EDITION 11 18 April 2019
Calling
Our best wishes to you and yours as you celebrate the Resurrection of Christ over the Easter period. REMINDER: The FP Art Auction, ‘Living Bold’, takes place on Thursday 25 April from 18h00-22h00. Book your tickets via the Parent Portal on ADAM!
College Principal “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” – Martin Luther King Jr We are living in interesting and thought-provoking times as our country battles with many different issues, all of which have a direct, or indirect impact on our daily lives. Working in a school can often be uplifting, as young people tend to live in the moment. Their positive outlook on life tends to be untainted by cynicism or past life experience and this is most certainly true at Clifton. We are currently in the full swing of Second Term activities with enthusiasm and commitment shown on the sports field thus far. In this regard I would like to draw your attention to an article, written some time ago, by Keith Richardson (former Headmaster of Wynberg Boys’ High in Cape Town) entitled the ‘Real lessons of school sport’, which is still very relevant now.
“We need to believe and value that ‘sport’ is a pleasurable pastime. ‘… the camaraderie, the fellowship of sport, triumph over adversity, the lessons of defeat, the hard work in in accomplishing victory need to be remembered … that in the values of a school, sportsmanship must be ranked marginally below scholarship. Adults, including coaches, parents and referees, should be unified in ensuring that the timehonoured ethics of sport are maintained on our sports fields – to play hard, but fairly; to accept defeat and smile when shaking the hand of an opponent; to be competitive, but at the same time co-operative, because without your opponent there is no game.” And in conclusion “there is no doubt that sport can play a pivotal role in education and it is our role as parents and teachers to help our children cope with the pressures of today’s highly competitive world.” (Article appeared in The Sunday Tribune, 20 May 2012) I am sure as parents, you will agree with the sentiments expressed. Enjoy the time that you have to watch your son in whatever extramural activity that he is involved. Make the most of this time as before you know it, it will have passed. We also have a number of Prep and College teams going away over the Easter Weekend. The Prep
First XV are going to the annual St John’s Rugby Festival, which is always a highlight for the Prep boys. The College First Tennis and Hockey sides are going to St Sithians for their annual Easter Festival. We also have the College U14A Rugby side going to the ISRF at Uplands and the U14 Invitational Hockey side going to Northwood. We wish them all the best and hope that they will enjoy themselves and be good ambassadors for Clifton. The College is looking forward to three combined sport and cultural tours; one incoming and two away. We will be travelling to St Andrew’s School in Bloemfontein (Friday 26 - Saturday 27 April) and to St Albans’s C0llege in Pretoria (Friday 10 May – Saturday 11 May). Both of these events will involve a large number of our boys who will be participating in a variety of matches and activities on the respective Fridays and Saturdays. We are currently finalising details and will inform parents regarding the arrangements as soon as possible. A letter has already gone out to the College Parents regarding St Andrews. Please note that we will have formal school on Friday 26 April in the College for those boys not going to Bloemfontein. The trip up to St David’s in 2018 was a wonderful experience for the Prep and College, and engendered excellent school spirit and bonding, as well as giving boys who don’t normally tour an opportunity to do so. We look forward to hosting St David’s later in the term. Mrs Callaghan and her delegation of four Grade 10 boys have just returned from a youth leadership summit in the United States and, by all accounts, have had a wonderful and enriching experience. We look forward to hearing about their adventures. (See page 5)
On the academic front, parents are reminded that the Mid-Year Examinations/Assessments start on 6 June for Grades 10-12 and 12 June for Grades 8-9. We have shortened the assessment period to give more time to academic lessons owing to the disruption of the various public holidays and whole school tours this term. Please note that the timetable was sent out at the end of last term and is also available on the d6, under June Assessments. I trust that you will cherish the extra time that the upcoming long weekend will give you with your son/s and families. Autumn is always a beautiful time of the year in Durban and I am sure that you
will find moments to appreciate and enjoy the warmth and beauty of our country at this time. To all those who are celebrating Easter, may it be a blessed time for you. Enjoy the long weekend!
HUBERT GOEDEKE COLLEGE PRINCIPAL
Congratulates... The following boys who have been selected to represent Umlalazi District at the upcoming KZN Coastal Hockey trials: Umlalazi U14 A
Umlalazi U14 B
Umlalazi U14 C
K. Thomas
K. Brown
W. Veitch
J. Rey
B. Aylward
M. Haygarth
J. Gatonby
R. Hammond
R. Pillay
C. McKenzie
J. Kennedy
M. Tillard J. Northend Umlalazi U16 A
Umlalazi U16 B
Umlalazi U16 C
M. Cox
N. Fouche
J. Wilmans
B. Anticevich
M. Thomas
N. Armitage-Graves
R. Montgomery
G. Tattari
D. Lotter
D. Reddy L. Wilson
Umlalazi U18 A
Umlalazi U18 B
Umlalazi U18 C
A. Kerr
J. Munro
R. Gatonby
J. Wood
N. Rotham
S. Klue
B. Bertasso
J. Munford
B. Kraus
M. Strous
Clifton Intern, Mr Thabani Hlabisa for achieving no less than 6 distinctions and being recognized by the Independent South African Schools Association for his excellent performance during the 2018 academic year.
Andrew Allen (Grade 6), Jonathan Hoarau and Ethan Lyne (Grade 7) who were selected as part of the Umlazi District Primary Schools Aquatics Team that competed at Kings Park. All Clifton families who donated Easter Eggs during our annual drive. The donations were gratefully accepted at Addington Primary school, Bill Buchannan home, King Edward Hospital and Nazareth House.
News Luke Kennedy, Luca Economou, Kevin Pretorius and Jeremy Gourley (accompanied by Mrs Callaghan) attended the Loudoun International Youth Leadership (LIYLS) in Virginia USA during the recent school holidays.
The summit brought young people together from 26 different countries to share their perspectives on the most important issues facing the world at present, and to develop and draw up action plans to address these issues. In so-doing, students are empowered to be informed and active global citizens. Included in the summit were trips into Washington DC to the Newseum, the Holocaust Museum and various other memorials as well as visits to the various hosting schools in Leesburg. Welcome back team, and thank you for representing yourselves, our school and our country so well!
And keeping things international‌
Andrew Sparks and Anthony Traicos are currently in Canada, accompanied by Mr McCabe. At Branksome Hall in Toronto, they competed in the 2019 World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships. Our Head Boy, Andrew Sparks, has been ranked 17th at the 2019 Worlds Public Speaking Championships - one of only 5 South Africans in the Top 20. Excellent, Andrew!
We are currently hosting boys and staff of Lambrook in the UK. The group arrived on Friday 12 April and are with us until 26th. The boys are being hosted by Clifton Grade 6 boys and the staff by Mr Craig Nel. We trust they will enjoy their time at Clifton.
What a great experience it was for our Prep boys to play rugby on the main field at St John's in the Easter Rugby Festival. The Prep 1st XV beat The Ridge 21 - 10 in their opening match on Thursday!
A PIECE OF OUR HISTORY RETURNS HOME We are delighted to let you know that past parent and current grandmother of Clifton gents Skye (Gr 11) and Branson Meaker (Gr 8), has purchased the two old Clifton desks for us! Gladys and her husband Roy had 5 sons and one daughter. All 5 sons - Shawn, Rodney, Roy, Lloyd, and Gregory - attended Clifton Prep and then went on to Hilton. All 5 also played first team rugby for Clifton Prep! Their daughter attended DGC. Gladys and Roy now have 19 grandchildren in total! Speaking to Gladys earlier today, she tells of her fond memories of Clifton, the staff, the boys, the many years of watching school sport, of seeing the school grow and her children - and two grandchildren - thrive here.
The desks will take their rightful place in our new Heritage Centre and will come 'home' shortly. Our sincere thanks to Gladys and Roy Meaker for their generosity and their ongoing passion and support of Clifton!
Sutcliffe Theatre - 18h00
The Grade 7 Integrated Day, hosted this time at Clifton, is always enjoyed by our boys and the girls from DGC.
Clifton Congrats to Mr Tom Brown on his engagement to Nicole! We wish you every happiness in your future together!
Old Boys We are pleased to welcome Mrs Susannah Knowles who has been appointed as the Clifton Old Boys secretary. Mrs Knowles has been involved in a number of Old Boy organisations over the years including Kearsney Old Boys and The Saints Alumni Association. We are looking forward to working with her and sharing her wisdom. Should you have any Old Boy related queries or would like to be involved in the running of COBWEB then please send an email to COBWEB@cliftonschool.co.za and Susannah will be in touch.
LEFT: Congratulations to Allan Rosen (2012) on his engagement. We also congratulate Old Boys Mark Spencer (2009), Todd Howard (2018), Gareth May (2014), William Dowsett – non travelling reserve (2018) and Michael Brakspear – non travelling reserve (2015) on their selection to the team to compete in the EU Nations Senior Men’s Water Polo Cup Tournament to be held in the Czech Republic from 19-23 June.