Dear Parents and Friends,
I trust that all is well.
A reminder that the JHC Interhouse Athletics Day have been postponed until term 2 , due to the weather and some students recovering from the influenza virus. The new date will be shared soon. However, the Parents Visiting Day will still hold for tomorrow with a 12 noon start until 3:00 p.m .
Furthermore, our Year 12 students started with their IGCSE examinations a few hours ago and the first subject up was Additional Mathematics. We expect them to do well and collectively improve on the results of the previous cohort, a task that is well within their abilities.
At times we use words or phrases without knowing its origin or perhaps we knew it at some time but cannot recall it. For example, what does “a.m.” mean? The term we associate with the morning, a.m. , is an abbreviation the Latin phrase ante merīdiem meaning “before midday.” So, what does “p.m.” mean? The abbreviation, p.m . is post merīdiem , meaning—you guessed it—“after midday.” These two terms help keep ambiguity at bay in the 12-hour time system.
There is a third, lesser-known abbreviation in this system is “m.” , from the Latin merīdiēs, meaning “midday” or noon. However, m. is rarely used and might confuse people should one casually drop it into conversation or insert it into your writing; noon is conventionally expressed as 12 p.m. or 12:00 p.m. and midnight as 12 a.m. or 12:00 a.m. How good it is to refresh our memories!
In conclusion,
‘Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.’; and, ‘Failure is success if we learn from it.’
Have a great Friday and looking forward seeing you tomorrow.
Yours truly,
Abraham. P. Swart
Principal
