Good News Stories February 2023

The Grade 0 boys have officially started their Literacy and Phonics programme. They have been very busy learning about the sounds that letters make and the names of letters. Their focus for the last three weeks has been on the letters “t” “i” and “p”.  They have been learning about these letters in a hands-on practical way: discovery learning, fun interactive games, baking, art and molding playdough.  They made ice-tea, they painted with ice-lollies and popped popcorn. They made some creative bubble letter art using tea, ink and pasta.

The Grade 0 boys have been having lots of fun in their new school environment, learning all about themselves, and their friends with the theme “All About Me”.  They have been painted, drawed, created and designed faces, portraits, body image pictures and gorgeous art pieces to fill the classroom walls. They have learnt all about their new school and their classrooms. They visited Mr Rumboll in his office and Mrs Ferrar in her office, they got to hear all about what they do for our school. They took a tour of the school and drew a picture of their favourite spot at The Ridge.

Our annual High Schools Expo was met with great success. 13 High Schools from around the country had an opportunity to showcase the amazing schools to our boys. We had 10 of 13 High schools which had time to present their schools to boys and parents for 30mins which included time for Q & A's.

Mr Rumboll held a special Valentine's tea for all the amazing staff.

Valentine's Day was spent celebrating the spirit of love. Mr Rumboll greeted the parents in the school parking lot with a coffee and cookie together with a gift from Clarins. The boys wore a dash of red with their school uniform. What a lovely morning it was.

Every young boy's true love is his parent. The Grade 3s baked cookies for their parents Valentine's Day gift. How wonderful is that?

Melody, Harmony, Rhythm and Dynamics are the four elements of music. From the jazz band to the choir, orchestra and marimbas, there's something for everyone. The boys brought it all together by practising every day to perfect their skills. Keep up the great work boys.

It is the pat on the back. When the road ahead appears difficult, it is the smile of encouragement. It is the helping hand when the burden becomes too much to bear. The Ridge school, brothers in the sun and the rain.

Congratulations to the boys listed below for proudly flying The Ridge badge and excelling. Razeen Varachia: Having saved money for the past two years, he decided to buy some lunch boxes and stationery to donate to the nearby underprivileged school. On Sunday, Joseph Ellis swam the midmar mile and finished in 33 minutes and 56 seconds. Gareth Jones: Over the weekend, he competed in the Gauteng Open Judo competition. He finished second in his age group and received a silver medal. He is extremely proud.

The Grade 0 boys enjoyed their first time in the library. They got to know the different “families”, listening to how a school library works and enjoying all the wide variety of books. Currently, their favourite book is the hilarious book called The Book With No Pictures”.

Our water polo boys had a great start at the Knysna Chukka Festival tour, winning 5-1 over St George Boys and currently sitting in third place in their pool. Congratulations gentlemen and keep The Ridge's competitive spirit.

Every week, boys are given a math investigation to solve, and the best solution wins a box of smarties.
The winner for this week’s challenge is Thomas van Wyk in Grade 6.
There is a weekly investigation for Grades 4-7.

The Grade 5 boys bringing some song lyrics to life with Dramatised Movement during Performing Arts.

Congratulations to our Music leaders for 2023.
Lesiba Sekele is the deputy head of marimbas, and Thomas Naude is the head of marimbas. The orchestra is led by Leo Bruinders, who is assisted by Nick Goussard and Imran Budlender. Jeremy Allen leads the jazz band, which also includes William Mackenzie and Leo Bruinders. Sergio Da Silva is the choir's head and Owame Dube and Tau-Sachin Kgaboesele are his deputies. Bradley Legg is the Amtoti leader. Zachary Pretorius and Thor Tipping are the Music assistants.

Congratulations to our 2023 sports captains and vice captains.
Tau-Sachin Kgaboesele is the basketball captain, Nick Goeller is the swimming captain, Spencer Gilchrist is the swimming vice-captain, Leo Bruinders is the water polo captain and vice-captain for basketball,  Jonathan Steyn is the water polo vice-captain, Luke Hartmann is the cricket captain, and Iain Thomson is the cricket vice-captain.

The boys, parents and staff come out in large support for the "race the boat" fundraiser for Salvazione during the month of love and giving back. Mr Daniel McLachlan and Mr Mark Schroeder ran the cross-country route with a K2 boat for 2km. Congratulations to all of the boys who took part and beat the boat.

For International Mother Language Day at The Ridge School, we recognise the significance of this day and celebrate our community's linguistic diversity. For nearly two decades, UNESCO has commemorated this day in order to preserve linguistic diversity and promote mother tongue-based multilingual education. Please look at what our boys were tasked with, writing poems and proverbs in their mother language.

Mr Rumboll and Mrs Ferrar led a lesson with the Grade 7 and Grade 1 boys who were twinned up and tasked to discover something on our koppie. The experience bonded our older and younger boys and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. All The Ridge attributes were on proud display. Well done, Grade 7 and Grade 1 boys.

We'd like to congratulate Ridge Old Boy William Mills on receiving both the Luke Potter Award and the Headmaster's Certificate of Recognition. William has turned his passion for cycling into a successful Cycling Academy with a group of 12 riders. Over the years, he has worked tirelessly to develop a truly remarkable programme for cyclists to keep them motivated and at the top of their game. Continue your excellent work, we are proud of you

Matthew Maccelari (class of 2016) received his national canoeing colours at the Gauteng Canoe Union awards ceremony on Saturday, January 2nd. At the same award ceremony, Asher Wilson received the Gauteng "Novice Junior Champ" trophy for the 2021 season, and Benjamin and Edward Carmichael shared the "Novice Junior Champ" trophy for the 2022 season.