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Volume 17 ∞ Issue 17 ∞ 30 October 2014

HOUSE PLAYS

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School News What’s inside:

* Senior School * Junior School * General * Sport Highlights

Junior School Senior School

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Out Of The Hat A RECOMMENDED READ FROM BOARDING I came across an interesting arti-cle which I would like to share. Enjoy. Stages of Adolescence Adolescence, these years from puberty to adulthood, may be roughly divided into three stages: early adolescence, generally ag-es eleven to fourteen; middle ad-olescence, ages fifteen to seven-teen; and late adolescence, ages eighteen to twenty-one. In addi-tion to physiological growth, sev-en key intellectual, psychological and social developmental tasks are squeezed into these years. The fundamental purpose of these tasks is to form one’s own identity and to prepare for adult-hood. Physical Development Puberty is defined as the biologi-cal changes of adolescence. By mid-adolescence, if not sooner, most youngsters’ physiological growth is complete; they are at or close to their adult height and weight, and are now physically capable of having babies. Intellectual Development Most boys and girls enter adoles-cence still perceiving the world around them in concrete terms: things are right or wrong, awe-some or awful. They rarely set their sights beyond the present, which explains younger teens’ inability to consider the long-term consequences of their actions. By late adolescence, many youngsters have come to appre-ciate subtleties of situations and ideas, and to project into the future. Their capacity to solve complex problems and to sense

what others are thinking has sharpened considerably. But be-cause they are still relatively inex-perienced in life, even older teens apply these newfound skills errat-ically and therefore may act with-out thinking. Emotional Development If teenagers can be said to have a reason for being (besides sleeping in on weekends and cleaning out the refrigerator), it would have to be asserting their independence. This demands that they distance themselves from Mom and Dad. The march toward autonomy can take myriad forms: less overt affection, more time spent with friends, conten-tious behaviour, pushing the lim-its—the list goes on and on. Yet adolescents frequently feel con-flicted about leaving the safety and security of home. They may yo-yo back and forth between craving your attention, only to spin away again. Social Development Until now, a child’s life has re-volved mainly around the family. Adolescence has the effect of a stone dropped in water, as her social circle ripples outward to include friendships with members of the same sex, the opposite sex, different social and ethnic groups, and other adults, like a favourite teacher or coach. Even-tually teenagers develop the ca-pacity for falling in love and form-ing romantic relationships. Not all teenagers enter and exit adolescence at the same age or display these same behaviours. What’s more, throughout much of adolescence, a youngster can be further along in some areas of development than in others. For

example, a fifteen-year-old girl may physically resemble a young adult but she may still act very much like a child since it isn’t until late adolescence that intellectual, emotional and social develop-ments begin to catch up with physical development. Is it any wonder that teenagers sometimes feel confused and conflicted, especially given the limbo that society imposes on them for six to ten years, or long-er? Prior to World War II, only about one in four youngsters fin-ished high school. It was com-monplace for young people still in their teens to be working full-time and married with children. Today close to three in four youngsters receive high-school diplomas, with two in five graduates going on to college. “As more and more teens have extended their educa-tion,” says Dr Joseph Rauh, a specialist in adolescent medicine since the 1950s, “the age range of adolescence has been stretched into the twenties.”

R eflect on your own teenage years, and perhaps you’ll recall the frustration of longing to

strike out on your own—but still being financially dependent on Mom and Dad. Or striving to be your own person—yet at the same time wanting desperately to fit in among your peers. Adolescence can be a confusing time for parents, too. For one thing, they must contend with their children’s often paradoxical behaviour. How is it that the same son given to arias about saving the rain forest has to be nagged repeatedly to sort the re-cycling?

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Or that in the course of an hour your daughter can accuse you of treating her “like a baby,” then act wounded that you would expect her to clear the table after din-ner?

B ut beyond learning to anticipate the shifting currents of adolescent emotion, mothers and

fathers may be struggling with some conflicting emotions of their own. The pride you feel as you watch your youngster become independent can be countered by a sense of displacement. As much as you may accept intellec-tually that withdrawing from one’s parents is an integral part of growing up, it hurts when the child who used to beg to join you on errands now rarely consents to being seen in public with you, and then only if the destination is a minimum of one area code away. It’s comforting to know that feel-ing a sense of loss is a normal response—one that is probably shared by half the moms and dads standing next to you at soc-cer practice. For paediatricians, offering guidance and advice to parents makes up a considerable and rewarding part of each day. Last Updated 10/13/2014 Source Adapted from Caring for Your Teenager (Copyright © 2003 American Academy of Paediat-rics)

Gill Koller

Boarding Co-ordinator

REMINDER FOR

END OF THE YEAR

Please consider bringing a Christmas gift (wrapped) for a BOY or GIRL for the Festival of Praise. Indicate if the gift is for a BOY or GIRL and the age. We try to bring some Christmas cheer to the people at the pro-jects we have supported, so we are collecting the following for our Christmas packets: Grade 8: a bar of soap and a facecloth Grade 9: a tube of toothpaste Grade 10: a toothbrush Grade 11: hand cream, tissues or shampoo. Please put these items in the boxes at the back of Mrs Ester-huysen’s classroom.

After examinations: We collect unwanted stationery and distribute to needy schools. There will be clearly labelled box-es in the Media Centre Foyer for you to drop off your old files, sta-tionery, unused books etc. Some of the Grades will be help-ing with making chocolates; marshmallow clowns; decorating gift bags; and packing the gift bags. We ask that you come equipped to help with tasks you are assigned to.

Pam Esterhuysen

The Grade 8s are also supporting Merchiston with their cancer aware-ness drive and have decorated a tree on their field. When you drive past, using Boshoff street, you will see a tree with TWC hats hanging from it. Debby Bird

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2015 HEADS OF SCHOOL We congratulate the 2015 Heads of School on their appointments: Left to Right: Sibulelo Jolwana, Deputy Head of Boarding; Jordan Magrobi, Head of School; Bailey le Roux, Head Day Girl; and Caitlin Militz, Head of Boarding.

GRADE 8 CHARITY Jes Foord, a rape survivor, gave an informative and chilling talk to the Grade 8 girls. The Jes Foord Foundation is the chosen Grade 8 charity initiative and the girls donated items for Ms Foord to put into bags to help rape victims. Debby Bird

Jes Foord with Grade 8s.

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GRADE 6

BOOK PROJECT I recently had the privilege of reading books intended for use by young children which were written and illustrated by the Grade 6 girls. It was clear that the girls were motivated and took great effort in the compilation of the books. I think that the books would delight all children.

In an article such as this, it is im-possible to comment on all the books. However, I will briefly mention some. The Dancing Mice by Tyla Farina reflects her originality in both the text and illustrations. I loved the image of ‘the mice started danc-ing together, swaying to a three beat rhythm’. Zandile Sibiya writes about an elephant who wants to climb a tree. The refrain, ‘Maybe it’s just not meant to be’ is reassuringly apt.

The Colourless Land is a most imaginative story, exquisitely il-lustrated. The text is simple and the whole book reflects Katie Elmer-English’s unique style and talent. Laura Quin’s, Little Joey, illustrat-ed on a pale wash of colour, is a tender story about the special relationship of a mother and child. Paisley the Great by Catherine

Dent is a charming tale which, from the opening sentence, ‘Paisley was not an average pot-belly pig’, makes for compelling reading. The interactive nature of Gabriel-la Cuturi’s A Birthday Surprise will certainly intrigue readers. The fluffy bunny demands to be stroked!

This project enabled the girls to learn and refine many skills.

These included: the art of storytelling adherence to the grammatical

conventions of writing the need to sustain interest the value of illustrations a consideration of audience.

In addition, the girls learnt that the creative process inevitably requires perseverance and stami-na, and yet also has the potential to afford great joy and satisfac-tion.

Congratulations to Mrs Wendy Ritson for initiating this project and to Mrs Leslie Burczak for her interest.

iPads in Music lessons Mrs Leslie Duffy has commented that the use of a ‘virtual piano’ keyboard on iPads enables a whole class, regardless of their level of musical proficiency, to learn to read notation and apply it to a keyboard. The girls learn chords and the rudiments of har-mony, and how to orientate them-selves to the keyboard. This af-fords them great fun while playing chord progressions of various pop songs, including Timber, by Pitball and Kesha, while singing the melody.

Flick Wright - Headmistress

Grade 6s Yashna Allopi, Caroline Coolbear and Danalyn Schmidt, delighting in using iPads in a music lesson.

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Music Happenings It has been a very busy and re-warding time in the Music Depart-ment. At the end of last term, girls played their various practical mu-sic exams. Our Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music exams were held shortly after the Eisteddfod, followed by Trinity College and then finally Rockschools exams. We have received all the results and our girls did exceptionally well with the vast majority attaining a merit (above 80%) and a good number of girls achieving distinction level. We are exceedingly proud of the girls and their teachers for per-forming at such a high standard. It is important to note that there were just about as many Grades 6, 7 and 8 exam entries as there were for the lower grades which is pleasing to see. The South African Society of Music Teachers’ Prizewinners’ concert was hosted at TWC this year and our school was very well

represented. At the evening, pupils who achieved a distinction in their instrument are awarded a certificate. There are also medals awarded for the top mark attained in each phase. The following girls received medals:

SASMT ABRSM AWARDS 2014 Junior Vocal Award Khwezi Mchunu Intermediate Vocal Award Ashley Richardson Primary Instrumental Award Ashleigh Starmer Intermediate Instrumental Award Jordyn Glanfield Senior Instrumental Award Kirsten Moody College Instrumental Intermediate Award Elizabeth Burchmore Trinity CPollege Senior Instrumental Award Kerry Bailey

Two of our staff members were also awarded medals. Janine Theron received the Service to Music Award and Jaco Goosen received a medal in recognition for his choral work with the Senior Choir.

ABRSM Theory exams were

also hosted at TWC early this term and more than 25 girls wrote examinations ranging from Grades 1 to 5. We are eagerly awaiting the results!

The Music Department has cer-tainly been busy and will continue to be for the remainder of the year with the Nativity play in the Junior School and Festival of Praise rounding off the term. We look forward to an equally productive and successful 2015. Jenny du Plessis

APPEAL Calling all parents and businesses

This year, we are again hoping to attract your support for Upstream 2014 through page sponsorship.

The cost of sponsorship is: R200 per page R300 inside front cover and inside back cover

The text will be printed across the bottom of the page and could read something like:

“This page sponsored by the Smith Family” OR

“This page sponsored by Grade 12, 2014” OR

“This page sponsored by Smith Engineering”

Please would you make your bookings by e-mailing the Upstream Editor, Ant Lovell, on antony.l@twc.org.za or leaving a message for him at Senior School Reception.

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Appealing to all Parents! We would like to make an appeal to all those parents, who may be interested in arranging flowers for our school foyers, to contact our Marketing Department. Our school is visited by so many people in the course of a day – girls, staff, parents, visitors and Old Girls - and a fresh bunch of flowers in our foyers makes these areas warm and welcoming. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE AN EXPERT FLOWER ARRANGER – all we ask is for attractive foliage and/or flowers to grace our foyers. Flowers and foliage from your home garden are fine – you do not need to go to any extra expense and you will only be asked to pro-vide flowers once a term. If you would like to be included in this lovely way of serving TWC, then please contact Kerry Aldum in the Marketing Department on kerrya@twc.org.za or 033-342 0752.

Dear Parents, Girls and Staff of TWC Once again we are collecting Christmas Presents, which will be distributed to underprivileged children close to Christ-mas. Please wrap your present/s in Christmas wrapping paper and place a sticker on it/them indicating the AGE GROUP and whether the present is for a BOY or GIRL. You may place your present/s in the two collection boxes in the Marketing Office.

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Junior School

SQUASH RESULTS: TWC A vs Clifton: TWC lost 10 – 2 TWC B vs Epworth: TWC won 9 – 3 TWC B vs St John’s: Drew 6 – 6 TWC B vs Eston: TWC lost 5 - 7

SWIMMING Our C and D teams swam at TWC Gala on Thursday. Our C Team won the gala and the D Team came 8th. Our A and B Teams swam at the St John’s Gala. The A Team won the gala and the B Team came 7th out of ten Teams. All the girls are con-gratulated on the high standard of their swimming.

ATHLETICS Congratulations to Jessica Bompas who ran in the SA Championships in Durban on Sat-urday. Jessica was placed first in both the 100 and 200m races for which she received 2 gold med-als. In the 200m, Jessica broke her own record which she set last year. What a wonderful result. We are proud of you Jess.

Gaynor Weir Sports Co-Ordinator

Senior School

KARATE

A few of our girls were graded last week.

The following girls received their provincial grading: Sandi Mkhize was graded to Black Belt 1st Dan. Amanda Peake, Joanna Michowitz and Nicole Kahari re-ceived their Brown Belt 2nd Kue.

Dudu Mabasa and Tashiana Roshan received their Brown Belt 3rd Kue The following girls did their gen-eral grading: Eniola Ojo received her Blue Belt. Isabella Joubert and Azra Khan received their Green Belts.

Georgina Egebrink entered the Young Riders Endurance race this past weekend. She rode a distance of 83km and successful-ly completed the ride and was placed 6th in the category. Her horse, Francis, did extremely well at all the vet checks and passed easily. Next year she is hoping to compete at Fauresmith. This ride will be 200km in 3 days on the same horse. Well done, Georgi-na! Western Mounted Horse Riding Heather Haldane represented KZN at the Western Mounted Level 2 Games. The competition ran over 3 days. Heather and her horse, Casino, had some good finishes in the 12 event games.

EQUESTRIAN

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HOCKEY A number of indoor hockey matches have been played over the last two weeks. The results are as follows: A total of 39 fixtures have been played this season with a win and draw ratio of 74.4%. 141 goals were scored for and 93 against. Samantha Yeats was top scorer for the juniors with 9 goals to her name and Megan Smith scored 14 goals for the seniors.

Staff vs Girls Indoor Hockey To end the Indoor Hockey season, a “friendly” match between TWC girls and staff was played on Tuesday 28 October. It was a closely contested match with all players determined to be on the winning side. Ms Tasker joined in the fun and played as a very high hanging striker without shin pads or even shoes (very brave of her). Ms Tasker showed some good flair as striker but goalkeeper, Anele Manci, denied her the opportunity of scoring a goal for the staff (There goes that “A” Anele). The staff team definitely had all the experience but the young junior team had the speed. (This was evident as Julia Lawrie scribbled past the coaches and scored most of the goals). The game ended with the staff allowing the young juniors the op-portunity of winning 4-3. The staff needed 10 minutes to recompose themselves before playing the next game against the seniors. The senior team arrived with lots of “fresh legs” and were confident of a win. The staff made some crucial positional changes in the hope of surprising the opposition with Mrs Rob putting on the pads in the first half and Mr Willows in the second half. (Nicola Deenik did help the staff a little bit in the first half to get ahead of the senior team). Cailin Harries showed some potential as a goal keeper and denied Mrs Thomson and Miss Segal from scoring a few goals (actually Miss Segal just missed everything). The staff team played with a bit more composure and the “game plan” worked for them, allowing the mature players to win 2-0 (next time girls).

Team VHS Grace MCS Howick GHS

Junior 1 Won 5 - 1 vs Senior 1st Won 6 - 3

vs Senior 1st Won 4 - 1

Drew 4 – 4

Junior 2 Won 2 - 1 Drew 4 – 4

Junior 3 Won 1 – 0 Lost 0 - 2

Junior 4

Senior 1

Senior 2 vs Senior 1st Won 11 - 3

vs Senior 1st Won 7 – 2

vs Junior 1st Won 11 – 0

vs Senior 1st Lost 2 - 5

Senior 3 Won 2 – 0 Won 4 – 0 Won 5 - 1 Won 1 – 0

Senior 4 Won 3 - 1 vs 1st

Lost 3 – 6

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Jodie Koenig was selected for the KwaZulu-Natal U15A Water Polo Team that will participate at the South African Schools Water Polo Tournament to be held in Johannesburg from 12 - 16 De-cember 2014. We are very proud of her achievement.

WATER POLO

Jodie Koenig

TWC co-hosted the annual Day- Night Water Polo Festival at St John’s. Thirteen teams took part in the festival such as Thomas More College, Durban Girls’ High School, Maris Stella, Treverton, St Anne’s, Epworth, Pietermaritz-burg Girls’ High School and St John’s. There was a wonderful buzz of excitement around the pool during the festivities of the day’s events. The new TWC Sport Committee for 2015 worked hard ensuring the festival ran smoothly and on time. TWC girls gained a great deal of experience by playing against the stronger Durban-based schools as well as against the boys. TWC vs Thomas More Lost 0 – 2 TWC vs Maris Stella Lost 0 – 2 TWC vs DGHS Lost 2 – 6 TWC vs Trev Boys Lost 2 - 10

The teams played against St John’s and Treverton this last week. The results were as follows:

Team St John’s Treverton

U15B Won 6 – 2

Chukka 1: 2 – 0

Chukka 2: 1 – 0

Chukka 3: 2 – 1

Chukka 4: 1 – 1

Jessica Reimers (2)

Bronagh Johnson (3)

Rachel Taylor (1)

Won 9 - 6

Chukka 1: 2 – 2

Chukka 2: 2 – 1

Chukka 3: 4 – 1

Chukka 4: 1 – 2

Jessica Reimers (2)

Bronagh Johnson (4)

Rachel Taylor (2)

Ellen Shute (1)

U15A Won 17 – 0

Chukka 1: 4 – 0

Chukka 2: 4 – 0

Chukka 3: 6 – 0

Chukka 4: 3 – 0

Tara Wheeler (3)

Jodie Koenig (4)

Jessica Reimers (2)

Jade Newman (6)

Micaela Abreu (1)

Jessica Hirschowitz (1)

Won 8 – 3

Chukka 1: 3 – 0

Chukka 2: 1 – 1

Chukka 3: 3 – 1

Chukka 4: 1 – 1

Tara Wheeler (3)

Rachel Springate (1)

Jodie Koenig (2)

Tessa Lategan (2)

2nds Won 4 – 3

Chukka 1: 3 – 1

Chukka 2: 1 – 2

Chelsea Meiring (4)

1st Drew 8 - 8

Chukka 1: 1 – 2

Chukka 2: 2 – 2

Chukka 3: 2 – 2

Chukka 4: 3 – 2

Alice Finlay (1)

Sarah Dixon (2)

Jodie Koenig (5)

Won 3 - 2

Chukka 1: 1 – 0

Chukka 2: 0 – 1

Chukka 3: 1 – 1

Chukka 4: 1 – 0

Sarah Dixon (2)

Chelsea Meiring (1)

SQUASH

A few squash team members played a friendly squash match on Wednesday against the top boys and girls from Treverton College. Tessa Foster beat Durand Uys 3 – 2 Sam Yeats lost to Kyle Maclean 2 – 3 Amy Harris lost to Tim Lang 0 – 3 Luyanda Gumede beat Holly McCarthy 3 – 1 Cassidy Robertson lost to Tarnah Cartwright 0 – 3 Elizabeth Burchmore beat Bianca Shaw 3 – 1 TWC lost 11 – 13 to Treverton

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TOUCH RUGBY

Upper Umgeni Saturday 25 October

TWC entered 4 girls into the Upper Umgeni river race. There was a good water release which provided excellent paddling conditions. The paddlers were started in 5 second intervals which proved to be a nice change from the congested batch-starting procedure. Although Holly Edmonds experienced rudder problems, she still man-aged a credible 2nd place and Katherine Barry came 3rd. TWC’s up and coming junior, Gemma Lawson, paddled well and was third in the U16 age group. Linda Sithole was consistent and finished without any mishaps. TWC parents, who are experienced, paddled their K2’s with a begin-ner. This gave 7 girls the opportunity to experience the fun and excite-ment of paddling down a river for the first time. They all learnt a lot and are looking forward to the next opportunity. Sport Department

We congratulate Samantha Late-gan on her selection for the U17 KZN touch rugby team. There were 6 sides in the U17 division and KZN only lost 1 game to Gauteng, but won the rest of their matches. This earned them a place in the final against Gaut-eng. They lost by 1 point in the final.

Sarah te Riele represented the KZN U18 Level 4 Gymnastics Team that participated at the South African National Gym-nastics Games in Cape Town. On the vault she got 8.35 points; bar, 7.05 points; beam, 7.70 points; floor, 8.10 points. She was placed 17th out of all the partici-pants.

GYMNASTICS

CANOEING

Some Girls safely

negotiating the

Umgeni Weir.

Holly Edmonds

Katherine Barry

Gemma Lawson Linda Sithole