The long-awaited summer rain has arrived! Seeing an authentic Gauteng summer storm approaching the farm, brewing and stewing on the horizon and the wind howling through the casuarina-trees, is magical. This edition’s incredible cover photo was taken just before sunset on 2 November by David Versteeg, one of Rosemary Hill Farm’s residents.

As much as we welcome the rain, our thoughts are with Daniel Ledwaba (middle school maths teacher) and his family. They lost all their belongings in the flash floods that hit Johannesburg this past Wednesday. The College of Teachers welcome any contributions to help Daniel and his family get back on their feet again.

We are still very unsure about the underground water level of the one remaining borehole serving the whole property with water. Please help us conserve water on the farm by making sure that your child comes to school with a full water bottle every day.

Our Class 9s have only one more week left of their exams. The end is in sight…keep studying hard and GOOD LUCK!

Class 4 and Class 5 are running a Christmas charity drive, collecting non-perishable food items like tea, sugar, canned food, etc. and filling pillow cases with these items. These parcels will then be handed to the neediest in the Mamelodi East area with the help of Grace (our Sepedi teacher) and members of her church. Johnson & Johnson has very generously donated some toiletries and other products to hand out as well. We appeal to you: go through your cupboards and send as many items as you can to help the elderly, orphaned and single-parent families in desperate need of these essentials.

A few reminders:

• Class 1 will present their class play to the parents tonight, 11 November at 17:30 for 18:00.
• Class 3 will present their class play to the parents on Friday, 18 November at 18:00 for 18:30.
• Class 5 will present their class play to the parents on Thursday, 24 November at 18:00 for 18:30.
• The Class 7, 8 and 9 learners will give short presentations on their extra-mural projects on Wednesday, 30 November from 10:00. Parents are welcome to attend the presentations.
• Class 7 will host their class play on Friday, 2 December at 18:30.
• The children of the Nursery School and Grade R-classes at The Kindergarten will have their Christmas play on the last day of school – Wednesday, 7 December. After the play, the Grade R-procession to Class 1 will take place. We would like to encourage all the Grade R parents to please diarise this date and not to miss this BIG day!
• School closes for the fourth and final term on Wednesday, 7 December 2016 at 13:45. A friendly reminder to pay your school fees timeously. If your school account is in arrears, your child’s report will be withheld.
• Please register on the My School-programme. Enrolment is free and every cent contributed through this initiative makes a difference. Please click here to complete the application form and start swiping your card for our school! (School bursaries up for grabs! See the MySchool advert at the bottom of the newsletter for details.)

Only three and a half weeks (and one newsletter!) left before the start of the long, lazy summer holiday!

Warm greetings,
Zelde.