6 April, 2018
RIP: Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
At assembly on Wednesday the school marked the life of Mrs. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, a parent of the school in the 1970s and giant of the struggle against apartheid South Africa. We have released the following statement regarding her passing:
Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa is deeply saddened by the news of the passing away of mama Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela-Mandela. Your family is in our hearts and minds at this moment. We join the rest of the world in mourning this loss because we are aware that Winnie Mandela’s motherhood did not only end at home but also extended to the rest of South African society and beyond. Being the symbol of unity and the leader that she was, we are confident that her rich legacy will challenge the young generation of Africa to take their rightful place in the transformation of the continent.
Her principled activism saw her endure the brutality of the apartheid regime and face the hazards of the struggle; detention without trial (which included prolonged periods of torture), banning, banishment and continued harassment by the security police. As a determined fighter, she persevered until the end, and her values are consistent with those of the UWC movement in general and Waterford Kamhlaba in particular. As you might know, the school was established in clear and expressed opposition to the South African Apartheid regime and its laws of racial segregation.
Most of all, the school played a small yet significant role in the struggle for racial equality in South Africa, including educating the children of Winnie and Nelson Mandela at the height of apartheid oppression in the 1970s: the elder daughter, Her Royal Highness Princess Zenani Mandela-Dlamini (current South African Ambassador to Argentina) and Zindziswa Mandela-Hlongwane (current South African Ambassador to Denmark).
Our sincere condolences to the family, our South African Waterford community (both past and present) and all who mourn the passing of a giant in the struggle against apartheid.
Hamba kahle mama Winnie Mandela.
Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Rwandan Genocide
Tomorrow is a day of the remembrance of the victims of the Rwandan genocide, which is one of the heaviest moments in human history in general and Africa in particular. Back in 1994, approximately 800 000 people were slaughtered in a carefully organized program of genocide over 100 days , making history as the quickest killing spree the world has ever seen. During assembly on Wednesday, two of our Rwandan students, Cynthia Umuhoza (F5) and Emelyce Bigirimana (IB1) led the whole school in a moment of silence to remember the victims of the genocide. Cynthia also recited a moving poem by Angel Uwamahoro, entitled: We Lost When We Forgot. As a school that prepares its students to take up leadership of the African continent, we hope that such activities will encourage our students to put efforts towards working for sustainable peace of Africa and the world.
Tomorrow is UWC Day
UWC Day is finally here! This day remains the pride of the school since it is mainly about the celebration of diversity, which is at the heart of the UWC movement. I would like to remind parents that it is a compulsory school day. That being said, there will be buses for day students. Pick-ups will be at 08:00 am in Ezulwini and Matsapha and at 08:15 at all other stops. Students will then register and get vouchers for lunch. Assembly starts at 09:45 in the amphitheater with Mr Michael Attenborough as our guest speaker. After the assembly, there will be various activities as part of the festivities. Food stalls, drink stalls and voucher stalls will be located on the field and in the academic square. There will be 4 voucher stalls and 2 drinks stalls. Please be advised that all food stalls will operate strictly on a voucher system. As mentioned previously, the only stall taking cash will be the drinks stall. There will be performances during the day, all happening in the academic square, and there will be some very exciting workshops to attend as well. The day ends at 15:00, and buses will take students back down to all the regular spots at 15:30.
To get a glimpse of what will be sold on the day, the stalls, their prices as well as their location can be found under the links below.
Shakespeare Festival
The Shakespeare festival started on a high note during assembly on Wednesday, where we were joined by Michael and Karen Attenborough. Both Michael and Karen have been involved in a number of activities on campus during the past two days, including workshops. On the main day of the festival, next week Wednesday the 11th of April parents and students are advised to please note the following events:
1.30pm - 3.00pm Film screenings and awards
4.00pm - 5.30pm Shakespeare Quiz
7.00pm - 8.30pm Performances
There will be lunch and dinner available at the cafeteria for day students who are staying on for the events on Wednesday, April 11th provided they sign up for catering purposes. Parents are invited to attend the events on that day too. Please note that there will be transport available for students at the usual times on Wednesday 11th. We will not, however, be providing transport after the events of the evening and so any day student who stays without their parents must be collected at the gate at 8.30pm without fail please, or make other arrangements ahead of time.
Read more from the Shakespeare Festival and UWC Day brochure.
2018 Phoenix Fund
Last week I made an appeal to parents to help us in this year’s Phoenix Fund, which is a campaign where all members of the Waterford Kamhlaba UWCSA community – from Governing Council members, staff and students to current and past parents – are invited to contribute towards the improvement of the infrastructure at the school, by realizing smaller, on campus projects, which are not covered by the school’s annual budget. As you might be aware, this year’s Phoenix Fund is focusing on the realization of 4 new drinking fountains, replacing our plastic cafeteria cups with metal ones, and buying new cutlery. With your support we aim to raise E 45,000. Once again, I request that you support the campaign. A gift of E 500 from each and every parent will go a long way towards realizing our goal. Of course, we welcome any donation you can make, depending on what your situation allows. Parents can donate either in cash through giving to their children or by using any of the methods mentioned on our website.
Academic results: Answering fears
We are all anxious when our children are involved in examinations, especially external ones like the IB or IGCSE’s. In this regard the school has published a paper on our website that aims to address such fears. It can be found here.
Fees – Repeat
As we rapidly approach the end of the term, we once again remind parents of the importance of fees being paid before the term ends. We re-iterate our policy of not carrying arrears into a new term. All fees should have been settled by or before the end of the term. Our policy also states that fees are to be paid at the beginning of the term; however we are more than happy to enter into a payment plan on condition that the fees for that particular term are settled before the start of the following term.
The Bursar will withhold reports and could possibly exclude pupils from returning for the new term if there are outstanding fees still due. If you have a payment plan please contact the Bursar (bursar@waterford.sz ) and/or Tricia Fraser (pfraser@waterford.sz ) If you are unsure as to what is outstanding, please call our accounts office at +268 24220866.
If you have any questions please call the Bursar (+268 24221807) or Tricia (+268 24221639)
Entrance Testing for Admission in 2019
The focus now shifts to regional entrance testing and the dates and venues are listed below. These dates and times are also available on our website. Please register siblings and spread the word to families and friends.
The Regional Entrance Testing takes place as follows:
For any information on entrance testing and/or admissions, please contact the Director of Admissions at careers@waterford.sz
Sporting Activities
Athletics: The scheduled Interschool’s Athletics competition was washed out by rains two weeks ago. The Heads of all the Independent schools met and decided to hold this event today, Friday April 6th at Enjabulweni High School in Manzini.
Our team left the school at 07:00am this morning and return to school at approximately 5:00pm. We wish them the best of luck.
From the PSA
Please see extract of minutes from PSA meeting below:
The PSA would like to wish the WK family a very happy UWC day and we are looking forward to see many parents participating in this colourful and happy event.
In our February meeting the following was discussed:
Parents who would like to contact the PSA can do so via email Yael Uzan-Tidhar yaelut@gmail.com
Reminder: Important dates:
Any Questions?
If you have any questions and feedback, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line at principal@waterford.sz If the question is of broad interest I will publish the question (with the permission of the writer and without the name) and my reply in the newsletter.
Kind Regards
Stephen Lowry
Principal
