Bark071003

The

aobab Bark

www.baobabcollege.org

BAOBAB COLLEGE – News and Information Issue 3 2007/08 - 5 October 2007

I wonder if you identify with the nervous bridegroom who, when he was asked during the marriage ceremony, “Wilt thou take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife?” replied nervously “I wilt!” Do we wilt, or will, when under pressure?

In continuing the themes in previous editions of the “Baobab Bark”, excitement feeds passion but even passion can wane, sometimes due to tough times, other times due to comfortable times (overfamiliarity), sometimes just after a long time. What then? It wilts or it wills? When the going gets tough, the tough get going – they don’t start complaining or looking for a way out or for a scapegoat. They choose to work through it, they will their way through it. They apply determination, they show will power.

Baobab College has experienced tough times and I can safely say like every school it will experience tough times in the future. So how will we react, as staff, as parents, as pupils? My hope and desire is that we add determination to our qualities.

There are many catchy slogans, sayings, maxims that surround this theme. I had a poster once which said “Success comes in CANS, not CAN’TS”. Recently I’ve been reminded that “TRIUMPH comes when you TRY with some -UMPH”. And then there’s the one that says, “Of course I could give up chocolate but I’m not a quitter”. It all sounds catchy and clever but how does it work?

Success in a tug of war contest comes when all members of the team are pulling together, all are digging their heels in, all are straining against the pull. Success at Baobab will come when all (parents, pupils staff) are pulling together, digging their heels in and straining, in other words, when all are determined to do so.

Determination is when we go on when it is lonely. Sportsmen may have to train on their own and that can be tough. It might seem lonely at Baobab, that our child is the only one who does or is this or that, but we show determination by digging in. Determination is when we go on when it is painful. Again, in sport we have the saying “No pain, no gain”. In marathons we “hit the wall!” It might hurt us at Baobab, financially, socially, time-wise, but we show determination by straining.

Determination is when we go on when it is dark. Cynics joke that the light at the end of the tunnel is only the light of an oncoming train – determined people will struggle on through the dark. At times we may not see where we are going at Baobab but we show determination by pulling together, by sticking together.

An old TV quiz show overseas had the catch phrase, “I’ve started so I’ll finish”. We all need to say that. I wanted to withdraw my previous school from a particular athletics meeting when they required that any runner who was lapped had to drop out, as I want to teach my pupils that you finish what you start. It’s easy to start well, and actually it’s easy to finish well – the hard part is to do the middle bit well. This was emphasised to me when I ran a marathon in Scotland round a loch – there was a 4km loop at the start where there were crowds, then we set off on a single track road round the loch where there were no supporters for 35kms before we enjoyed support for the last 3kms. Adrenaline (passion) runs out two thirds of the way round – determination must kick in.

We need to start well, do the middle well, finish well - to do that, we need will. Good will at that.

Let me then try to finish this article well. There were four guys – Luke, Mark, Peter and Will. Each chose the same task but then each faced a range of problems – disappointment, discomfort, dislike, disruption. It wasn’t what they imagined; it wasn’t plain sailing; it wasn’t what they fancied; it wasn’t easy to fit it in with other tasks. It soon became apparent that they reacted in different ways. Luke decided in fact he must take it easy; Mark stopped to see what others would do; Peter opted to stop and try somewhere else. Will went on.

I should have introduced them properly. Luke Warm. Mark Time. Peter Out. Will Power. How do you do?

I would like to begin by saying a big well done to all of those involved in last week’s Drama Fest. This needs to include all the students, staff and parents who either entertained or were entertained. Special thanks go to Oscar Mubila and Jackie Ngandu for their efforts in putting it all together. The intention is to hold evenings showcasing the abundance of talent at Baobab College on a termly basis.

On a similar note there will be an Art exhibition and sale on Thursday 18^th October. Please come along and attend as you will have the opportunity to see some excellent art work created by our students as well as the opportunity to purchase some. Who knows you could be acquiring an original masterpiece that may be worth millions in years to come. All proceeds will go to the ongoing development of the Art department.

You may be aware that Cambridge International Examinations provide various training opportunities for staff working in schools that use them as examiners around the world. This training manifests itself in a number of ways from residential courses to distance learning packs. They are currently updating their distance learning pack on IGCSE English Literature Coursework Training and I am very pleased to say that they have asked our permission to publish examples of our students work and how it was assessed as model pieces in this document. They will also mention the College’s name in the same document thus spreading the word of Baobab College yet further onto the global education network.

I would like to say a very big thank you to all of you who sponsored a student in the recent equationathon. As mentioned in the letter all funds raised will go towards enhancing the learning and learning environment for Mathematics. At present a total of K585,000 has been raised. If there are any further amounts still outstanding please can they come in as soon as possible. The results were as follows;

Wednesday 26^th and Thursday 27^th September saw secondary students putting on a performance of 3 short plays covering 3 different Drama techniques. All who came enjoyed the show and it was a good indication of just how much talent there is in the school. It is worth noting that some of the actors had only just seen the scripts and ideas at the beginning of the term.

All praise should go to the students whose dedication to the project made me very proud. They were willing to forego lunch times and did not wait for me to tell them to start rehearsing. Most of the props and costumes were sourced by them.

The majority of the participants are currently doing their IGCSE course in Drama and so the evening doubled up as a coursework assessment evening. Last week’s performance heralded the beginning of more such evenings which will be done every term. We hope to include other forms of the Arts at the next evening, slated for next term. We look forward to your continued support.

These will come home today if your child is new to Baobab this term. If your child did not join Baobab in August and only started a few weeks ago settling in reports will be issued in two weeks time.

Next week your child will be bringing a letter home about parent consultations prior to half term. Please make sure you make the time to make an appointment with the teacher.

Well done to Mrs.Sportel and Mrs. Kirby for their hard work in organising the Munda Wanga trip. Many thanks to all those parents who helped and to the canteen for the delicious food.

Well done to Year Six Mukwa for a lovely assembly about their trip to ‘Treetops’.

It’s that time of the year again and this year we will be having a class pumpkin competition. If anyone knows where we can purchase pumpkins at a reduced cost please contact me.

Both Year 2 classes went to Munda Wanga last week. The children went for a day on Wednesday and spent the night on Thursday camping in the park.

Ø Learning about different parts of the plant and seeing examples of fruits and vegetables

Ø Visiting the grasslands – we found out that zebras eat the long grass, waterbuck the medium-sized grass and impalas the short grass

Ø Learning about carnivores, herbivores and omnivores and that you can see, recognise them by their teeth and droppings

The children were also able to go on a night walk which was very interesting. We saw wild cats, civet cats, a genet cat, a jackal and the porcupines. Chocolate milk and marshmallows around the campfire made this trip very successful. A big thank you to all the parents who helped setting up the tents and to Mrs Nayee for providing the lunches and supper.

Freshly arrived from a somewhat dreary, wet U.K., it was truly a pleasure to plan a school trip in the certain knowledge that it would not rain! Myself,

Mrs. Mwanza and Shelly Chipika were all new to the joys of Fringilla so packed in trepidation…..

After a thankfully uneventful but noisy journey with excited children singing songs from the forthcoming Pied Piper production, we arrived at Fringilla in Chisamba.

As the bus pulled up, the resident peacocks broke into their own song, causing a little consternation. Next up were two HUGE oxen, “Just like in Ancient Egypt!” Fringilla’s well stocked play park with its jumping castle, trampolines and push along aeroplanes provided much needed exercise after the imprisonment of the bus.

An exploration of the farm began with a nature A-Z quiz; M is for Mulberry proved popular and incorporated P.E. magnificently as the children climbed the trees with ease! There was quite an array of farm birds including turkeys, guinea fowl and a non-too impressed hen when her secret nest of eggs secreted under a trailer was discovered by an intrepid member of Year 3!

It is amazing how writing speed can accelerate when the temptation of swing boats and trampolines are present; never have worksheets been so efficiently completed. A delicious dinner was finished off wonderfully with an amazing chocolate cake to celebrate Sipho Simwaka’s eighth birthday-thank you to both Mrs. Simwaka and Fringilla for organising this. Once again the sweet sound of Baobab singers filled the evening air – followed by the not so gentle sound of party blowers! The evening was topped off spookily with stories around the camp fire; Paula displaying a previously hidden talent for scaring the wits out of everyone!

Wednesday morning involved horse riding and an accompanied tour of the animals (including VERY large pigs feeding piglets and a horse that wished to eat the video camera).

However, the highlight of Wednesday was a visit to neighbouring Sunshine Seedlings. In fine voice Year Three braved a very bumpy cross-country tractor and trailer ride. On arrival, Mr. Toms provided a fascinating tour of Sunshine Seedlings, explaining the germination and growth processes. The children were then let loose in the Toms’ maize maze during which Connor’s nose met Victor’s head at high speed! Thank you to the Toms family for allowing a mass invasion of a Year Three nature- the pool was divine, the fresh-from-the field maize very tasty and the impromptu cricket match very much enjoyed. Thank you also for the softies and lollies; we were truly spoilt! More bedtime eerie tales and spectacular dance performances exhausted everyone magnificently.

The early risers on Thursday were treated to observing the cows being milked traditionally by hand before we bade a fond farewell to a fabulous trip during which the Baobab students were very well behaved and even better company.

May I take this opportunity to thank again Fringilla and Mr. and Mrs. Toms. Looking forward to next year!

ISAZ VOLLEYBALL FESTIVAL: The first ISAZ Volleyball Festival of the season will take place on Saturday 6^th October 2007 at Baobab College starting at 09:00hrs, Stiff competition is expected from eleven schools who are coming not only from Lusaka but from as far away as Chengelo and Choma. Baobab will be represented in all age groups ie U/15 and U/19 boys and girls and it is worth noting that Baobab College are defending champions in these groups and we wish them well again this year.

JUBILEE SWIMMING GALA: As reported in the last edition of the Bark the Baobab Barracudas took part in the Jubilee Gala at Lechwe School on Saturday 22^nd September 2007. After a very eventful trip to the Copperbelt arriving later than scheduled the Barracudas climbed into the pool and WON the gala beating AIS into second place for the first time. Once AIS had verified the fact that the scorers hadn’t made a mistake the celebrations began. No one swimmer can be singled out so early in the season but suffice to say every swimmer at that gala set personal best times in a variety of strokes and to achieve that so early on in the season is really quite remarkable. Really well done to the Barracudas and here’s to a very successful rest of the season.

The Junior swimming gala at Italian school was not quite such a success as Baobab was beaten into third place behind a very strong Musikili team and a good AIS team. Some good times were set by a largely very young and inexperienced team but some promise was seen by the competitors.

It was also very encouraging to see so many parents at the pool supporting the school team and long may that continue.

CRICKET: The Cricket teams are still very busy training for upcoming matches and at the time of writing the Junior Squad (U/13) are preparing for the Musikili Tournament this weekend. Mr Bazeley has been teaching these youngsters a lot of technique and word from the training camp is that a lot of the children are showing very encouraging signs and they are expected to put up a good showing against traditionally very tough opposition. Good luck guys do your best and do yourself and Baobab proud.

Whilst sticking with the theme of cricket the 3^rd Baobab 6s tournament was hosted at Baobab College last weekend and once again it was a great success. The main competition was won by DILLIGAF I who managed to scrape past the Boarders Team led by Andrew Toms with Tyrone Toms, Duncan Thorne, Nicole Ford, Robyn Geldenhuys and that old boarder Mr Terry Toms making up the team. Being put into bat The Boarders got off to the worst possible start losing Nicole out bowled for a duck and then disaster of disasters that old boarder got himself run out scrambling for a run after some confusion in the middle and some sharp work in the outfield. Andrew went on to make 24 not out the 47 runs in total and DILLIGAF knocked the runs off in reply with an over to spare. At the prize giving ceremony conducted by Mr Tim Middleton, Principal, Mr Gavin Rose, captain of DILLIGAF commended the Boarders VI for the high standard of cricket they played and it was only the superior experience of the DILLIGAF players that won them the tournament.

The plate competition was won by DILLIGAF II, captained by Mr Richard Newton who beat the Baobab Staff team (AAI) by 24 runs, captained by Mr Russell Mann, Director of Sport.

A great day was had by all and the Principal urged more spectators to attend the next event as it was a well organised and fun filled day for the whole family and a high standard of cricket was generally on show.

As well as the two team prizes we also gave away two individual prizes and this year the award for Best Batsman went to Andrew Toms who amassed 107 runs in the afternoon and was never out in all five of his innings. The Best Bowler award went to Robyn Geldenhuys who collected a “fifer”, four off her bowling and 1 very close run out which is still the subject of some dispute. A fantastic achievement by both Andrew and Robyn when you consider the quality of some of the players who turned out on the day.

It would be remiss of me not to thank our sponsors on the day, Afgri for the Officials Shirts and Cricket Balls, Sunshine Seedlings who sponsored the Boarders team and AAI who sponsored the staff team. I would also like to thank Mr and Mrs Gunter who have very kindly sponsored cricket balls for forthcoming matches.

HIGHLAND GAMES: The Caledonian Society Highland Games were held at ISL on Saturday 22^nd September and Baobab College entered two teams for this event composed of 16 members of staff. A great deal of enthusiasm was shown in all the events even if the results did not reflect this! Team 1 being the Baobab Legends led by Mr Jon Turner set the best time for the day on the Stepping Stones event with a time of 1 minute 43 seconds and they finished a commendable 11^th place. Team 2 being Adansonia Digitalis (ask Mr Middleton why) was led by Mr Nick Golson and they were plagued by injury from the outset and as a result were soundly beaten by the premier Baobab Legends. Many thank to our team photographer for the shots published below

NETBALL: Wednesday 3^rd October 2007 was the date of the first inter house competition of the academic year. We saw some great standards of Netball on display and with all of these things there can only ever be one winner and this years results are as follows:-

APOLOGY: An apology from the Sportsdesk for the off the cuff, “2 ladies (or as close as we can get)” remark in the last edition of the Bark. A suitable period of cold shoulder has been dealt out and future editions of Sports Desk will be closely monitored by a member of the aggrieved gender, assuming that arrangement hasn’t changed.

Friday 5^th and Saturday 6^th October 2007 – U/13 Cricket Tournament at Musikili

Saturday 6^th October 2007 – ISAZ Volleyball Competition from 09:00hrs at Baobab College. Cold drinks, tuck shop and ‘wors rolls will be available

Saturday 13^th October 2007 – 1^st ZASU Swimming Gala in Kitwe followed by ZASU Awards Dinner. Our Coach Tonia Weltin is very hopeful of our team scooping some of the awards based on last season’s achievements

Do you have something you want included in the “Sports Desk” part of The Bark?

If so please let me have it by Monday 15^th October 2007 for inclusion in the next edition due out on Friday 19^th October.

Having completed a month of Sporting activities I would like to bring the following to the attention of all parents:

School PE kit is required for ALL activities of a sporting nature, INCLUDING afternoon activities. I would prefer to see ALL students wearing the correct blue PE shirt, but for the time being I will allow house shirts to be worn. If a student wishes to wear a T-shirt under their PE shirt it needs to be tucked in to the shorts/skorts, and it should be plain white. All students need to wear footwear appropriate to the activity. Pupils will NOT be allowed to be barefoot.

Additionally there appears to be a culture of wearing jewellery for PE/activities. From a safety point of view no jewellery of any kind should be worn during a PE lesson/activity. This includes watches, bracelets, necklaces, rings and earrings which dangle. The exception to this rule is single, stud earrings. Girls are expected to tie back long hair.

Website: Another reminder to everyone to please take time to visit the school web site. You will find all manner of newness on it, regular updates from the Principal, new pages and of course the Alumni page “Tartar Source” where we are trying to set up an old boy/girls network which will include get togethers and just keeping up to date with all of our former students.

CONTACT US: Please note that with immediate effect if you wish to contact us via e-mail you should use: info@sch.baobabcollege.org This address is checked regularly and you should receive a reply from the appropriate person within 24 hours.

If you prefer to sms us you can do so using 0966 824776. All correspondence is treated with the utmost discretion and every effort will be made to respond within 24 hours

Staff/Parents Vs Students Cricket Match: The Under 19 Boys have laid down a challenge to the staff/parent body in the form of a cricket match. At the moment dates and venues are not decided but I would like to try and gauge the level of interest from the parent body to partake in such an event. The Open Girls Cricket XI are also looking for more opposition following the tumultuous victory against the ZCU Development XI and if any of the mums/sisters/aunts would like to get a team together to challenge our girls team please let me know.

SOLD: An offer for the big blue bus was received last week which has been accepted however the closing date for offers will be Friday 12^th October and the highest bidder takes all. In the event of two similar offers coming in the bids will be dealt with on a first come first served basis i.e. the first to bring the readies wins the spoils

It is very important that the School has up-to-date contact numbers and email addresses for every student. Please ensure that if you change your number or email address that you let the school know. We will be checking that we have contact details and medical records for each student, and if these are missing from their file, you will be asked to complete a new set of forms.

Also while we are trying to instil promptness into our students, we would ask parents to please keep to appointment times, unless there is a very good reason to be late. Delayed appointments cause further delays for teachers and parents concerned.

Because that’s when the Baobab PTA, in conjunction with Baobab College, is proud to once again be hosting Lusaka’s (and possibly Zambia’s) biggest and most impressive Fireworks display! Gates open at 1700hrs on Friday, 2^nd November, and the fireworks will start at approx. 2000hrs. There will be a variety of food on sale, not to mention the ever-popular Novelty Stall, as well as a bar and disco. There will also be an exciting Dress-Up Competition for the kids, so start working on your Halloween-theme costume now! You’re welcome to bring your own coolbox, but please make a donation for this privilege at the gate. Tickets are only K25,000 per adult and K10,000 per child (under 18). Any dads out there who would like to volunteer an hour of their time on the evening of the Fireworks to help man one of the gates, should please give their names to a member of the PTA as soon as possible.

The Secondary students are making a Scary Tunnel for Fireworks Night and they need your help! If you have anything – and we mean anything! – that could be used to make scary, Halloween-type props, please contact Mrs Mann at the English Department. We’re looking for stuff such as black hessian, scary masks, orange or black craft paper or cardboard, skeleton costumes, orange or black balloons, templates or pictures of witches, black cats and pumpkins…well, you get the idea! The Tunnel will be great fun and a super project for the seniors. Please dig deep and bring us all the Halloween-related stuff you can lay your hands on! Thank you!

We’re pleased to announce that the school Tuck Shop, which was previously only open on Fridays, is now open every lunchtime from 1330hrs to 1500hrs, for the convenience of those children participating in afternoon activities. We hope you enjoy the extended opening hours and will support the Tuck Shop in its efforts to provide a better service to all Baobab students.