EDITION 29 17 October 2019
Calling Grade 7 Excursion
During their excursion, the boys took on a planking challenge for world spine day. Rushil Parbhoo was the champ – 10 minutes!
College Principal How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before its afternoon. December is here before its June My goodness how time has flewn. How did it get late so soon? - Dr Seuss The last term of the year in the College is important as various rites of passage for the matrics take place and a number of important events mark the end of their academic time at school. In particular, we look forward to the Interfaith and Valedictory tomorrow when we say goodbye to the class of 2019 before they go off on their study leave and prepare for the Final IEB Senior Certificate Examinations. Two further events are the Final Matric IEB Dramatic Arts Practical Examination, which was held on Tuesday evening with excellent performances by the matric Drama boys, and the Matric Art Exhibition that is always a highlight and which we are looking forward to. Apart from the important events mentioned above, Clifton is as busy as usual. On Thursday last week, we had the annual Grade 11 Toastmasters Graduation Dinner. The boys gave of their best and we had some excellent speakers. This is an important skill for the boys and highlights some of the many opportunities that we give the boys at Clifton. On Monday evening this was followed by the College Film Festival, “The Ogres”. The films that were shown displayed a high standard. Both the boys and Mrs Holloway (Toastmasters) and Mr Fletcher (Film Festival) must be complimented on their efforts in organizing and leading these two events. I would urge all parents to look at the calendar very closely as we have a number of important functions coming up. The Sports and Cultural Awards Evening takes place on Friday 1 November. Our College Speech and Prize Giving ceremony takes place four weeks later on Friday 29 November. During the last week of the Term we have our Prep Prize Giving on Monday 2 December and the Carol Service on the preceding Wednesday, 27 November at 18h00.
The U14A, U15A and 1ST Water Polo Teams all played in the annual Top Ten Tournament held at Westville, Northwood and Clifton respectively this past weekend. This was an exciting tournament and the boys were in each Age Group Final; with the U15A’s and the 1st Team Clifton sides winning their respective finals. The boys and coaches must be congratulated on being the overall Trophy winners; an excellent achievement. In particular the First team is to be congratulated on their win in the Open Age group after a tough match against Kearsney that was eventually decided on penalties. Thank you to all of the parents for their wonderful support as well. The U14 A and B Cricket sides also went on a wonderful tour to Cape Town playing four of the top cricketing schools in the city, namely: Bishops, Rondebosch, SACS and Wynberg Boy’s High. They have certainly learnt from this experience. With the busy extramural programme we cannot forget the importance of this term from an academic perspective. In this regard the Final Examination timetable was sent out last term and is available on the d6. The Grade 10’s and 11’s start writing on Monday 4 November. All boys need to remember the following quotation as they prepare for their examinations. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” - Robert Collier Enjoy the weekend!
GERRY GOEDEKE COLLEGE PRINCIPAL
Meander On Friday afternoon and on Saturday, Messrs White and Ravenscroft will be at the Prep cricket matches being played against DPHS. Mr Ravenscroft will also be at the U9 cricket matches being played against Glenwood and Westville. On Saturday Messrs Mezher and Bresler will be with their cricket teams for their respective matches against DPHS and St Charles. Messrs Knowles and Goedeke will be at the College basketball, cricket and water polo matches being played against St Charles. Mrs Achmad will be at the dads and lads session for Grades R and 1 on the Whitehead Oval. She will be joined by Mr Boniaszczuk at the Grade 2 mini cricket matches for selected boys being played at Durban North College.
Congratulates Cade Cryer (Gr 12) on his selection to represent KwaZulu Natal at the 2019 SA Inter Provincial Golf Tournament from 9 -13 December
The following young men who were selected to represent Clifton School and South Africa in 2020 as delegates at various International Youth Summits and as exchanges at our partner schools across the world. The Clifton global footprint is growing! YOUTH SUMMITS
EXCHANGE PROGRAMME
UNITED STATES: Loudoun International Youth Leadership Summit
ARGENTINA: ST GEORGE’S COLLEGE
M Maree, R Steele, S Bhagwandas ROMANIA: Transylvania International Leadership Summit A Latoo, B Maehler, W Telfer SINGAPORE: Asia-Pacific Young Leaders Summit A Singh, M Spurrett, B Walker FRANCE: Normandy International Youth leadership Summit S Gopalan, M Kapp, J Balfour INDIA: Community and Development Leadership Summit M Jackson, S Matthysen, E Daykin, Z Moodley
R Bensch, C Masefield ARGENTINA: NORTHLANDS SCHOOL K Berger, J Loxton JAPAN: AZABU HIGH SCHOOL FOR BOYS M Reinders AUSTRALIA: MORETON BAY BOYS’ COLLEGE D Reddy
UNITED KINGDOM: THE RYDE SCHOOL E Matthews
The KZN Wind band who received National Colours on Saturday 12 October after winning their category in the recent National South African School Band Association (SABSBA) Concert and Band Category in September. Lance Leslie-Smith is the only Clifton representative in this prestigious band. The band was awarded National Colours for musical ability, stage impression and etiquette. The KZN Youth Orchestra also competed in two categories. They were awarded SABSBA Colours for stage impression and etiquette. Tiashan Moodley (centre), Lance Leslie-Smith (left) and Andrew Ward (right) are members of this orchestra.
Tiashan was also invited to perform in the ABRSM High Scorers concert held at the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday 13 October. He was invited to perform in this concert as he achieved one of the highest marks across all centres and instruments in Kwazulu Natal, for his ABRSM Grade 8 Violin exam which he passed with distinction in May of this year. It is a prestigious accolade to have been part of this concert, especially since it was for his exam results for Grade 8 - the highest graded music exam. He is pictured here with his violin teacher Mrs Jane Magner, who is our SP Music specialist here at Clifton.
The annual Clifton Film Festival, ‘The Ogres’, was held this week. Well done to the following Ogre Award Winners: •
Animation: Jaide Opara (Our Lady of Fatima)
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Production Design: Alexander Christie-Reardon and Yashwant Naidoo
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Acting: Isabella Goosen (Our Lady of Fatima)
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Film Editing: Gareth Williams
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Sound Design & Editing: Isabella Goosen (Our Lady of Fatima)
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Cinematography: Matteo Strachan
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Screenwriting: Isabella Goosen and Simone le Roux (Our Lady of Fatima)
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Directing: Adam Wang
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Best Documentary Short Film: “The Neptune Project”, directed by Matteo Strachan
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Best Narrative Short Film: “The Return of the Executables”, directed by Adam Wang
Well done to our canoeists who achieved the following results at the Interschools Enduro held at Camps Drift: U16 team of Jarryd Walker, Ben Maehler and Luke Achmad placed 3rd in U16, and U18 team of Jarrod Niemand, Jake Mileham, Mark Maree and Mikka Spurrett placed 11th in U18.
Rugby day was held in Grade R to kick off the World Cup and to celebrate Heritage Day last term. The boys hopped on rugby ball numbers as they came in to the Grade R area, placed counters between the rugby posts, did paper-tearing to make SA flags, played mini rugby matches and ate ‘fan food’ while watching the games. See page 5...
Grade R and 1 Cultural Day fun ‘One of the benefits of being multicultural is simply the awareness that how you live (and play) is not the only way.’ -Ann Campanella
Some of our Clifton gents attended the Global Peace Inter-Generational Dialogue on Tuesday evening at Durban Girls’ High School. The dialogue was arranged by Accord – a South African based civil society organization, working throughout Africa to bring creative African solutions to the challenges posed by conflict on the continent. Global Peace is an initiative engineered by ACCORD to foster a global discussion among young future leaders, city mayors, captains of industry and country leaders to deliberate on what their aspirations for a better world should look like. The Dialogue gave young people the opportunity to engage with, and share their ideas, on global issues that impact on their future. The panelists included representatives from business, academia, youth and government.
The Grade 1 Superskills boys have been working on developing their gross motor skills. Building strong muscles is tiring but fun!
The Grade 3s had a load of fun climbing and riding their scooters and skateboards at People’s Park.
A single paragraph could never be enough to describe the two weeks I have spent in Tokyo. My experience was invaluable, and I cannot thank both Clifton and Azabu enough. Despite knowing of the almost legendary Japanese politeness, I was constantly blown away at how warm a welcome I received and the lengths that students, teachers and my host families went to in order to ensure that my stay was comfortable and that I learnt as much as possible. I could not have asked for better hosts as they were patient and kind throughout my stay, despite being dragged all over Tokyo by me. As a surprise, I was even taken to a rugby World Cup match by my hosts! As a martial artist, it was only proper that I made use of my time in Japan to study as much as I could. I was warmly welcomed by both judo and kendo clubs at Azabu and found that they were also eager to see and learn karate from me. I was able to join classes at a dojo which also practices Goju-Ryu Karate-doh (the same style I practice) and train with a highly-graded matric student who practices Goju-Kai, the Japanese variant of my style. A "foodie" and a fan of Japanese cuisine, it was amazing to taste their dishes, both home cooked and restaurant made. One must not forget the cook off between me and their cooking club, a clash of South African dishes (bhajiya, bunny chow and milk tart) with their very own dishes (yakisoba, a kind of fried noodles, and dorayaki, pancakes with redbean paste). A stroll through the old city and Imperial palace gardens is all one needs to feel the deep history. I enjoyed many other experiences, from singing with the music classes to learning Japanese board games such as Shogi and Othello. With the trip sadly over, and too many unbelievable experiences to count, I wish my new friends well and thank them for all they have done for me. Arigatou gozaimashita. Jibran Mulla
Last term, the library ran a bookmark decorating competition. The boys could collect a blank bookmark cut-out from the library and were encouraged to decorate it in 2D so that it could be laminated. It was difficult to choose the winners as we had so many creative entries, almost 60 entries in total. We have selected winners from each age group (FP, Grade 4-5 and Grade 67). Thank you to Mrs Meyer and Mrs Muligande for helping me judge the bookmarks. Each winner receives a book voucher to spend at Exclusive Books. Left to right: Zahran Maharaj Gr 6 1st, Matthew Gorrie Gr 4 and Tej Bhayroo Gr 5 tied 2nd and Blake Ackhurst Gr 3 placed 3rd. Well done, lads!
“From the Side-lines with Nick Lambie” Grant Bowles Interview: Director of Cricket for Clifton Prep School 1: How do you feel about the upcoming season? I’m very excited about this upcoming season, the fourth term is always my favourite cricket season, as the boys get stronger throughout the year especially after rugby season they are more confident and mature. The boys have been working hard and are excited to get back on the field, as I am. 2: Tell us a bit about your cricket coaching background? I worked at Glenwood high school for 3 years and I ran the cricket academy with very experienced coach, Jarred Chetty. I coached the under 14A side for two years at Glenwood as well. I have been the head for both the Kwa-Zulu Natal Cricket and Hockey under 12 Boys teams for the past three years, positions I still currently hold. I am currently in my first year of coaching the Clifton Prep first team cricket side and I’m thoroughly enjoying the challenge. 3: What is your coaching philosophy? I Live by the philosophy of being “humble in victory and gracious in defeat.” I also hold my personal philosophy closest to my heart is “wanting the boys I have the privilege of coaching achieve far more than I ever did through my guidance.” 4: When it comes to spotting promising schoolboy talent, what do you look out for? Firstly, I look at how coachable the boy is. Secondly, I look to see the boy’s leadership skills and how he leads his team members. Lastly, I look for the technical abilities shown by the boy’s. 5: How important is positive reinforcement with the youngsters on and off the sports field? I firmly believe that having a positive approach to the younger boys will bring through their talent as they feel comfortable to express their skills in a comfortable environment. Yes, there is always place for a firm hand, to make sure there is discipline in your team but this can be done positively to keep the boys motivated to achieve. Through positive reinforcement, boys begin to trust you as a coach and will work harder for you naturally, as I firmly believe players play for coaches.
Scenes from the Grade 5 and Grade 6 excursions‌ Fun, adventure, challenges, laughter and new friendships!