Muizenberg High School - Yearbook (Cape Town, South Africa)

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PRINCIPAL'S ANNUAL REPORT INTRODUCTION You will be glad to hear that my report is shorter than usual in that we wish to give the children and the teachers the opportunity of reporting on activities themselves. These can be found elsewhere in the Magazine. I shall report only on the highlights. STAFF ' . The quality of our staff continues to be recognized as first-class, which is one of the chief reasons we have the reputation of being a very good school. Our administrative staff, with Mrs Hickey and Mrs du Preez in charge, is the best you are likely to find anywhere. Having mentioned Mrs du Preez many of you are probably aware that Mrs du Preez is leaving MJ S at the end of this year to join her husband and family in Durban. We wish her joy and happiness in her new home and bid her adieu with the message that she will never be forgotten by All of Us at M.J .S.A. further tribute to Mrs du Preez is published elsewhere in the magazine. Next year sees a number of temporary changes in that some of our teachers will be having babies, studying to im- proving their qualifications, getting married and going overseas. Three of our teachers are leaving. Mrs K. Daniels, we thank you for dedicated service to M.J .S. You will be sorely missed. , Mrs Marrison, one of our music teachers, occupied a temporary post for the 3rd and 4th terms. Her enthusiasm Land refreshing innovations will be missed. We wish her and her husband every happiness in their move to the Transvaal. Our renowned Miss Hawksworth is moving to a higher position - that of Vice-Principal tH.O.D.J - at Good Hope Seminary. Miss Hawksworth, we are indeed proud that only after 4 years' teaching, you should be selected for this important job. Our loss will be great, yet we are proud in that we feel the training you have gained here was instrumental in your securing your new post. We wish you every success. . I think it is appropriate at this point to mention that our school places great emphasis on leadership training and recognition of talent and hard work. In the past two years no fewer than 2 Principals and 4 Vice-Principals fHOD'sJ have been appointed from the staff of this school. This must be some kind of record. Junior Members in the business of running the School are the Prefects. Thanks to them for duties well-performed. Seeing our children safely across the road is a vitally important duty - our thanks to Mrs Brough in this regard. Last but not least thanks to the cleaning staff led by Caretaker Mr Volsteedt. ACADEMIC I CULTURAL I SPORT Significant this year has been the great strides made in the field of soccer, a game played by most boys in the school, to the tune of 5 teams entered. But it has not only been quantity - many games were won and many were close - but also quality with the U13A soccer team promoted to the 'A' League through its fine accomplishments Calso an historic 'first'J. The Senior Netball team also shone, winning their League convincingly. MJS repeated last year's success at the Afrikaans Eisteddfod, coming away with Santam Shield for the greatest numbers participating in any school, as well as a trophy and numerous certificates. Another historic first has been our entry into the Maths Association of South Africa Olympiad, an extremely dif- ficult test of mathematical competence. It is not unusual, even in big schools, to deliver even one pupil. We are proud of the fact that at our very first attempt, a Std 5 pupil, Marc Nadler, gained entry to the finals. Our Senior Choir gained a creditworthy Honours Diploma at the Cape Town English Eisteddfod. It is on the cards that next year we will be entering our music pupils in the Cape Town Afrikaans Eisteddfod, which over the years has become an occasion carrying a great amount of prestige. Another historic 'first' is the entry of a horseridingfshowjumping team, with Bazil Lawrenson, Jason de and Justin Snaith excelling themselves at Championships throughout the country. White and Red Merit Badges for high academic achievement and consistent effort were introduced for the first time this year. Open Day, with a display of pupils' work, interspersed with live cultural items and a video of school activities, was another successful first for M.J.S. 83 fi V- ' L. if 2 5-...mana-..ei:.4.v....t..,.. ' fi.. .T ' ' ' ru- 1 . -

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In spite of some early fundraising setbacks, the P.T.A. have to ldate raised R18 000, a truly remarkable achieve- ment. If it were not for this injection of capital, you can be certain that the school would not have continued to function as it did having to pay out for maintenance, salaries to administrative staff, sports facilities and the like, especially with cutbacks biting deeper and deeper. In spiteof a tight budget, educational equipment was also pur- chased, details of which can be found elsewhere in the magazine. We say thank you to the parents for supporting our fundraising ventures and we say a special thank you to the P.T.A. Committee for its organization of these functions. A sound and astute leader has emerged in the form of C arol-Anne Sharpe, who in her first year as P.T.A. C hairlady, kept the boat afloat when the storm was at its roughest. To all members of the Committee - you deserve the highest praise. THE P.T.A., PRE-PRIMARY AND FINANCES IN GENERAL- 1 Mrs F. C alverey retires from that most fundamental of P.T.A. support systems, the tuckshop. We thank her for the efficient and exacting standards she has brought to this important Job. She now takes on a different mantle - that of School Secretary. We congratulate her on this appointment and wish her well in this demanding post. Our Pre-Primary Committee, under the Chairmanship of Mr Derrick Bunch, has been most positive in its ap- proach and has met all the needs of the Pre-Primary. The Pre-Primary is fully booked for the next two years. THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE Because of adjustments in the new political dispensation, the Provincial Administration authorities decreed that School Committee elections were to be postponed until next year. However, as more than half of our Committee would not be parents of the school next year, it was decided to hold a By-Election in October. Our congratulations go to the following five new members: Mrs C.A. Sharpe, Mrs M. Dednam, Rev. J. Harris, Mr J. Hebbert and Mr A. Hewitt. Congratulations also to Mr J. Kipps and Mrs M. Dednam on being elected as Chairman and Secretary respectively. I wish to re-iterate my thanks to members of the outgoing Committee. It has been my privilege to work with a demanding, yet most efficient, hardworking and concerned Committee. Their achievements have been many, but I wish to highlight their three main contributions which I personally think benefited the school most. Firstly, the problem of providing transport for the many teams and groups that go out from our school week after week. A school bus is an expensive item, especially in a school that has limited funds, yet the Committee spared no effort to resolve this problem. ' Secondly, the introduction of our new school uniform has given our school and pupil image a definite boost. Next year all pupils must be in the new uniform. Thirdly, and most significantly has been the introduction of a detailed school budget, closely monitored and con- stantly being improved upon. As a result our finances have improved considerably. Thus on behalf of the school, my sincere thanks to the Committee for their labours over the past 3 years. . To Mrs Myers, Mrs Montgomery, Mr Poole, Mr Potgieter and Mr Pringle, who have stood down - the school salutes you for a job well done. For long-service a special note must be made of Averil Myers, Maureen Mont- gomery and our hardworking and unflappable Chairman Jeremy Poole, who together have served the school for approximately 25 years. MUIZENBERG HIGH SCHOOL The Junior and High School continue to grow closer together in tangible terms. The School Committees now meet to discuss joint problems and plans, one such plan being the combined High!Junior School Magazine which you are now reading. In August inter-school netball and soccer matches were played and a special soccer trophy made to commemorate the soccer event. Personally I find working with the Headmaster, Mr Gibbon, easy and pleasant. May our two schools go from strength to strength working together, growing together. COMPUTER STUDIES The Computer has become very muchpart of our everydayslives and thus it is important that every child receives at least a basic course in computer literacy. Parents, too, are becoming increasingly insistent that their children receive computer education. To instruct the children effectively, more computers are essential ten at least We , . have four at present. I have approached the School Committee with the problem of financing these computers and they have been most sympathetic in facilitating the purchase of the computers as soon as possible and as and when funds permit 84 r- ' ..: 11 I f 1.wr.wsw 1. -exft 4. - fi '.f'ii 5'1t'fi'.'! -V41 wi-.a.l. .-'f1.1J': :i3:.' ' VX k 1---.f? 1i-.1-..w4 ' qffhii-. - f