EDITION 15 16 May 2019
Calling
College Principal “Let nothing perturb you, nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything.” – Mother Teresa This I have learnt and experienced over the last couple of weeks. A lot of reflection has made me conscious of the fact that many of us are caught up in a ‘ race’ and that we need to slow down and not rush through our days and lives. It is important for each one of us to savour every moment with our children and loved ones which will lead us to experience ‘real life’. We need to make priorities by focusing on the things that need to be done and are important and not on the distractions. Patience is important, together with time, as we build our life story and make it worthwhile. This applies to our children, especially on their journey through school. We need to focus on the journey and not the destination or end point; or in the words of an old Nissan advert – ‘Life is a journey …enjoy the ride!’ It has been good to have a full week of school again and for the school to find its rhythm as we work towards the half-year examinations/ assessments. In doing so we must be mindful of the support that we give our boys during this time and keep perspective, and to encourage and support them. This week has been an important one from a cultural perspective with the Helen Joseph Oratory Competition being held at DGC on Tuesday evening. This competition was started last year and is named after Helen Joseph, who taught in the Prep School and is a famous South African who took part in the liberation struggle. She was one of the leaders of the Women’s March in 1956 to the Union Buildings, protesting against the Pass Laws. This competition is held between Clifton, Durban Girls’ College and Maris Stella. Clifton was placed first with some outstanding individual performances. We also hosted a most successful ‘Celebration of Music’ in which seven schools participated. It was a wonderful evening of choral music and highlighted the talented choristers we have at Clifton and here in Durban. A big thank you to Mr du Toit for organizing this evening.
As a father of two sons, who both attended Clifton, I often reflect on what is happening in the life of the boys as they go from adolescence to becoming young men. In this regard I refer to the book written by a New Zealand mother Celia Lashlie (who has unfortunately passed away), called ‘He Will be OK’.
In this book there is a chapter with the title The Bridge of Adolescence and it describes the developmental path that most boys go through and at roughly what grade this takes place. It makes for interesting reading and explains the roles that we as moms and dads play in this important chapter of life when boys become men. I have included the bullet points at the end of the chapter for your interest: •
“The central issue in the lives of adolescent boys is getting mother off the bridge of adolescence and fathers onto it”
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“It’s apparent to all who work with them that boys like clear boundaries.”
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“The Year 9 (Grade 8) boy is interested only in having fun and learning.”
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“The Year 10 (Grade 9) boy is ten feet tall and bulletproof and everyone else is a loser, a #$#$ or a dork.”
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“Don’t go looking for a debate with a Year 10 (Grade 9) boy but have the conversation if he brings the debate to you.”
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“In Year 11 (Grade 10) life becomes a bit more serious but there’s still time to play.”
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“In Year 12 (Grade 11) there are definite signs that common sense is on its way back.”
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“Year 13 (Grade 12) boys are gorgeous, wise young men.”
(p94 ‘He will be OK” by Celia Lashlie Harper Collins 2005) I think we can all relate to these points (they are nothing new) and that our sons are somewhere on this bridge or path. Enjoy the time with them. I am struck every day by how lucky we are to teach and work with the boys we have at Clifton. Enjoy the weekend!
GERRY GOEDEKE COLLEGE PRINCIPAL
Meander... On Friday evening Messrs Knowles, Ravenscroft, White and Mezher will be at the U9 and 10 rugby festival being played on the Whitehead Oval. On Saturday Mr Boniaszczuk will be at the chess tournament at Virginia. Mr Bresler will be with his U16 hockey team in Pietermaritzburg for their match against St Charles before joining Messrs Mezher, Knowles and Goedeke at Riverside for the College rugby and hockey fixtures taking place there against St Charles. Messrs Knowles, White, Ravenscroft and Mezher will be at Clifton for the Prep rugby matches taking place there against St Charles on the Whitehead Oval.
Congratulations On 14 may, Clifton competed against Durban Girls’ College and Maris Stella in the second annual Helen Joseph Oratory Challenge. This oratory competition pits speakers from Grade 7 to Grade 12 against each other. Hosted by DGC this year, the standard of speaking was excellent and the themes were incredibly varied from the weirdly humorous to passionately thought-provoking. Clifton won the trophy for the second year running! Abdullah Ally, Alexander Christie-Reardon and William Telfer were all awarded ‘Top Speaker’ certificates for Grade 7, Grade 8 and Grade 9 categories respectively.
Significantly, the three judges were all alumni of their particular school – Ethan Chetty (COB’16) also acted as Chief Adjudicator.
DEBATING RESULTS: Senior DCDL League: Thursday 9th May Motion: This house would force all workers to unionise. Seniors: Clifton 1 vs Glenwood 2; Clifton won. Best Speaker: Ibi Khan Clifton 2 vs Crawford La Lucia; Clifton won. Best Speaker: Anthony Traicos
St Alban’s friendly debate: Friday 10th May Motion: This house would implement a system that would punish individuals who do not vote in the national elections. Seniors: Clifton lost. Juniors: Clifton won.
Congratulations to the newly elected Captains and Vice Captains for the FP Interhouse Athletics: BARBARIANS (Green) Vice Captain: Mholi Phili Captain: James Meyer TROJANS (Blue) Vice Captain: Matt Swan Captain: Hayden Ravenscroft
CRUSADERS (Red) Vice Captain: Lelo Molefe Captain: Keagan White
International Scratch Day! International Scratch Day took place over the weekend. To celebrate, Mr Kubheka and Mrs Boniaszczuk with 20 Grade 4 and 5 boys spent the day coding games in Scratch. There was such a wonderful response to the event that it seems we may need to have another Scratch Day really soon! Well done, lads.
Jack Aylward and Ben Bresler arrived safely in Buenos Aires on their exchange to Argentina. They were warmly welcomed at the airport by their hosts. Enjoy the experience, gents!
As Clifton was the school that donated - proportionally - the most school shoes in 2018, we were invited by Blue Skye, on behalf of Sole-2-Sole, to go to KwaSimamane Primary School, Ndwedwe to deliver school shoes. What a privilege it was for us to be a small part of this wonderful project! Thank you again to all the boys - and staff - who donated their shoes at the end of 2018.
A happy and victorious U14D hockey side after their match against St Alban’s at the weekend.
SUPPORTER@CLIFTON ladies and gents wear is available at the School Shop and online. It is wonderful to see so many of our parents donning their RED, BLACK, WHITE gear at the various fixtures! With the Winter Derby vs St David’s coming up next weekend, make sure you have stocked up on your supporter wear! Ladies and gents golfers, beanies, caps, cushions, mugs, umbrellas, body warmers and more are in stock. You can also pick up new and preloved uniform items, gifts and sports kit. www.cliftonshop.co.za
Cade Cryer and Nick Phipps playing with pro golfer Rourke van der Spuy during the last round at the Woodlands Junior Masters Tournament.
“The NumberSense Mathematics Programme has been created to support children’s development of a robust sense of number and deep understanding of mathematics. The programme is responsive to the developmental needs of children, is informed by current research on how children learn mathematics and provides a comprehensive mathematics solution.� - www.numbersense.co.za We have been running the Number Sense programme, developed by Aarnout Brombacher for Mathematics from Grade R to Grade 7, for the past eight years. We are very fortunate to have the developer and man behind the Number Sense Programme visiting Clifton to give a presentation on how Number Sense is implemented and the benefits it has for your son. A brilliant developer, a gifted presenter and a renowned teacher in his own right, Aarnout is always interesting and inspiring to listen to and engage with on any topic and Mathematics in particular. Please join us on Thursday 23 May from 18h30 to 20h00 in the Sutcliffe Theatre. Please sign up via the Parent Portal on ADAM.
Old Boys Clifton Old Boy Richard Joseph, 1980 recently popped into the School Shop at the Barry Richards Pavilion where he shopped up a storm! He also took the time to share his story - as we do at Clifton! Richard is now living in England and survived a brain tumor, chemo and radiation and presents talks at hospitals about how cancer is just a word; it is an incredible story. He brought his dad to the shop too. Thank you for popping in to your alma mater, Richard. We hope to see you at our centenary celebrations in 2024!
Congratulations to Ntuthuko D Zwane (class of 2007) who recently got married! We wish you and your lovely wife a wonderful future together!
Clifton congrats to Brad Wheal (class of 2014) who was selected for the Scottish cricket team for their ODI Against Afghanistan!
Caught on camera up at St Alban’s over the weekend were Hemil Gopalan, Calumn Harding, Zukisana Gxawu and Emihle Mbambisa with Mr Knowles (left to right) as well as Michael Goedeke and Nic Herbst with Clifton Head Boy Andrew Sparks and Deputy Head Boy Claudio Lehman.
The Grade R boys enjoyed a special time with their mom’s at school last week. #HappyMothersDay!
Classifieds HOUSE SITTING AND BABY SITTING Please call Amy Mezher on 064 687 5934 or email: amymez6@gmail.com if you are looking for a reliable House Sitter or Baby Sitter. LIFT CLUB BALLITO TO CLIFTON If you are interested in joining or creating a lift club for various mornings and potentially afternoons, please contact Cheryl Law on 083 286 2810.
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD TO FAMILIES YOU KNOW THAT MAY BE INTERESTED IN BOOKING A TOUR.
Our Executive Headmaster invites you to join him for a tour of our campus. Enjoy a cup of tea with us, take a walk through our campus and take some time to interact with our Clifton staff and boys.
TOUR DATES: Wednesday 5 June, Friday 16 August 09h00-11h00 Email Carol De Matteis to book: marketing@cliftonschool.co.za You are also able take a Virtual Tour of our grounds and the Riverside Sports facilities via the home page of our website: www.cliftonschool.co.za
THE INDEPENDENT BOYS SCHOOL IN DURBAN FROM GRADE R—12