EDITION 3 6 February 2020
Calling
PREP CHAMPIONSHIP GALA TROPHY WINNERS Back row: Jason Adams (Runner up in the open age group), Andrew Allen (Individual Medley, Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Freestyle, open age group winner and Senior Victor Ludorum) and Declan Jackson (Winner U12 Butterfly) Middle row: Benjamin Wilson (Individual Medley, Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Freestyle, U11 age group winner and Junior Victor Ludorum), Dale Ramsay (Winner U12 Breaststroke), Nicholas Taylor (Butterfly, Backstroke, Freestyle and U10 age group winner), Cole Martin (Winner of the U10 Breaststroke and runner up in the U10 age group) Front row: Daniel Uys (Winner U12 Backstroke), Tristan Louw (Runner up in the U12 age group), Andrew Schnell (Individual Medley, Freestyle and U12 age group winner) and Liam Casey (Runner up in the U11 age group)
College Deputy Principal Greetings For me, one of the best sights at Clifton is watching a Clifton Prep boy gleefully running barefoot across the grass outside Heritage House on his way to C-Café. The question that probably comes to mind is “so what?”. Wait a while and keep watching; soon you will begin to observe something different about the way the Clifton College boys make their way to CCafé. The College boys don’t cross the grass. They are not allowed to walk on the grass. Whilst, in many other boys’ schools, the privilege of walking on the grass is for the senior grades (normally the Grade 12s) at Clifton, that right is for the Prep boys. Having spent most of my career in boys’ high schools, I chuckle at the scene, purely for the reversal of the perceived norm of this particular type of rule. As educators, parents and humans we always seem to feel a need to justify the rule. Whilst theories abound as to why the “grass rule” exists, I can only say that it is an unwritten rule. I have checked all our policies and procedures and, indeed, there is no mention of the “grass rule” anywhere. My thinking is that we could justify the rule by saying that the Prep boys are more often than not barefoot and they are naturally lighter than the fastdeveloping, bigger young men of the College, thus I have no doubt that you are barefoot in this scene; the potential damage to the grass is lessened by you are barefoot and having fun. allowing the little guys to run on it. Perhaps we could further validate the rule by saying And, right now you are smiling! the prep boys were here first, by about 78 years! Although this is quite a petty validation.
With a simple shift of perspective, the “grass rule” is understood.
Or we could explain it with a simple visualization exercise. Bear with me here, please…
Maybe it is time to let the College boys wander around on the grass, barefoot?
Remember when you were a youngster, about six or By the way, Clifton Prep celebrated its 96th birthday seven years old. this week. Happy Birthday Clifton Preparatory Remember playing on the grass in the garden, in the School, the big brother of Clifton College. Another switch in perspective. park or on a field. There may have been a few friends playing a game with you. The sun was out, although the weather wasn’t too hot, a gentle breeze was keeping the temperature just right.
Yours sincerely
KARL BRESLER Hold that thought. Now in your memory. Look at your COLLEGE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL feet…
Meander On Friday afternoon Messrs White and Ravenscroft will be at the Prep cricket matches being played against Chelsea. Mr Mezher will be with his team for their match at Chelsea. On Saturday Mr Boniaszczuk and Mrs Achmad will be at Durban North College for the Grade 2 matches for selected cricketers. Messrs Knowles, Mezher and Ms King will be at the various fixtures taking place against Kearsney. Messrs Ravenscroft and Bresler will be with their respective cricket teams for their matches while Mr White and Mr Mezher will be at the Prep games being played against Chelsea.
News bits... The N3TC Drak Challenge took place on the Mzimkhulu River with three Clifton boys participating. The water level was very low, which made the rapids difficult to navigate as many of them were so shallow that the paddlers scraped the bottom of their boats on the rocks. Our Clifton gents aquitted themselves extremely well finishing a very tricky race with these excellent results:
Jarryd Walker: 36th Overall, 6th Under 18 boy (K1) Benjamin Maehler: 91st Overall, 3rd Under 16 boy (K1) Rory Steele: 17th K2 paddling with his dad Well done, gents!
At the Durban Central Athletics Trials, Keagan White placed 1st in the Boys U10 1200m, Benjamin Wilson 1st in the Boys U11 1200m and Declan Jackson 5th in the Boys U12 1200m. Kyan White placed 2nd in the Under 12 Long Jump. Well done!
PREPARATORY CHAMPIONSHIP GALA RESULTS 2020 U11 100m Individual Medley
: Benjamin Wilson
U12 100m Individual Medley
: Andrew Schnell
Matthew Nordengen Trophy for OPEN 100m Individual Medley
: Andrew Allen
Clifton Trophy for Under 10 25m Butterfly
: Nicholas Taylor
Clifton Trophy for Under 11 50m Butterfly
: Benjamin Wilson
Clifton Trophy for Under 12 50m Butterfly
: Declan Jackson
Brian and Steven Wolfowitz Trophy for open 50m Butterfly
: Andrew Allen
Raymond Hicks Trophy for Under 10 50m Backstroke
: Nicholas Taylor
Clifton Trophy for Under 11 50m Backstroke
: Benjamin Wilson
Clifton Trophy for Under 12 50m Backstroke
: Daniel Uys
Robert Miller Trophy for open 50m Backstroke
: Andrew Allen
Clifton Trophy for Under 10 50m Breaststroke
: Cole Martin
Labistour Floating Trophy for Under 11 50m Breaststroke
: Benjamin Wilson
Reckling Floating Trophy for Under 12 50m Breaststroke
: Dale Ramsay
Adam Turk Trophy for open 50m Breaststroke
: Andrew Allen
Vicat Turrell Trophy for Under 10 50m Freestyle
: Nicholas Taylor
Clifton Trophy for Under 11 50m Freestyle
: Benjamin Wilson
Clifton Trophy for Under 12 50m Freestyle
: Andrew Schnell
Callum Simpson Trophy for open 50m Freestyle
: Andrew Allen
Runner Up Under 10 Age Group
: Cole Martin
Winner Under 10 Age Group
: Nicholas Taylor
Runner Up Under 11 Age Group
: Liam Casey
Winner Under 11 Age Group
: Benjamin Wilson
Runner Up Under 12 Age Group
: Tristan Louw
Winner Under 12 Age Group
: Andrew Schnell
Runner Up Open Age Group
: Jason Adams
Winner Open Age Group
: Andrew Allen
Justin Hollis Trophy for Junior Victor Ludorum
: Benjamin Wilson
Michael Pearson Trophy for Senior Victor Ludorum
: Andrew Allen
RECORDS •
Andrew Allen broke the open 100m Individual Medley record
•
Nicholas Taylor broke the Under 10 25m Butterfly record
•
Cole Martin broke the Under 10 50m Breaststroke record
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
On a baking hot day this week, the Grade R’s experimented with painting on ice instead of paper! What a great idea!
In the Richards Procter Trophy match, the Highbury 1st XI won the toss and batted first scoring 221/5 declared. Clifton responded with 195/6 (Saulez 71 and Roux 47) by the close of play. The match was drawn. As Clifton had won the previous match in the fourth term last year, the trophy was retained by us.
The Grade 1 boys have been busy building lots of words using their new word building folders in class. They have loved playing phonetic games on the mat too. The boys enjoyed using our interactive white board to match phonic words to the correct picture.
The Grade 5 Cooking Club visited the Elangeni Hotel this week.
The Grade 5 boys had an interesting maths lesson estimating and measuring things.
There are so many varied opportunities for our boys to grow, learn and thrive with us! This week our Grade 6 boys were learning how to light a fire using steel and flint during Scouts and Survival Club while the
Grade 4 boys made their own racing cars during Woodwork Club. It’s great to see our boys learning new skills in such fun ways.
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
ARE YOU A
A reminder that the Clifton Shop is open every weekday from 07h15 - 10h30. Besides pre-loved and new uniform items, Mrs Jackie Psannis also stocks a range of supporters gear. The shop is at the Barry Richards Pavilion and is easily accessed from Innes Road. For your convenience, you may also shop online at: www.cliftonshop.co.za
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
We were delighted to welcome Mike Boulle (Clifton Prep Old Boy) back for a visit this week. Mike’s son attended Clifton and he currently has a grandson here too. He is pictured below with Mr Barry Mezher and Mrs Susannah Knowles in our Heritage Centre. Mike is keen to reconnect with other Clifton Prep Old Boys from the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s and any grandfathers that may have a Clifton connection. Please get in touch with Susannah at: COBWEB@cliftonschool.co.za