EDITION 26 5 September 2019
Calling
ARE YOU READY? The school has been buzzing as final Founders’ Weekend preparations have been underway. The trees are proudly donning their red, black and white, the hall is set for Founders’ Assembly, the Old Boys have been brushing up on their sporting skills and the Clifton gents have been working hard on the Clifton War Cry. We are delighted that Damon Beard from East Coast Radio will be here on Saturday to share in the fun as we celebrate the history and heritage of our beautiful school. We look forward to plenty of entertainment, fun, games for the kiddies, exciting sporting contests on the Whitehead Oval, our wonderful craft market and lots of good , old-fashioned Clifton family fun! See you there!
Preparatory School Principal Last week Dr Nic Spaull addressed the Staff at Durban Girls’ College and then Parents of Durban Girls’ College and Clifton in the evening. Dr Spaull is a postdoctoral fellow of both Stellenbosch and Stanford Universities. He holds a doctorate in Economics from Stellenbosch University where he currently heads up the education research portfolio as a senior researcher in the Socio-economic Policy Group. In his talk he pointed out that the world we know is changing rapidly and that the jobs that educationalists are preparing our youth for in the future are going to be very different to what we know today. He pointed out that the great Artificial Intelligence awakening is going to result in many jobs and professions that we reply on today being done more efficiently by computers and machines. A project that is currently under way is the development of a computer called the Watson, which has been fed every bit of medical research and information known in the world and will be used to assist in making diagnoses of medical conditions. Currently, it is estimated that doctors can diagnose conditions to an accuracy of between 75% and 80%. The new Watson will be able to do this to a 99,2% accuracy. This means that in the future, patients will be better diagnosed by entering their symptoms, blood results and scans into a machine rather than seeing a doctor. This is a bit of a scary thought. However, if it results in a better diagnoses and better prescriptions being given then we will all benefit. Accounting and auditing, law and even engineering could be beneficiaries of Artificial Intelligence where information can be acquired from machines in a more effective and efficient way. This will mean that the way these professionals work will be very different, and the skills they will require will be different. A doctor, for example, may have to be more caring and compassionate when dealing with patients as he will not need to be all knowing in terms of medicine. We are moving into the realm of virtual and mixed reality where devices will change how we
experience the world in the near future. It is amazing that one of the fastest growing taxi business (Uber) does not own a taxi. All this, he points out, leads us to reconsider the skills and the content that we are teaching our children. We are now preparing our boys for jobs that we do not even know about. So what do we need to do best in order to prepare our boys for this very changed and ever-changing world? Dr Spaull argues that humans will be far less involved in all forms of manual work as robots take
over in this sphere, and routine cognitive work will be substituted by computers. What we will need more of are analytical and interpersonal skills. This means that schools will need to move away from the huge emphasis that they continue to place on cognitive abilities and knowledge acquisition to an emphasis on social and emotional development. Aspects such as achieving goals through perseverance and self-control, working with others ad managing emotions become very important in the education of our children. He suggests that the 21st Century skills that we should be emphasising in our schools are the four Cs: •
Critical Thinking – looking at problems in a new way and linking learning across subjects and disciplines.
•
Creativity – trying new approaches to get things done equals innovation and invention.
•
Collaboration – working together to reach a goal.
•
Communication – being able to share thoughts, ideas, questions and solutions.
involve relationship skills, self-awareness, selfmanagement, social awareness and responsible decision making. Through this process our education becomes values based, with attitudes playing a decisive role in trying to ensure that our boys become creative and innovative thinkers, who show compassion and empathy for those around them, and learn to learn. All this is very consistent with our vision for the school which is to awaken potential, empower and inspire each boy to become a solutionary for our tomorrow. Our emphasis on values at our school and our intention to grow boys who show compassion and empathy for others clearly shows that the path that we have embarked upon is consistent with new 21st educational thinking. All the changes that have been implemented and proposed are aligned to this new way of thinking and ensure that our boys are equipped with the necessary skills so that they can make a meaningful difference in our world.
These skills should then also be augmented by the VICTOR WHITE teaching of social and emotional skills, which would PREPARATORY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
Congratulates Keagan White (Grade 3) who competed in the club KZN cross country champs and placed 4th in his age group.
Cade Cryer who was selected for the KZN A Golf Team and James Jarvis the KZN B. Both will represent KZN in the upcoming holidays at the SA Schools Inter-Provincial Tournament at South Downs Country Club in Johannesburg. Clifton congrats, gents! We wish you everything of the best for the upcoming IPT.
Skye Meaker, who is attending the World Environmental Forum in Cape Town. He spoke yesterday about his mission to save nature, which has come from his love of photography and taking photos of Africa’s incredible wildlife. Skye has earned over R20 000 from various public speaking engagements since being named young Wildlife Photographer of the year in 2018. He has donated this money to the SABMR in honour of Robbie Eddles. We are so proud of you, Skye! Thank you for using your platform in such a selfless, positive way.
The Clifton U15 and U18 7’s Rugby teams who made a clean sweep at the Richards Bay Christian School 7’s Rugby tournament. Well done, gents!
Cameos
The Grade 1 Masterchef boys learnt about the importance of eating vegetables and made their own ‘Rainbow Pasta.’ What a tasty treat for a rainy day! The Superskills boys used their visual perceptive and fine motor skills to make paper helicopters. It was such fun watching them spin!
Clifton Congrats to the Prep Tennis lads who played their hearts out at the Private Primary Schools Tennis Tournament, finishing in 5th place overall! Well done!
The Grade 1 boys took part in a ‘Chicken Run’ at the Tin Shed. They arrived home very muddy but with huge smiles. They also shared a delightful ‘playdate’ with the DGC Grade 1 girls where they all took part in a Hip-Hop dance class as well as several Playball activities. It was a fun-filled day!
The Grade 2 boys have planted hanging gardens using 2 litre plastic bottles. They cut them, added potting soil, some clippings and water. We look forward to watching them grow and flourish, lads!
The Grade R classes are having an inter-class competition for the SPCA drive. This pet food was received in the last two days! Here you can see how much each class has collected. Keep it up, boys!
The Owlets in the Grade 3 Creative Club have “hatched�! The boys learnt to tack, sew on buttons and do blanket stitch! Well done, lads!
What a pleasure it is to be at school in Durban... Cross country at sunrise with the dolphins playing in the background... We love Durban!
Our Prep Principal, Mr White, introduced the Grade 7 Principal's Spring Swim, which is set to become a fun tradition at Clifton. Well done lads‌and Mr White!
Old Boys Christopher Turner (2015) graduated from the University of Pretoria.
Congratulations to Clarke Bremner (class of 2008) and Tracey Zietsman, who were married this past weekend!
We look forward to seeing a few old faces this weekend and to welcoming some of our newest Old Boys for their first reunion. Our 2009 Head Boy, JJ Booysen and Deputy Head Boy, Mark Spencer will also be here celebrating their 10 year reunion. Brian van Vuuren, our other 2009 Deputy, is unable to make it this year.
It’s always fun to hear the friendly banter between Old Boys ahead of Founders’ Weekend. It seems the Old Boys are feeling pretty confident this year...Who will take the 2019 Founders’ Trophy home?
Classifieds HOUSE AND/OR 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.