We celebrate Heritage Day in September. It is a month where we show how proud we are of our heritage be it our family, national or country’s heritage. We love to share with others what our culture is and in this way learn about the differ-

ent cultures.

The Gateway School celebrates Heritage Day in a unique way — each class chooses a country to represent during the last week of the term. This means that each class is responsible for teaching other classes about their country of choice. Categories include hous-ing, ethnicity, cuisine, flag and anthem, national

landmarks, animals and culture.

The aim of Heritage Day at The Gateway School is to educate the learners that irre-spective of all our differences we are all special in our own unique way. The learners are taught that they must treasure

their own cultures as well the

cultures of their fellow pupils.

Issue 6

Heritage Month by Ilet Kruger

September 2013

Special points of interest:

Meet our new volunteer!

The school disco

Competition

Our school competes

Eisteddfod

OT students

T H E G A T E W A Y S C H O O L

The Gateway school

newsletter

I am the mother of a blind autistic child who is also a learner at The Gateway School. I worked in the corporate environment for most of my life where I received a Senior Diploma in Paralegal as well as a Man-agement Course through University Stellenbosch. I enjoyed the law very much and decided to continue my studies towards my LLB Degree.

A lot of things happened in a year’s time, mainly to my son and I realized that my life felt meaningless. It was a rush to success and money which felt very empty. I was working very long hours and I did a lot of travelling and spent most of my time away from home and being a mother and wife I had to make a very big decision. It was a very difficult time in my son’s life as he completely lost his sight earlier this year (he previously had 5 – 10% vision). The decision was not hard to make especially after a lot of praying! God really touched my life in so many ways and He gave me the opportunity to be part of something bigger.

I resigned from my position and approached Dr Kempen to work for the school voluntarily and Dr Kempen welcomed me with open arms. When I started, I assisted in different classes but mainly to get to know the learners and their disabilities. I immediately fell in love with them and realized that I am living a dream and a passion. I also assisted in our Library where I helped Lindie out with the organization of the library. My assistance was only a drop in the ocean, but I enjoyed helping out. I was then asked to assist in the special unit with the younger learners and I assisted Teacher Shandrè in her class where I helped out with the blind learners.

Dr Kempen approached me to assist in the office as Nan Esberger was retiring at the end of the term and they wanted me to assist in the office as Office Administrator.

I enrolled at Unisa to proceed with my studies towards my B Ed Foundation Phase Degree and hopefully I will be able to make a difference in the lives of special children.

So far it has been an awesome journey being part of The Gateway School and I will continue living my dream and my

passion – to be with children and to make a difference.

Once again the senior learners were treated to a

disco on the evening of 29 August 2013. As a

highlight on every senior learner’s calendar, our

quarterly disco once again energised all the

learners. The turnout has always amazed us,

and this evening was no exception, as approxi-

mately 50 learners were present! Thank you to

all our Gateway parents for always providing us

with drinks and snacks.

P a g e 2

A Gateway mom with a change of heart by Denise Le Roux

DISCO!!by Hayley Dorfling

T h e G a t e w a y s c h o o l n e w s l e t t e r

REMEMBER FRIDAY

SALES—ONLY R5 !!

I s s u e 6

On Saturday, 17 August , a few selected learners were

invited to a futsal and hocker training session at

Huntersfield in Katlehong. Although both sporting codes

are relatively new to The Gateway School, the learners

certainly did not disap-

point us. Three of our

Down Syndrome learn-

ers were selected to

form part of the Gau-

teng futsal squad during the Ball

Games in Pretoria, where they will par-

ticipate against the other provinces.

Congratulations to Armand Smit, Taariq

Strachan and Darion Oosthuizen!

P a g e 3

A Boy and his dog by NeriNa O’DONOghue

SPORT 17 August 2013 by Hayley

Our son, Liam in teacher Alida’s class could hardly contain his excitement when he was told that he could bring his dog Muttley to school. Days prior to the big day, all what was on Liam’s mind was that Muttley was allowed to go to his

school and that finally, his teacher & all his friends could meet his adorable pet.

Muttley our Staffie is really part of the family. Whilst a very hyperactive dog, he has an amazing sense of humour and we never have a dull moment with him. Every night Liam still enjoys a bedtime story and Muttley will cuddle with him whilst I read to them. He has brought so much joy to Liam and the rest of the

family.

Liam is our eldest child and we have a younger daughter and in so much as to say, her school activities do take a lot of our time. For a change, this was Liam’s special day, and the focus was now on him and his school.

And of course, this also included his dog.

This event was a fund raiser for The Gateway School but it also raised awareness for abused and neglected animals. I noticed that an enormous amount of fun was had by our kids and their dogs. I really hope that The

Gateway School organizes the same event again next year.

I would like to sincerely thank The Gateway School and all those that or-

ganized this auspicious day for our kids and our pets.

REMEMBER TO

RECYCLE KEEP OUR

PLANET NICE AND

CLEAN!!

P a g e 4

Eisteddfod by Lize Pienaar

T h e G a t e w a y s c h o o l n e w s l e t t e r

The Gateway School took part in the annual Eisteddfod in Alberton during the week of 12 to 16 August 2013. The learners excelled in their performances achieving the following results:

Dance:

A team – 92%, B team – 92%, C team – 97%, Pre – Foundation Phase – 91%

Vocals:

Ofentse Pule (95% Trophy winner), Ntokozo Bingwa (94%), Thando Kubeka (94%), Thomas van Rooyen (94%), Din Moetji (90%), Zipho Nkoma (91%), Franco Pentz (98%), Vuyo Mgcina (98%), Kobus van Biljon (94%), Thabo Boikanyo (94%), Tyler Sham (92%), Phumelele Zulu (96%), Nora Motseki (96%), Dominique Lindeque (92%), Amber Petersen (92%), Palesa Barnard (91%), Swabi Makhubela (91%), Eva Dikoma (91%), Lungile Mbatha (90%)

Drama:

Ntokozo Bingwa (90%, 92%, Trophy winner),

Sharmeal Smith (87%), Thomas van Rooyen (90%),

Thando Kubeka (92%, 90%, 91%), Justin Muller (95%, Trophy winner, 90%),

Jessica Burger (90%, 90%), Madelein Tolmay (90%), Melani Botha (93%, 88%),

Tenishja Fourie (90%), Caylynn Paulse (91%, 91%), Spreekkoor (91% Trophy

winner), Gert Simpson (94%, 93%, 95%, Trophy winner), Thabo Boikanyo (95%,

Trophy winner), Ivon Springbok (94%, 92%), Paul Malimabe (94%, 94%, Trophy

winner , 91%, 93%, 93%), Motlatsi Ketsamaile (93%, 93%), Calvin Knipe (94%, 93%,

93%), Amber Peterson (93%, 93%), Jeanne – Marie Lubbe (94%, 91%), Sasha

Manson (93%, 91%, 95%, Trophy winner , 90%, 91%), Lungile Mbatha (93%),

Chantel Coetzee (95%, Trophy winner , 94%, Trophy winner , 91%, 93%), Palesa

Barnard (94%, 93%), Dialogue, Amber

Peterson and Thando Kubeka 93% and Paul

Malimabe and Calvin Knipe 95% Trophy winner .

Congratulations to every learner who

participated! We are very proud of you!

I s s u e 6

Its Spring fever at The Gateway School, and we decided to run a colouring in competition for our junior learners. Entry fee R5-00—all entries must be received by Friday 4 October 2013. Winners will be announced Monday 14 October

2013. Name of learner: ____________________________ in Teacher _____________________________’s class.

P a g e 5

Competition — Junior

P a g e 6 T h e G a t e w a y s c h o o l n e w s l e t t e r

Its Spring fever at The Gateway School, and we decided to run a colouring in competition for our senior learners. Entry fee R5-00—all entries must be received by Friday 4 October 2013. Winners will be announced Monday 14 October

2013.Name of learner: ____________________________ in Teacher _____________________________’s class.

Competition — Senior

Outing by Ilet Kruger

On Wednesday, 4 September 2013, Teacher Ilet and

Teacher Alida’s classes went on an

educational outing to the

Montecasino Bird Gardens. The

learners were fascinated with the

variety of colourful birds and

interesting reptiles in the park. They

watched a show where the birds

performed various tricks that im-

pressed both the learners and the teachers.

I s s u e 6 P a g e 7

This year our school was selected as a training centre for the 1st and 4th year Occupational Therapy students from the University of the Witwatersrand. Our therapists, Mrs Karen Botha and Mrs Alta

Fisher were the supervising clinicians.

Occupational Therapy strives to make our learners as independent as possible in all

activities of daily living.

Each student was responsible for providing an Occupational Therapy service to 4 learners with physical barriers. These services included assessment, daily treatment and the making of an assistive

device. They were also responsible for running groups during their stay at our school.

The students were at our school for 4 week periods at a time from the 22nd of April to the 16th of August. On the 16th of August the last group of students, Ms Ashley Scott, Ms Arisha Magan and Ms Mohini Rawjee treated our learners to farewell party which included fun things such as making party hats/ boxes and

various other games.

Our learners thoroughly enjoyed working with them and they will be missed. We wish them the all the best for the rest of the year and for their final exams.

We look forward to working with more students next year.

Occupational Therapy Students by Alta Fisher

20 September 2013 - School closes at 11h00

1 October 2013 - School re-opens

8/9 October 2013 - Khoza Night Race

19 October 2013 - Budget presentation, lucky draw and

educational talk on substance abuse

9 November 2013 - IVP information morning

6 November 2013 - School Disco

14 November 2013 - School leavers Function

Reply Slip

We are on the web please

visit us at

www.thegatewayschool.co.za

I _______________________________ (parent’s name) parent / caregiver of

_______________________ in teacher_______________________________’s class, here-

by acknowledge receipt of The Gateway School’s newsletter dated 9/2013.

_________________________

Signature Parent / Gaurdian

T h e g a t e w a y

s c h o o l

Physical Address :

Van Dalen Road North

Ruimsig

Phone: (011) 958 2080

Fax: (011) 958 2084

E-mail:

gateway_school@corpdial.co.za