The Fifa Soccer World Cup fever has captured a nation and the excitement is growing amongst the staff and learners. For some it will be an extended holiday and the immense opportunities that that brings. For others it will be the opportunity to join in the fun and excitement that a prestigious world event like the FIFA Soccer World Cup has brought to South Africa. May you all embrace and enjoy this special moment in the history of South Africa.

The purpose of this launch was to initiate buy in from the Department of Education, Governing Body, teachers, learners, parents and the community to work together towards providing an environment conducive to quality education at Wartburg Kirchdorf School.

On Thursday, 20 May, a special ceremony was held in the School Hall in which each of the representatives were called upon to make a commitment to a ‘Code For Quality Education’, which describes the responsibilities and discipline required of them to ensure that all learners at WKS continue to benefit from quality education. This is a great initiative but despite all the pledges we are facing a more dangerous situation.

We have a number of highly qualified teachers, who contribute to achieving outstanding results, a majority of whom are paid by the Governing Body, using your school fees.

With the apparent lack of enthusiasm from some members of the parent body, who believe that school fees are not a priority, the continued high standards of education, presently on offer at WKS, are at risk.

Our School is not a Government subsidised School. We do not receive any funding for general maintenance and the necessary staff to run this school. It is therefore imperative that the parent body realise that they play an integral part in keeping Wartburg Kirchdorf School operating at its present level. Your school fees form the backbone that helps us maintain a high quality of education.

We are asking all our non-paying parents to ask themselves what will happen when:
• we are forced to rationalise staff, in the future, due to a lack of funds?
• How will this affect your child’s academic prospects, class sizes and future career?

Parents who do not pay their school fees will have to realise that their own children will ultimately suffer the consequences of their actions.

We sincerely look forward to your support in our continuing quest to provide Quality Education for your children. We are doing our part - are you doing yours?

Mpumalanga is a treasure and we got to explore its beauty and grace. We all left with expectant hearts and returned, some 10 days later, over-awed and brimming with unforgettable memories.

On a lovely autumn morning Grade 7 packed up there belongings and piled into the bus, on their annual Tour to Mpumalanga. The air was a buzz of excitement and excited children eager to get the bus moving.

A short jaunt to Greytown to meet up with Hermannsburg School and we were off on the long stretch towards the Lowveld. A lunch break in Dundee enabled us to soak up some of the history about the early settlers and growth of the town before travelling on to Blood River and Wittenberg for our first night from home!

A very early start and the buses moved on to the Lowveld. What a trek! But the destination was worth every minute of the long bus ride. On arrival at Tshukudu Game Ranch we were loaded onto game vehicles and taken for a drive seeing some magnificent elephant not far from where we stayed!

It is here at Tshukudu that the children were spoilt with good food and a tremendous wildlife experience not matched again during the whole tour! Most of the Big 5 were seen and the unique experience of a stroll in the bush with Tshukudu’s own cheetah cubs, that were born shortly before last years tour, was a tour highlight.

Moving through all that was seen, Blydepoort Dam, Moholoholo Rehab, Swadini and up to the escarpment, little could stir from the wonderful sights of the first 2 nights. Only the Foefie Slide at Graskop could add another rush of adrenaline to the children. We are very proud of them as they ALL had a go!

The trip was filled with numerous exciting events and sights, however we all returned with our particular favourite! From the walks in the bush to the dam wall experience or even the Sudwala Caves, it was a remarkable experience. But surely a better understanding of the environment, our country’s history and the many aspects that make our country so special and unique makes us all more appreciative of living in South Africa.

Many thanks to the parents for supporting their children’s efforts in fundraising for this tour. Without your support they wouldn’t have had such a wonderful time! Mrs. Köhne (the paparazzi) thank you for accompanying us this year, your photos are always fabulous. Thanks to Mr W. Hillermann for driving so well and keeping us safely on the road.

Wouldn’t it be great to have an idea like Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook. He started the site as a hobby out of his college dorm room and turned it into the global phenomenon as we know it today.

He had an idea and a vision and took a huge risk. Now he's worth billions, all because he went with his gut and didn't worry about what others would think.

On 7 May the Grade 11 Business Study learners had an Entrepreneur's Day and although we may not be a Mark Zuckerberg (yet) we were prepared to do our best.

Each of the young business men and women were required to prepare a business plan on a suitable service or product that they wished to market.

Some would think that it is easy to sell stuff but a lot of hard work needs to go into the planning and preparation stage in order to find out whether the service or product is a viable enterprise, otherwise all your hard work just won’t pay off.

The next obstacle is the marketing strategy that should be designed to excite the public to buy your product or service. So presentation is everything followed by value for money.

We all enjoyed a busy extended lunch break. After counting the money and working out our profits, (some enterprises were more lucrative than others) we learnt a great lesson, that you can’t expect everything to go according to plan; mistakes are inevitable, especially the first time around.

If you want to make a success of anything in life you just have to keep trying and learning from your mistakes. It is easy to give up at the first attempt but the difference between a successful businessman and an unsuccessful businessman is that the successful one always gets up one more time. Entrepreneurs Day showed us all that success doesn't come easy; it involves a tremendous amount of hard work but the rewards (the extra money in our pockets) are really worth while.

Good luck to all the future business men and women at Wartburg Kirchdorf School may they turn their business ideas into business success!

The Wartburg Hostel Hot Shots Committee, in its pursuit of creating entertainment at the Hostel something that everybody looks forward to, hosted a ‘Glamour Night’.

This evening was a good chance to dress up as one would at the Grammy’s or on the Red Carpet. We has some very interesting outfits. Some were colourful and beautiful while on the other hand some needed the Fashion Police to help them. Overall the evening was a success and a lot of fun.

The top three best dressed people who really knew how to put a glamorous ensemble together were: Chris Cullen - 3rd place, Samantha Nzuza - 2nd place and Zama Khumalo, (who stunned the crowd with her amazing outfit), was awarded 1st place.

There were some wonderful characters who arrived in some avant-garde outfits and we all agreed that they should get some recognition for their efforts.

Joshua Strydom stunned the audience in his interpretation of Nouveau Chic. He came dressed in a shirt, tie and rugby shorts and Kelvin Demont took Casual Glamour to new heights when he arrived dressed like a farmer.

Our warm thanks are extended to Mrs Commins for the delicious meal and to the Hot Shots Committee for organising the evening.

Have a Happy Holiday Everyone!
Samantha Nzuza - Grade 11

Two young Grade 6 reporters, Kirsten Uhlmann and Elke Engelbrecht had this to say about the German Evening.
On 18 May we had our yearly German Evening. The theme of the evening was the FIFA Soccer World Cup and the hall was decorated accordingly with many flags of the different countries. All the plays revolved around soccer. The Grades 3 & 4 presented football poems. The Grades 5 & 6 did a play on Soccer while the Grades 8 & 9 learners introduced the German Soccer Team. We had lots of fun! Kirsten Uhlmann Grade 6

After having a delicious meal and something tasty to drink, everyone sat back and relaxed in their seats waiting for the 2nd half of the German Evening to start. Finally it started. All the other learners who hadn’t performed yet had their chance to perform. With laughter and happiness the crowd enjoyed themselves thoroughly. I hope that all the people that came had loads of fun. Thank you to Mrs B Eggers and Mrs S Jahn for a well organised event.

PS. We also had a guest speaker, Zakumi, the FIFA World Cup Soccer Mascot, who also spoke German.

Elke Engelbrecht
Grade 6

Rushil Kandhai, a Grade 2 learner at Wartburg Kirchdorf School, won a competition with Coca-cola to have his photo taken standing next to the FIFA World Cup Soccer Trophy that was on a Nationwide tour of South Africa. The beautiful trophy was on display at the Royal Show Grounds in Pietermaritzburg on 18 May. As part of his prize Rushil watched a 3D Soccer Movie and tells us that the soccer ball nearly ‘hit’ his face. He said that the experience was, and I quote, “Cool and it made me feel very happy. I wish that South Africa could win the Cup”.

Mother’s Day was a Feast this year as the Junior Primary Moms were invited to come along and help make a Fruity Fruit Salad and Delicious Pizza with their children as part of their Mother’s Day surprise.

On the Hockey field last week all the Primary School Hockey players enjoyed playing Hockey with their parents in a fun tournament. It would appear that the learners gave their parents a hard time, winning many of the matches. One little player was overheard telling her friend that, “The parents always lose!” I guess that practice makes a good hockey player and that some of the parents need a little more practice. Thanks to all those parents and big sisters who were able to join in the fun. You made the event very special for us all.

It is always a very special occasion for the little ones when they have a chance to invite their mom’s to their school to listen to them sing and act. Well the Pre-Primary moms were treated to a lovely Mother’s Day celebration that involved a little more than sipping tea and enjoying a concert. After being entertained by the children the moms were then divided into teams and had to complete an obstacle course that included hanging clothes on the wash line, after balancing and doing the hoola-hoop with their little ones cheering them on.

To help them all cool down they then enjoyed cucumber sandwiches and muffins.

As a gift, all the mothers received a lovely pot plant in a container painted especially by their children together with a card from the bumble bee and ladybird group. The Butterfly group made hearts for their moms.

Everyone agreed that it was a fun morning and all our moms went away feeling loved and very special indeed.

The little ones went on an Eco-Friendly walk near the School collecting as much litter (waste products) as they could find as part of the World Environment Day celebrations.

Waste is all the stuff we buy and don’t use up like polystyrene trays, plastic bags, tin cans and plastic bottles. The little folk did not understand why people throw away their litter onto the street instead of in dustbins, but they did all agree, however, that it was fun working together doing their little bit to help pick up the litter and save our environment.

Collecting rubbish is hungry work and after their walk, the little ones washed their hands and enjoyed an Eco-Friendly lunch together with some new friends who aren’t old enough yet to come to Pre-Primary School.

They all had fun playing and sharing together and exploring all the fun things to do at the Pre-Primary School.