ZENEX Foundation Trophy for top learner in Grade 12 in MATHS, SCIENCE & ENGLISH
TSHIRELETSO MENTOR
DUX SCHOLAR – 2012
HEADMASTER’S PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIZE-giving ADDRESS 2012
Finding Balance
Sport
I
INTER–HOUSE SPORT ST THOMAS (Yellow) ST CATHERINE (Red)
Basketball Boys & Rugby Basketball Girls, Netball & Athletics
ST DOMINIC (Green)
Soccer, Volleyball
ST THOMAS (Yellow)
Spirit Cup
INTER–HOUSE SHIELD ST CATHERINE (Red)
LEADERSHIP AWARDS 2012/2013 SCHOOL PREFECTS Naledi Raphesu Katleho Matee
SPORT TROPHIES AC ADEM IC S , PRIZES & AWARDS
GUGU MAMABOLO (Gr 9) LUIS ANTONIO (Gr 9) THABO NKWANA (Gr 10) KEAMOGETSEBOIKARABELO MOGASE (Gr 10) PETER MBIMALA (Gr 11) BONGIWE BUTHELEZI (Gr 9) KEAMOGETSEBOIKARABELO MOGASE (Gr 10) THEMBI MALAWANA (Gr 9) SANDILE MALAWANA (Gr 12) OAGENG MOKHELE (Gr 12) ANDILE DUBE (Gr 11) PETER MBIMALA (Gr 11) MNIKAZI MAMPURU (Gr 9) JOSEPH GASURA (Gr 9) SABELO THUSI (Gr 10)
ATHLETICS – Most Consistent Athlete & Junior Victrix Ludorum ATHLETICS – Junior Victor Ludorum ATHLETICS – Best 200m Athlete ATHLETICS – Senior Victrix Ludorum
Mpho Ntshong Palesa Mosebi Sakhile Maziya Lehlohonolo Dichabe Nombuso Madela
(Head Girl 2013)
Christopher Ryan ATHLETICS – Senior Victor Ludorum NETBALL – Best Junior Player NETBALL – Best Senior Player RUGBY – Best Forward Player & Most Improved Player RUGBY – Best Player
Dimpho Motloung Sharon Isaac Lydia Madumo Cameron Rajah Kgomotjo Ramokgopa Tshepo Seroto
(Deputy Head Boy 2013)
Neo Mawasha Karabo Mabe
RUGBY – Best Backline Player SOCCER – Best Senior Player SOCCER – Golden Boot Award SOCCER – Best Junior Player VOLLEYBALL – Most Improved Player VOLLEYBALL – Best Player
Whitney Tabetla Emelina Nizere
Miriam Ssebunnya Bonolo Tlhotlhalemaje Andile Dube
SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR GUGU MAMABOLO (Gr 9)
Junior
KEAMOGETSEBOIKARABELO
Senior
(Deputy Head Girl 2013)
Talent Sibanda
(Head Boy 2013)
Asanda Zazayokwe Kamogelo Molatlhoe
BOARDING PREFECTS
MOGASE (Gr 10) & PALESA MOSEBI (Gr 11)
Talent Sibanda
SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR LUIS ANTONIO (Gr 9)
Junior
PETER MBIMALA (Gr 11)
Senior
Miriam Ssebunnya Bonolo Tlhotlhalemaje
(Boarding Head Girl 2013)
Andile Dube
(Boarding Head Boy 2013)
Asanda Zazayokwe Kamogelo Molatlhoe
CULTURAL AWARDS HOUSE PLAYS ANDRE MSIMANGA (Gr 10)
Best Actor
KARABO MABE (Gr 11)
Best Actor
NOMBUSO MADELA (Gr 11)
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Best Actress
DIMPHO MOTLOUNG
Best Musician
DIMPHO MOTLOUNG
Lesedi Award in Culture
Dominican C O N V E N T S C H O O L 2 0 1 2
often wonder when it is in life that we start to realise that actions have consequences. When is the moment that we understand that choosing to do something in a particular way is likely to produce a particular result? When, children, did you realise that hard work leads to achievements and that if you listen in class and do your homework, you are likely to be rewarded with prizes here tonight?
When I was younger, my favourite playground destination was the see-saw. You know the one? Where one child sits on one end and the other sits on the other end, and then in turns the one side goes up and the other side comes down. Back then, I think the reason I liked it was because it needed a partner and because you were entirely in control of it – if you didn’t kick off from the ground you wouldn’t go up into the air and when you were up in the air, it depended on how hard your partner landed as to whether you got bumped up off your seat into the air or not. It could be quite lively, and certainly amongst the boys there was often an element of bravado in trying to bump your partner clear off their seat! This is similar to an old-fashioned kitchen scale, where you have weights on one side and the ingredients for your recipe on the other side, and when they are perfectly balanced you have exactly what you need to start cooking. It is one reason why on the seesaw you cannot have vastly different-sized children, as the lighter one would not be able to lift the heavier one off the ground. This balance between the weights on each side is critical to the success of the activity, whether in the playground, playing, or in the kitchen, cooking. In the 2012 world in which we live, this idea of balance is vital if we are going to be successful in life. There are so many activities that balance aspects of our lives, and I want to talk about a few of these, the ones that affect our life here at Dominican. Would you be successful if your whole life was just playtime? No, of course not – you need the balance of hard work. Similarly, if your whole life was hard work, you would also be missing out on all the important lessons that can be learnt by playing. At Dominican we work hard in the Primary School to make sure that your activities have the correct balance, and this year was no different. Your hours of
teaching and learning in the classroom were offset by excursions off campus to places, like Maropeng and other museums and cultural places where the formal part of teaching was balanced with the informal. Your teachers continue to work hard, planning teaching methods and approaches so that you can get the best possible education. They don’t always agree with each other, but even in their healthy debates about how and what to teach, which learning materials to use, and which training courses and conferences they should attend, the teachers continue to find a balance which offers you a curriculum that allows you to achieve. We continue to see improvements in averages in core skills exams and the IEB’s International benchmarking papers, as well as in Gr 7 ISASA papers written at the end of last year and the recent ANAs. This does not come purely from academic input and planning, or even children, from your hard work (although you can be proud of these achievements), but from your teachers ensuring that there is a balance in what you do, in the classroom and outside, at school and in your homework tasks. There is a growing sense of academic rigour and endeavour in the Primary School, from the little ones in Grade 000 through to the Grade 7s, and for this I thank Mrs Dalene Rostovsky and her team for another quality year. Please join me in applauding the teachers for finding balance in our school. In the sporting and cultural areas, much has been achieved. The basketball squads went on tour to Cape Town, emerging as finalists in their tournament, many fixtures were honoured (and won!) across six different sporting codes, and the seeds of future achievements were sown in grassroots participation of even the smallest children across the school. As in everything, these active pursuits were balanced out by an exceptional cultural year, where the Primary School Choir more than matched the excellence of the High School
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AC ADEM IC S , PRIZES & AWARDS
TSHIRELETSO MENTOR