TO SERVE – NOT TO BE SERVED
The start of a new school year is filled with excitement and fresh beginnings. It is the perfect time for children to set new goals, build new friendships, and dive into learning adventures. To kick off the first day, learners at DSS were welcomed with the theme for the year, “Seek to Serve.” This theme encourages them to make a positive impact, creating a year filled with purpose, kindness and meaningful contributions.
Service is an important lesson that can shape a child’s character and perspective on the world. At DSS it is a part of who we are and strive to become, just as our motto states: “Serving with integrity.” When children learn to serve others, they develop a sense of empathy, responsibility, and connection to those around them. They begin to focus more on others than on themselves.
The home is often the first place where children learn about service and parents have a special role in encouraging this behaviour. By showing kindness to family members, offering help when needed and encouraging children to lend a hand, parents teach that service starts with those closest to them. Simple actions like cleaning up after a meal show children that service doesn’t have to be grand. It can happen in small, everyday ways, and by performing these tasks willingly, parents help their children understand the importance of caring for others.
Helping our neighbours at home is a good way to teach children about serving others. Simple acts, like offering to run errands or mowing their lawn, can make a big difference in their day. Children learn that service is about helping others.
Stories from the Bible provide additional lessons about serving others. Jesus’ life is the ultimate example of service. The Good Samaritan, for example, teaches that helping others is about showing compassion, no matter who they are. The story of the boy with the loaves and fish demonstrates that even small offerings can make a big difference when shared. The poor widow of Zarephath, who gave Elijah her last bit of oil and flour, shows that the greatest acts of service don’t always come from abundance, but from a willing and generous heart, no matter how little we may have. These stories illustrate that anyone, no matter their age or position, can serve and make a difference.
Most importantly as we teach our children about serving let us teach them to do it wholeheartedly, imitating the heart of Christ and learning to live like Him. As Jesus told his disciples “…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant… just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”
Ms M Joosten, Foundation Phase Head
A LOVE OF LEARNING
There is nothing more inspiring for a teacher than to see interested faces, curious expressions, eager children soaking up new information and skills. It is upsetting to see the opposite i.e. when a love of learning has evaporated and children are simply at school to go through the motions.
If a child is not interested, he is not learning. Children who are told what to learn, when to learn it, and how to learn it, in time will learn to dislike or even hate learning. When children love what they are learning about, they keep learning. An interested child wants to know more. They learn all they can about their topic of interest. They talk about it for hours. They love it. If that thirst for knowledge could encompass all other school subjects, children would love every lesson and enjoy going to school.
‘Interested children keep learning, one thing leads to another, and they can become life-long seekers of knowledge.’ Heidi Nash
Children who love learning have endless possibilities. So many children reach Grade 12 with no idea of what career path they intend to take. There is nothing they are interested enough in to pursue. If children developed a deep love of learning and had a thirst for knowledge, they would have personal interests which would direct their lives.
Parents can help their children develop the love of learning. Talk to your child about what they are doing or learning at school. Be enthusiastic about what they are learning. Add some of your own experiences. Talk about what you, as a parent, are learning. Expose your child to more information about the topic. This will help spark your child’s interests. Provide practical experiences which will make learning positive and enjoyable. When your child asks questions, do your best to answer them. If you don’t know the answer, find out. This shows your interest in what they are learning.
A parent who is enthusiastic about learning can inspire their children to develop a love of learning.
Mrs E Gouws, Intermediate Phase Head
Sources: https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/instill-love-learning-children
https://projectinspireplanner.com/blogs/project-inspire-1/why-does-a-love-of-learning-matte
WHO IS IN THE BRIEFCASE?
Olwami Shangase, the author of the book “Rejected Treasure,” provides food for thought regarding who we are raising today. When she describes herself, she lists all of her achievements and characteristics, but she then says, “and most importantly, a child of God.” She realises she is just a child facing challenges in this world. However, she knows Who keeps her going despite these challenges. Although Shangase’s book refers to her personal experiences, its title reveals much more. Here are just two thoughts:
We want our children to be happy
This is a wonderful desire for our children. After all, we are responsible for their needs; they are dependent on us. As we provide for them, should we not ensure that we do not reject the treasure of teaching them the source of happiness? Whether we provide or are not always able to provide for them, we should make them happy in all aspects of life, not just when they feel like they fit in with their peers. I have read different translations of Matthew 5, where the word “blessed” is translated as “happy.” We can coach our children until they receive that blessing of happiness. The best coach is the one with experience. If we can grasp that treasure once again, perhaps we will raise happier children who have God in their briefcases.
We want our children to be obedient
Who is our child’s role model? Little Samuel faced a challenge because when God called him, he was not even with his mother and father but was at the temple with Eli. He did not obey because his parents were there, but he was inherently obedient. Do our children have that kind of obedience? Wherever they are, they represent us. We can instil the obedience that will take them further than they can imagine.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, a briefcase refers to a leather or plastic rectangular container with a handle for carrying books and documents. It was named a briefcase because lawyers used it to carry briefs (court documents) to court. Today, a briefcase can even be used to carry a laptop, and it has been adapted to protect the laptop. I hope that our hearts and the hearts of our children have not ‘rejected’ their intended use but will forever embrace their original purpose, no matter the changes and challenges. Let us treasure God and keep Him in our briefcases and then watch the results.
Mrs N Ngubane, Senior Phase Head
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Siyakuhalalisela! Herzlichen Glückwunsch! Félicitations!
Chukhahaeyo! Felicitări! Re a go leboga!
Siyakuvuyela! Pozdravlyayu!
Re ya u lebohela!
Geluk!
This is how you say ‘Congratulations’ in every language spoken at Domino Servite School, as we express our gratitude for achieving a 100% pass rate for the 2024 matric class. Over 90% of the learners earned a bachelor’s degree pass, qualifying them for university studies, while three learners each achieved seven distinctions, marking some of the best results DSS has seen in recent years.
Many schools have celebrated excellent results for the 2024 academic year, with SAHETI school emerging as the top-performing private school in South Africa with 286 distinctions – averaging 4.5 distinctions per student. The Independent Examinations Board (IEB) also recorded its highest pass rate in the past five years, reaching 98.47% for the 2024 NSC examinations. Additionally, learners sitting for the government-set matric exams achieved a pass rate of 87.3%, up from 82.9% in 2023, with over 615 000 learners passing – the highest number in South Africa’s history.
Although the 2024 matric results may create the impression of rising outcomes within a flourishing educational system, where everyone benefits and success seems a collective endeavour, this tide is not lifting all the boats. In fact, it is far from that. In January 2025, BusinessTech, one of South Africa’s largest online business news platforms, reported that South Africa’s true matric pass rate in government schools was only 50.25%. Out of the 1.22 million learners who started Grade 1 in 2013, only 614 562 passed matric. Many, therefore, missed the boat – entirely.
In an October 2023 article from the same news platform, titled South Africa’s Shocking School Dropout Rate Revealed, Luke Fraser reports that the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) made five recommendations to address what he describes as South Africa’s ailing basic education system. These recommendations range from combating corruption to enhancing teacher performance.
To some extent, the solutions to South Africa’s education challenges align with those proposed by the CDE, as they encompass both ‘macro’ and ‘micro’ approaches. As an Economics teacher, one of the first concepts I teach my learners is the distinction between macro and micro: macro focuses on the whole, while micro looks at a part.
Macro-level solutions include issues such as tackling corruption, bigger budget allocations, improving school infrastructure, and the like. These are big problems that are probably out of reach of the normal man on the street, and which depends on political willpower. However, it is within the micro-sphere of teaching, which is at the level of every Dick, Tom and Harry, where change is also needed. These are the teachers in their classrooms, and their critical role in shaping learners’ experiences and outcomes.
After classroom management, which includes managing disruptive behaviour, ChatGPT identifies ‘Meeting diverse learning needs’ as one of the most significant challenges teachers face. Diverse learning needs is a broad concept, but in this context, it refers to learners who are achieving academically, and those who are not, therefore requiring targeted academic intervention. Effective academic intervention is a scarce commodity, rarely implemented successfully. Yet, it holds immense potential to help more learners advance – not simply be passed through – from Grade 1 to Grade 12, thus dramatically reducing school dropout rates. While intervention can occur at home or in school, it should never be applied haphazardly. Effective intervention goes beyond merely re-teaching content using familiar methods; it involves a deliberate process of looking back to identify and address gaps and looking forward to ensuring academic success through coaching and alternative teaching strategies.
Although we achieved remarkable teaching results in 2024, continuing our path towards our president’s metaphoric ‘new dawn’, there is still unfinished business to attend to, the business of changing the world for more children in the classroom. But here we must pause for a moment and be reminded of the fact that, if I have changed the world for one child, perhaps through successful intervention, I have changed the world…for that one child.
Mr D van Straten, FET Phase Head
Sources: ChatGPT
Fraser. L. 2023. South Africa’s Shocking School Dropout Rate Revealed [Web:] South Africa’s shocking school dropout rate revealed – BusinessTech
Fraser. L 2025. South Africa’s ‘real’ matric pass rate is only 50% [Web:] South Africa’s ‘real’ matric pass rate is only 50% – BusinessTech
SEEK TO SERVE
Those of you who attended the opening assembly on 15 January would have heard that our theme for 2025 is Seek to Serve.
Only as one starts to scratch below the surface of this theme, does one realise exactly the vast wealth contained in these few words – Seek to Serve.
If we look at the Bible, it’s striking to see that terms like servant (diakonos, pais, oiketes, and others) appear more than 800 times in the New Testament, while the term bond-slave (doulos) is mentioned around 150 times. This means the word “servant” or “bond-slave” shows up roughly once every seven sentences!
Dr Lawson Murray, President of Scripture Union writes: We don’t need more children aspiring to be leaders; we need more children aspiring to be servants. If children are going to be like Jesus, then Christian parents and teachers must teach them how to think and act as servants.
Teaching children how to think and act as servants isn’t easy. That’s because it requires role-modelling, i.e. to teach children how to be servants, we (adults) must be servants.
When we, as adults, adopt an attitude of service, our children will naturally follow suit. They learn more from what they observe than what they’re told. Children mimic our actions. If we stop striving for personal gain or trying to climb the social ladder, we’ll truly capture their focus. By humbling ourselves, just as Jesus did—choosing selflessness, prioritising others, and putting our own needs aside to help others succeed—that’s when our children will truly understand the essence of being a servant.
I suppose it goes back to what we’ve probably heard repeatedly – More is caught than taught.
Mrs G Geldenhuys, Academic Head
https://childrensministrybasics.com/2020/07/07/children-as-servants/