Video: Mr de Waal walks our campus
Saturday 18 April 2020
Dear Parents and Guardians
On Friday morning Mr Ben Thompson, our Vice-Principal of Academics, sent the following message to our teachers in advance of our virtual morning meeting, but it’s relevance extends to our parents and students equally:
“Today is an unusual milestone. Before the extension to the lockdown, this would have been the first day back for staff seeing each other again; feeling the direct warmth of our community with the boys joining us on Monday. We hope that everyone is healthy and strong and coping with these unusual circumstances. Please remember we are all part of the Wynberg family and we are all here for each other and you must reach out if you are having a difficult moment, day, or week. Our boys and their parents will also be having good and bad days and every connection you make with them will help more than we can ever know.”
Whilst our major focus is to deliver meaningful academic work to our boys, we are also fully aware that many families are under stress. The mental and emotional well being of the entire Wynberg community is foremost in our minds and in order to assist our Learner Support Centre is fully operational during this period. Mr Nxusani can be contacted via email at wnxusani@wbhs.org.za or on his cell phone: 073 4194083. He is available to assist students, staff and parents.
There is a genuine concern amongst the staff for the welfare of all our families in this very trying time. A concerted effort is being made by tutors and subject teachers to establish contact with every Wynberg family on a regular basis. We are making every effort to assist those boys who are struggling to access the work that has been set. If you have not been contacted and are struggling in any way, please contact me directly at jdewaal@wbhs.org.za
I want to thank those parents who have continued to pay school fees. Your support is critical to help the school meet our financial obligations. As I mentioned in the previous newsletter the school management is making every effort to keep spending to an absolute minimum. I again encourage parents who are struggling financially to contact the finance department for assistance and advice.
Speaking to the teachers about how they are experiencing online learning has been fascinating. They report that it is considerably more time consuming with longer hours than the normal school day. We would be very interested to know how your sons are finding the whole experience and would also appreciate your feedback as parents. What is obvious is that parents are having to be much more involved in the entire process. As we go ahead I am sure we will become more proficient, at the moment it is a pretty daunting learning curve we’re all seizing together.
I wish you all well as we enter what we all hope to be the last two weeks of total lockdown. May the rumours that the current measures will be partly relaxed in May come true and we will all be able to return to some form of normality in the not too distant future.
Yours sincerely
Jan de Waal
Headmaster
