28 September, 2018
Peace is the Cornerstone of UWC
Each year
the world celebrates International Day of Peace and this day is observed around
the world on 21st September. The United Nations General Assembly
declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both
within and among all nations and peoples. In line with this, and as part of the
global community, our students led a successful International Peace Day
commemoration this past Wednesday, in assembly. It was exciting to be part of a
student-led assembly in which there were songs, poems and speeches around the theme
of peace. The highlight of the day was the messages written on ribbons which
were later pinned up on the fence by all our students. The messages were varied,
ranging from, “Peace is everything”, “We
call for peace in the world”, “silence does not mean peace”, to numerous
others. It feels good to be part of a community comprised of such amazing
students who are thought leaders and committed to the ideals of peace. This
moment captured the essence of what UWC is about: making education a force to
unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. Please
join me as I emphasize our students’ call for a more peaceful world.
Condolences
I regret to
inform you that Mr Luchi Balarin, husband to one of our retired Governing
Council members, Marjorie Balarin passed away after a short illness on Saturday
the 22nd of September at the Mbabane Clinic. Marjorie served with distinction on our
Governing Council for many years, retiring in 2014. There will be a memorial
service at the Mbabane Chapel at 14:00hrs tomorrow. Please join me as I extend
our condolences to the family.
Science Fair Tomorrow
We are happy
to invite you to attend the Science Fair taking place in the school’s CCLD at 9
am tomorrow, Saturday the 29th of September 2018. Waterford students
and students from other schools will be showcasing their talent in the Science
field. We encourage you to come, support and encourage the participants who
have been preparing for quite a long time.
Financial Times Subscription
The
Financial Times (FT) has offered free subscriptions to our students. The FT is giving free access to FT.com for
all secondary schools, colleges and academies, in partnership with MUFG Bank. This
is an opportunity for our students to get news with a global perspective that
can enrich their education and help them prepare for successful careers. In
addition to free access to FT.com, students in this programme receive a weekly
email from the FT education editor, sharing FT journalism that is relevant to
the curriculum. I encourage our students to take advantage of this opportunity
and get their FT.com access set up for the new academic year.
The UWC
Global Video Ambassadors
The UWC
international office has extended the deadline for the UWC Global Video
Ambassadors programme to the 30th of September. Our students who
have good camera skills and an eye for moving images are requested to
participate in the UWC Global Video Ambassadors competition.
Competition
themes:
Record a
video on one of these themes:
- Inspire
Change
- An Event
at your School
- Present
your College - to someone who’s never heard of it
- Who is
your Roommate?
Technical
Requirements:
- Videos
should be under 1 minute
- Minimum 720p
in size (1280x720)
- MP4
- Landscape
Selection
of video ambassadors:
Students
interested in becoming video ambassadors are asked to submit their videos
via this Google Form by 30th
September 2018. The selection panel reserves the right to not designate video
ambassadors for a UWC school/college if the submitted material does not meet
basic video and audio quality standards. Each student may submit up to 5
videos. A maximum of 2 ambassadors for UWC school/college will be designated.
Results:
UWC Global
Video Ambassadors will be announced in the following week. If you have a
question please send an email to GlobalVideoAmbassadors@uwc.org
School Fees
As you know
by now, our school accounts close at the end of October. Kindly ensure all fees
are paid by or before then. I wish to remind all parents/guardians that reports
will not be released if fees are not cleared by this date. I also remind
parents of the Form 5 and IB students that their child/children could be
excluded from the graduation ceremony and any other function pertinent to those
forms. We will also withhold any access codes for results and university
application assistance could be withheld. If you have any queries please
contact Mbongeni Mkoko: bursar@waterford.sz (tel: +268 24221807) or Tricia Fraser: pfraser@waterford.sz (tel: +268 24221639). Your cooperation and assistance in this is
appreciated.
Library
Last week the library issued slips to the form 5’s and IB2’s indicating outstanding
books according to the library records. I ask parents to please encourage their
children to take this notice seriously as the books will be charged to their
accounts on Monday the 1st October 2018, unless the books have
been returned or renewed. Should there be any queries please contact the school
library.
University Visits
Next week
Monday and Wednesday the school will be visited by Northwestern and Minerva Universities
respectively. Both presentations will take place at Emhlabeni residence;
starting at 18:30 pm. Parents are invited to participate.
Sporting Activities
Athletics: Waterford came first in the International Inter-school Athletics competition that was held on the Waterford campus on Saturday, 22nd September. Congratulations to our team. Read more.
Basketball:
Our under 14 and 16 teams left for International School of South Africa (ISSA)
today and they will be back on Monday.
Hockey: Our
under 14 and 16 teams left for Ermelo, South Africa, this morning and they will
be back on Sunday.
Volleyball:
Our volleyball teams will have a tournament at Sisekelo in Big Bend this
weekend.
We wish our
teams the best of luck.
Reminder of important
dates
●
Sunday 28th October – PSA Golf Day
●
Friday 9th November – Form 5
Graduation – 15:00 start
●
Saturday 17th November – IB2
Graduation – 17:30 start
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
