Dear Parents

As the term is marching on I thought I would just update you all on various events and some calendar changes. Firstly, sadly, we say good-bye at half term to another of our solid teachers. Shanaz Rademeyer leaves us as she will be emigrating. Shanaz has given of her best to Twin Rivers for about 8 years and she will be sorely missed. We wish her success and happiness in her new country.

Replacing Shanaz in the classroom for the rest of the term will be Shabaana Hussein who will no doubt do a fine job. Joining the staff in this class for January 2020 will be Asher Antipas who comes highly recommended.

Recently having joined the staff are:
           Kenneth Rowe      -       Estate Manager
           Ryan Bennett        -       Sports Master

We are very happy to have Ken and Ryan join us and they are both having a positive impact in their various fields. We welcome them both to the Twin Rivers community. I am also pleased to announce that Mr Barry Mutsonziwa has been made Acting Director of Sport. We wish him success in this role.

On the sporting side, cricket has begun in earnest and we have already had some very exciting matches. The lack of cricket in the first term (because of wet fields) is evident and I am pleased to announce that we will be playing in the first term from now on, on the basis that some cricket will definitely be better than none!

This will be in addition to the Athletics Programme and nothing will suffer.

Swimming galas are looming large with our first one, hosted by Twin Rivers, being on Friday 11 October. There will be very stiff opposition but early morning training has been going well and we will do our best! Our thanks to the sports coaches and the parents for bringing their children to school so early!

Camps
Various year groups have enjoyed going on a camp but sadly due to the tough economic circumstances that we have been going through the camp prices have been astronomic and we have had to put these on hold until the situation improves.

English as a Foreign Language
We have recently taken in some children from overseas for whom English is new. We have the contact details for a qualified (TEFL) teacher of English as a foreign language who is offering free lessons (in the initial stages) to anyone who may wish to be taught. Should anyone want to take advantage of this offer please contact the school office for details.

Calendar changes
Please note the following changes/additions to the calendar:

• Grade 3 Cricket vs Gateway (A)                           Wednesday 9 October           2.00pm
• Grade 7 Public Speaking Semi-Finals                  Monday 28 October               Time tba
• The Champion Inter-House Gala will move from  Saturday 26 October
                                                                       to      Saturday 2 November             8.30am

• Non-Championship Gala will be on                       Friday 1 November                10.30am
• Swimming House Practices:

                    Gwebi                                                    Monday 28 October                1.30 – 3.30pm
                    Mazowe                                                 Tuesday 29 October               1.30 – 3.30pm
                    Angwa                                                   Wednesday 30 October          1.30 – 3.30pm

• Individual Medleys will be swum

  BEFORE the Inter-House Gala on                          Thursday 31 October at          10.30am
  Parents of participants will be notified and are welcome to come and watch.

• Grade 7 Public Speaking Finals                            Tuesday 5 November .            Time tba
• Twin Rivers Inter-Schools Chess

                                         Tournament                      Saturday 16 November           8.00am – 12.00pm

• Grade 7 picnic Greenwood Park                           Monday 18 November
• Grade 7 visit to Sugar Refinery                             Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 November - tbc
• Grade 7 lunch                                                        Friday 22 November               Venue tba
• Staff tea moved                                         from     Tuesday 3 December 
                                                                    to          Monday 2 December
• Grade 7 Leavers Dance moved                from      Wednesday 4 December 
                                                                    to          Tuesday 3 December

As you can see this is going to be a very busy last half of the term as there are additions and changes to an already full calendar. Wish us luck!

Half term break: Thursday 17 October - Tuesday 22 October
Just a reminder that we will close the school for the half term break on Thursday at the following times to try to avoid too much traffic congestion:

     ∙ Grades 1 – 3          12.00pm
     ∙ Grades 4 – 5          12.15pm
     ∙ Grades 6 - 7           12.30pm

Please note that there will be no formal supervision of your children from 1.30pm onwards on Thursday so please ensure that your child has been collected before that time. School will resume on Tuesday 22nd at the normal time.

Missing Property
I am sorry to have to bring this to your attention but various items of clothing and sports equipment are going missing and sadly the most likely scenario is that it is some of the children who are taking things home which do not belong to them. Mistakes can happen and when they do the items must just be returned with no penalty. However, what is much more serious is the fact that when items like cricket bats get taken home and not returned then something is seriously wrong as these items would surely be notice by parents who know it does not belong to their child!! Please may I appeal to you to have a good look through your child’s belongings and make sure that anything that has other children’s names on is returned immediately. Any child caught with someone else’s things will be in serious trouble.

Thank you for your help in this regard.

On a happier note here’s trusting that you will get to enjoy at least part of the break and that your children will be ready to come back on Tuesday 22nd filled with energy for the last stretch of 2019!

Yours sincerely

M N MACKENZIE
HEADMASTER