A HEARTFELT LETTER TO THE PARENTS OF THE SCHOOL

Letter to the Parents of the Roseway Waldorf School
from Mark Essey – Chairman of the Board
The school term has started, after what for South Africa and the World has been the most incredible Soccer World Cup ever. I have been, and still am, in awe of what has transpired over the last 4 weeks. Pride and gratitude only begin to explain the feelings I have for what we as South Africans have pulled off.
For Roseway, the term starts off with much anticipation and expectation of what is to come. Financially, the school’s position is somewhat improved if compared to where we were this time last year, pupil numbers are marginally up from last term although still not where we would like them to be. This being said, we do have a number of new pupils to welcome to the School Community.
I wish to thank those parents that have paid their fees in advance either for the year or the term and also those parents who always pay their fees on time. There are however still parents who do not pay fees on time or who will only pay after being phoned and requested to do so, often on more than one occasion. Fees are due on the first of the month for that month e.g. 1 July was the due date for July fees. As a private school that does not receive any government subsidy, the school fees are our lifeblood. Fees that are not paid on time or not paid at all cause serious problems from a cash flow point of view. The stance from the school as far as unpaid fees go has become a lot more stringent. Parents who have unpaid fee accounts will have their children suspended until the accounts are brought back in line.
There are a number of exciting marketing initiatives that have been undertaken and still more to come. Lori Lesna-Barausse, Gerhard Siepker and Lauren McGuire have been hard at work. The School’s stand at the Royal Show was a resounding success and I wish to thank all involved for their hard work. The Open Days have also been very successful and there are more planned as well as talks on Waldorf education at venues in Glenwood and Durban North. The Moonlight Market will soon be upon us and the planning and preparation for this event is well underway. This event has been the School’s biggest fundraiser for the year and I am sure that this year will be no different.
The raffle that was recently held raised a total of R32 550-00. Thank you for your support. There are still approximately 50 raffle books that have not been returned. The fee accounts of the pupils that have not returned the books will be debited for the cost of the book. The Board has also decided that in future when a raffle is held all pupil fee accounts will be debited up front with the value of the raffle book distributed. All sales of tickets will then re-imburse your payment to the school. This is done at many other private schools and the Board feels that this practice should also be adopted by Roseway as it will streamline the administration and secure the funds needed upfront.
Stay warm this winter and have a fantastic third term.
Regards,
Mark Essey; Board Chairman