WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:

NEWSLETTER No. 7
4 March 2010

Dear Parents, staff and boys

The Angels and Their Prayer Baskets.

Long, long ago God called his two archangels Gabriel and Michael and gave them very special tasks to fulfill on the earth. God explained very clearly what they had to do.

It was very simple. Gabriel had to collect all the thank you prayers he heard and bring them back to heaven, and Michael had to gather the “Please Lord” prayers, and bring them back to God.

“Is everything clear?” God asked.
The archangels nodded their heads. “Yes, Lord.”
They went to fetch baskets to carry the prayers they gathered. Gabriel chose a gigantic basket to carry all the thank you prayers. “Jesus is so good to the people on earth,” he explained to Michael, “I don’t think this basket is going to be big enough for all their prayers of thanks.”
Michael nodded. “I agree. I’m taking just a small basket along. God is so good to people that they have almost nothing to ask for.”

So they set off for earth. Michael heard a child asking for a bicycle, a poor man prayed for food, and a girl asked God to help her friends not to be nasty to her. Many more “Please Lord” prayers landed in the basket until it was overflowing. When the basket was full Michael filled his pockets, and when they were bursting he stuck the prayers to the feathers of his wings.

Gabriel sang as he flew over the earth. But his song grew quieter, because his basket remained empty. Finally he stopped singing altogether in case he missed the faintest murmur of a thank you prayer. At last, as he flew over a house, he heard a child saying. “Thank you father, for a lovely day.” Then he collected one more thank you from an old woman, and popped it in his basket.

When they arrived back in heaven, both angels were heart-sore as they laid the baskets at the feet of God. People had forgotten so quickly to say thank you to him. God looked at their sad faces, and said, “One day everyone will say thank you to me. But for now, pass me the ‘Please Lord’ prayers of my children. Let us see how we can help them.”

2010 marks the first year for me at Cordwalles, where I am teaching without having a child at school with me. I believe it is a good time to reflect on how privileged, fortunate and thankful I have been as a parent to have our boys at a school which bases “Your Son’s Foundation For Life” on the five core values:

• Respect            - to respect  God, oneself, others and the environment
• Courage           - to be brave enough to stand up for what is right
• Integrity           - to act fairly and honestly and without prejudice
• Responsibility    - to take action where necessary and the consequences of such actions.
• Compassion      - to help others and identify with their needs

When I cast my mind back to the early years, years when my boys were in The ‘Inky’, where making marmalade, Baker Man on Fridays and playing on the jungle gym were highlights of our boys’ lives. I realize what fun they had. Then came ‘real school’: Buying the uniform and wearing in sandals, to avoid blisters. With big school, was the start of Inky Sport and soccer, cricket and hockey matches, who can forget those creative, fun-filled Inky galas and Athletic Days? So many activities to be thankful for!

The Senior Primary years are packed with Sport Fixtures with numerous matches, tournaments and tours to be attended. It is interesting to note, that our boys do not remember whether they won or lost, but rather the friendships they made. The  Cultural activities ensure balanced and well rounded boys with the choices of choir, Big Band, Djembe Drums, Pop Idols and the chance to be involved Grandparents Day, Grade Plays and the much anticipated Grade 7 Play. Who can forget Mr Bause’s humour in the General Knowledge quizzes? Then there is the annual Mudman, this is where parents who volunteer, deserve to be thanked for the tireless hours of work which they do for us - The Cordwalles Family. They are supportive and passionate about Cordwalles just as the boys are of their school. This close teamwork of boys and parents ensures a spirit of standing and working together. It makes me think of the acronym of Team:

• Together
• Everyone
• Achieve
• More

There are so many who encourage, motivate, assist, coach and praise our boys. Let us remember there is no ‘I’ in the word team.

I am so thankful for all the opportunities offered to our boys. It is up to the boys of Cordwalles, when they leave for their various High Schools to build on this “Foundation For Life.” It is said in 1 Thessolonians 5 vs 18. “Be thankful in all circumstances, this is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus.” 

This is not difficult if you are part of the “Cordwalles Family.”

Denise Dedekind
Head of Pastoral Care

Birthdays
The following boys and staff celebrate their birthdays this week:

		MARCH:
	Khulu Mjwara, Garren Naidoo,	4
	Ruan de Wet	5
	Shailin Pillay, Langelihle Xaba, Mrs Peckham	6
	Cayle Dormehl, Sphesihle Zondi	7
	Ryan Maskell, Calvin Mentzel	9
	Jordan Baxter	10
	Peter Fogden	11

 

End of Year Dates
We will be holding our Speech and Prize Giving for Grades 4 – 7 and closing school on Wednesday 1 December. This change has come about due to pressure put on us by various ISASA high schools (ie Hilton, Michaelhouse, St Anne’s & The Wykeham Collegiate) changing their end of year schedules. The Junior Primary and Pre Primary boys will finish school on Tuesday 30 November.

Please note that Speech and Prize Giving is compulsory for ALL boys in Grade 4 – 7.

Easter Egg collection – Denise Dedekind
As in the past, we are collecting marshmallow Easter eggs this year to be distributed to children’s homes, old age
homes, AIDS victims and various other needy causes in our area. Please help us give a little cheer to those less fortunate than ourselves.

Parents Who Care
Parents who Care is a group of parents who meet weekly to pray together for the Cordwalles community.
When we meet each week, we give thanks for the privileges we have in our community and the many, many Blessings we have. We pray for the life of our children, parents, teaching staff, students and support staff. We pray that each person would be touched and protected by the Mighty hand of God. We especially pray that every little boy will come to understand how much God loves him.

There are many weeks that we have requests to pray for families who have lost loved ones or who are sick and needy and we believe that God has touched many lives in our community. We also look at the Calendar Card to be in touch with the activities of the school boys, and particularly when they are travelling for school or sporting events. We welcome any prayer requests from children, parents or staff and we really want to show God’s love to the wider Cordwalles community. If you would like to get involved in the group, we meet in the Chapel on Monday mornings from 7:30am. All welcome. If you have any requests, you can contact Bev Brink 083 4255687

Cordwalles Website
Statistics show that the website is being used extensively by the parents and boys. For those of you who don’t, you are missing out!
You can:

• *view Photographs of outings and activities happening at school (the gallery has just been updated with activities  ranging from Lads and Dads to Grade 7 Science);
• *check the Sports Fixtures to see what time your child’s game is;
• *look at the handy Calendar to see what is happening (it has the same information as the Calendar Card);
• *print out forms such as the Mudman entry form;
• *order clothes from Sister Townsend;
• *border parents: the website is an invaluable source of information.

There is so much more, go and see for yourself: http://www.cordwalles.co.za . You won’t be sorry.

Recycling
Congratulations to all boys who are recycling. Recyclers of the week ending 26 February:

Top Boys	Points	Class of the week	Points
Brent Farina	6 200	Grade 3C	15 800
Jacques van der Walt	9 200
Caylim Lochner	9 900

There was a typing error last week, Matthew Gray (not Bray) came third for the week.  
Recycler of the Month for February was Caylim Lochner in Grade 3V and currently the leading class is Grade 4K.

A special thank you to Kerry Peckham for painting the wonderful recycling sign that has been placed on the fence of our recycling area.

Inky & JP Gala Friday 26 March
The start time has changed to 8.30am, not 9am. Tea will be served from 07h45 – 08h30 and not after the gala.

Grade 1 & 2 Dads please note that there will be a Dads & Sons race! Please come dressed in your costumes ready for the race. If anyone needs a "surrogate" Dad, please let your teacher know.

Road Safety
Two issues have recently been brought to our attention: Firstly it is imperative that all boys being given lifts to school outings or sports events must wear seat belts. Please do not give lifts to boys if you cannot strap them in, you could be charged with negligence should you be involved in an accident.

Secondly we do have a turning circle at school with a pedestrian crossing. There is a big tree in the middle of the circle outside the Grade 1 classrooms. This area may not be used for parking – no matter how short a time you will be stopped there. You may stop to allow a child to jump out the car but please, do not park or stop anywhere near this pedestrian crossing. It is impossible to see small boys around big cars – we do not want your child to be run over. Please also be aware that this turning circle allows for the flow of traffic at peak times in the mornings.

 

FROM THE SPORTS DESK    -   Lance Veenstra

With rugby season fast approaching, please, when you are buying rugby boots for your son, make sure that they are predominantly black. Rugby scrum caps must be either black or grey. ALL boys must wear gum guards when on the rugby and hockey fields. The gum guards must be either clear or white – no coloured gum guards will be allowed.

Grade 2 Mini Cricket
Our Grade 2 boys will be playing in a mini night cricket match at Merchiston on Wednesday 10 March 2010 from 18h30 – 19h30. This fixture is not in the calendar card. Parents and boys please meet at Merchiston at 18h15.

 

Sport’s programme for next week

Monday 8 March	Rugby	U9 – Open practice
	Swimming	A, B & C Senior squads will practice as normal
	NO Tennis
Tuesday 9 March	Swimming	A & B Teams - Gala
	Rugby	U9 – Open practice
	Tennis	Early morning 6.45 – 7.30am
Wednesday 10 March	NO SWIMMING
	NO RUGBY
Thursday 11 March	Swimming	C Team – Gala
	Rugby	U9 – Open practice ALL C Team swimmers must attend rugby practice after their gala
	NO Tennis

 

Swimming
Congratulations to Kuhle Khumalo who has been selected to swim for the KwaZulu Natal Provincial Team in the SA Primary Schools National Championships in Cape Town on the 5th and 6th March 2010. We are proud of this fine achievement.

 

 

Chess Results
The Junior Chess team played a round robin tournament on Monday evening:

Clifton NR          7	Cordwalles        7
Cowan House    8	Clifton NR          8
Cowan House    6	Cordwalles        8

 

 

The Senior Chess team played against Clifton Nottingham Road winning 12 – 4.

 

Cricket Results

Saturday 27 February
Team	Opponent	Batted First	Batted Second	Result	Special Mention
1st XI	Merchiston	Cordwalles 208 for 5	Merchiston 210 for 5	Merchiston won by 5 wickets	B Bradford 62 D Hirschowitz 46*
2nd XI	Merchiston	Cordwalles 94 all out	Merchiston 95 for 3	Merchiston won by 7 wickets	B Morgan 32
3rd XI	Merchiston	Merchiston 152 all out	Cordwalles 50 all out	Merchiston won by 102 runs
U11A	Merchiston	Cordwalles 170 all out	Merchiston 92 all out	Cordwalles won by 78 runs	K Khumalo 37 A Glutz 23 R Forder 47 A Geyser 3 for 15
U11B	Merchiston	Cordwalles 63 all out	Merchiston 64 for 1	Merchiston won by 9 wickets	Kyle Knoop 23
U10A	Merchiston	Merchiston 135 all out	Cordwalles 138 for 4	Cordwalles won by 6 wickets	J Campbell 4 for 12 N Govender 3 for 16 B Trodd 32 O Aadnesgaard 21 J Campbell 21
U10B	Merchiston	Cordwalles 106 for 7	Merchiston 93 for 5	Cordwalles won by 13 runs	S Pillay 31 Q Mehlwana 3 for 10
U9A	Merchiston	Merchiston 86 for 5	Cordwalles 84 for 6	Merchiston won by 2 runs	N Nsuntsha 2 for 14 K Chetty 33 J van der Walt 23