The self-help gurus are right about one thing: a simple break in routine can be revelatory. For the Junior School staff, this opportunity came in the form of a Saturday netball tournament, “Girls and Galz”, organised and devised by Mrs Mshengu, and attended by the Grades 6 and 7 girls, their mothers, older sisters, or significant women figures in their lives – and an assortment of teachers.

And what a morning it was. The beauty of events that involve as few frills and as little fuss as this one (a ball, a court, some refreshments and a few hours to play with) is that you have no idea beforehand how well it’s going to go. There’s no gimmick, no enticement, and nothing to show for it afterwards – unless you count grazes, stiff joints, and some mostly unprepossessing photographs.

Mrs Mshengu, bemused by the outrageous success of her event, but coolly philosophical about the benefits of playing netball – something she’s known all along – has agreed to arrange more of these get-togethers in the future. There is talk, I’m told, among some mothers, of putting together a side and arranging regular practices. They could do worse; so could the teachers who (and I speak for myself here as well) just loved the morning: we got to hang out with each other, shoot the breeze, mix freely, and – without the contrived ice-breakers or other corporate devices to “get you out of your comfort zone” – see another side to each other. Woohoo!

The girls, as far as I could tell, enjoyed the morning too, but not with the same, er, intensity as the older women in their lives. That doesn’t mean the girls don’t surprise us and themselves with moments of ordinary contentment. Aside from the usual list of activities guaranteed to please (outings, school tours, most things that require missing lessons) girls of different ages take surprising delight in performing activities that would be described as onerous under any other circumstances. We discovered this to our detriment when we assigned chores to the Junior Primary girls as a way for them to earn back their lost property and watched in amazement as they argued over whose turn it was to sweep the floor.

The Senior Primary Mandela Day soup packing initiative is a more recent example of this phenomenon. I am not sure Mrs Jennett realised how much fun (and I use this word advisedly) the girls would have sorting dry soup ingredients and packing them together in teams while working outside on tables in the Junior School Close. The simple – that word again – pleasure of measuring, filling, working alongside your peers, chatting companionably, and finding joy in repetition took everyone by surprise. Music teachers and occupational therapists, among others, might be nodding their heads in approval.

We are glad and fortunate to be at a school that gives us opportunities to do things differently several times a year. While the girls took pleasure in the circumscribed activities of packing and sorting in the Senior Primary, the younger girls hosted morning tea for the support staff in the Junior Primary playground. They provided food and entertainment and served the people who serve our community and tend to our campus most days of the year. In the tradition of Nelson Mandela and his old friend, comrade and birthday twin, Adelaide Tambo, we dedicated the morning of 18 July to taking tea and breakfast together.

SARAH WARNER
JUNIOR SCHOOL HEADMISTRESS