EDITION 20 25 July 2019
Calling Ship Ahoy! It was 'all aboard!' the SS Clifton as our Matric gentlemen and their lovely partners enjoyed the Captains Dinner theme at the annual Clifton Matric Farewell.
The team of mums who took on the decor for the event surpassed all expectations and transformed the Ken MacKenzie Hall into the deck of a ship - complete with virtual water and waves!
Executive Headmaster Dear Clifton Family Welcome back to the start of Term 3, another term which promises to be action packed! We have enjoyed a wonderful break, and I trust that our boys and staff are well rested and ready for the term. As usual, the holidays were busy for some of us. The College hosted the Independent Schools Rugby Festival at the Riverside sports campus, the Prep 1st Rugby side attended the centenary festivities at The Ridge School, and three of our Prep Football sides also toured Johannesburg. College football was also busy attending tournaments during the holidays, the Sevens Rugby teams played at the Crawford tournament last weekend, we have three College boys currently in Singapore with Mr Sonderjee at the International Youth Summit, and our matrics and their teachers returned at the start of last week for their Revision Week. The College surfing team performed extremely well to win the KZN Champs, and in addition, there were a number of sports practices, for Basketball, Cricket and Water Polo in the College, and for Hockey (as well as a Festival) and Cross Country in the Prep. On Saturday night the matrics enjoyed their Matric Dance in the Ken MacKenzie Hall, which was transformed spectacularly into the SS Clifton! The senior management staff workshopped strategy on Friday, and all staff were back on Monday for a workshop on “black box thinking”, reflection, and best practice in boys’ education. Finally, a number of our senior choristers accompanied the KZN Youth Choir on their tour to parts of Europe, where they achieved gold in an international choir competition in Vienna, Austria! My sincere thanks to all the staff, and parents, who were involved in all this holiday activity, and who flew the Clifton flag around the country, and indeed the world. I was fortunate to be able to attend the International Boys’ Schools Coalition conference in Montreal, Canada, in the first week of the holiday. The theme of the conference was “Boys and the Arts – Great Minds, Big Hearts”, and certainly there was a strong emphasis on celebrating the role that arts and culture play in boys’ schools, and boys’ lives. Having just come out of the last week of term, and our wonderful “Cultural Daze”, I felt as if Clifton’s cultural programme had just been extended!
In addition to this explicit theme, there was also a strong focus on well-being, for both boys and staff, and discussion around how best to provide support and advice to meet the challenges of the modern world. It was also reassuring and affirming to note that many of the programmes and practices highlighted at the conference are already in place, on offer, or under consideration, at Clifton. The IBSC Board met before the conference for two days to discuss matters of strategy and a new strategic plan, as well as the recent membership survey. I remain absolutely convinced that membership of the IBSC is of great value to Clifton. For more information about the conference, especially the plenary speakers and the workshops on offer, please feel free to visit https:// www.theibsc.org/conferences-events/2019ac There are a number of highlights in the calendar this term. The College will be inviting grandparents to join an Assembly on Monday 12 August, and we look forward to this first event for the College. The Prep Choir will be touring Cape Town, and the College grade excursions will take place towards the end of August – whilst of course, the Matrics will be writing their Prelim or Trials examinations. The most important date on this term’s calendar, however, will be Founders’ Weekend – Friday 6 and Saturday 7 September - and we hope for better weather than we experienced last year! It is a pleasure to welcome those families and boys new to Clifton this term, as well as our three locum staff, two of whom (Mrs Mahomed and Miss Roloff) join us in the Prep for staff on maternity leave. We congratulate Mrs Reeders and Ms Dawson on the birth of their sons. In addition, we welcome Mrs Karlien Erasmus and Mr Wayne Schwartz, who have joined the College staff in a permanent capacity, and Mrs King who joins us in the library as a locum for the term. Once again, welcome back to the third term. I look forward to what lies ahead! Yours faithfully
DAVE KNOWLES EXECUTIVE HEADMASTER
Meander... On Friday afternoon Mr Ravenscroft will be at the Prep hockey fixtures being played against Glenwood Prep as well as the 1st XI Festival at Penzance. Messrs Bresler, Knowles and Goedeke will be at the U15 7’s Rugby Festival which we are hosting at Riverside. On Saturday Mrs Achmad and Mr Ravenscroft will be at the Grades R to 2 Dads and Lads hockey session at Riverside. Messrs Knowles, White, Ravenscroft, Mezher and Boniaszczuk will be at the Prep hockey matches being played against Glenwood Prep at Riverside. Messrs Goedeke, Bresler, Mezher and Knowles will be at the U18 7’s Rugby Festival which we are hosting at Riverside and the College soccer matches being played against Glenwood at Durban North College.
Congratulates...
The KwaZulu-Natal Youth choir that participated in the Summa Cum Laude Music Competition (choirs and symphony orchestras) in Vienna from 5 July - 9 July 2019. Sixteen boys from Clifton participated and contributed towards the excellent result of the competition. The competition, geared for youth up to the age of 26, drew choirs and symphony orchestras from all over the world. The competition kicked off in the beautiful Musikverein Hall in Vienna on 4 July during which Sven Paton had to introduce the choir in front of a packed hall. Thirty-six groups from all over the world had a chance to inform the participants and jury of who they were, and in which category they would be competing. The Welcome Ceremony paved the way for an exciting week of music making and competing.
The spirit of the competition was wonderful with good humor, laughter, serious daily practising and focused performances being the norm. The choir was awarded first prize for Most Outstanding Performance in the Mixed Choir Category at the Gala evening on 9 July - the venue was the hall of the Musik Verein, which is used annually for the New Year concert that is televised world-wide.
The behavior, focus, care and discipline of each member has to be emphasized. The Clifton boys/ choristers were well-behaved, punctual and determined to give of their best. A superb achievement from a dedicated group of youngsters, ably led by our very own Mr Gerard’d du Toit!
Erynn Geddie (Grade 9) who has made it through to the final round of the South African Maths Olympiad. What a wonderful achievement, Erynn! We wish you everything of the best for the finals.
Guy Brooks (Grade 10) who traveled to Italy with Graham Hill and the Train Camp Academy Swim Squad to compete at the Treviso Swim Cup International Gala at the end of June. This was his first international competition and he got to swim against Laszlo Cseh - one of the all-time great butterfly and medley Olympians (second to Phelps many times). Guy came home with 4 Gold medals and 1 Silver in the 16 year old male category, and 1 bronze overall for adult men in the 200 freestyle event. He also competed in the swim city gala in Pesaro Italy, which was cancelled during the meet due to a tropical storm which hit the city. Here he won a bronze and a silver. (Clifton Old Boy, Calvin Coetzee, won silver in the 200m freestyle.)
Jack Spence who also travelled overseas where he represented South Africa as a Junior Triathlete and competed in his first Junior European Triathlon Tour. He raced in the Hamburg Wasser Triathlon in Germany as well as in the Junior European Cup in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary. The races were tough with the best U19 Junior Triathletes in the world competing. The weather was not ideal for racing with heavy rain and hail falling during the European Cup in Hungary. He managed to deliver consistent race performances and gained invaluable race experience.
Connor Buck who did extremely well swimming for Team SA at the 2019 EDF AQUA French Cup in Toulouse, France. He swam the 5km event, placing second overall and first Junior, in a time of 50:12.
The First Soccer Team on their record success at the Kloof tournament, placing 3rd overall out of 38 teams - the best Clifton has ever done in this tournament. (Prior to this, our best result was when the First Team of 2009 were knocked out in the Cup quarter finals). Blake Pearson was awarded the Most Promising Player award at the Tournament.
The Clifton Prep team that participated in the annual Crawford Schools Boys Hockey Tournament hosted by Crawford North Coast on Saturday 20 July. Clifton Prep made it through to the semi-finals, going down to Northlands Primary.
Ben Wilson who has been selected to represent the U13 KZN Golf Team for the Nomads SA Championships at Devonvale Golf Estate in Stellenbosch. This is a phenomenal achievement considering Ben is 10 years old in Grade 4!
Joel Jordan who placed 2nd out of 82 777 Grade 5 – 7 pupils countrywide after coming 1st in KZN in the Horizon Maths Competition. Joel, along with the other top performers in SA, attended the National Awards held at Wits University. The Horizon Educational Trust sponsored their trip to Johannesburg where they visited Gold Reef City and met with MEC Angie Motshekga.
Cameos Clifton Prep boys on Soccer Tour in Johannesburg
Grade 2 Hot Chocolate and Holiday News time. Welcome back to school, boys!
Nominate your favourite teacher for Teacher’s Day Awards and you could win over R400 000 worth of prizes for you, your teacher and your school. Someone who makes a difference with a smile, a hug, or helping you do better? Teachers create hope every day, so let’s celebrate those that shine. Tell us all about your favourite teacher in a letter of no more than 200 words. www.myschool.co.za
Remember to keep swiping your MySchool card or simply download the app. Below is a month-on-month comparison of funds raised and number of parents supporting this initiative for Clifton.
VS
R9,231.58
R10,108.48
VS
471
461
The Grade R’s are learning number formation this term and they used shaving cream to write their numbers.
CLIFTON AND DGC AT THE SINGAPORE YOUTH SUMMIT, 2019
(Left) Clifton College and DGC are proud to announce that they were voted (by the student delegates) as the "BEST POSTER CONTENT" at the Singapore Summit! Well done, young ambassadors! (Below) Clifton and DGC exhibiting at the South African Cultural Display. This display proved to be very popular with the locals and the ‘Rooibos tea’ and ‘NikNaks’ were a huge hit!
A final reminder for parents who have Grade R 2020 siblings who have not yet applied to please do so urgently.
UBER USAGE AND SAFETY REMINDER
Apply via the ADAM portal or email Barry Mezher: bmezher@cliftonschool.co.za A reminder regarding the safety of your boys if they are using the Uber App: Uber is fast making inroads as one of the most convenient modes of transport in urban areas. Its popularity is reflected in the increasing number of youngsters using the service. The use of Uber by minors has raised some concerns amongst schools. This entails pupils being collected by Uber without any notification from parents, which poses a potential security risk. Below are measures that Uber claims it has instituted to ensure the safety of its users. This information was released by Uber following a string of violent incidents in South Africa. Uber has provided an undertaking that before a driver can be allowed to be an Uber driver, the following must be confirmed: •
Potential drivers must each have a valid Professional Drivers Permit which is checked by Uber against the Traffic Licensing Department’s database.
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Potential Uber drivers are checked against a criminal fingerprint identification system.
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Vehicle inspections are done to ensure the vehicles are roadworthy.
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Driving skills are evaluated through a third-party driving evaluation test to examine the driver’s ability to drive safely and according to road regulations.
Furthermore, Uber advises passengers to check that the registration plate, vehicle colour and model match the information provided on the Uber App. A reminder that the Uber service is not available to persons under the age of 18 years unless they are accompanied by an adult. Please also note that should you permit your son to use the Uber service, you do so at your own risk and the school will not be held liable for any incidents resulting from this.
Old Boys
Senuran Muthusamy (2012) received the highest bid (R1.34million) at the Dolphins Premier League tournament auction. Awesome stuff, Senuran!
Josh Walters (2015) popped in to Ms Hendricks’ lab with his Hungarian girlfriend, Annette, who he was taking on a walk of the campus, showing off his senior school. He is currently a 3rd year Civil Engineering student at California Baptist University. Josh brought Annette to Clifton to show her where he learnt to become a gentleman (his words). Thank you for the visit. You are always welcome, Josh.
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. HOME OFFERED FOR AN UNLOVED ‘ORBITREK’ Mr Mezher is prepared to offer a permanent home to an unwanted Orbitrek exercise bike. Tel: 082 808 6880 HOUSE TO LET 3/4 bedroom home with 3 garages at 15 Arran Road available at R18 000.00 per month. Contact Sarah: 072 719 7197 to arrange viewing.
(Below) Congratulations to Matthew Mitchell (2007) and Chantelle Stander who were married on Saturday.