Crawford Times | Sept 2020

SPRING ISSUE 2020

Plus: Hybrid Teaching • Perfect Picnic Basket • Managing Burnout

CONTENTS

2 | Spotlight News

5 | Taste Bud Battle Entries Have Closed!

11 | Insight Into the IB Primary Years

Programme

14 | Hybrid Teaching and Learning

18 | Maintaining a Positive Mindset and

Managing Burnout During Covid-19

22 | Emotional Regulation is Key

24 | Crawford Alumni

32 | School Pages

56 | Training Together - A Family Affair

58 | Best Ingredients for the Perfect Picnic

Basket

62 | 10 Most Wacky Ice-Cream Flavours

of the World

65 | Top 10 Kids’ Dream Careers

70 | Gear Up for 10 Unique Local Landmarks

74 | Landmark Motoring

Published by: Contact Media

Publishers: Donna Verrydt/Sean Press

Editorial Director: Debra Wagner/Robyn Swanepoel

(CrawfordSchools TM )

Editorial Manager: Christelle Wolmarans

Editor: Donna Verrydt (Contact Media)

Head of Finance: Lesley Fox (Contact Media)

Design: Janine Louw

Copy Editor: Natalie Kinsley

Production Coordinator: Christelle Wolmarans

Writers / Contributors: Natalie Kinsley,

Donna Verrydt and Christelle Wolmarans, Adam Botha,

Kerri-Lee Evangelidis, Ian Rothman, Traci Salter-Willis

and Morag Rees

Repro & Print: CTP

SCHOOL SCOOP

CRAWFORD’S

TREMENDOUS 10!

Leading the inspiration for

our theme this issue are the

10 tremendous campuses

that make up the

CrawfordSchools portfolio.

Nine of our campuses can

be found in Gauteng and

KwaZulu-Natal in South

Africa, with the remaining

campus in Kenya.

1

2

Each school facility is

so much more than a

passive container of the

educational process – it

is an integral component of

learning and each location

contributes to a unique learning

experience where students,

teachers and the community

engage in excellence.

Among this school group there is

a campus that is suitable for every

child, from big to small – a place

where they can come to their

own and thrive as an individual.

Crawford International Bedfordview

3

Crawford Fourways

Crawford International Bryanston

4

Crawford International Kenya

5

Image @ STEPHEN RAILTON

6

7

Crawford La Lucia

Crawford Lonehill

Crawford International Ruimsig

8

9

10

Crawford North Coast

Crawford Pretoria

Crawford Sandton

2 | Crawford Times

Snap Happy

WINNER!

And the results are in...

In 3rd position with a total of 316 likes is...

TEDDY BEARS BY VYAAN NAIDOO

Age: 5

Crawford Preparatory North Coast

In 2nd position with a total of 349 likes is...

FLOWER POWER BY VARANYA PERUMAL

Age: 5


And the winner,

with 503 likes, is...

JORDAN DAVID

from Crawford Preparatory North Coast

Submission name: Teddy Bears

Photographer: Vyaan Naidoo, Grade 5,


Submission name: Flower Power

Photographer: Varanya Perumal, Grade 5,


WINNER!

JORDAN WINS A VOUCHER

TO THE VALUE OF R5,000!

Congratulations Jordan!

We will send your prize to

you and we will make it snappy!

Photographer: Jordan David,


Every child a masterpiece | 3

TASTE BUD BATTLE

ENTRIES HAVE CLOSED!

HERE IS A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF

THE ENTRIES WE RECEIVED...

Name: Emily Jacobs

Age: 6

Town: Gauteng

Dish: Citrus Cup

CLICK HERE

to see Emily’s entry

RETURN

ENTRY!

Name: Taya Steiner

Age: 13

Town: Gauteng

Dish: Orange

Decadence

CHECK OUT

HER VIDEO

SPOTLIGHT NEWS

Entries for the 2020 Taste Bud Battle have finally closed, and we are proud to announce that we

have received a record number of entries from all over South Africa and even beyond our borders!

We have let all semi-finalists know that they made it through to the next round, which includes

the Taste Tests and then on to the Final Cook-Off.

Name: Nehali Seebran

Age: 9

Town: Durban

Dish: Fruity Salmon Sushi Cake

CLICK HERE to

see Nehali’s entry

Name: Tali Kowalsky

Age: 12

Town: Gauteng

Dish: Tali’s Fruit Fiesta

CLICK HERE

to see Tali’s entry

Name: Shengzhe Hu

Age: 9

Town: Eastern Cape

Dish: Mango Milk Pudding

CHECK OUT

HIS VIDEO

2020

www.tastebudbattle.co.za

SPOTLIGHT NEWS

CHECK OUT

HER VIDEO

Name: Mia Stanley

Age: 9

Town: Western Cape

Dish: Mia’s Raspberry & Blueberry Sponge Cake Surprise

Name: Jessica Bieri

Age: 9

Town: Western Cape

Dish: Tantalising Strawberry Delight

CHECK OUT

HER VIDEO

Name: Neo Dithupe

Age: 15

Town: Pretoria

Dish: Fun Fruit Pavlova

CHECK OUT

HER VIDEO

Name: Resego

Kungwane

Age: 6

Town: North West

Dish: Fruity

Rainbow Jelly

Taste Bud Battle

facts and stats

CHECK OUT

HER VIDEO

Province submissions

42

Western

Cape

20

KwaZulu-

Natal

Name: Hawa Bibi Moolla

Age: 16

Town: KwaZulu-Natal

Dish: Berry Mousse Entremet

373 175

profiles

registered

26

Eastern

Cape

final

dishes

1

Free State

CHECK OUT

THE VIDEO

75

Gauteng

3

George

2

Limpopo

2

North

West

1

Northern

Cape

3

Outside SA

THE TASTE BUD

BATTLE KIDS TAKE

SPOTLIGHT NEWS

Pride and the Taste Bud Battle Kids were invited to spend the day at Cresta Shopping Centre

where they completed a treasure hunt in Toys R Us, followed by an awesome book scout

at Exclusive Books. The adventure concluded with a sushi-making workshop at John Dory’s

Cresta Shopping Centre!

Click on the video links below to see the kids’ big day out at Cresta Shopping Centre.

Click here on the Facebook link to go to the

Taste Bud Battle competition page where

you could WIN:

1. One of 10 x R100 gift vouchers to spend at Toys R Us Cresta Shopping Centre.

2. One of 10 x R100 gift vouchers to spend at Exclusive Books,

Cresta Shopping Centre.

3. One of 10 x R50 vouchers to spend at John Dory’s,

Cresta Shopping Centre.

2020

WITS

AN EXCEPTIONAL UNIVERSITY

Wits is a remarkable university that is internationally distinguished for its

excellent research, high academic standards and commitment to social justice.

DID YOU KNOW THAT WITS:

• is the largest producer of medical specialists and sub/super-specialists in

southern Africa?

• is ranked 200 - 300 globally (Academic Ranking of World Universities)?

• is in the top 100 globally in clinical medicine, public health, and mining

engineering?

• is placing its graduates at the forefront of the new digital economy (the Fourth

Industrial Revolution) through exposure to the Tshimologong Digital Innovation

Zone, big data, digital business and many other inter-related initiatives?

• acts as a change agent to make the world a better place e.g. numerous

academics were recipients of The Order of the Baobab?

• doctors performed the world’s fi rst intentional HIV+ liver transplant

from mom to save child’s life.

28

Recognised by peers

internationally as global

leaders in their fi eld.

A solid history of nearly

100 years

The only globally ranked university in Johannesburg,

the economic heartland of the continent

Over

180,000 alumni

Is one of the

top two

universities in Africa

& amongst the world’s

top 250 universities

in major global rankings

6

DSI/NRF Centres of

96

of our research is published in

Excellence

internationally

Highest of all SA universities Percent competitive journals

APPLICATIONS FOR THE UNDERGRADUATE CLASS OF 2021 ARE NOW OPEN

www.wits.ac.za/applications

10 | Crawford Times

www.wits.ac.za

SCHOOL FEATURE

INSIGHT INTO THE

IB PRIMARY

YEARS PROGRAMME

LOOKING INTO CONCEPTS AND DEVELOPING

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDINGS

On the eve of the first International Baccalaureate teams visiting our Crawford

Preparatory Schools, to formally authorise the Primary School campuses as official

IB World schools offering the Primary Years Programme (PYP), we thought it would

be a great opportunity to reflect on one of the key essential elements of the PYP

Programme – concepts and developing conceptual understandings.

By Traci Salter-Willis, Head of IB: ADvTECH South Africa, Strategic Development Advisor

of ADvTECH Academic, and Director of Tournament of Minds, South Africa

A

concept is a “big idea” – a principle

or notion that is enduring and is not

constrained by a particular subject or

locked in place and time.

Concepts represent ideas that are broad, abstract,

timeless, and universal. Concepts add depth and

rigour in student thinking, as opposed to the traditional

“two-dimensional” curriculum consisting of facts and

skills only.

Concept-based learning moves beyond facts and

leads to breadth and depth of understanding.

Exploring concepts distinctly differs from exploring

facts in the following ways:

Facts

• Knowledge-based

• Content-driven

• Skills-related

• Supported by evidence

• Frequently topical

• Encourage recall and

comprehension

Concepts

• Open-ended

• Enable exploration of big ideas

• Highlight opportunities to compare and contrast

• Explore contradictions

• Lead to deeper disciplinary and transdisciplinary understandings

• Promote tranfer to familiar or less familiar situations, issues, ideas and contexts

• Encourage analysis and application


SCHOOL FEATURE

Conceptual understanding invites

students to do the following:

• Think critically about big ideas.

• Recognise patterns.

• Make generalisations,

predictions and connections

across their learning, which is

across subjects.

• Transfer understanding to

different contexts (personal,

regional, local, global).

The PYP identifies seven key

concepts that facilitate planning

for a conceptual approach to

transdisciplinary and subjectspecific

learning. They can be

used in any order and as regularly

as students and teachers require.

THESE KEY CONCEPTS ARE DETAILED IN THE TABLE BELOW:

Key concepts Key questions Definition

Form What is it like? The understanding that everything has a form with

recognisable features that can be observed, identified,

described and categorised.

Function

Causation

Change

Connection

Perspective

Responsibility

How does it

work?

Why is it as

it is?

How is it

transforming?

How is it

linked to

other things?

What are

the points of

view?

What are our

obligations?

The understanding that everything has a purpose, a

role or a way of behaving that can be investigated.

The understanding that things do not just happen;

there are causal relationships at work, and that

actions have consequences.

The understanding that change is the process of

movement from one state to another. It is universal

and inevitable.

The understanding that we live in a world of

interacting systems in which the actions of any

individual element affect others.

The understanding that knowledge is moderated

by different points of view which lead to different

interpretations, understandings and findings;

perspectives may be individual, group, cultural or

subject-specific.

The understanding that people make choices based

on their understandings, beliefs and values, and the

actions they take as a result do make a difference.

Teachers promote and model

the development of conceptual

understanding through carefully

crafted questions, wonderings and

provocations that stimulate criticalthinking

skills by doing the following:

• Providing opportunities to

build on prior knowledge and

experience.

• Expanding beyond factual

knowledge.

• Stressing the importance of the

“how” and “why” of learning.

• Sparking student curiosity

and engaging them to think

conceptually.

• Inviting investigation.

• Inviting students to justify their

answers.

• Wording questions in ways that

are accessible to students.

• Asking open-ended questions to

allow for personal interpretation.

Concept-based inquiry is a

powerful vehicle for learning

that promotes meaning

and understanding, and

challenges students to

engage with significant

ideas. They integrate

new knowledge

with their existing

knowledge and

apply these

understandings

in a variety of

new contexts.

By identifying and

investigating key

concepts, students

learn to think

critically about

big ideas.

Let’s have a look at

how these key concepts

can enrich an inquiry into

butterflies as living creatures,

as opposed to simply

knowing facts

about butterflies.

• Encouraging pattern-finding in

student thinking.

12 | Crawford Times

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING

Living creatures have unique features that identify them and allow them to thrive and survive.

FORM – What is it like? FUNCTION – How does it work? CONNECTION – How is

it connected?

• What does it look like?

• Where are its eyes?

• What does it smell like?

• How big is it?

• What colour are its wings?

• How does it reproduce?

• How does it fly?

• How does it feed?

• How does it see?

• What do the antennae do?

• What eats butterflies?

• What use are butterflies to

humans?

• What do people mean by

‘the butterfly effect’?

CHANGE – How is it changing?

PERSPECTIVE – What are

the points of view?

REFLECTION – How do we know?

• What is its lifecycle like?

• Have they always been

orange?

• How has the population

changed?

• What were they like in the

past?

• Are all butterflies beautiful?

• Should we kill butterflies?

• Are butterflies pests?

• What’s your favourite butterfly?

• How do we know butterflies

eat nectar?

• How do we know the wings

of butterflies are made up of

tiny pieces?

CAUSATION – Why is it the way it is?

• Why are butterflies

symmetrical?

• Why did the peppered

moth change?

RESPONSIBILITY – What

is our responsibility?

• How can we help butterflies?

• Who do we need to educate

about butterflies?

• What is organic farming?

Whereas knowledge is locked in

time and place, the rich and fluid

context of the PYP encourages

conceptual understandings that

are changeable and may be

elaborated on or reinterpreted

as the students learning journey

continues through the different

Units of Inquiry as part of their IB

journey.

With understanding more of these

key concepts, the discussions

you engage in at home can

be readily extended to include

these and therefore allow for

engagement beyond facts and

skills alone. Give it a go!


SCHOOL FEATURE

HYBRID TEACHING

AND LEARNING

This year started with a bang and little did we know that March 2020 was the

month where we would have our world turned upside down with the whole

country going into lockdown and schools having to embrace a whole new

way of approaching authentic teaching and learning.

By Ian Rothman, Senior Principal: Crawford Preparatory Fourways

There was great excitement

and apprehension as

we prepared ourselves

for moving into online

teaching and the staff spent

their holiday familiarising

themselves with the platform

that would allow them to stay

connected with their students

as we ‘returned to school’ for

the start of the second term in

April 2020. Schools are social

environments and one cannot

14 | Crawford Times

underestimate the importance of

the face-to-face contact. It allows

us the opportunity to connect

with our students, and also gives

us the chance to pre-empt

any situations that may affect

the students’ happiness and

performance at school.

Teaching online required that

we come up with really creative

ideas so that we continued to

stay connected with the students

and there was a great focus on

ensuring that they embraced

learning online as well as

remaining positive as their days

were spent indoors.

The second term of the academic

year saw us grow in confidence

teaching and learning online

and it was wonderful to see

how the students, parents and

staff managed to not only

follow the planned academic

programme but also enjoyed

planning for fun-filled events that

we were able to have online.

These included funky socks

and crazy hair days, cooking

and birthday celebrations,

dress as your teacher day and

everyone’s favourite – pyjama

day. These allowed us to have a

sense of normality during very

challenging times. We also stayed

connected as the students had

the opportunity to shift their focus

onto less serious matters as they

had to learn to cope with the

limited interaction with their peers.

When we started on this journey

there was so much that we all

had to learn, and days were

filled with highlights as well as

challenges where we wondered

if we would ever get this right.

The highlights included when

everyone managed to mute their

microphones before the start

of a lesson, the first submission

of work online and conducting

assessments when the children

were not in a classroom. The

challenges included connectivity,

managing students who all

wanted to say something at the

same time, and not always being

able to see how the students were

doing as they were only identified

by an icon on a screen.

June 2020, another month of

change as we prepared to

welcome back to school the

first group of students after the

full lockdown. There was great

excitement on the first day as

we heard the voices of excited

students returning to all our

Crawford School campuses,

something that we had missed

for over three months. Despite

all the safety protocols that

were in place, the students

were able to spend time with

friends, something that they had

really missed. With the students

returning to school, we faced a

different challenge and that was

how we were going to manage

to teach the students that were

in the classroom as well as the

students who were still online.

“

When we

started on this

journey there was

so much that we all

had to learn, and

days were filled with

highlights as well as

challenges where

we wondered if we

would ever get this

right.

”

Since the start of the lockdown

there were so many concepts

and approaches that we had

learned about and used for the

first time in our teaching careers,

and when the students returned,

it was the start of something new

– Hybrid Teaching and Learning.

Hybrid learning combines faceto-face

and online teaching into

one cohesive experience. There

are students who are on campus,

while some students continue to

work online. The traditional model

of education required that we

have to have children in class

for learning to happen, but we

have seen that we are able to

use so many different platforms

or approaches to ensure that our

students have every opportunity

to progress academically, socially

and emotionally.

There was a lot of planning

involved to ensure that we were

able to meet the needs of both

groups of students and we relied

heavily on effective technology

within our classrooms. There were

so many funny and memorable

moments at the start of the journey,

with staff members forgetting that if

they weren’t ‘strategically’ placed in

front of devices that were allowing

the students online to follow the

lessons, students not in class spent

the lessons interacting with their

teacher’s kneecaps. Despite this,

we have embraced the hybrid

model and have structured our

days in such a way that both


SCHOOL FEATURE

groups of students can make the

most of the learning environment. It

is wonderful to see how responsible

the onsite and online students

have become. On campus, the

students follow the safety protocols

and have adapted so well to the

expectations of being back on

campus and the students who are

online login to their lessons and are

active participants in everything

that is happening in class.

With so much uncertainty about

what the remainder of the

academic year has in store for

us, the one guarantee is that

we have managed to meet the

needs of hybrid teaching and

this will allow us to create new

opportunities as we continue

throughout the year. As schools,

we have embraced change

and worked hard at being the

best we can be for all the roleplayers

in our schools. We have all

acquired new skills and realised

that every interaction requires

energy, engagement and focus,

and we must never underestimate

the importance of a sense of

community. Our successes are

due to amazing parental support,

teacher commitment, student

engagement and our need to

have the students experience a

sense of predictability, with great

surprises around every corner.

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

Resilience – Whatever comes

our way, we will embrace it

and make the best of it.

Crawford teachers live by

‘A Commitment to Excellence’,

working hard to ensure that

their students experience

success online and in class.

Teachers have had the

opportunity to create great

learning environments for

their students. They’ve been

creative, accepted change,

solved problems and

maintained relationships.

This would not have been

possible if we didn’t have the

support of our parents. Their

assistance has guaranteed

that we have been able

to maintain an excellent

academic programme.

WHAT HAVE WE SEEN IN OUR STUDENTS SINCE THE START OF ONLINE

LEARNING AND THE INTRODUCTION OF HYBRID TEACHING?

• The students take greater

responsibility for their own

learning. Work that needs to

be done independently is

done with enthusiasm and a

determination to succeed.

• Online etiquette and

effective communication.

The students are engaged

during online sessions and

understand the challenges

of having children in class

and online.

• With the Hybrid model, every

student is able to access

Technology allows us to

enhance our learning

programme as well as

understand that we have new

opportunities with the use of

online learning.

Learning material can be

accessed from anywhere

and students can be

connected to the learning

content at any time.

We can enhance the learning

experience, using platforms

to appeal to the needs of

our students with the use

of multimedia.

We can track progress by

analysing engagement with the

learning material and therefore

identify areas requiring support

and enrichment.

information presented by the

teacher at the same time.

Students can continue to

have authentic relationships

with their peers even if they are

not in the same place at the

same time.

• The students understand that

there are still class norms

and that they can still have

wonderful engagements in

class and online.

• Students embrace change

and adapt to everything they

have to cope with.

We can’t go back, and as educators we look forward to

continuing to experience the changes in the educational

landscape. We are inspired by what is still to come and the

connection between our students and teachers is at the heart of

quality education. This will continue and not be limited by time,

space and where we may find ourselves.

16 | Crawford Times

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PARENT FEATURE

MAINTAINING A POSITIVE MINDSET

AND MANAGING

BURNOUT DURING

COVID-19

Do you feel like you’re close to burnout? Do you feel fragmented, overwhelmed,

anxious and distracted? The Covid-19 lockdown has increased the pressure on us to

change that which we can change and surrender that which is beyond our control.

By Adam Botha, Transformation Life Coach

The late great Dr. Wayne Dyer often said, “When we

change the way we look at things, the things we

look at change.” I think this sums up how we get to

be more positive and affect our world and those

around us in a more positive way.

There are three key characteristics that define resilience:

1. An ability to understand and accept reality.

While optimism may appear to be an indicator

of resilience, blind optimism can foster denial.

Accepting reality allows us as individuals to be

prepared for it.

2. A belief that life and the hardships we

experience have meaning. This is the ability

to see the silver lining or underlying benefits

of a challenge, or to have faith that there

is a greater meaning behind it. This

belief often comes from a strong

value system that helps you

interpret the world around you.

As an individual, it also gives you

greater purpose.

3. An ability to improvise – to

be faced with an obstacle

and innovate a way around it.

Resilience is an important skillset

that you can build during these

challenging times.

18 | Crawford Times

It helps to self-assess how we are holistically to get

a clear idea of why we may be thinking, feeling or

acting a certain way. To accept how we are, we

have to first take the time to have a proper look to

see how we are and then we can look at what it will

take for us to change for the better. We can do this

by checking in with ourselves. There are four core

touchpoints that we can score ourselves on to give

us a holistic view and track how we are doing: Our

physical energy, our emotional wellbeing, our mental

focus and our spiritual connection.

OUR PHYSICAL ENERGY

As you scan your physical body from head to toe,

notice what shows up and score how much physical

energy you have out of 10 by asking yourself how

physically energetic you feel. Is there anything else

that you notice about how your physical body feels?

Now, what new habits can you think of that will

increase and manage your physical energy better

throughout the day?

• Rise early – getting up at 5am to draw in fresh

pure energy and to do some deep breathing,

yoga or tai chi, boosts us into our day.

• Sweat and stretch – 20 minutes of physical

exercise at the start and end of the day is a gamechanger.

• Eat well – maintaining a healthy diet, maintaining

blood sugar levels and drinking enough water

(2 litres or 8 glasses a day) goes a long way in

keeping our bodies happy.

• Rest enough – rejuvenating our bodies through

rest (a 20-minute afternoon nap) and sleep (7

hours of sleep at night).

• Nature nurture – time spent walking or running or

just being in nature energises and grounds us.

• Know your limits – be sure to put boundaries in

place, otherwise “life” will find a way to push your

limits.

To support you in establishing healthy boundaries

for your physical energy, ask yourself what your main

meal diet plan for each day of the week is, and

determine what you need to do to get to bed by

9pm and be up by 5am.

OUR EMOTIONAL WELLBEING

Take a little time to become fully aware of how you

are feeling emotionally and score yourself out of 10

by asking yourself how positive you feel right now.

Is there anything else that you notice about how you

are feeling?

What new habits can you think of that will uplift and

manage your emotions better throughout the day?

Reflection – journal about your experiences and

express your feelings freely.

Perspective – being aware of how often you react

versus how often you respond to external situations.

Routine – forming a routine will help you feel safe

and in control of your day.

Support – managing anxiety and stress in our lives

often means asking for help.

Practise – keep forgiving yourself and others, and

consciously note what you feel grateful for.

Humour – an episode of your favourite comedy

series might just lift your spirits.


for your emotional wellbeing, ask what rhythm you

can build into your everyday life to help establish

emotional resilience and predictability, and when

anxious and stressed, ask yourself what needs to

happen (be released or expressed) for you to return

to joy/centre/calm.


PARENT FEATURE

OUR MENTAL FOCUS

As you consider your current state of your mind,

notice to what degree you feel focused or fuzzy.

Score yourself out of 10 by asking yourself how

mentally clear and focused you feel. Is there

anything else that you notice about the way you

are thinking right now?

What new habits can you think of that will sharpen

your focus, and manage your state of mind better

throughout the day?

• Meditation – sitting for a few minutes every day to

be or observe your inner dynamics brings stillness

and calm.

• Learning – making time to learn something new

every day or to build on a skill keeps your mind

active.

• Teaching – sharing what has supported and

helped you will uplift and inspire your mental state.

• Awareness – expanding your interest in others

and the world will keep your mind informed and

fresh.

• Daily review – summarising what worked and

what didn’t will help you learn lessons and build

better habits.

To support you in establishing healthy boundaries for

your mental focus, ask yourself how you can share

what inspires you with others, and when you can

spend a little time reviewing your experiences at the

end of each day.

OUR SPIRITUAL CONNECTION

As you connect to the greater good, notice to what

degree you feel connected. Score yourself out of

10 by asking yourself how spiritually connected

(or connected to the greater good) you feel. Is

there anything else that you notice about your

connection right now?

What new habits can you think of that will

strengthen your spiritual connection, and support

you to be more in service of the greater good?

• Compassion – showing kindness and caring to

yourself and others will deepen your relationships.

• Gratitude – humbling ourselves to be thankful

for what we have brings peace and more to be

thankful for.

• Practise – choosing a mindfulness practise or

prayer in the morning will connect us.

• Study – contemplating spiritual, religious,

consciousness or philosophy stimulates us to think

spiritually.


for your spiritual connection, ask yourself what

type of mindfulness meditation or prayer you will

practise daily, and what type of spirituality, religion,

consciousness or philosophy do you choose to

learn more about.

Let us keep reminding ourselves that this too shall

pass, and that now is the time for us to prepare for a

new way of life.

Adam Botha runs his

transformational life coaching

practice out of Johannesburg

and is a professionally certified

ICF (International Coach

Federation) Associate Certified

Coach and a member of

COMENSA (Coaches and

Mentors of South Africa)

www.iwalkawake.com

Email address:

adam@iwalkawake.com

@iwalkawake

@iwalkawake

20 | Crawford Times


PARENT FEATURE

EMOTIONAL REGULATION

IS KEY IN PARENTING

By Kerri-Lee Evangelides, Crawford Preparatory Lonehill School Counsellor

Parenting is one of the

most challenging yet

meaningful life tasks.

Kelly Barlett’s shares a

meaningful quote: “Some of the

most important things you can

communicate to a child are that

feelings are okay, mistakes are

fixable, and nothing they could do

would push them away or make

you love them less. Behaviour is

not perfect; it is communication.

Embrace the imperfect and show

children they are worth holding

close to your heart.’

As adults we need to be aware

that children experience

many emotions during their

childhood and can understand

and differentiate appropriate

from inappropriate emotional

expressions. However, some

children still find it hard to express

their emotions, especially if they

haven’t learned to identify and

name them. There are eight

primary emotions, namely anger,

sadness, fear, joy, interest, surprise,

disgust and shame. These are

often learnt from emotional, social

and cultural contexts. Many

of our secondary emotions, to

name a few, are affection cheer,

relief or surprise, which come into

play at an early age as a child’s

emotions are either validated or

invalidated, influencing future

emotional reaction.

Emotion regulation is a threephase

process that involves

teaching children to identify

emotions, helping them identify

what triggers these emotions,

and teaching them to manage

these emotions independently.

22 | Crawford Times

When we teach children that their

emotions are valid, we help them

view what they feel as normal

and manageable.

Emotional invalidation prevents

children from learning how to

manage their emotions. When

we teach children to identify

their emotions, we give them

a framework that helps them

to explain how they feel, which

makes it easier for them to deal

with these emotions in a socially

appropriate way.

As parents it is essential to model

appropriate behaviour during

childhood. The best way to teach

your child to respond to anger

appropriately is to demonstrate

to him or her how. Research

suggests that children pick up our

emotions, and that those exposed

to many negative emotions

are more likely to struggle. In

other words, how we respond

to our children’s

emotions has

an impact on the development of

their emotional intelligence.

Ultimately, assisting children in

managing their emotions begins

by validating these emotions

and providing an environment

in which they feel safe to express

them. Children who feel safe are

more likely to develop and use

appropriate emotion regulation

skills to deal with difficult feelings.

A critical factor in children’s

psychological health is a child’s

increasing ability to regulate his/

her emotions by expressing their

feelings in constructive rather

than in impulsive or hurtful ways.

Emotion regulation means being

able to think constructively

about how to cope with feelings.

Improved emotion regulation

leads to benefits in all areas of a

child’s life. Research has shown

that children who are able to

regulate their emotions pay

more attention, work harder, and

generally do well at school. They

are better able to resolve conflicts

with their peers and show lower

levels of physiological stress. We

ideally strive for our children to

express their feelings but not to be

overwhelmed by them.

“

Emotion

regulation is a threephase

process that

involves teaching

children to identify

emotions, helping

them identify what

triggers these

”

emotions...

Children most effectively learn

to regulate their emotions when

they are confident that their

feelings will be heard. When a

child expects that her feelings

and concerns will be appreciated

and understood, her emotions

become less urgent. He or she

will be less persistent in his/her

demands, and more open and

flexible in seeking solutions to

problems. In addition, our children

will be more able to feel empathy

and concern for others and to

take responsibility for their actions.

During these conversations,

children begin to learn that their

feelings, although at times painful,

either through their own efforts

or with the help of supportive

adults, can be made better. Our

children’s present and future

emotional health can only be

improved in this way.

Some parents use authoritarian

parenting strategies that do not

allow the child an independent

voice or sense of efficacy. Other

parents overcompensate with

permissive parenting that doesn’t

teach children about limits and

self-control. Research shows both

extremes can interfere with one’s

ability to regulate emotions and

form healthy relationships as

adults. The best type of parenting

is fair, flexible and respectful.

Listening to and respecting your

child’s feelings, allowing choice,

yet setting fair and clear limits on

unacceptable behaviour, is the

healthy balance.

Young children don’t naturally

have empathy and consideration

for one’s needs. They develop

empathy slowly as they mature,

through experiencing the

empathy you demonstrate to

them. It is important to take some

time to connect with your own

feelings and calm down using

deep breathing or self-talk before

letting off your emotions.

Communicating effectively with

our children takes time and

energy. We need to become

aware of our own feelings and

automatic reactions and learn to

slow down to be able to choose

a more mindful way or alternate

route to addressing emotional

behaviour. Following through with

consequences teaches children

limits, whilst listening and granting

autonomy teaches our children

respect. Be sure to take care

of yourself enough so that you

have this type of mindful energy

for your family. This may mean

re-examining your priorities and

letting go of some things. Children

who have respectful, engaged

and consistent parents learn

to regulate their own emotions

more effectively, feel better about

themselves and are able to have

more loving relationships as adults.

Your child needs your

encouragement to develop her/

his own inner compass. Respect

their feelings and how they

feel about others. If they feel

uncomfortable about someone

or a specific situation, listen to

why, and try to assist them in

problem-solving. Affirm your child

by allowing him/her to trust his/

her own feelings.

Every child has issues that he or

she is afraid to discuss; these are

the issues where they need your

support and guidance most.

Of course, you may first need to

overcome your own discomfort

with the issue. Also, set regular

times when your child can bring

up what is bothering them.

In conclusion, when we feel

as children or adults that our

emotions are understood and

accepted, we begin to let go of

the weight of our feelings. This

leaves an opening for problemsolving.

Children do have the

ability to problem-solve themselves,

however, they may need your

assistance to brainstorm some

other options. Resist the urge to

solve problems for them unless

they ask you to as this can give

children the impression that you

don’t have confidence in their

ability to manage the situation on

their own.


ALUMNI FEATURE

Crawford

Alumni

By Natalie Kinsley

An exciting and magnificent journey into the

future awaits matriculants. We caught up

with alumni students Prenessa, Uzo and Karli

to hear what they have been up to since

hanging up their school blazers.

Prenessa Nalliah

Prenessa matriculated from Crawford College La

Lucia in 2009 and has since founded Creative

Angels Fashion Benefit, and is co-founder of Perana

Set Design. She currently works for a digital agency

called Katana as a Campaign Manager.

Prenessa Nalliah

If you had three months off, lots

of money and no internet, what

would you do?

Run a development competition

for architects in South Africa and

India, to get the most sustainable

designs for housing, schools and

hospitals into the spotlight globally.

What is the greatest lesson you’ve

learnt from a previous failure?

My personal happiness should

always come first, provided I

maintain my integrity.

What is your biggest love?

My life partner, my spirituality and

the work that I do every day.

Is every failure (in life, in business

or in love) a lesson on the

magnificent road to success?

Absolutely.

What is your best and your worst

habit?

Best – reading and playing the piano.

Worst – expecting others to

produce the same high quality of

work that I do, regularly.

24 | Crawford Times

Finish the following sentence:

If you want to go into the fashion

industry you...

… need a thick skin, self-confidence,

vision, and undying curiosity.

What is your most magnificent

memory from Crawford?

The teachers. Most of them

showed me unconditional love

and parented me through tough

times they weren’t even aware

of me going through outside of

school. They made the culture

work, and it’ll remain with me

for the rest of my life. I still rely on

them for encouragement and

advice in life!

Are you finding your dream job or

creating it? How?

Both – I do what I love, when I

feel like doing it. The confidence

to do so came from my time at

Crawford La Lucia.

If you could have supper with

anyone in the world, who would

it be?

My grandfather or my late best

friend.

What are three daily habits you

swear by?

• Get admin out the way early.

• When in doubt, communicate.

• Accept the situation, change

what’s changeable and if I’m

still miserable, remove myself

from the situation.

What do you think will stand out

in your personal life when you

remember lockdown in 30 years

from now?

The financial and social impact,

and the agility and optimism

required to endure it.

In three words, what does the

world need the most?

Integrity, discipline, respect.

What is the most beautiful thing

you have ever seen?

My nieces and nephew,

and children of South Africa,

conquering their own fears and

reaching their goals.

Uzoma Bailey Ayogu

Uzoma, or better known as Uzo, matriculated from

Crawford Sandton in 2012 after which he earned

a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Duke

University. After graduating he spent three years

on Duke’s board of trustees. He is the CTO and

co-founder of Releaf, a supplier of high-quality

raw materials to food processing factories in

Nigeria. The core mission of the company is to

industrialise food processing in Africa, and Uzo’s

mission is to create broad-based social and

economic prosperity in Africa in his lifetime.

Uzoma with co-founders Isaiah and Ikenna

Uzoma Bailey Ayogu



would you do?

Read and listen to my favourite

books in the most scenic parts of

the world interspersed with periods

of writing, exercising, watching live

sports, playing the piano, refining

culinary skills and visiting friends in

different parts of the world.

Biggest lesson born from a

previous failure?

Don’t be a hero – very quickly

assess your own gaps and

aggressively pull in resources

to change your circumstances.

Incremental changes will not lead

to outlier results.


God

Is every failure (in life or

business or love) a lesson

on the magnificent road to

success?

Yes – if you choose it to be. Pain +

reflection = progress. Pain without

progress can just be demoralising.

You must actively make time to

extract the lessons.


habit?

Best – Reading every day.

Worst – Wanting to send perfect

responses, resulting in no responses,

or very delayed responses.

Finish the following sentence:

If you want to go into business,

you...

…must do it surrounded by

people you respect, admire and

who have shared values.



Winning the district soccer

championship as Captain in my

final Grade 12 game.

Are you finding your dream job

or creating it? How?

Yes, by building Releaf I’m

contributing to my dream of a

prosperous Africa by the close of

the century.



it be?

Paul Kagame

Uzoma and his industrial team


swear by?

• Reading daily

• Quiet time with God in the morning

• Writing down the most

important thing to do the next

day on paper before sleeping




from now?

A period of very difficult business

decisions that forced me to reevaluate

my focus area within the

business.

In three words, what does the

world need the most?

Accessible unbiased data

What is the most beautiful thing

you have ever seen?

Watching my best friend get

married!


ALUMNI FEATURE

Karli Coetzee

Karli was head girl of Maragon (now Crawford International

Ruimsig) and matriculated in 2015. She went on to do a BSc in

Human Physiology, Genetics and Psychology – a triple major –

at the University of Pretoria and graduated cum laude in 2018.

Karli is now busy in her second year of medicine (MBChB) at the

University of Namibia.



would you do?

Take a trip around the world! It

would be a dream to see the

world, even more so without the

distractions that come along with

internet and social media. On

a serious note though, I would

establish feeding schemes for

hungry children. I know it sounds

so cliché, but helping people is

truly one of my greatest passions,

hence why I am studying

medicine. I have my own charity

that I established while in high

school called Hands from Heaven,

so I would donate a large sum

of my money towards that and

establish even more charities or

outreach programmes.

What is your greatest lesson

because of a previous failure?

To never give up. Successful

people develop from the amount

of times they persevered and not

by how many times they gave up.


Not a what, but a who – Jesus

Christ.

In December 2018, Karli travelled to Europe with a touring

singing group. Here she is at a ski resort in Italy.

Is every failure (in life, in business

or in love) a lesson on the

magnificent road to success?

I believe there are no mistakes in

life, rather lessons to be learnt. If

a person manages to learn from

mistakes or failures, then growth

and wisdom develops. This is the

way to turn a negative incident

into a positive result.


habit?

I am a perfectionist... and I am a

perfectionist!

Karli began a charity, Hands from Heaven,

when she was still at school.


ALUMNI FEATURE

“

I have my

own charity that I

established while

in high school

called Hands from

Heaven, so I would

donate a large

sum of my money

towards that and

establish even

more charities

or outreach

”

programmes.

Finish the following sentence: If

you want to go into medicine

you...

… need to believe in yourself even

if it feels like no one else does. You

need to be willing to walk an extra

mile or sometimes 10 per day. You

need to shake off disappointments

and setbacks fast, and you need

to walk in FAITH!



Here, my friends and I are dancing in front of the school I built with my charity,

Hands from Heaven. For the work I did with my charity I was awarded LeadSA

Youth Hero of the Year for Gauteng in 2015. This was the day they came to

award me,” said Karli.




from now?

I guess the bonus was that I was

home in South Africa during

lockdown. It was hard to do a

full term of medicine online, but

I would have never expected to

have the opportunity of studying

medicine while being at home.

The repatriation flight back and

14 days in quarantine was also

quite a crazy experience.

The amazing friendships I formed

there and still enjoy today.



it be?

My mom! We live in different

countries so I would use any

opportunity to see her.


swear by?

• Be an early riser and make your

bed.

• Get active.

• Pray and spend time with the

Lord.

28 | Crawford Times

Karli draws a patient’s blood during

a routine checkup.

Karli graduated cum laude in 2018 with

a BSc in Human Physiology, Genetics

and Psychology – a triple major!


SCHOOL PAGES

CRAWFORD COLLEGE

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL

KENYA

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL

RUIMSIG

CRAWFORD

LA LUCIA

CRAWFORD

NORTH COAST

ACADEMICS

In the Crawford

International

Kenya Design and

Technology class, Year

11 student, Joshua,

designed a mobile

display board to

advertise movies at

various points in the

mall so people do

not have to go to the

movie house to find

out what is showing.

As part of an

Interschool

Hackathon, the

Crawford International

School Kenya Year

10 students, Shiv,

Mugambi, Samantha,

and Year 11 student,

Michael, designed

a project to tackle

food insecurity. They

created a website

to help farmers

determine the best

crop for their current

land situation and

location.


Ruimsig Grade 12

Visual Art students,

Sabelo Mazwi, Teejay

Hlatshwayo and

Tumisang Leshoeli,

work hard to complete

their own masterpieces

for their final Visual Arts

practical.

The Grade 11

Accounting students

at Crawford

International Ruimsig

participate in their

annual Flapjack

Factory task. This is

done to introduce

the chapter on

Manufacturing.

Grade 11 Crawford

College La Lucia

student, Mira

Pillay, placed

34th nationally

in the De Beer’s

English Olympiad.

Furthermore, her

poetry was published

in the Kalahari Review,

and was among 400

entries selected to be

published in Professor

Jansen’s essay-writing

competition.

Crawford College

La Lucia students,

Daniel Cohen and

Adrian McIntosh,

were bestowed with

the highest honour

when they received

their white honours

blazers. A student

must attain full

colours in any three

of the four disciplines

to obtain the coveted

blazer.

Daisy Pybus has been

a Crawford North Coast

boarder for 18 months,

and in this short period

she has become a

familiar face both on

and off the stage. She is

passionate about learning

and believes in academic

excellence. In 2019, she

obtained an aggregate

of 96%, receiving the Top

Achiever for Grade 8

award. Currently with an

aggregate of 97.5%, she

will be a tough contender

to beat in Grade 9. She is

working towards a goal

and wishes to study either

Medicine or Astrophysics

at Oxford or Stanford.

Kent Williamson at

Crawford College North

Coast came over to us

from a neighbouring

school. He has consistently

and diligently applied

himself to his academics,

resulting in him being the

Top Achiever in Grade 10

in 2019. Kent sees himself

as hard-working and

always trying to give of his

best. He is ambitious and

determined, particularly

with his goals.

30 | Crawford Times

The Crawford College Lonehill

Grade 9 Technology curriculum

chose to pursue a STEAM

approach, which integrates the

STEAM (Science, Technology,

Engineering, liberal Arts and

Mathematics) disciplines into

a cohesive learning paradigm

based on real-world applications.

The students were given the

following brief: Occasionally

there is a discovery that is totally

unexpected and appears to

re-write history! During major

earthworks in a sleepy little

provincial town, a hidden storage

space is revealed. A team of

archaeologists is called in to

unravel all the clutter within. The

archaeologists find a cluster of

10 unusual items, which appear

to have been connected in some

way. Your challenge is to put these

items together to make a machine

that has at least two different

ways of operating and has the

potential to be of major benefit to

the modern world. Using recycled

and upcycled materials, create

a working model of the original

discovery, clearly demonstrating its

original purpose. You can see from

the photographs that the students

have embraced the challenges

of STEAM and produced creative

and high-quality solutions to the

challenges set to them.

CRAWFORD LONEHILL

Adam Mohamed packaging design

Aséa Pozniakow packaging design

Crawford College Pretoria

student, Jesmeka Naidoo, was

accepted into the Yale Young

Global Scholars Program

where she attended the

Politics, Law, and Economics I

session. Jesmeka was 1 of 143

students from 125 countries

who were chosen to attend

these sessions. She was the only

South African in the Politics, Law

and Economics program.

Ruva

Mushongahande

CRAWFORD

PRETORIA

Zinnirah Boodoo

CRAWFORD

SANDTON

Crawford College

Sandton is very proud

of their own Grade 12

Ocean Warrior, Aadila

Sirkoth, who was in

conversation with the

Minister of Fisheries this

term. She is bound to

make an impact on our

world, our oceans, and on

future generations.

Rebecca Stirling’s marketing poster

Students representing Crawford

College Lonehill in Round 2 of the

IT Olympiad.

Back (L-R): Jade Baboolal, Hannah

Stevenaert, Janina Rexrodt, Jené Bras

Middle (L-R): Amogelang Phasha,

Madison Aguirre, Jaime van den Bosch,

Greg de Villiers, Louvhan Moonsamy

Front: Kgatliso Mamabolo

At Crawford College Lonehill

we start introducing computers

and their applications, as

well as problem-solving and

programming skills, from

Grade 8. We like to expose the

students to different platforms

for programming, eventually

ending up programming in

Java in the senior years.

Grade 12 students, Gilles Teuwen,

Gemma Rushton and Gareth Cockburn

Grade 10 & 11 students, Tarique Mackay

and Benjamin Manning

Oresti Pavlou

The following Crawford

College Pretoria students

participated in the University

of Pretoria Mathematics

Competition and placed

as follows in their Grade

categories:

3rd place – Grade 9 student

Ruva Mushongahande

4th place – Grade 10 student

Zinnirah Boodoo

5th place – Grade 10 student

Oresti Pavlou

During Cycle 1 in STEAM,

Crawford College

Sandton Grade 8

students worked on the

Master Chef challenge.

The challenge included

designing and baking

their own cupcake and

ensuring that they create

a label with a logo and

packaging for selling the

cupcake.

WATCH THE VIDEO

OF CAILYN


SCHOOL PAGES

CRAWFORD PREPARATORY

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL

KENYA

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL

RUIMSIG

CRAWFORD

LA LUCIA

CRAWFORD

LONEHILL

ACADEMICS

During a Year 4

Science class at


School Kenya, students

had an opportunity

to prepare a video

clip on sign language.

Veer’s message was

very clear. Can you tell

what he is saying?

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

While discussing light

in a Year 5 Science

class at Crawford

International School

Kenya, students

created shadow

puppet shows to show

their mastery of light

and shadows. Here is

Ashok’s dramatic story

of the Dragon and the

Virus.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO


Ruimsig Grade 4 pupils

inquired into change

by adapting to a new

chapter in our school

as we moved from the

old into the new.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

As an introduction to a

Shapes in Mathematics

inquiry, the Crawford

International Ruimsig

pupils used Lego

blocks together with

creative thinking

skills to construct the

“impossible triangle”.

Sumanas Viranna, a

Grade 6 pupil from

Crawford Preparatory

La Lucia, participated

in the 2020 Talent

Africa Nationals and

was awarded with KZN

Provincial Colours in the

Performing Arts, a top-10

medal for competing

in the Top 10 in his age

category, 3 gold medals

(highest accolade) for

mime, monologue and

undramatised poetry,

and best costume in

the Junior category. He

has been selected as a

member of the SA Team

to represent Africa at

Talent America in New

York. Congratulations!

During Crawford

Pre-Primary La Lucia’s

unit of inquiry, ‘How

We Express Ourselves’,

the Grade 3’s learnt

about different types

of communication and

how it has changed

over time.

The Crawford

Preparatory Lonehill

Foundation Phase

in the Unit, ‘Where

we are in time and

place’, explored

various cultures and

countries. Pupils

brought items that

were authentically

from these countries.

Andrew Hurley in

Grade 1 recorded

his ideas about

an invention that

he created. The

presentation was part

of a unit called “How

we express Ourselves”

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

32 | Crawford Times

CRAWFORD

NORTH COAST

CRAWFORD

PRETORIA

CRAWFORD

SANDTON

CRAWFORD

FOURWAYS

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL

BEDFORDVIEW

In exploring the

transdisciplinary

theme, ‘How the world

works’, Crawford

Preparatory North

Coast Grade 3 pupils

inquired into the

interaction between

the natural world and

human societies.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO


Pretoria pupil, Zayyaan

Boodoo, placed 3rd

in his category at the

University of Pretoria’s

Mathematics Olympiad.

Congratulations

Zayyaan!

The Grade 1s recent

Unit of Inquiry on ‘Where

we are in place and

time’ investigated toys

of the past and present.

The entire Unit was done

online, and the children

were fascinated to hear

about toys of the past.

A wide variety of toys

were researched, from

Barbies and tea sets to

the Rubik’s Cube and

toy cars, as well as other

games and toys.

The Crawford

Preparatory Fourways

Grade 1s separated

various images into

their own specific

wants and needs. This

forms part of their Unit

of Inquiry, ‘How we

organise ourselves’.

It is interesting to see

their various choices.

Crawford

International

Bedfordview Grade

6C pupil, Hayley

Wickham, is taking

the new normal

in her stride, back

at school and

geared to continue

the academic

programme.

The Crawford

Preparatory North

Coast Grade 6 pupils

have learnt about

geometric concepts

through Mathematics,

English, Technology

and Art. They explored

different geometric

concepts and through

this learning, they had

to use Tinkercad to

create a 3D Islamic

patterned stamp.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

The Crawford

Preparatory Pretoria

Grade 6 pupils looked

at the properties of

solids, liquids and

gases during Natural

Science class. They

demonstrated that

there are spaces

between particles

of matter and that

particles of matter

move. Meanwhile,

the Grade 5 pupils

investigated the

materials, processes

and properties of

making glue using flour

and water and how

they go about making

cereal and oats.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

Sello Lekalakala is a

buzzword within the

Grade 6 group at


Sandton. He recently

joined one of our Unit

of Inquiry meetings. By

sharing his own life story,

he gave the pupils an

incredible and heartwarming

understanding

of how educational

opportunities can

change your life. The

pupils were so inspired.

We salute you, Sello

Lekalakala!

As part of the Unit of

Inquiry ‘How the world

works’, the Crawford

Preparatory Fourways

Grade 7 pupils were

tasked to create a

presentation to depict

the concept that all

plants go through a

process of change

and help sustain life

on Earth. Hannah Pike

from Grade 7C looked

at coconut oil.

Crawford

International

Bedfordview pupil,

Corrado Costello, is

wearing the mask he

designed and made

in the Grade 5 STEAM

class. With this he

sends an inspiring

message even during

challenging times.


SCHOOL PAGES

CRAWFORD PRE-PRIMARY

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL

KENYA

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL

RUIMSIG

CRAWFORD

LA LUCIA

CRAWFORD

LONEHILL

CRAWFORD

NORTH COAST

ACADEMICS

Towards the

end of the term

the Crawford

International

School in Kenya’s

KG-2 explored

the concept of

structures. Koome

described a

structure as “a big

big tower where

people sell cars on

the very top floor”.

Did you know you

can balance an

egg on its end

on the vernal

equinox? You can

certainly balance

an egg on its end

on other days

using a simple

trick with salt.

The Crawford

International

School in Kenya’s

reception class did

just that!

The Crawford

International

Ruimsig Pre-Primary

Grade 00s used

their fine motor and

perceptual skills to

cut, glue and create

their own road map.

They had great

fun learning about

signs and symbols

on the road and

why it is important

to follow them.

Crawford

International

Ruimsig Pre-

Primary pupils

learnt how to read

and follow a map

during their Unit

of Inquiry on signs

and symbols.

They had great

fun dressing up

like pirates and

following the

clues on their

treasure maps to

find gold coins.

Crawford Pre-

Primary La Lucia

is thrilled that their

offering transcends

borders and

connects people

globally. Ibuki,

from her home in

Japan, is excited to

practise speaking

English and to see

her friends online in

South Africa.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

‘Children must

hold Maths in their

hands before they

can hold it in their

heads’. Crawford

Pre-Primary La

Lucia’s Grade 0s

have fun practising

their counting,

addition, sorting and

sequencing skills.

The natural growth

and discovery we

have all undergone

during this time has

resulted in some

best practices

being embedded

into our teaching

and learning ethos.

Crawford Pre-

Primary Lonehill has

a comprehensive

online pack

each week that

is exceptionally

prepared by our

teachers. We thank

all for embracing this

learning journey.

Crawford Pre-

Primary Lonehill

pupils joined

in the fun and

completed 9

Maths challenges

for our Pre-Primary

Maths Olympics.

They were then

either awarded

an Einstein trophy

for completing

all 9 activities

or a certificate

of participation.

Congratulations.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

Crawford Pre-

Primary North

Coast Grade 00s

did an “eggciting”

science

experiment

where they

placed an egg in

a cup of vinegar.

They observed

the shell erode

and were

delighted when

they learnt that

the egg could

bounce!

The Crawford

Pre-Primary North

Coast Grade 0

pupils combined

story sequencing

and storytelling

to practise their

communication

skills and build

their confidence

in this area.

34 | Crawford Times

CRAWFORD

PRETORIA

CRAWFORD

SANDTON

CRAWFORD

FOURWAYS

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL

BEDFORDVIEW

CRAWFORD

BRYANSTON

During their Unit of

Inquiry, Crawford

Pre-Primary Pretoria

Grade 0 pupils

explored, discovered

and developed an

understanding of the

concept of Time. The

pupils made timelines

of important events in

their lives and learnt how

time is managed using

various devices.

Inas Darsot from

Crawford Pre-Primary

Sandton has been

researching the solar

system and has

recorded a video

explaining how we

experience day and

night on earth.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

The Crawford Pre-

Primary Fourways

Grade 00s are

learning all about

measurement. Using

Lego, they measured

their shoes, lunch

boxes and school

bags. They compared

the largest and the

smallest.

Oliver Grant Knight

from Crawford

International

Bedfordview could not

wait to return to school

to see his friends

and be in class with

Teacher Shantell.

After reading the

book, “Tyrannosaurus

Drip”, Crawford

International

Bryanston Grade 00s

learnt about the diet

of different dinosaurs.

We used hula-hoops

to create a Venn

Diagram and the

children were asked

to sort the animals

into herbivores,

carnivores and

omnivores.

Writing is a process that

begins with learning

how to handle writing

tools correctly, creating

different strokes on

paper and learning

various writing patterns.


Pretoria Grade 00s

have had so much fun

copying writing patterns

in flour, sand and

even delicious instant

pudding. The children

have also enjoyed

tracing these patterns

and have proudly

begun writing their own

names.

Blake and Caleb

Hackman from

Crawford Pre-

Primary Sandton are

participating in the

Crawford Mathematics

Olympic Challenge

which requires different

tasks to be completed

each week. Good luck

boys!

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO


Fourways Grade 00s

are learning all about

signs and symbols.

Here they are having

fun looking at emojis

and identifying the

emotion displayed by

each.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO


Bedfordview

pupil, Wian, being

responsible in ensuring

the tricycles are

sanitised before being

used by his friends.

During Life

Skills, Crawford

International

Bryanston Grade 0s

used their drawing,

cutting and sticking

skills to create

sundials. They then

spent some time

outdoors observing

the movement of

shadows.


SCHOOL PAGES

LEADERSHIP

THROUGH THE LENS OF 2020

The world is at a historic crossroads. 2020 has been a year of unprecedented

change, with dramatic adjustments to how we live, work, and learn.

By Morag Rees, Executive Principal: Crawford Sandton Campus

We are living in what experts have termed

a ‘VUCA world’ – volatile, uncertain,

complex, and ambiguous. But this VUCA

world doesn’t have to be something

to be feared; in fact, such volatility, uncertainty,

complexity, and ambiguity often brings with it

opportunities for the creation of a better world – one

that is more equitable, just, and inclusive. In times of

crisis, we need to actively seek new ways of seeing

the world, new ways of working, and a new kind of

leadership. This leadership, though, isn’t simply about

the people who run businesses or governments, or

about organisational structures; it is also about our

teachers, students and school community.

So, what should this leadership in a world of

unprecedented change look like?

IT IS HUMAN-CENTRED

If leadership is about seeing opportunity in the

uncertainty of change, then the best place to look

for it is among the people who are most affected by

36 | Crawford Times

and capable of adapting to the change. Leadership,

then, is not about popular textbook or buzzword

theories, but is found in the broad-based wisdom

of people. It is intrinsically connected to public

expectations, inclusive of the voices that leadership

ultimately needs to and must serve. Leadership is

therefore not driven from the top down but guided

from the bottom up. In schools, student voices,

insight and needs have increasingly proven to be a

legitimate and meaningful basis for leadership, and

student wisdom and compassion should increasingly

guide priorities and projects if schools are to continue

being relevant and credible.

It is crucial that we make a mental shift away from

thinking of people as ‘doing’ resources, to thinking of

them as being human. This requires that leadership

be not about templates and rules but rather about

relationships; it is at its core about deep empathy

and connection to context, needs, and cultures.

Covid-19 has underscored the urgency required to

address systemic vulnerabilities and it is increasingly

clear that leadership should move away from

traditional models, which prioritise profits and

IT IS CREATIVE

competition, towards creating holistic shared value

for all stakeholders. In schools, leadership should

centre around integrity, thinking and conscience

ahead of the pursuit of results, grades or status.

For students it is about self-reflection and the

community – student leaders need to be sensitive to

the hopes and needs of their peers before seeking

their own recognition or power.

IT IS DIGITALLY ENABLED, RATHER THAN DIGITALLY

LED

While integration of new technologies is key to

keeping up with the changes we are experiencing,

technological leadership holds little value when it

is not applied through the lens of humanity. New

technologies, instead of being about the pursuit

of the latest and greatest, offer the opportunity to

connect people and society more effectively. It is not

surprising that where online teaching has been built

on established, trusting and equal relationships, it

has been notably more effective.

Technology can function as a tool to facilitate

and support better relationships, as a driver of

collaboration, cooperation, and creativity. We don’t

need technological progress for technology’s sake,

but to move people forward, together. Our student

leaders, who are often masters of technology,

need to direct their leadership to using technology

to build, to affirm and reassure, before using it to

publicise or self-congratulate.

IT IS COLLABORATIVE

Historically, leadership has been understood as

a role rather than a way of working. In a world of

change, this needs a bold evolution.

Leadership isn’t about a person, but about groups

of people, cooperating and partnering in dynamic

networks that create new value for everyone

within the system. A changing world is a multistakeholder

world, where the private sector, civil

society, community groups, the media, academia,

and the public sector must partner if we are to solve

deep systemic issues which have become more

apparent over the past few months. Teachers and

students of all ages, backgrounds and talents need

to accept equal responsibility for, and have equal

rights to, opportunities to share and contribute.

School and student leadership should therefore be

agile and responsive, adapting as an organic and

cooperative system, rather than being part of a

cumbersome or bureaucratic hierarchy.

Fostering this collaboration requires an

abandonment of rigid structures, old habits, and

outdated ways of thinking. It requires a mode of

leadership that opens up opportunities for problemsolving

that conventional methods just don’t allow

for: creative leadership. This creativity must include

innovations and solutions that come from students

and their community.

Creative leadership is about looking at our changing

world through new eyes to develop and realise

innovative ideas and unconventional solutions to

structurally complex or challenging situations that

help make us more resilient to change. It requires

collaborative and digitally-led spaces, but also the

establishment of cultures and belief systems that

encourage people to be different and give them

a sense of safety to think unconventionally in a

world that demands new solutions. Bringing this to

life requires a shared sense of purpose. Leadership

in schools needs to increasingly not just hear, but

nurture and encourage the voices, ideas and

solutions offered by the students they serve.

IT IS PURPOSE-DRIVEN AND VALUE-LED

Times of crisis and dramatic change can often result

in chaos and confusion. Leadership in these times

therefore demands clarity of purpose. For leadership

to be sustainable and effective, it needs to stretch

beyond what we want to achieve to why we want to

achieve it.

Purpose-driven leadership helps us identify that

‘why’. It helps us define a strong core of what we

believe in and shapes the values that guide our

daily behaviours and interactions. For it to be

effective, it must be authentic and resonate with not

just your colleagues or classmates, but all partners,

to make it credible and achievable. Crawford

schools are fortunate to have a strong ethos – and

this ‘Crawfordology’ offers a meaningful and welldefined

purpose against which school and student

leaders should determine appropriate actions,

decisions and behaviours.

These five attributes of leadership are essential

for a changing world. They ensure that leaders

have the resilience and adaptability to move

forward with purpose and conviction. This kind of

leadership helps us work towards a more equitable

society and inclusive community. Ultimately, it will

guide Crawfordians, as they embrace a different

approach to address the significant global

challenges we face.

CLICK HERE TO MEET SOME OF CRAWFORD SCHOOLS

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, JUDICIARY, COUNSELLORS

AND CLASS REPRESENTATIVES 2020/2021


SCHOOL PAGES

CRAWFORD COLLEGE

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL

KENYA

CRAWFORD INTERNATIONAL

RUIMSIG

CULTURE

Watch Crawford

International School Kenya

Year 10 student, Andrew

Gitonga, performing a

devised monologue created

from a stimulus of a picture

of a bent tree.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

CRAWFORD

LA LUCIA

Crawford College La Lucia

Grade 9 student, Cally

Van Heusden, created,

directed, performed,

filmed and edited her

own monologue video for

Option Drama around the

creative interpretations of

the word ‘quarantini’.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

Congratulations to


Ruimsig College student

Mikaela Visagie for

achieving excellent results

for her participation in the

ATKV-DigiPraat-project.

She achieved an A for

ATKV – DigiPraat, 88% in

the provincial round for

National Inter-Schools

Public speaking League,

and an NEA Young

Performers Award.

Congratulations to


Ruimsig College student

Brendan Moorcroft who

competed at Talent Africa

Nationals and earned gold

medals in both his Drama

performances. He also

made the SA team that

will be competing at Talent

America in New York.

Congratulations to Shiara

Dawneerangen, who

participated in the Con

Spirito Drama Competition

and achieved 84% (A) for

English Prose, 90% (A++)

for Dramatic Poem, and

90% (A++) for Monologue,

(A++) for Monologue, 93%

CRAWFORD

LONEHILL

Crawford College Lonehill Grade

12 student, Savannah Shaw, has

released her first debut single,

“Free”, documenting her journey

with mental health illness, to a

global market. Savannah hopes

to inspire and help millions of

people around the world who

are suffering from mental health

issues. She is extremely talented,

and her hope by releasing such

an inspiring song is to remove

the stigma around mental

health challenges.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

38 | Crawford Times

CRAWFORD

NORTH COAST

CRAWFORD

PRETORIA

CRAWFORD

SANDTON

Crawford College Sandton

participated in this year’s edition of

SACEE debate Championships which

was hosted online with two teams in

the junior and senior divisions. Sandton

NYX advanced to the Grand Finale.

A special mention to team members

Ganya Arora, Kabir Burra, Caitlin Levien,

Mivuyo Penze and Tavleen Katari.

Crawford College North Coast

has been dancing, singing

and acting its way through this

pandemic – perhaps not as

openly or publicly as usual –

but our online and digital work

has been as prevalent and

phenomenal as North Coast

always is! It has been amazing to

watch the students just take off

at a run, or even just fly and quite

frankly exit the stratosphere with

their incredible brilliance and

unique creative concepts. They

truly have shown that creative

problem-solving and analytical

thinking are tools they are so

good at using, without even

knowing they are employing

them! This is what Culture at

Crawford College North Coast is

all about.

The Grade 11 Drama students

were tasked with creating a

Digital Performance from 11 sets

of creative stimuli given to them.

They had no boundaries and no

“specific” performance element

required, as can be seen in the

video. Lethukuthula Mtolo has

done a “Spoken Word” version

of a Hugh Masekela song.

Music, Dance and Drama 2020,

thank you for making us throw

away the box!

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

SO, WHAT’S THE BIG FUSS ABOUT SCALES?

Why learn scales? What are they

for? What exactly are the benefits of

practicing scales? We have all asked

these questions before. Crawford

College Pretoria shares some secrets

on how to understand the benefits of

practising scales.

• It develops finger independence,

finger agility, finger strength, flexibility

and, subsequently, overall technique.

• It develops muscle memory and instils

discipline in your daily routine. Muscle

memory is essential when memorising

music.

• Practising scales with a metronome

promotes a strong sense of rhythm

and pulse.

• It assists in knowing the various keys.

If a composition is written in A major,

you will then understand and know

what accidentals to play. As the piece

modulates you will similarly recognise

and understand what new accidentals

to play.

• It will increase your confidence as a

performer.

• It leads to an understanding of keys,

which will help you with your sightreading.

• Practising scales trains your fingers to

play common patterns found in music.

The most difficult aspect of practising

scales is getting started, so start today

and make it part of your daily regime.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

One of our senior Debating teams,

the Red Brigade, comprising of Tanju

Ozdemir, Reuben Morris, Charlotte

Abrahams and Gareth Rees.

CHLOE

BRAYSHAW

VIDEO

Hannah Said, Grade

12 who has been

accepted into

Waterfront Theatre

School for 2021

without an audition.

She will be studying

her Musical Theatre

Degree at this Cape

Town Arts’ School.

Chloe Brayshaw,

Grade 12 Drama

student: History of

wrong guys

“I don’t want

to discover

something new,

but something

forgotten.” - Jerzy

Grotowski

HANNAH

SAID

VIDEO

During lockdown, Crawford College

Sandton teachers were missing their

students and so they created and

shared a video with them.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH


SCHOOL PAGES


CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL KENYA

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL RUIMSIG

CRAWFORD

LONEHILL

Rahil Singh performs a

tribute on drums to all our

essential frontline workers in

the fight against the Covid-19

pandemic.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

CULTURE

Watch Crawford International

Preparatory Year 7 student,

Reyna Muchiri, performing an

improvised monologue based

on escaping home to go find

her mother.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

CRAWFORD

LA LUCIA

The Crawford Preparatory

La Lucia Drum Department

recently launched the Virtual

Drum Project! This video

featured 50 drummers from the

campus and spread a message

of hope, unity and teamwork.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

Saxophone:

Maroale Rachidi, our talented

saxophonist, performs the

beautiful melody of the Skye

Boat Song at our bi-annual

showcase.

Monologue:

Lwandle Sibanda shows off

her talents at the Interhouse

Public Speaking Competition.

Our school is alive with talent!

Music Theory Class Video:

Music Theory Elective is


Preparatory Ruimsig’s

new offering in the Arts

Department to promote the

future of Music as a subject.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

Dance: The grade 7 pupils

in the unit, “How we express

Ourselves”, participated in

a Traditional Greek Dance.

Despite lockdown and

COVID protocols, pupils

continued their learning

journey gaining more

knowledge about the

Kalamatiano.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

Music: Crawford

Preparatory Lonehill

hosted an online Music

concert showcasing the

exceptional performances

of music pupils and their

progress thus far. Owing

to the protocols and

lockdown, many pupils

recorded their videos at

home. The Crawford family

were entertained in the

comfort of their own homes.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

40 | Crawford Times

CRAWFORD

NORTH COAST

CRAWFORD

PRETORIA

CRAWFORD

SANDTON

CRAWFORD

FOURWAYS

The Crawford

Preparatory North Coast

Grade 4 pupils are on a

learning journey into the

art of storytelling through

Stop Motion Animation.

They are finding out how

to use different types of

material for their Stop

Motion and are currently

using playdough.

During lockdown our pupils at

Crawford Preparatory Pretoria

used Dance, Drama and

Music to express themselves.

Abigail Peters doing her

online music exam


Fourways has many

cultural superstars. Pupils

Kayla and Kaho (Grade

3) recited a poem,

“You’re a Gem”, written

by Mrs. Silcock. With such

creativity, the Unit of

Inquiry on natural forces

is brought to life as part of

their Drama class.

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL

BEDFORDVIEW


Bedfordview took on the

#Jerusalema Challenge

set by Crawford North

Coast and challenged

all the other campuses to

participate. So much fun

was had!

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

Grade 1 pupils practised

tongue twisters. They then had

to make up their own tongue

twisters, draw their faces on a

piece of paper and write their

new tongue twister on their

drawn tongue.

The Grade 2s filled a heart

with all the things that make

them happy, and then gave a

speech on ‘the pieces of their

heart’.

After studying Aesop’s Fables,

Grade 3 pupils wrote their

own scripts for the Lion and

the Mouse characters and

made puppets to use in a

puppet show to present their

scripts.

Grade 5 pupils learned all

about beat and rhythm by

doing The Cup Song.

Grade 6 pupils used

movies to demonstrate their

understanding of Saving the

Earth.

During Lockdown level

5 and 4, students at


Sandton continued with

online Music lessons,

learning new songs, and

bringing joyful sounds

to their homes. We are

extremely proud of our

pupils and staff who

enthusiastically kept

the beat going! Several

students at Crawford

Preparatory Sandton

successfully completed

their digital examinations

of the Trinity College

of London during the

national lockdown. You

make us proud with your

achievements during these

challenging times!

Grade 4 pupil, Surina

Govender, has grown

tremendously in her music

this year. It may have

something to do with her

funky purple piano!


SCHOOL PAGES


CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL KENYA

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL RUIMSIG

CRAWFORD

LA LUCIA

CULTURE


Kenya Kindergarten student,

Liam, is showing off his rock

star moves as part of the

collaborative dance project

to celebrate his promotion

to the next class. What a fun

way to ‘move it’ from a small

kid class to a big kid class!

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

CRAWFORD

SANDTON

Sofia Marani from Crawford

Pre-Primary Sandton recently

started public speaking and

has been practising her

poem ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’

for you to enjoy.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

Crawford Ruimsig’s Pre-

Primary comprehensive

music programmes allow

for children to express

themselves in a variety

of creative ways. Class

drumming is one way and

always a firm favourite with

the Grade 0 pupils!

CRAWFORD

FOURWAYS


Fourways’ Teacher

Gail has cleverly

incorporated Music and

Dance into the Physical

Education Programme.

Our Grade 000s have

fun learning various

physical skills while

singing and dancing.

Dance and movement

are lots of fun and always

incorporated into the ‘brain

break’ sessions between

Crawford Pre-Primary La

Lucia’s blended online

learning sessions.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

CRAWFORD

BRYANSTON

During their artist study,


Bryanston Grade 00s learnt

about Andy Warhol and pop

art. They created their own

works of art using bright,

bold colours and their

handprints. Meanwhile, the

Grade 0s created spring

masterpieces. Each day,

they would add a different

element to their artwork

such as a border, a flower

garden, and even 3D flowers.

42 | Crawford Times

CRAWFORD LONEHILL

CRAWFORD NORTH COAST

CRAWFORD PRETORIA


Lonehill’s ‘Jellytots’ had

to learn and act out their

favourite nursery rhyme

during an online lesson.

Daniel joined our school

with a very limited English

vocabulary and sang his

newly learnt nursery rhyme

with great enthusiasm. We

are very proud of him.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

The children at Crawford

Pre-Primary North Coast

have started exploring

the ‘Magic of Music’ with

Mrs. Wadsworth. What

fun and excitement as

they learn new songs,

explore the use of

different instruments and

dance to new rhythms

with their Principal.

ADVERTISE INSIDE

The Crawford Pre-Primary Grade 000 pupils have been

exploring ‘The Magic of Music’. The pupils listened

to different sound clips. After discussing each sound

clip, the pupils used their facial expressions to display

how music influenced their feelings. The pupils also

identified that music is played at parties, that we dance

and exercise to music, and that we use music during

mindfulness to calm us down and to help us breathe.

We have explored that sounds have an origin and that

sound travels to our ears. The pupils, both online and

offline, began reading basic musical notes. Each pupil

created their unique song by cutting out musical notes,

pasting them onto a sheet of paper, and playing or

reading out their song. Our Grade 000s are true little

composers, and each song is a masterpiece.

SPRING ISSUE 2020

The Crawford Times is the official and exclusive

mouthpiece of the Crawford Schools TM . It is a

quarterly publication that reflects the ethos of

this world-class institution while highlighting the

achievements of each school, as well as that of

the students. Due to the nature of the publication

and the quality of the print and content, it enjoys

high dwell times and pass-on ratio.

Crawford Times celebrates all that is successful

about these fantastic schools whilst also

communicating directly with parents, primarily, and

then students and extended family, including proud

grandparents and family friends.

Plus: Hybrid Teaching • Perfect Picnic Basket • Managing Burnout

Get in touch with us today!

info@contactmedia.co.za | 011 789 6339


SCHOOL PAGES

MEET THE COACHES

If you want to know exactly what benefits sport at school can

bring, or just need help articulating what exactly your hours

of training have brought to your CV, then fear not! We’ve

picked some of our very best coaches in the business to

share their wisdom with us, to give us a competitive edge.


BEDFORDVIEW

Coach Peter Phillips

Resilience and learning from our

setbacks

SPORT

In life, we all have stressful situations we

have to deal with. We all make mistakes,

but it is our resilience and will power

that determine what kind of a person we

are. We can we learn from our mistakes

and make changes where necessary

to ensure we do not make the same

mistakes again.

This is true in sport too. Here at Crawford

International Bedfordview, we have had

our battles, which we overcame and got

through.

We are a small school, and in sporting

circles, we have always been the

underdog and is still seen as an easy

target by other schools in terms of our

sporting abilities.

In the past we allowed this to get the

better of us when we competed. However,

we used this experience to improve

ourselves and push ourselves to be able

to compete and show other schools that

we are a force to be reckoned with.

We are resilient and one of the strongest

schools in our area. We have shown, with

our determination and learning from past

mistakes, that we can compete with the

best of them.

CLICK HERE

TO WATCH

THE VIDEO

With the correct leadership and role

models we have created a bond and

guided our learners to always give

their best. This positive atmosphere has

inspired us to overcome obstacles and

achieve excellent results. Not allowing

our defeats to take us down, but to make

us stronger. If you are not scared to make

mistakes and try different strategies,

you will find the right formula to make a

success of everything you do.

44 | Crawford Times

CRAWFORD INTERNATIONAL BRYANSTON

Coach Nqobile Mnkandla

Communication is key


and Playball have partnered

since 2019. Playball specialises

on the foundational phase of

sporting prowess that will open

doors to competitive engagement

in sporting activities (baseball,

basketball, cricket, hockey, netball,

rugby, soccer and tennis) to

selected Crawford International

Bryanston students.

Communication is key and the

relationship between Playball and


has benefitted greatly from the

school’s open-door policy. We, as

Playball, are able to engage with

management and any staff member

on any day of the week when we

have coaching commitments at the

school. Should we note any issues

with any of our students, these

are immediately relayed to the

school personnel without any redtape

hassles that usually hamper

communication.

It is also worth noting the importance

of the school’s management

acting as the medium between

the parents and Playball. This has

de-cluttered and streamlined the

communication process, and so

effectiveness is guaranteed. This is

not only commendable but true to

the mantra ‘if it ain’t broken don’t fix

it!’. As such, we shall maintain the

status quo.

CRAWFORD FOURWAYS PREPARATORY

Coach Jon-Paul Smith

The importance of teamwork

“Coming together is the

beginning; keeping together is

progress; working together is

success”. This proverb by Henry

Ford highlights the importance

of working together in a team.

This ability is often taught to be

applied in the business world but

is relevant to one’s profession, in

sporting, and in everyday life.

Teamwork is an essential

element of society and plays an

important role in assessing one’s

ability in various kinds of careers.

Teamwork is not only reflected

in a team’s success, but also in

individual growth.

Teamwork is the concept

of people working together

cooperatively, as in sales

teams and sports teams. It

has also become so valued

that many large corporations

have developed specific

tests to measure potential

employees’ teamwork ability.

It has become an important

goal in most workplaces as it is

understood that teamwork gives

employees a sense of ownership

and encourages cooperation.

Furthermore, teamwork is viewed

as one of the key driving forces

for improving performance.

Teamwork is important to

organisations as all staff and

team members are able to

complete critical tasks. Teams

are also important and can

perform at higher levels than

typical workgroups. Higher

performance levels are the result

of a greater synergy resulting

from collaboration and jointly

produced outputs rather than a

pooling of individual outputs. In

today’s crazy world we must all

strive to be better team players

and collaborate to greatly

contribute to society.

CLICK HERE

TO WATCH

THE VIDEO


SCHOOL PAGES

MEET THE COACHES


SCHOOL KENYA

Coach Malik Mwabondo

Remaining disciplined

Discipline is essential to sport. It builds an athlete’s

character to help them set their mind to achieve

great things. Beyond sports, it is also instrumental

to succeed in other areas of life. Participating

in sports early in life gives a lifelong sense of

discipline to students.

SPORT

Discipline permeates every area of our lives, from

career to education to personal health. How does

discipline relate to sports? Kids can struggle to

know when to play and when to get work done.

Sports is the best way to help teach children some

simple discipline skills, like getting to practice on

time, or not talking while someone else is talking.

Discipline may not be fun at first, but it is the best

way to correct unproductive behaviour. Any sport

requires properly executed techniques to succeed.

If not, one can get frustrated and even give up

prematurely. Discipline can be unpleasant, but the

sacrifice is worthwhile.

Discipline helps you stay active, organised, have

more self-control and to stay productive and

focused. This skill not only applies to sport, but it

can also come in handy at school, at work, and

at home. It also helps you gain self-respect and

admiration from others.

CRAWFORD PREPARATORY LA LUCIA

Coach Shaun Ferreira

Maintaining passion, drive

and focus

In order to maintain passion,

drive and focus for your

respective sport, I would

encourage you to start off by

setting realistic short-term goals

(within three months), mediumterm

goals (within six months)

and long-term goals (within a

years). Without setting realistic

goals you may find it hard to

stay focused and have the drive

in your respective sport.

Once you have established

these realistic goals, it is time to

ask yourself: “What will it take for

me to achieve these goals?”

CLICK HERE

TO WATCH

THE VIDEO

In order to achieve these goals,

you will need characteristics such

as passion (your love for the sport),

drive (putting in the hard yards)

and focus (remembering your goals

when the going gets tough) to help

you get to the point of achieving your

desired goals.

There is a famous sports quote

by Derek Jeter: “There

may be people who

have more talent than

you, but there is no

excuse for anyone

to work harder

than you do”.

At Crawford International School Kenya,

discipline has been one of the main

ingredients to the tremendous success the

school has achieved within a short time

since its inception in September 2018. Now

that we have new, strict guidelines because

of the Covid-19 pandemic, children will be

required to be more disciplined than before.

CLICK HERE

TO WATCH

THE VIDEO

46 | Crawford Times

CRAWFORD LONEHILL

Coach Russel Munroe

A willingness to take criticism

CLICK HERE

TO WATCH

THE VIDEO

The job of a school sports coach is often one

where criticism is levelled from all fronts. Be

it your coaching style, selection of teams, or

general running of sport events. The ability to

decipher whether the criticism is constructive or

destructive rests very much with the individual.

For myself, I see criticism like any other skill – I

needed to have learnt to be willing to take

criticism as a means for improvement. Once I

had ingrained this skill into my bank of other

skills, I changed my perception and did not

easily get demotivated by what could be

perceived as derogatory or destructive criticism.

I learnt to display attitudes when receiving

criticism which have helped me along the way.

I became less defensive when receiving criticism,

and learnt to decipher the facts from biased

statements, be more assertive in communicating

when facts are untrue, and not to take criticism

so personally. This has helped me move on and

grow from negative, destructive and sometimes

personal criticism.


BELOW ARE 5 TIPS TO MANAGE STRESS:

1. Set realistic goals and targets. Yes, we all want

to be the best of the best but those individuals

who have reached this goal did not wake up one

morning and had automatically achieved it. They

set a goal and worked every day to get there.

Accept that this is a long road.

2. Positive self-talk. Remember to believe in yourself

and your ability. Self-confidence is an important role

in controlling your anxiety and stress.

Coach Keri Byron

An ability to manage stress

CLICK HERE

TO WATCH

THE VIDEO

During these unprecedented times, an ability to

manage stress is paramount to success. We need to

learn to challenge ourselves and look deeper into our

own ability and realise that we were born to succeed.

Feeling stress is normal, but how we access this

pressure and move it into something positive is the key

to ultimate euphoria.

3. Embrace adversity. You will experience obstacles

and hurdles on your climb to success. These are the

times when you push yourself to move forward.

4. Chill out. It’s okay to stop for a day. Redirect your

thoughts and find a way to channel your stress into

something fun.

5. Talk it out. I’m sure you’ve heard the expression,

“when in doubt, talk it out”. This is an amazing way

to release any tension or stress that you are feeling.

There is always someone who can (and will) help

you through this.


SCHOOL PAGES

MEET THE COACHES

CRAWFORD PRETORIA

Coach Alice Khosa

Perfectionism: Pros and Cons

Often in sports, athletes strive for the best shot,

strike or run because it has to be “perfect”. Being

a perfectionist in sports is associated with a strong

work ethic, an athlete who is highly committed to

their goals and are willing to learn and improve.

Being a perfectionist in sport comes with setting

high expectations. However, I often see young

athletes become frustrated and disappointed

when they fail to meet these expectations. They do

not perceive that missed shot or incorrect strike as

being part of the learning and growing process of

the game.

There is nothing wrong with striving to be the

best but when athletes start holding unrealistic

expectations to be perfect in the game and

forgetting that making mistakes is part of the

learning process, then focusing too much on being

perfect defeats the purpose of training, competing

and playing the game.

SPORT

It is important for coaches and parents to help

young athletes understand that being “perfect” is

not what makes them who they are but rather effort,

mistakes, victories, losses and endless dedication

makes them strong and perfect athletes.

CRAWFORD SANDTON

Coach Braydon Dixon

Acknowledging failure,

praise and appreciation

What is the secret to success?

Past failures are directly related

to future successes. Without

them, you may not be motivated

enough to reach your goals.

Athletes often face defeat – do

not let it get you down. Instead,

let it drive you to success. Failure

is just as essential in sport as

success, no matter what your

sport. If you have the right

attitude and view your failures

as learning experiences, you

can use them to push forward

and achieve success.

It is important at this time to

appreciate all the important

CLICK HERE

TO WATCH

THE VIDEO

aspects that will make you

succeed and overcome these

failures. Never give up! It is not

wanting to win that makes you

a winner; it’s refusing to fail. Even

if this takes time, keep going

and never let a challenge

stop you from reaching your

goals. Looking at failure in

a positive light will help you

grow. Instead of letting failure

defeat you, you can learn C

from it and improve.

Remember that not everyone Y

is going to believe in you,

CM

but you can be determined

MY

to always believe in and

have faith in yourself. You CY

must learn to rely on yourself

CMY

to reach your goals, no

matter what challenges you K

encounter. Appreciate life’s

small lessons and the journey

along the way, and take all

the opportunities to assess

how you can improve.

Always believe in yourself

and trust the process and

journey that you are on.

M

48 | Crawford Times

CRAWFORD INTERNATIONAL RUIMSIG

Coach Floris du Plooy

Why failure is a stepping stone to success

Failure is one of the most important teachers on the

journey to achieve success. One cannot succeed if

one does not fail along the way. The trick is to choose

how to respond or react to failure. It is a very simple

decision: you either give up or be willing to fight

to succeed. It is one’s attitude that makes all the

difference. A ‘no fear’ attitude can be the quickest

road to success.

Failure will prepare students for future success. When

encountering a similar event, experience will help one

overcome challenges. Therefore, one must embrace

failure as there is a learning opportunity in every

situation – both in victory and defeat.

A student should never be fearful of making mistakes.

Remember, the best lessons come from the toughest

defeats.

Failure is proof that you are trying and that you are

determined to succeed.

CLICK HERE

TO WATCH

THE VIDEO


SCHOOL PAGES

CRAWFORD COLLEGE

Social responsibility is the idea that our actions affect others and that we should strive to

impact individuals and society positively. In today’s increasingly complicated world, this

sentiment rings truer than ever before. Social responsibility starts at home, and it prepares

your children to be global citizens. The best way to learn responsible virtual behaviours

is through practise. At CrawfordSchools we inspire ways to interact with those less

fortunate than ourselves and provide many different opportunities to put it into practise.


CRAWFORD LONEHILL

CRAWFORD PRETORIA

Community Outreach Team

supporting the Crawford College

Lonehill support staff with Survival

Boxes

SERVICE

Crawford College North Coast

Grade 10 Interact student, Priyanka

Singh, spent her Mandela Day

baking biscuits for the Durban

North Baby Home. Priyanka also

organised an Interact collection

drive for The Baby Home.

CRAWFORD LA LUCIA

This Mandela Day, our college

students wanted to make the

biggest difference to the littlest

people. A generous donation, with

much love, was given to The La

Lucia Baby House.


RUIMSIG

Crawford International Ruimsig

College decided that this year for

Mandela Day, we would support

Cradle of Hope by distributing food

parcels to families in need. We

donated over 100 parcels.

EduLift SA, run by Crawford College

Lonehill Alumni student Justin

Carlse, is a registered Public

Benefit Organisation that focuses

on the education of students from

underprivileged communities in

Johannesburg. Since the start of the

nationwide lockdown they have

been unable to run their weekly

Saturday School held at Crawford

College Lonehill, due to the gazetted

regulations surrounding social

distancing. But as the lockdown

continued, they saw the need for

social and food relief grow.

EduLift SA then started their own food

relief initiative called Meals for Life.

They began collecting food parcels

at the beginning of May, and with the

assistance of the Crawford College

Lonehill community outreach team,

they have distributed over 15,000

sandwiches and fruits as part of their

#BreadAndSpread campaign. They

have also supported the Christway

Safe Haven Soup Kitchen, which

feeds more than 500 people daily,

with just over 2 tonnes of soup

vegetables. However, their biggest

feat has been through the distribution

of their food parcels, called Survival

Boxes, which each aim to feed a

family of three for two weeks. Edulift

and Crawford College Lonehill have

managed to distribute over 1,100

Survival Boxes in Gauteng, Durban

and Cape Town with many more on

the way. Thank you to all who have

donated and helped us in making

Meals for Life a success.

Crawford College Pretoria

participated in a clothing

drive during lockdown. The

drive was a great success

and was received with

open arms by The Potato

Charity. The items were

distributed to warm those

in need during the winter

months.

CRAWFORD SANDTON

Crawford College

Sandton students,

Ashleigh and Alexis

Accone, made

sandwiches for their

Wendywood/Morningside

Manor Community

Action Network (CAN)

Sandwich Challenge.

Between the two girls

they made roughly 350

sandwiches over three

weeks. The sandwiches

were distributed to

four orphanages in the

surrounding area that are

supported by CAN.

50 | Crawford Times


CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL

KENYA

CRAWFORD

LA LUCIA


CRAWFORD

PRETORIA


proudly supported Reach for a Dream

and wore their pajamas and slippers to

school. Such fun was had by all.


Kenya preparatory

student, Keyan (Year 8)

painted a jaw-dropping

and beautiful mural at

a local bowling alley

that is opening soon. He

recently took up doodling

as a hobby and hopes it

inspires others to pick up

a fun skill.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH THE VIDEO

CRAWFORD

LONEHILL

Crawford La Lucia

Preparatory families helped

keep those less fortunate

warm this winter with their

generous Mandela Day

contributions. Blankets

were donated to the Robin

Hood Foundation, Kloof

SPCA and the Ubuntu Army.

CRAWFORD

FOURWAYS

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE

SLIPPER DAY VIDEO

Flag Animal Farm gives a shout out

to Crawford North Coast! The school

supported them in their feeding

program using the Grade 7 Valentine’s

Day funds raised earlier in the year.

#CrawfordCares. Watch the space for

more charity initiatives.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FLAG

ANIMAL FARM VIDEO

CRAWFORD SANDTON


Pretoria was on the

receiving end this time!

The children of Iwanuma

City, in Japan, made a

special “Tanabata” gift for

our school to encourage

and send well wishes to

the people of South Africa

who are suffering from

Covid-19. The bamboo,

with well wishes attached

to it, is about 3 metres long.

“Tanabata” is the name of

a festival that takes place

in July or August in Japan,

where people decorate

the bamboo with good

wishes for the future.


Lonehill pupils continue

acts of kindness by

supporting the Daily Bread

Organisation that helps

feed families in need. We

ask for pupils willing to

participate to kindly pack

an extra sandwich and

fruit each Thursday, which

helps to fill the tummies of

about 70 hungry children.

As part of a Mini City

Council initiative,


Fourways pupil Nicole

Steinhobel coordinated

the collection of animal

food to be distributed to

various animal shelters

in Johannesburg. She

has created a beautiful

“Lockdown gift basket”

for a raffle whereby a

donation of food gets you

an entry.

The Grade 6 pupils at Crawford

Preparatory Sandton set about making a

difference in our recent Unit of Inquiry on

‘Sharing the Planet’. They were exposed

to the 17 UN Sustainable Development

Goals and immediately decided that they

would like to reach out to our community.

They voted on a ‘Readathon’ where pupils

would read and explain articles on these

goals to their parents, teachers, and

extended family members. One of the

pupils designed a sponsorship form that

went home with each child. Another child

made a donations box and as the money

came in, two classmates kept a strict

account of this money. The support was

overwhelming, and we received donations

and sponsorships of R7,500. The children

learnt so much during this process of

which they were in charge. Once we

had the money, the teachers went and

bought groceries for the five families who

we support. What a wonderful gesture to

be able to give something to people in

such dire straits. The recipients were most

grateful, and the children really felt as

though they had ‘Made a Difference!’

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL

RUIMSIG

A big ‘Thank you’ to all our


Ruimsig preparatory

parents for their

contribution towards the

Baby Moses Sanctuary.

Just another example

of Kindness and Giving

displayed by our Crawford

community.


SCHOOL PAGES


CRAWFORD

LONEHILL

CRAWFORD

NORTH COAST

CRAWFORD

FOURWAYS

SERVICE

Never has a year needed smiles, hugs and blessings

more than 2020. Crawford Pre-Primary Lonehill

teachers have been blessed throughout the

Covid-19 pandemic with supportive management

and employers, enthusiastic children, committed

parents and motivated colleagues, so this Mandela

Day we decided to pass it forward. We, as a school

at Crawford Pre-Primary Lonehill, put together a

“Bagful of Blessings” to gift to the children of Takane

Kids. The Principal of Takana Kids, Caroline, and her

daughter Zee, are currently looking after 40 children.

They have not been able to feed these children

during the pandemic, so the donation was very

much appreciated! Thank you to all our staff, parents

and pupils for your generous donations!

CRAWFORD

LA LUCIA

This year, Crawford Pre-

Primary La Lucia’s ‘Winter

Warmth’ campaign

collected and donated

31 blankets and 156

packets/40 boxes of

soup to the Durban

North Methodist Church,

which runs a community

preschool and soup

kitchen for the homeless.

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL

KENYA


Kenya pupil, Mark

(Year 9), distinguishes

himself as a committed

peer mentor willing

to use his passion for

photography to share

positive messages that

inspire hope among

his peers and the entire

Crawford community

during Mental Health

Awareness Week.

His Way Mission is a

non-profit organisation

supporting communities

that are struggling due

to poverty. They have

played an important

role in distributing food

parcels during the

Covid-19 pandemic on

the North Coast. We at


North Coast, together with

our generous families,

collected items of food

and donated these to be

included in much-needed

food parcels.

CRAWFORD

SANDTON


Sandton was able to

donate food items

such as oil, maize meal,

pasta, tinned food,

fruits, vegetables and

12 Pick n Pay bucket

hampers to make little

tummies happy at the

Teddy Bear Clinic. We

thank our families for

their support.

As part of a Mandela

Day initiative,

Crawford Fourways

pupils collected

pockets of oranges

for our essential

service workers in

our community. We

donated a total of

250 oranges to the

Douglasdale Police

Station.

CRAWFORD

INTERNATIONAL

BEDFORDVIEW


Bedfordview pupils

AJ and Mia Venter, in

commemoration of

Mandela Day, filled

“Jars of Hope” to feed

67 people. The 34

jars filled with dried

ingredients will feed

hungry families in need

of food.

52 | Crawford Times

Meningococcal Meningitis -

a potentially devastating but preventable infection 1,2

Meningococcal Meningitis Facts

Meningococcal Meningitis:

• is an infection caused by a bacteria

(Neisseria meningitidis) 1,2

• is spread from person-to-person via respiratory

droplets (e.g. sneezing, kissing, coughing) 1,2

What are the risks?

Early diagnosis is very important as a healthy child can die

within 24 hours of the first appearance of symptoms (e.g. sore

throat, cough, runny nose, fever, vomiting, skin rash - but these

do not always appear in babies, until it’s too late to treat

them). 2,4

• Can be fatal and cause long-term complications 1,2

• Has the biggest impact on babies

(e.g. in pre-primary/daycare settings) 2

• Is a vaccine-preventable condition 5,6

For survivors of this disease, there may be life-long

consequences. 1 These include: 1,2

Babies under 12 months of age have the highest

incidence of Meningococcal Meningitis infection. 3

Loss of limbs/

amputation

Brain

disorders

Hearing

loss

Protect your baby with the right dose of the vaccine, at the right time 1

Follow the below regimen, to fully protect your baby:

Babies from 9 to 23 months old: 2 doses, given 12 weeks apart 1

FACTS: • Babies are particularly vulnerable because of the relative immaturity of their immune systems. 6

• Delaying a second dose of the vaccine, when recommended, means your infant will not be optimally protected. 5,6,7

• Vaccination is a successful intervention for preventing Meningococcal Meningitis and its devastating effects. 5

Protect your baby

2-day with 2 doses under 2-years! 1

Scan this QR Code

for more information.

Always consult your healthcare provider

for any questions about Meningococcal

Meningitis and/or vaccination.

15383

References: 1. Meiring S, Hussey G, Jeena P, et al. Recommendations for the use of meningococcal vaccines in South Africa, Southern African Journal

of Infectious Diseases 2017;32(3):82-86. 2. Batista RS, Gomes AP, Gazineo JLD, et al. Meningococcal disease, a clinical and epidemiological review.

Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 2017;10(11):1019-1029. 3. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases. Prevention

and control of meningococcal disease: recommendations for use of meningococcal vaccines in pediatric patients. Pediatrics 2005;116(2):496-505.

4. Moore J. Meningococcal Disease Section 3: Diagnosis and Management: MeningoNI Forum. The Ulster Medical Journal 2018;87:94-98. 5. Zunt

JR, Kassebaum NJ, Blake N, et al, on behalf GBD 2016 Meningitis Collaborators. Global, regional, and national burden of meningitis, 1990-2016:

a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet Neurol 2018;17:1061-1082. 6. Nadel S. Prospects for eradication of

meningococcal disease. Arch Dis Child 2012;97:993-998. 7. Noya F, McCormack D, Reynolds D, et al. Safety and immunogenicity of two doses of

quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine or one dose of meningococcal group C conjugate vaccine, both administered concomitantly with routine

immunization to 12- to 18-month-old children. Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol 2014;25(4):211-216.

sanofi-aventis south africa (pty) ltd, reg. no.: 1996/010381/07.

2 Bond Street, Grand Central Ext. 1, Midrand, 1685.

Tel: (011) 256 3700. Fax: (011) 256 3707. www. sanofipasteur.com.

MAT-ZA-2000278. V1. 07/2020


HEALTH

TRAINING TOGETHER

A FAMILY AFFAIR

Hi! My name is Melissa and I work as an online qualified personal

trainer, functional nutrition coach and a group fitness instructor.

Not only do I train clients as my job, but I live a lifestyle of

balancing healthy eating and being physically active.

By Melissa Press, Melissa FITPRESS,

Personal and Group Fitness Trainer

During the recent lockdown I enjoyed

spending quality time with my family and

have even tried to involve my children

in helping me train some of my clients

virtually by either helping me demonstrate an

exercise or even just counting down the client’s

reps. I try include physical activity into my children’s

lives, too, so that they grow up being active and

making healthy food choices as a way of life and

without viewing it as a chore (“exercise and diet”).

For many adults, training refers to the treadmill, a

gym or lifting weights, but to kids it refers to playing

and having fun. It doesn’t have to be exercise,

sweat and tears. We can make it fun for our kids

by getting them to play outside more rather than

being indoors. We have amazing weather in our

country and are fortunate enough to have the

opportunity to have our kids jump on a trampoline

or play on their jungle gym, or simply run around

playing a game of tag with their siblings or friends

in the garden. Today, excessive screen time and an

inadequate amount of physical activity add to the

problem of childhood obesity and is just becoming

a way of life for a lot of our kids, so it’s a good idea

to make training together a family affair.

54 | Crawford Times

BELOW I HAVE LISTED 10 IDEAS

TO HELP YOU GET THE ENTIRE

FAMILY INVOLVED:

1Help your kids do

a variety of ageappropriate

activities

and make being active

a part of your daily life -

taking the stairs instead

of the elevator is a good start. Our

kids need to start moving more

and being more physically active

instead of getting everything

instantly and delivered to them.

2

By training together

as a family, you’re not

just spending quality

time together, but you

are doing something

active and healthy. Parents are

instilling healthy habits in their

children by engaging in physical

activity and exercise. There is a

saying that “you become what

you surround yourself with”. By

training together and regularly as

a family, our children will grow up

with physical activity being a part

of their lives.

3

Lead by example.

Embrace a healthier

lifestyle and you will

be a positive role

model for your family.

Children often want to be just like

their parents and emulate their

behaviour – they’ll ask to join

Dad at the golf course or jump

around trying to do aerobics like

Mom. Let them get involved and

encourage active behaviour from

a young age.

4

We all know how

important it is to have

a healthy lifestyle,

involving body, mind

and soul. Kids yoga

has become popular.

I personally love the rush and

endorphin release from an intense

exercise session, and children feel

the same “happy feelings” after

running and jumping around. It

is also important to quieten the

mind. Research has shown that

yoga improves focus, memory,

self-esteem, academic

performance, and classroom

behaviour and even reduces

anxiety and stress in children.

5

Training as a family

is a good way to

motivate each other

and hold each other

accountable. Make

sure you don’t let

each other down and go for that

weekly family run or walk. Trust me,

the kids will most definitely not

forget, which is a good thing as

you are held to it even if you don’t

feel like it.

6

Training doesn’t have

to be boring or a

chore. It can be fun,

and there is no better

way to make it fun

than by including the

kids. If they have fun, then they will

come back for more. I try make

it as fun as possible when my

children are exercising with me.

I put music on and even if they

are just jumping around half the

time and not doing the actual

exercises, they are still moving

and having fun (while I may be

sweating up a storm...).

7

Tennis matches or

soccer tournaments

are great ways to

get the entire family

involved, as well as

entering walkathons

or family fun runs on the weekends.

As a family we often try to have one

active day on the weekend. Tennis

is a family favourite, girls against

boys. The kids love tennis so much

now that we have been playing it

as a family, so we have decided

to send them to tennis coaching,

which they are really enjoying.

8

Trail walks or hikes

are also a great way

to spend time out in

the open while still

being active. We have

so many great options on our

doorstep here in South Africa. With

great weather and good company,

a trail walk or hike can become a

social event followed by a healthy

picnic, which the kids will love.

9

Besides enjoying

the health benefits

of regular exercise,

fit kids sleep better.

This is a fact.

10

Improving

strength doesn’t

have to mean

lifting weights.

Instead, kids

can do pushups,

crunches, pull-ups, climbing,

handstands and wrestling. So, dads,

take it away and enjoy weekly

wrestles with your kids.

I have put together a simple fullbody

workout to demonstrate 10

exercises for you to do with your

kids and to get them involved.

CLICK HERE

TO WATCH

THE VIDEO

@melissa_fitpress_wbffpro

www.melissafitpress.com

FOOD

BEST

INGREDIENTS

FOR A PERFECT

A picnic is one of the joys of warm weather, sunny days, blue skies and a

perfect excuse to enjoy the great outdoors with friends and family – especially

after a very long lockdown. Beyond a pristine picnicking spot and someone

to share it with, there’s not much else needed to enjoy dining ‘al fresco’ than a

few magnificent ingredients. Here are a few items you can’t go without...

By Christelle Wolmarans

CHOOSE YOUR EQUIPMENT

CAREFULLY

Nothing dampens spirts more

than a leaky cooler box or a

dish that didn’t make the trip.

Check your Tupperware and seal

it properly. Make sure everything

made it out of the fridge and

into your basket. Wrap any

particularly pungent items in

a plastic bag, and for very hot

days, make sure the cooler box is

still in working condition.

Ensure that you have enough

plastic cups and bottles, especially

56 | Crawford Times

for your little ones to avoid any

unforeseen breakages. Consider

packing a lightweight tray if you

decide on glass for the grownups,

to avoid the unnecessary spillage

on the grass.

Paper plates and serviettes is a

must – you can even add some

decorative ones for a more fun or

formal dining experience. These

are important items not only for the

perfect outdoor ‘table’ setting but

also easy to chuck in a bin once

the picnic has come to an end.

HAVE COLD DRINKS ON HAND

The main rule for outdoor eating

is to keep hot foods hot and cold

foods cold. Ice packs will get the

job done, but frozen bottles of

water and juice do double duty.

After they melt (and the food has

been eaten), you will have cold

drinks on hand for everyone.

WET WIPES EQUALS CLEAN

HANDS AND FACES

Pre-moistened wipes will keep

hands clean, and help to clean

up sticky spills, even if there’s no

running water nearby.

PREP YOUR MEAL

The simple picnic

basket formula is finger

food that is as easy to

prepare as it is to eat. Pies,

Scotch eggs, sausage rolls

and chicken drumsticks are

considered classic picnic treats

for a reason – they are all finger

foods that travel well. However,

also consider some of these

delicacies to make your picnic

meal just a touch more gourmet.

• A touch of salty

Stuffed olives, rosemary and

sea salt nuts, veggies with

hummus, smoked mussels on

crackers, mini pizzas, crisps,

drywors and biltong are all

delicious and easy to put

together. If you feel a bit more

creative, you can channel your

inner chef and whip up some

spring rolls, which are easier

to make than it sounds. Add a

variety of colours like peppers,

carrots and spinach, and

don’t forget the soy

sauce at home.

These simple

DIY snacks

are all

there to

satisfy the

ultimate

salty

craving.

• Delicious and creamy

Cheese please! Pairing

cheese and crackers is a really

awesome way to entertain your

picnic guests. Aim for three

to five cheeses with a range

of textures and milk types.

Three is plenty if the board will

accompany other dishes in a

multicourse meal, but opt for

more if cheese will be the star of

the show. Be creative and have

fun with your board choice. The

serving vehicle can often be as

much a source of conversation

as the cheese itself.

• Carb it up!

Sandwiches are the best picnic

food out there and the flavour

combinations are endless. They

are compact and don’t take

up too much space in your

cooler box. You can also eat

them with your hands. To pack

them, wrap them in a reusable

sandwich wrap or foil so that

they hold together until it is time

to unwrap them.


FOOD

• Remember something spreadable

There are plenty of great dishes that can spice up your

picnic, but as soon as your fancy butter, jams, and/or

pesto’s hit the picnic blanket, all the other offerings

might be forgotten. Enjoy these with thin slices of

seed breads, baguettes or flatbreads, and top

each with an anchovy, fresh berries or create a

combo that will completely steal the spotlight.

• Add some crunch

Simply seasoned and fried

tender juicy meats, veggies or

even tacos with tangy flavours are

easy to create at home and add

spice to any classic picnic meal. If

you have a vegetarian in the mix, a

crunchy black bean, tortilla chips

and avocado wrap is

an absolute must.

• Do it fresh

A salad is always a great addition

to any meal. Select your favourite

ingredients, fruit or vegetables and

either serve them in clear plastic

cups with lids, or jam jars.

Just leave a little room at the top

and bring along a dressing that

will complement the flavours.

An awesome fresh spring salad is

watermelon, feta and rocket leaves.

The contrast of salty and sweet is

absolutely delicious!

MAKE MEMORIES

The first step to forming

a lasting memory is to

pay attention, enjoy the

moment, and experience

every second with those you love. Then, take snapshot with

a camera right at the end to bring it all together for you to

reminisce with future generations.

So, ditch the dining room this season and take it outside.

Arm yourself with picnic recipes that you are sure to pull

together for a memorable, movable feast.

• Something sweet

Rustle up a batch of vanilla cupcakes with

pretty butter icing and decorate them with fruit

or sprinkles for the perfect picnic treat. Fudgy

brownies also make for an ideal end to a meal

in the great outdoors.

58 | Crawford Times



Flavours of the World

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice-cream! Nothing beats the cool, creamy and sweet taste of icecream

on a delightful spring day. Some people like vanilla, some chocolate, while others enjoy something

that isn’t for the faint-hearted. Let’s take a trip around the world to discover the wackiest ice-cream flavours.

The Booger

Sweet spot: The Ice

Cream Store, Rehoboth

Beach, Delaware, USA

EntoMilk

Sweet spot: Gourmet

Grubb, South Africa

If you are not squeamish

and willing to try anything,

then a scoop of the

Gourmet Grubb insect milkbased

ice-cream is just for

you. EntoMilk is apparently

highly nutritious. The dairyfree

“milk” is lactose, gluten

and sugar-free, and is high

in protein, healthy fats and

minerals such as zinc, iron

and calcium. This new milk

paves the way for all sorts of

related edibles and old-time

favourite deserts, just with a

‘gogga’ flavour.

‘Traditional’ isn’t the word

you’d choose to describe any

of the ice-cream varieties in

this store - they don’t even

serve vanilla! If the ‘Catching

Fire’ flavour, inspired by the

Hunger Games, with its

surprise of a real scorpion

is not your thing, try

‘The Booger’, which

is one of the tamer

versions. This goodie

is made of only

yummy ingredients:

vanilla ice-cream,

caramel, and bits

of marshmallow

with green food

colouring added to

the concoction of

a gooey icky booger

that all kids love, and

parents absolutely hate.

The Lobster

Sweet spot: Ben & Bill’s

Chocolate Emporium,

Bar Harbour, Maine, USA

Don’t let the word ‘chocolate’

in this store’s name fool you,

as there is nothing chocolaty

about this unique destination.

The famous delicacy they are

known for sounds absolutely

insane, but a butter-infused

ice-cream dinner dessert with

freshly cooked lobster folded

into each bite is so wrong

that it is completely right.

Remember to share and not

be shellfish!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

GOURMET GRUBB

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

THE ICE CREAM STORE

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

BEN & BILL’S

60 | Crawford Times

FOOD

Special

Vanilla

Sweet spot: Lick Me I’m Delicious,

Bristol, England

Gilroy

Garlic Ice

Sweet spot: Gilroy Garlic Festival,

California, USA

Gilroy in California is the self-proclaimed “Garlic

capital of the world”. Their annual festival features

garlic being used in practically every way

imaginable. So, it’s no surprise that you’ll find garlic

in your ice-cream. The roasted garlic brings out its

sweetness, and balances beautifully with traditional

ice-cream flavours. It is so deliciously potent that

even Dracula won’t come near you.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT GILROY GARLIC FESTIVAL

Mavericks, rebels and free spirits, the Lick Me

I’m Delicious team has plenty of flavourful

combinations that will

be a conversational

piece forever and

a day. The Special

Vanilla flavour of

ice-cream isn’t what

makes it weird. The

English ice-cream

maker adds the

proteins that makes

jellyfish glow to his

vanilla recipe. So,

when you lick the icecream

the proteins

activate and cause

your scoops to

light up like a

Christmas tree.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

LICK ME I’M DELICIOUS

Banana Curry

Sweet spot: Black Dog Gelato,

Chicago, USA

Black Dog Gelato flavour combinations are

inspired by whatever the local farmers bring

them. They put an addictive heap of curry in

their ice-cream, which brings to mind Indian

take-out on a winter’s night. Now this ice-cream

is definitely on the savoury side of sweet!

Creamy, sweet and spicy, each flavour pops on

your palate in harmony. Shockingly delicious, the

Banana Curry ice-cream is a Must. Have. More.

CLICK HERE

TO VISIT

BLACK DOG

GELATO

Cold Sweat

Sweet spot: Homemade

Ice Cream in Angier,

North Carolina, USA

Fire and ice, ice and fire.

One of the hottest

delicacies on the

planet. Made with the

habanero chillies,

the infamous ghost

chilli and two kinds

of hot sauce, this

super-delicious

and spicy icecream

will ‘burn’

your socks off.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

HOMEMADE ICE CREAM

IN ANGIER


Tiger’s Tail

Sweet spot: Kawartha Dairy, Canada

This delicious ice-cream is a Canadian

classic. It is a spooktacular homemade

liquorice, caramel and orange scented

vanilla ice-cream that elevates childhood

Halloween fun.

Swirls and twirls

bend around

a pipe frozen

like a tiger’s tail.

Please note no

big cats were

harmed in the

making of this

confection!

Pet Bird

Sweet spot: Torimi Cafe, Tokyo, Japan

This small café serves up Bird. Yes, a Tokyo icecream

shop has flavours such as java sparrow

and parakeet. But no, not to worry, you won’t

find feathers in your scoops, just the things

these birds eat, like fruit, nuts, grains and

seeds. Very good for the digestive system!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

KAWARTHA DAIRY

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

TORIMI CAFE

Foie Gras

Sweet spot: OddFellows, New York City

OddFellows takes the ‘odd’ in its name seriously.

Over the years they have become

synonymous with experimental

flavours. Since opening their doors

in 2013, they have concocted

more than 300 different weird

and wonderful flavours that spark

conversations worldwide. One is the

rich, fatty, melts-in-your-mouth foie

gras variety.

It’s a unique

flavour that

people tend to

either love or

hate. If you’re a

fan of foie gras,

don’t miss a trip

to OddFellows.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

ODDFELLOWS

62 | Crawford Times

LIFE HACKS

TOP 10 KIDS’

DREAM CAREERS

Teacher, fireman, astronaut...

We’ve all heard these options flow from the

imaginations of our kids as they make their

future ‘Dream Career’ lists. But the truth

is that your baby may want to be a

game ranger today but a ballerina

tomorrow, so strike while the iron

is hot! While there’s interest in

a particular subject, use that

interest to create fun activities

and to facilitate learning! Here

are the top 10 kids’ future dream

careers and our suggested activities,

crafts and games to keep the dream

alive - for now anyway.

By Donna Verrydt

1Dancer / Choreographer

TikTok has taken over the world and

16-year-old Charli D’Amelio and

19-year-old Addison Rae are now the

world’s biggest dancing stars and

top earners! So, it’s no surprise that

dancing and choreography is on the

popular careers list for kids, with every pre-to-late

teen wanting to hit it big by busting some moves.

2Actor

Here’s a cool drama game to get

your kids creating various scenes

and characters. The game is called

‘It’s Mine, It’s Yours!’ and features

two kids and one stuffed toy. The

CLICK

actor without the toy

must create a scenario where he will

need to steal the toy from the other

actor. Once he has done so, the actor

that lost the toy will need to create

another fantasy scenario to steal it

back. Examples: a fake Kung Fu fight

to win the toy, or a secret agent stalk to

steal it back. See how creative kids get

while “stealing”.

And what better way to get into the

swing of things than by watching

Disney’s Teen

Beach Movie

dance tutorial,

taught by the

movie stars, CLICK HERE

Ross Lynch and TO JOIN

Maia Mitchell, THE VIDEO

themselves!

TUTORIAL!

KIDS CHARADES

This fun acting board game is an easy way to

facilitate young acting dreams while having

fun with the whole family. Get yours from

Toys R Us online.

HERE

TO SHOP


LIFE HACKS

3

Game Ranger

It comes with the territory, literally,

but becoming a game ranger is

on the dream career list of many

young African-born children

thanks to our Big 5 heritage and

often experiences one-on-one.

For younger kids, enhance their interest by

helping them make “Spoor Slip Slops”.

THIS WILL ENTAIL:

1. Your kids investigating different types of

animal spoor (learning - tick)

2. Choosing the spoor they like the best

(decision-making - tick)

3. Using thick craft foam, scissors and glue

to create the spoor shapes on the bottom

of their slops (crafting and fine motor skills

development - tick)

CLICK HERE

TO SEE HOW

TO MAKE

THESE

4. Finding mud or sand and making tracks

(fun in nature and dirty play - tick)

5. Other kids can guess the different spoors

and get points (healthy competition - tick)

THE WORLD’S

WORST

TEACHERS BY

DAVID WALLIAMS

Mike DeMaio

4Teacher

Teacher Mike DeMaio took his

teaching beyond the classroom

and onto YouTube, using music,

animation, voice-overs, puppets

and other entertaining things

to engage

the kids. And kids think he

is hilarious! Check-out his

lessons on Times Tables, The

Titanic, Sharks, Volcanos and

Planets to name a few.

CLICK HERE

TO SEE

THE LESSONS

Think your teachers

are bad? Wait

till you meet this

lot, written by the

famous David

Walliams. Available

from any decent

bookstore or try it

as an audiobook,

narrated

by David

Walliams

himself.

CLICK HERE

FOR THE AUDIO

VERSION ON

AUDIBLE

64 | Crawford Times

5Scientist

If your kid wants to be a scientist,

you are in luck! Try and ride this

wave for as long as it lasts! There

are hundreds of junior science

videos on YouTube, and thousands

of fun experiments to try at home,

like the Bouncy Egg experiment below.

CLICK HERE FOR

THE VIDEO TO

SHOW YOU THE

EXPERIMENT

THE BIG BOUNCY EGG EXPERIMENT

Instructions:

1. Place three eggs into three

separate glasses.

2. Fill the glasses with vinegar and

a few drops of different food

colouring in each glass.

3. Leave the eggs in the coloured

vinegar for two days.

4. Remove the eggs and peel them

gently. Then rub them until they are

smooth and shiny – and rubbery.

5. Lightly drop your eggs on a flat

surface and watch them bounce

around. Note: Don’t drop them too

hard – they can still splatter, but

maybe that’s the game?

6You need:

Firefighter

‘Extinguish the

Flames’ is a great

party game for

your ambitious

little fire fighters.

• Large water guns - better to

have ones that can shoot quite

a distance.

• “Flames” cut out of

cardboard or foam.

• Tin cans – tape the

flames onto these.

Arrange the tin

cans on a table or

a wall with the “flames” facing

forwards and get the kids to stand

behind a line and squirt water

at the flames. The first firefighter

to “extinguish” the flames by

knocking the can off the table or

wall wins!

For older kids, get them to research

ways to make fire without using

a lighter or matches. Bear Grylls

has many ideas for this, including

rubbing sticks together and using a

magnifying glass,

but it was his

ability to make fire

using a smashed

mobile phone

that really got

our attention!

* Note: Parental

supervision always

advisable – you know kids!

CLICK HERE

TO WATCH

BEAR MAKE FIRE


LIFE HACKS

7Detective

Being a cop

and busting

baddies is

always a popular

dream career

for kids, but why

not encourage them to take

it one step further and go full

detective! The play will be a little

more mature, more scientific,

and comes complete with loads

of gizmos and gadgets such

as fingerprint kits, walkie talkies,

badges and clues.

Get this DIY Fingerprint

Verification Kit for R129.90 from

Toys R Us. Your kids can reveal

and record their fingerprints. The

kit includes case record cards

and a forensic lab badge.

CLICK HERE TO

ORDER ONLINE

9Astronaut

Exciting news

for kids who

are aiming for

the stars! NASA

(yes, the NASA)

offers amazing

content for spaced-out kids on

their NASA Kids Club site. Here

you will find games (which

support STEM development

skills), you can meet the

crew currently orbiting Earth

on the International Space

Station, and you will be able

to see NASA’s most fascinating

pictures and videos of things

like the moon, the sun, planets,

and of course, the earth.

8Veterinarian

The game Pet

World – My Animal

Hospital – Dream

Jobs has been

downloaded by

28,622 people

and is rated 4 stars. The game

allows your child to take care of

pets such as monkeys, alpacas,

panda bears and dogs in a

realistic animation setting.

Other game features include:

• Managing your own pet hospital

• Learning the daily tasks of

being a veterinarian

• Examining and caring for cute

animals

• Collecting daily coins and

rewards

• Unlocking various treatment

rooms as you go

66 | Crawford Times

Available from Google Play.

CLICK HERE TO

DOWNLOAD

CLICK ON THE

LINK BELOW TO

CHECK IT OUT

ASTRONAUT CRAFT

For dress-up fun, making an

astronaut suit for your child

will make them love you to

the moon and back, and it

doesn’t need to make your

expenses skyrocket.

CLICK HERE TO

WATCH ‘5 BEST

SPACE CRAFTS AT

1 MINUTE CRAFTS’

ON YOUTUBE

10

Doctor

Operation said the

doctor, operation said

the nurse! Poor Cavity

Sam is back, and he

has returned to this new

generation still feeling

under the weather! Get your mini MD-wannabees

the legendary Operation game. Kids can use

tweezers to try and remove Sam’s “ailments”, but

they must be careful not to touch the sides of Sam

otherwise his nose will light up and you will be

buzzed out.

The Operation game is available

online from Toys R Us for R429.90

CLICK HERE

TO ORDER

UNIONVAULT.CO.ZA

Safety Deposit Box

Facility

Pretoria


TRAVEL FEATURE

GEAR UP FOR

10 UNIQUE

LOCAL LANDMARKS

Unusual travel destinations

As countries begin to ease lockdown measures, all eyes are on how

international borders will reopen. Some nations have already agreed

on a mooted possibility of travel, whereas other countries have only

allowed for citizens to roam their own country freely.


South Africa has some of the weirdest and

wackiest attractions you may never have

heard of. So, gear up for 10 unique destinations

that will take your road trip into the fast lane.

1THE SHOE

20km from Ohrigstad on the border

of Limpopo and Mpumalanga

The Shoe was built in 1990 by artist,

owner Ron van Zyl. It is not only filled

with the “old woman’s” furniture, but

also houses a museum and art gallery.

Here you can find spectacular wood and bronze

carvings. Many of the artworks are available to

purchase. This destination also provides a quaint

tea garden and gift shop for special memorabilia.

So, next time you are in the area, kick off your

shoes and make yourself

comfortable at The Shoe.

2ECO SHRINE

Hogsback, Eastern Cape

Nestled in the Amathole

Mountains, the Eco Shrine can be

reached via a spectacular leafy

tunnel of hazelnut trees. It was

constructed by Diana Graham in

1955. It is a beautiful place that imbued a sense

of homage to its surroundings and includes a

6m tree sculpture of an angel carved out of

a redwood tree that was struck by lightning

many years ago. The circular enclosure with

oil paintings and glittering mosaics forms a

majestic, peaceful shrine to cherish the true

beauty of this earth. Thus, it comes as no surprise

that this special place has walked away with

so many big awards, including the Greed Dove

Award from the US, and the Mail and Guardian’s

Green Trust Award. Like any enchanted forest, this

walk is legendary.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

THE SHOE

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

THE ECO SHRINE

68 | Crawford Times

3 4

OWL HOUSE

Nieu-Bathesda, Eastern Cape

The Owl House is where history

and art meet. It used to belong to

the late Helen Martins. She and

her assistants spent many years

creating this colourful house and

fantasy garden, with mirrors, candles, and lanterns

positioned to catch the light at different times of

the day. The garden displays many quasi-religious

tableaus and mythical figures that make up a

forest of 500 statues that are intense, baffling and

compelling. In memory of this beautiful lady who

had a brilliant mind and imagination, the Owl

House has been kept intact as a museum and

was declared a provincial national monument in

1991. Make sure to make this destination part of

your journey, learning to go beyond the conforms

of the mind into a never-ending wonderland of

mystical creatures.

GIANT POST BOX

Calvinia, Northern Cape

The small Northern Cape town

may not be an energetic urban

hub of glitz and glamour, but it is

certainly a unique little town with

one of the most-photographed

attractions in South Africa. It features a tall, bright

red post box, which was converted from a water

tower in 1995 into what is probably the largest

post box in the world. The post box measures 6.17

metres high and has a circumference of 9.42

meters. It operates as a functional post box and

no, fortunately one does not have to be nearly six

metres tall to post a letter. There is a human-height

post box built into the

side of this behemoth.

When you post your

letters from this spot,

your letter will receive

a rare postmark, a

hand-stamped flower.

This is significant

because Calvinia

is one of the areas

that erupts into

bloom ever year, as

veld flowers blanket

the Namaqualand

in a sea of red.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

THE OWL HOUSE

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

THE GIANT POST BOX

5LARGEST PINEAPPLE

Bathurst, Eastern Cape

Bathurst is one of the biggest pineapple-growing

areas in South Africa and also home to the largest

pineapple in the world. The building itself stands three

stories (16.7m) tall. It’s made of metal and fiberglass

and features an observation platform. The inside of the

pineapple contains a museum dedicated to the fruit with a variety of

pineapple products available for sale. On the second floor you have the

magnificent 360-degree views of the surrounding farm lands. The national

attraction draws hundreds of people to the small town to get their picture

with the yellow wonder.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

THE LARGEST PINEAPPLE


TRAVEL FEATURE

6BIGGEST CHAIR

R60, between Worcester and

Robertson, Western Cape

The enormous red chair

at Rooiberg Winery is the

largest of its kind on the

African continent. People

can “camp out” on the chair experiencing a

festive atmosphere from a dizzying height. Just

to make sure your visit is as comfortable and

unhurried as possible, the chair is decked with

its own table and chairs. So ‘come have a seat’

and enjoy one of the most beautiful sceneries

in the Robertson valley.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

THE BIGGEST CHAIR

7ADAM’S CALENDAR

Ehlanzeni, Mpumalanga

Known to only a few, and

only accessible through

a rough dirt road past the

wild horses of Kaapsche

Hoop, is a peaceful space

filled with incredible views and a megalithic

stone calendar. With the shape of a circle and

a diameter of 100 feet, it is nicknamed the

‘Birthplace of the sun’, Africa’s Stonehenge.

They believe that Adam’s Calendar is the

flagship of the ruins and that it remains

accurate as a calendar following the

shadow of the setting sun cast by the central

monolith onto a flat calendar stone next to it.

Pictures taken from the air seem to support

the hypothesis. As with many similar stone

monuments, it loosely aligns with the celestial

world and a must-see for those who dare take

the journey.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

ADAM’S CALENDAR

8TSWAING METEORITE CRATER

Soshanguve, South Africa

Tswaining – the place of salt

– is an ancient impact crater

on the outskirts of Pretoria.

It is believed that the crater

formed some 220,000 years

ago when a giant meteorite slammed into

earth, creating a half-mile-wide crater and

destroying all vegetation within a 25-mile radius.

The remains of these activities are still present

as ruins around the crater. It now lies within a

protected reserve with several hiking trails and

an amazing picnic spot not to be missed by

the avid photographer or hiker.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

THE TSWAING CRATER

70 | Crawford Times

9SUDWALA DINOSAUR PARK

Nelspruit, Mpumalanga

The Sudwala Dinosaur Park is a

Jurassic Park-like outdoor museum

filled with life-sized dinosaurs and

prehistoric animals. Set among the

beautiful tropical garden, the park has many different

species of monkeys and birds, together with a lovely

viewing deck over the Rainforest Valley. The rich

and colourful activities from the park have brought

people a fresh and fun paradise where they can

explore different scenes of dinosaur families thriving.

An ecological environment not to be missed when

traveling through Mpumalanga.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT

SUDWALA DINOSAUR PARK

10

KAAIMANS GROTTO

Wilderness, South Africa

This cave, which overlooks

the Indian Ocean, has

been turned into a

shelter and makeshift

museum. It is filled with shell chandeliers, religious

iconography, mannequins and other trinkets

and living quarters for staff. The cave is well worth

the visit with a brief introduction to history and

knowledge on the surrounding areas. Follow the

train tracks to the west and you will find a magical

path, a place of eccentric artwork and pilgrimage

run by Clifford and friends. A must see, even if you

just stop for a cup of tea on the deck overlooking

the Kaaimans whilst they tell you their life cave

story. A fascinating and memorable experience.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT KAAIMANS GROTTO


CAR REVIEW

LANDMARK

MOTORING

LAND ROVER’S DISCOVERY

LANDMARK EDITION AND DEFENDER

There are few things I love more than being out in the South African

bushveld in a capable 4x4. Recently, as I sat reverse-parked at the

dam at Ezemvelo Nature Reserve, enjoying a flask of coffee and a

rusk while perched in the roomy boot of the Land Rover Discovery

Landmark edition, this was reconfirmed.

By Tamara Oberholster

72 | Crawford Times

After being cooped up

during lockdown, it was

the best day I’d had in

months – a magnificent

machine to play with in a

magnificent location. Plus, the

panoramic sunroof was perfect

for this petite amateur birder and

photographer to get some height

when trying to get a decent shot.

The Discovery Landmark

Edition was launched in 2019

to celebrate three decades of

the Land Rover Discovery and it

feels like a celebration to drive

it. With a 190kW/600Nm 3.0-litre

TD6 engine paired with 8-speed

automatic transmission, the

Discovery Landmark Edition

combines comfort and luxury

with grunt and speed.

Land Rover calls the Discovery

the “ultimate go-anywhere SUV”

and I wanted to go everywhere in

this car. Built on the Discovery SE,

the Landmark Edition adds the

Dynamic Pack, which includes a

sexy front bumper design, and

Narvik Black mesh grille, fender

vents and nameplate scripting

on the bonnet and tailgate,

plus Landmark badging on the

tailgate. It’s like the SE’s suave

influencer sibling – it just begs to

be photographed.

“

...The

discovery made

light of rocky

ridges and sandy

hairpin bends...

”

The exterior has a fixed

panoramic roof, front fog lights

and signature taillights. Privacy

glass and 20-inch Gloss Black

wheels complete the effect.

Inside, the high-quality finishes

whisper “luxe”, whereas the 380W

Meridian Sound System will blast it

if you like.

It’s a dream to drive, especially

in the great outdoors. The

Discovery’s air suspension is

famous, and for good reason. It’s

like floating along on a personal

cloud, which is nice enough

when you’re on the highway or

cruising around the suburbs, but

it truly comes into its own on a

corrugated dirt road.

As much as I loved playing with

the off-road modes, raising and

lowering the suspension and

squealing in glee as the Discovery

made light of rocky ridges and

sandy hairpin bends, most of the

driving I did with it was in town,

and it impressed me there, too.

You expect a luxury SUV to come

packed with technology, and

the Discovery does, but there are

also some small practical design

features that show just how

much thought has gone into the

vehicle. My favourite is the small

recess in the boot that allowed

me to transport fragile groceries

and even a set of potted orchids

without danger of them being

flung around while cornering at

speed. I also loved the fact that

the middle row of seats slides

forward and backwards like the

front seats, and that the tow-hitch

retracts when not in use.


CAR REVIEW

The controls are a bit different

to what I’m used to – there’s a

sleek knob to dial instead of a

gear lever – but it’s very intuitive (I

can attest to this, given that I was

handed the keys as I was leaving

for a meeting and had to learn

the controls on the fly).

The entertainment console

connected effortlessly with

Android Auto and the Google

Assistant, which I hadn’t previously

used. In fact, one night I was

explaining to my husband how

Google Assistant works. “You just

say something like, ‘Ok, Google.

What’s the weather like in Cape

Town?’” I said. We then both

nearly had a heart attack when a

voice calmly responded in a clear

British accent from my phone in

the next room!

“

The discovery

landmark edition

is built for modern

living and city

style

”

The Discovery Landmark Edition

is built for modern living and city

style and is a classy beast of a

vehicle. But if you’re looking for

something slightly more rugged

in appearance, that prioritises

off-road capability and which

offers more customisation than

ever available on a Land Rover to

date, you might consider the new

Land Rover Defender 110.

The name is a nod to the 110-

inch wheelbase of the previous

generation, and the Defender 110

body style offers a choice of five,

six or 5+2 seating configurations

and a loadspace ranging from

1,075 litres behind the second

row, to 2,380 litres with seats

folded. Coming soon is a shortwheelbase

version, Defender 90,

with seating for up to six.

74 | Crawford Times

You can choose from the flagship

3.0-litre straight 6-cylinder P400,

with Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle

technology (outputs of 294kW

and 550Nm), or two 2.0-litre

variants. The P300 turbocharged

petrol offers 221kW and 400Nm,

while the D240 twin turbocharged

diesel option produces 177kW

and 430Nm.

The Defender 110 has ground

clearance of up to 291mm and

maximum suspension articulation

of 500mm. Then there’s that

glorious air suspension, which

provides an off-road ride height

lift of 75mm and floating-cloud

comfort. An additional 70mm

of lift means the body can be

raised by a maximum of 145mm

when needed, while the aptly

named Elegant Arrival mode

automatically lowers the body by

50mm so you can get out of the

vehicle easily.

There are four specs available:

the base Defender, S, SE and

HSE models. All versions feature

permanent all-wheel drive with a

high and low-range transfer box,

air suspension, Terrain Response,

LED headlights, Connected

Navigation, 3D surround cameras,

10-inch Pivi Pro infotainment, a

driver condition monitor, and

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

Smartphone Packs.

Furthermore, you can choose

to customise your Defender 110

with one of four packs: Explorer,

Adventure, Country and Urban.

Each is designed to tailor your

ride to your lifestyle.

As with all Land Rover models

since 2016, the Defender 110

is also capable of receiving

remote updates, meaning it can

download data while you’re

sleeping, updating its electronics

without you needing to visit a

Land Rover retailer.

The Land Rover Discovery

Landmark Edition retails from

R1,373,000, while the Defender

110 retails from R1,050,100. More

information at.

As much as I loved playing with

the off-road modes, raising and

lowering the suspension and

squealing in glee as the Discovery

made light of rocky ridges and

sandy hairpin bends, most of the

driving I did with it was in town,

and it impressed me there, too.

The Discovery Landmark Edition

is built for modern living and city

style and is a classy beast of a

vehicle.

Every child a masterpiece | c

Crawford Times | Sept 2020

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