often join together, be it for academic classes in the senior grades, Drama productions, Athletics Days or lots of socials – formal and informal.
This co-ordination of two busy schools doesn’t just happen – it is complex, and even sometimes quite emotive, as everyone in departments, sporting codes, etc, fights for their share of the pie. The reason it works as well as it does is because of key people like Dr Nuttall. Not only does he, together with Mrs Webb, put an inordinate amount of time into creating calendars, timetables, information booklets; etc, and into ensuring the smooth day-to-day operations of our schools, but he judiciously balances our needs with those of SAC.
The co-ordinate model works because we trust Dr Nuttall to take decisions that are in the best interests of both schools. He has looked after us and has helped us to strive to be the best that we can be. There is no doubt that Dr Nuttall has promoted academic excellence across both schools. He has been instrumental in implementing a joint academic policy for DSG and SAC. I have also been struck on a number of occasions by his sincere concern for your welfare beyond the classroom.
Dr Nuttall has been here since January 2002 as Senior Deputy Head of SAC. He was appointed Acting Headmaster from June until December 2002 prior to the arrival of Mr Wylde. I know that he was a wonderful support to Mr Wylde, and that his wisdom, corporate knowledge of SAC and immense insight has been of huge value to Mr Edey also. I too have enjoyed the weight of his support and wisdom over the past year and a bit.
Dr Nuttall is leaving to found an International School at Tsabo in Kenya. This will start as a Junior School but over the years it will grow through to High School. The school will be co-educational with a focus on Bio-diversity and will be run in partnership with the Kenyan Wildlife Service. The venture is funded by a German Company which plans to set up a network of International Schools elsewhere in the world. Dr Nuttall’s Africa School will be the first of these schools.
Lalage Nuttall will stay at DSG for at least Grade 6 and her brother, Joshua, who is in Grade 10 will complete his schooling at SAC, and so Dr Nuttall stays on as one of our parents and we don’t bid him farewell totally.
Dr Nuttall, we pay tribute to you today for your service to us. We thank you and we wish you every success as you face the stimulating, exciting and rather daunting challenge of starting a new school. Go well and good luck!”
In closing, a reminder to parents and girls that next term is a winter term. Once the weather gets cold, the girls will be required to wear their winter uniform and this includes the choice of regulation school brown pants. No other pants will be accommodated. If the girls do not like them they have the choice of gyms and stockings.
I wish our parents and girls a happy, safe holiday.
Regards
Shelley Frayne
Headmistress
Kelly Long to represent South Africa 25th January 2012
Kelly Long will represent South Africa at the 5th International Sustainable World Project Olympiad in the USA
