EDITION 2 30 January 2020
Calling CLIFTON ACADEMIC CUM LAUDE AWARDS
At the College Awards Assembly, we were delighted to welcome back Ibrahim Khan and Naail Suliman from the Class of 2019. Their outstanding matric results earned them the highest Academic Award at Clifton - The Clifton Academic Cum Laude. Ibrahim achieved an aggregate of 91.29% and Naail 90.71%. Naail (left) and Ibrahim (right) are pictured with Executive Headmaster, Mr David Knowles and Deputy Principal: Academics, Ms Fiona King. Congratulations once again, gents. You have done yourselves, your family and your school proud!
Prep Principal
Dear Clifton family
A rather belated, but sincere welcome back to Clifton after what I hope was a good and restful holiday. We are very excited about 2020 as we continue to nurture and develop the boys in our care.
effort, determination, courage and perseverance each of us can hone our skills and become successful and Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck has researched even famous. The old and written a book titled Mindset. “In a growth saying “It is your attitude mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities that determines your altitude” is so apt in terms of can be developed through dedication and hard success in life. For this reason, we continue to work—brains and talent are just the starting point. reward and acknowledge the boys’ attitudes and This view creates a love of learning and a resilience effort as well as their excellence. that is essential for great accomplishment.” Aspects such as effort, discipline, perseverance and attitude Our greatest task at this school is to instil in our boys and a growth mindset are vital if we are to encourage the values of empathy, compassion, love and care the development of grit in our boys and ensure that for God’s creation and for those around us. St they continue growing and developing in the different Theresa said: “Without love, deeds, even the most areas in which they are involved. brilliant, count as nothing.” She also commented that, “Our Lord does not look so much at the I believe that each boy is special and made by God. greatness of our actions, or even their difficulty, as at Everyone is built for a purpose. I have an image of the love with which we do them.” God making a huge jigsaw puzzle of his creation; each piece is unique and has a special place and We want Clifton boys to think seriously about the function. Our job at Clifton is to help every boy to find legacy they will leave the world. Their thinking will his place and purpose. There is something special or determine whether they become merely successful a strength within each boy that can be nurtured and in mastering their talents and being good at them, or grown so he can take his rightful place in God’s giant whether they become significant people who use jigsaw puzzle. their success in the service of the world and of others - in this way leaving a lasting legacy. We want There are several things that our boys have been each one of our boys to use their future success to given and which they have not earned in life. The become solutionaries for our tomorrow. first is being born to their parents who, through their circumstances, have given them the privilege of If we can live the “Fruit of the Spirit”, then we will be being educated at a school like Clifton. Secondly, able to live meaningful lives where we put aside our God has given each one intelligence: being own desires and become that vibrant jigsaw piece intellectual, emotional, physical or spiritual. He has that will fit in exactly the right place and to complete made them who they are with their own unique God’s great creation. We will have used God’s gifts strengths and talents. It is our job as teachers and to us and given back to God to make our world a parents to uncover these talents. The third aspect better and more sustainable place. In this way we that God has given them is the freedom to choose become significant and we leave that lasting legacy how they react to every situation that confronts them. for future generations. As we contemplate our These three gifts are given freely to all our boys. The legacies and look to become significant, let us way to success in life is paved by how hard we work remember Anne Frank’s words of wisdom, “How with what God has given us. What amount of sweat, wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single toil and tears are we prepared to invest in our moment before starting to improve the world.” Our interests and our strengths? Clifton solutionaries need to go out and lovingly change the world and make it a better place. Malcolm Gladwell in his bestselling book Outliers Warm Regards points out that those people who are successful in life are those that spend 10 000 hours doing and practising their skill. That translates to about three VICTOR WHITE hours a day for ten years. With passion, discipline, PREPARATORY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
Meander On Friday afternoon, Messrs White and Ravenscroft will be at the Prep Championship Gala at the Aquatic Centre. On Saturday Messrs Mezher and White will be at the Prep cricket matches being played against Highbury. Mr Ravenscroft will be with his team for their match. Messrs Knowles, Bresler and Ms King will be at the College cricket and basketball matches being played against Northwood. Mr Boniaszczuk and Mrs Achmad will be at Durban North College for the Grade 2 matches for selected cricketers.
News bits... Debating Captain Anthony Traicos arranged a workshop for our Grade 8s together with Glenwood High School, Westville Girls’ High School, Eden School and Our Lady of Fatima. The workshop was focused on training the Grade 8s who will be joining the Durban Coastal Debating League this year. It also afforded the students the opportunity to get to know each other in a more informal environment before they face each other across the table.
The second race of the Capital Caterers Inter-school Canoe League took place on 25 January on the Lions River. The race started at Clydesdale Cottages and finished on Midmar Dam; the river was flowing flat water at a medium level following some overnight rain with a tricky rapid that tested some of the paddlers as they entered Midmar Dam. Clifton was represented by 5 boys, results as follows: Jarryd Walker – 7th Under 18 Benjamin Maehler – 4th Under 16 Luke Achmad – 9th Under 16 Mikka Spurrett – 30th Under 16 Mark Maree – 47th Under 16
On Sunday the Ozzy Gladwin Canoe Marathon took place on 28 km of the Umgeni River starting with 5 km on Albert Falls Dam, this race also doubled as the KZN K2 Championships. Weather conditions were extremely hot and the race route included two portages which tested the paddlers endurance. The water level in the river was good which allowed for an excellent day of racing. Jarryd Walker and his paddling partner placed 23rd overall and 4th in the Under 18 category, while Ben Maehler partnered with his father and placed 71st overall.
PHOTO: Ben and his dad tackle Ozzy Gladwin together. YOUNG EINSTEIN’S CLUB At the Young Einstein's Club, the boys designed a protective casing for their raw egg that had to be dropped from a height without breaking. Some great initiative shown, lads!
GRADE 6 PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB Cameron Jones
Tshepo Mabuya
A group of our Clifton gents visit Bhambayi (Maths Club) during the term to assist by teaching Maths to pupils from various schools. They are divided into Junior and Senior Prep and High school. This initiative is organised by Mandy Pearson (also a mom at DGC) as the girls are also involved. This is one of many Clifton Community Outreach programmes.
The Grade 1 boys learnt how to stay safe around hot butter as they mastered making French toast in Masterchef club.
Clifton College’s Rugby pre-season is now in full swing in anticipation of their warm up fixtures against Michaelhouse in March. Despite the hot weather and their busy schedules, the boys have been training hard in the gym and on the field, and the attendance across all age groups has been excellent. The boys train twice a week from 17h00 to 18h30 to escape the heat and this preparation will certainly stand them in good stead with the challenging set of fixtures to come. Earlier this week, coach Ross Saayman was spotted joining in the early morning Friday run as part of the pre-season training. Impressive!
OPEN MORNING GR R-7 SATURDAY 29 FEBRUARY 08H30
Congratulations to the following boys who have been invited to National Water Polo age group training camps. U18 Simon Taylor Noah Ditz James Parry U17 Chad Uys Jack Aylward U16 Josh Saayman Duran Hall James Bentley Calvin Kidd U15 Jedd Poovan U14 Oliver Ditz Ross Strauss Reece Rezac
It was wonderful to welcome Fabrice Muhizi - 1st Head Boy of Clifton College - as the Guest Speaker at our inaugural Speakers Assembly yesterday. Fabrice addressed the assembly and spoke about the lessons he has learned about adversity and opportunity. The youngest of 5 boys, Fabrice lost his mother in 1994 and shortly thereafter the family had to flee their country as war broke out. Navigating the dangers and hardships of life in refugee camps in the DRC and Malawi, the family ended up in Durban 3 years later where Fabrice was enrolled at Addington Primary. After a shaky start due to the language barrier, the assistance and nurturing of his teachers - along with his determination to succeed - ensured that Fabrice finished strong and was awarded a scholarship to Clifton. He was one of the 14 founding members of Clifton College in 2002 and was Head Boy in his matric year. His message of taking adversity and through it finding and welcoming opportunity was a powerful one and well-received by the staff and boys.
THANK YOU Our grateful thanks for your support of the Books2You book fair. The sales exceeded R16,000 and as a result, we were able to get a beautiful collection of new books, free, to add to our library. When we host the Books2You book fair next year, we have arranged for it to be open until 3pm on both days, to give everyone more time to browse and buy on the second day. Books2You had a lovely selection of books on offer, and the various payment methods were very convenient.
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Fabrice and for you continued support and involvement in our school.
The Grade 2 boys had fun counting Skittles for data handling.
Mrs Klingbiel taught fun GeoGenius lessons in Grade 4 this week
Captain: GEORGE EDWARD The Friday morning run is
OPEN TO ALL BOYS & STAFF OF THE COLLEGE Runners arrive at 05h25, put their bags in their lockers and meet in the lay-bye (Lambert Rd) Start running at 05h30, run ±4.2 km to Milky Lane near North Beach, have a quick swim and/or buy an ice-cream. Clifton bus collects runners at 06h30 and brings everyone back to school.
PLEASE DO REMIND YOUR SON/S AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO JOIN IN
#RunWithUs
Our Clifton Interact group are assisting the Denis Hurley Centre who urgently require second hand clothing for the men and boys they care for.
Please take a look and see if you have any clothes that no longer fit and consider donating them to this worthy cause.
Please drop off in the boxes in Mrs Wilkins’s classroom by 14 February 2020
This past weekend saw the launch of the new structure of Dads and Lads at Clifton and it was promising to see in excess of 107 boys from Grade R to Grade 2, who along with their dads, moms or whoever brought them down, took part in skills, drills and games during the morning. See you for the next one on 15 February!
Classifieds
Old Boys
HOUSE SITTING/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. CHILD CARE Tersia Brenna has eighteen years of experience in supervising and teaching children from 3 months olds to 5year-olds. She also has experience with autistic and ADHD children. She is available to au pair, assist with homework and holiday care Monday to Friday and weekends from the 15 December onwards. Please contact her on 0635351952.
MAID AND AU PAIR Live in full time maid required in the Morningside area, preferably in her 30’s, well spoken and presentable. Must have cooking skills. Au Pair with solid experience looking after children, honest and dependable for ad hoc au pair work. Please contact Greg on 0837756992 ____________________________________________ ABOUT CLIFTON CLASSIFIEDS Clifton Classified advertising is open to current parents and staff of Clifton. The cost per advert is R100, which will be debited to your son’s school account. For bookings, email: marketing@cliftonschool.co.za
Justin Wood (2019) and Mr Keegan Pearce, Director of Hockey at Clifton, pictured here at the recent SA U21 hockey training camp in Pretoria. Justin is part of the extended squad who are preparing for the 2021 World Cup and Mr Pearce is part of the coaching staff as assistant coach and trainer.