General Information Pertaining to Important Dates and Events
Term Dates for 2020
Term 1 15 January – 20 March 2020
Term 2 1 April – 12 June 2020
Term 3 7 July – 18 September 2020
Term 4 5 October – 11 December 2020
Stage Production 2020
Dates have been confirmed for 9 – 12 December 2020, with evening performances on 11 and 12 December 2020. The Stage Production takes place at The Atterbury Theatre.
Important Dates to Remember
Specific Information Pertaining to Teachers and Students
Corona Virus Preventative Measures
School management is well aware of the seriousness of preventative measures required for Corona Virus infections without creating undue hysteria and panic among the children, students, staff and parents. Therefore, the following has been implemented:
All staff have received thorough factual information about the virus and measures needed to curb the spread of infection;
All children and students have been duly informed through age-appropriate lessons and discussions on the virus and helpful, child-friendly posters have been displayed in the classrooms as well as around the school buildings;
On Friday, assistant staff went around with a thorough disinfecting of bathrooms, door handles, switches using Dettol and this shall be carried out daily;
Germcure has been contacted to do a professional sanitisation of all three campus areas (this is in addition to the regular sanitisation they do before the start of every new term);
All have been informed as to increased hygiene especially in terms of washing hands, avoiding touching the face, avoiding hand-shakes, discarding used tissues immediately and coughing into the elbow;
Disinfectant Hospital Care Hand Soap will be available in all bathrooms at the schools as of Monday.
We ask that parents and family members implement extra hygiene practises at home and it is advisable that children as well as parents increase their daily intake of Vitamin C as well as immune boosters to prevent a low immune system as the first defence against any infection or illness. Furthermore, parents must please keep children home if they present with any flu-like symptoms such as fever, cough, runny nose and sore throat. Medical attention must be sought.
Any children who present with such symptoms at school will be asked to be fetched to go home immediately.
Parents are asked to please inform the school immediately should there be any cause for concern about their child who may have contracted the virus or any confirmed cases of the virus.
We thank the British High Commision (BHC) for their quick intervention in terms of providing valuable tips for managing the situation as well as the many parents who are involved with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and CDC in providing updated information.
Parents will receive comprehensive information next week which can be used at home to reinforce all of the above.
School Bathrooms
Parents are reminded that there are specific bathrooms allocated for the children and other bathrooms allocated for teachers, parents, staff and visitors. Parents may not use the bathrooms allocated for children. Kindly ensure that this is adhered to.
Active Learning Workshops
A special thanks to Teacher Jo for the valuable parent workshops on ‘Active Learning’ which were held for parents of children in Year 6 to A-Level as well as all the workshop and teacher support given to the teachers in implementing the techniques of Active Learning throughout all classes and Grades.
Senior Adventure/Leadership/Educational Camp – April 2020
Parents are asked to please ensure that all documents are completed, signed and returned to the school office as soon as possible. Certified copies of documents are also required. Outstanding payments are to be settled urgently please. Entries for attendance at this camp are now officially closed.
Charity Collection
During the week of 9 – 13 March, children in Reception Year to Year 5 are encouraged to bring in some donations to assist those who are disadvantaged and living in poor and deprived communities. The following items are most welcome:
Non-Perishable foodstuff such as tinned food, mealie-meal, samp, peanut butter, sugar, rice, tea, coffee and long-life milk or powdered milk.
Clothing and shoes for adults and children as well as blankets and old bedding.
Toys and books.
We request that items are only brought during this week otherwise storage space is a problem. The charity items will be handed over to a registered charity organisation who will distribute them to the needy.
A good time to start spring-cleaning those cupboards and garages!
Sick Children
Parents are asked to please keep children who are sick with fever, tummy issues, vomiting, bad colds and flu or extremely sore throats, at home until they have fully recovered. School buildings and campus areas are sanitised regularly to ward off germs, however, sick children spread germs quickly so we ask that parents are considerate in terms of this.
Parents can send an email to school office emails or a whatsapp message to the school cell phones notifying either Shirley or Thelma of absent children, who will then notify the relevant teachers.
No Tolerance for Misconduct at School
We wish to remind parents and students of the school’s Behaviour Policies and Code of Conduct. A no tolerance approach to teasing, bullying, hate speech, theft, misconduct of any kind, use of inappropriate language or symbolism, sexual harassment and forms of disrespect towards teachers and peers will be taken, with immediate suspension and expulsion being the consequences.
The policies and code of conduct apply at school during school hours as well as during any school-related functions, evening events, special days, camps and other events which may be at different venues.
Parents are asked to read the code of conduct and school policies thoroughly and to discuss such content with their children (at age-appropriate levels of course) so as to reiterate the consequences of negative behaviour. We wish to maintain strict discipline at all our campuses and ask that parents and students comply with the requirements set out in our school policies.
Courtney House is serious about discipline and we take a firm stance against all forms of misconduct.
National Dress on National Days
We remind all our families that children may come to school wearing their country’s traditional clothing on the National Day or Independence Day of their country. Thank you to those students who are proud of their cultural heritage and follow through on this invitation, it is lovely to see.
Birthday Civvies
Children in Reception Year to Year 7 may wear civvies (clothing of their choice) to school on the day of their birthday. If their birthday falls over a weekend or holiday session, they may wear civvies on the Monday directly after a weekend or the day returning from a holiday session.
School Uniform Orders
Jenny is available at the primary campus on Monday and Friday mornings (between 07:00 and 08:00) for assistance regarding uniform items. The physical address for fitting and purchasing uniform is available on the website. Please consult the website for ordering and purchasing school uniform items which is www.schooluniformshop.co.za
Orders can only be placed via the online forms.
