Welcome to Pretoria East The fireworks at midnight on New Year’s Eve ensure an exciting start to the year. However, attending a fireworks display for the first time, can be quite overwhelming and frankly, a little scary. In the same way, starting a new school year can be exhilarating, yet daunting – even more so when starting at a new school. These feelings probably describe many Abbotts students at the start of the year as well as those who make the move to Abbotts during the academic year. However, there is no need to be concerned: the Abbotts teachers empathise with every student, because we know that any new venture lets one’s heart beat a little faster. For students in every grade, this is a year of massive importance: • The Grade 8s are starting a new life and a new way of doing things: high school at last! You are going to enjoy it! • The Grade 9 year is a significant year with the completion of the senior phase and a full set of compulsory subjects. Grade 9 students should make the most of experiencing every subject to the full in order to make enlightened subject choices at the end of the year. • The Grade 10s enter the FET phase and have the opportunity to start focusing on their future careers by making the best of their chosen subjects. The building blocks for successful matric exams are laid in Grade 10. • The Grade 11 year carries particular significance, with most tertiary institutions granting acceptance based on the Grade 11 final exam marks. • The importance of Grade 12 needs no explanation: the time has come to display what you have learnt since you started school all those years ago. So how does one avoid the butterflies in the stomach from becoming a numbing fear? The answer is simple: just start. Action drives away fear and doubt. When we are busy, we will see that miracles can be achieved. If you do your bit every day and don’t give up, there is no reason why you cannot succeed and ultimately, change the world! The Abbotts way, led by the passionate and excellent Abbotts teachers, can and will help you. Be sure to make full use of the Abbotts plan. A blessed year to all!