 |
N A T I O N A L N E W S L E T T E R | |
 Vacancies | ||
January/February 2006 The new school year is now well underway and Exco members have just managed to get their heads above water sufficiently to attend to SAMA matters, especially those that need attention to make this years annual conference and AGM an exciting and enriching experience for all who attend. This newsletter will cover highlights of the matters that were discussed at two conference call meetings, the first held on 31 January and the second on 21 February. SAMA Finances There has been a slight improvement in SAMA's finances mainly due to the contributions from the Institutional Member's Child Levy. Thanks to those schools who have paid promptly and a gentle reminder to those who still have to do so. The obligation to pay the Child Levy is the school's irrespective of whether or not the fees are recovered from the parents. Current Membership Status As at 16 February SAMA's membership status was as follows: Full Members: 346 – of whom 240 are fully paid up Associate Members: 15 – of whom 9 are fully paid up Institutional Members: 94 – of whom 77 are fully paid up Student Members: 98 – of whom 51 are fully paid up. Members who are not fully paid up are please reminded to pay their outstanding fees. Conference 2006 Please ensure that you keep the 28 and 29 April FREE to attend SAMA's Fourth Annual Conference and AGM and the 30th April to attend a workshop of general benefit and inspiration. If you are a school owner or principal you may also want to attend a Management Training Seminar on the 1 and 2 May. The Conference will be held in Centurion, Gauteng so if you need to make travel arrangements, please do so soon. This year's conference promises to be packed with a 'star studded cast' including: • Internationally renowned Montessorian Marlene Barron • Local dignitaries and speakers such as Mrs. PT Tyobeka Deputy Director General of General Education • Dereck Jackson, of Parenting fame • Prof. J.Jansen from the University of Pretoria • Sue Gardener from ISASA • And many more. There will also be several fun but informative workshops including subjects such as... • Philosophy for children • How children can help children with Indian Head Massage • Technology for Grade R and younger using Lego • Other lectures to help directresses broaden their presentation horizons. Serious topics will include... • The Recommended Montessori Curriculum for 3 - 12 year olds • How to set up a Foundation Phase (Grade 0-3) according to the Montessori 6-9 curriculum and the requirements of the Department of Education • And others. The general information flyer is attached to this newsletter and a Conference Pack will be sent to everyone on the SAMA database by mid March. Conference Booking Packs will also be posted on the SAMA website under the Newsletters submenu. The management training that follows the conference is promised to be of enormous benefit to school owners and principals of schools PLUS if your school is a paid up Institutional Member the first delegate who attends does so FREE of charge! The cost of attendance has been kept really, really low and value for money is unbelievable! It has been estimated that had this Conference been in the general market the cost of attending would be R7000 per delegate! Vacancies on the Executive Committee to be filled at the AGM At the AGM the following seats on the Exco will become available: • President • Treasurer • Pre-school representative • Ordinary Member Members will be advised of the nomination and voting procedures in March but in the meantime if you know of any one in your region, who you think may be a suitable candidate, please discuss this with your Regional Representative. 
"It is my belief that the thing which we should cultivate in our teachers is more the
spirit than the mechanical skill of the scientist; that is, the direction of the
preparation should be toward the spirit rather than toward the mechanism" –
(Maria Montessori)Fundraising Following last year's successful T-shirt fundraiser and the many requests to run another, Tina Lynn is in the process of getting revised quotations so that a winter T-shirt or sweatshirt can be produced. Please support this venture, not only does it unify all Montessori schools but the children get to feel part of a wider community too! Tina will send out the order forms as soon as possible. Website Thankfully this is finally reaching completion and most of the information on the site has been useful to many especially members of the public looking for schools who are SAMA members. Please note that although there may be more than 350 Montessori schools in SA ONLY schools that are fully paid up Institutional Members are listed on the website. The qualification for Institutional Membership is: 1. The school must have more than 50% of their teaching staff Montessori trained and qualified. 2. The school must have mixed age groups per environment. 3. The school must have sufficient Montessori didactic material to effectively carry out the exercises. Members of the public phone both the Regional Representatives and the SAMA Administrator Tina Lynn on a daily basis enquiring about schools in their area and ONLY SAMA MEMBER SCHOOL DETAILS are given. The SAMA website address is www.samontessori.org.za Next Exco Meeting The next SAMA Exco meeting will be held on Saturday 4th March. It will be an all day meeting to finalise matters of this past SAMA year and to plan for the new SAMA year. I am sure you will join me in thanking these dedicated people for the time and energy they devote to Montessori in SA and to realizing the aims of SAMA. The work they put in is for the benefit of all, Montessorians, children, parents, the community, the country and ultimately the universe – give them your support! Thanks to Heidi van Staden for the inspirational additions to this newsletter. Jenny Miller • SAMA President • 082 602 4427 • email: jlm@iafrica.com |
 ARCHIVE  LATEST2005NOV/DECSEP/OCTJUL/AUGMAY |
