EDITION 6 27 February 2020
Calling Clifton in action during Day 1 and 2 of the U15 Independent Schools Cricket Festival we are hosting right here in our beautiful city!
Deputy Principal: Foundation Dear Clifton Family The past seven weeks have been busy yet fruitful. My thanks to all FP parents, teachers and boys for what has been achieved so far. As always Clifton has been a very exciting and action-packed place for the boys!
I have recently been visiting the Grade 1 to 3 classrooms and observing all the great teaching and learning taking place. The boys are being kept very busy and are equally excited about their everincreasing knowledge. I am continually impressed with the boy’s positive learning attitudes and how much they are willing to help and support each other. Teachers will give them challenging activities and they will constantly try their best and never give up. There is always a positive ‘buzz’ in the classrooms and the boys want to talk about their learning and share their achievements. One thing is for sure; your son’s never have the opportunity to get bored at Clifton!
A glimpse into Gr R… Play forms a big part of the curriculum in Grade R.
The benefit of play for learning at this age simply cannot be discounted. It is always a delight to watch the Red Ants at play. This truly energises the soul! On one end of the ‘astro’, you have soccer being played with the space being transformed into a stadium. On the other end, you can find boys in the sandpit or playing basketball. What an awesome sight to behold!
At the end of last year I moved out of my office to make room for a Fantasy Area for Grade R, which thus far has been the best move ever. The Fantasy Area provides an opportunity for deep learning and social skill building through imaginative play. The boys have thoroughly enjoyed using the space and all the new fantasy furniture purchased. This is so in line with Albert Einstein’s eloquent statement: “Imagination is everything. It is the preview for life’s coming attractions.” Click on this link for further reading CLICK HERE.
An Interesting Fact about play‌
According to Fromberg and Gullo (1992), play enhances language development, social competence, creativity, imagination and thinking skills. Frost (1992) concurred, stating that "play is the chief vehicle for the development of imagination, intelligence, language, social skills and perceptual-motor abilities in young children" (p. 48). CLICK HERE I am looking forward to the entire phase maintaining this positive attitude to learning. I am confident that the boys will take every opportunity to develop and grow their strong wonderful minds, and what better environment for them to do this in than at Clifton! Yours faithfully
LUCELLE ACHMAD DEPUT PRINCIPAL: FOUNDATION PHASE
Meander On Saturday all members of ExCo will be at the Grade R to 7 Open Morning which starts at 08h30 in the Sutcliffe Theatre. Mr Jason Brown will also be taking in some of the action of the U15 Independent Schools Cricket Festival that we are currently hosting.
Congratulates Jack Spence who competed in the Troutbeck ATU Triathlon Africa Cup in Zimbabwe last weekend. Jack placed second in the Junior Elite Men’s U19 race. An excellent achievement, Jack!
Ollie Rey (left) who won the KZN U10 Mini Tennis Tournament at Westridge in February. (Right) Rishabh Nathwani, who has made the eThekwini Primary School Under 13 District Tennis Team and will be taking part in the KwaZulu-Natal Interregional Trials from 28 February – 1 March. The following College boys who won their sections in the Ethikweni Tennis Trials: U19: Thomas Rey, Calum Jestin and Karan Varyani U15: William Hermelin Dwala Mkuzo is also through to play in the KZN trials and Ysusf Habib has been selected as a nontravelling reserve. They will be playing in the KZN Schools Inter Regional Tournament from 6 – 8 March.
The Clifton gents who competed in the KZN Junior Lifesaving Championships held on Sunday 2 February. The results were as follows: U19 George Edward 41 points and winner of the title of U19 Competitor of the Championship
he KZN Senior Lifesaving Championships was held on Sunday 23 February. This is actually an event for men 19 years and older, however, our Junior men competed, and their results are as follows: Competitior of the Championship: George Edward (below right) George Edward: 26 points
James Matthews: 39 points
James Matthews: 12 points
Scott Cliff: 37 points
Matthew Doyle: 11 points
Matthew Doyle: 36 points
Conna Steadman: 9 points
Conna Steadman: 34 points
Brent Pearson: 9 points
William Pearse: 30 points
William Pearse 8 points
Brent Pearson: 9 points
Scott Cliff: 2 points
U17 Luke Achmad: 25 points Matthew Reinders: 23 points U15 Matthew Coetzer (left): 59 points and winner of the title of U15 Competitor of the Championship Kristian Muller 31 points T
The following water polo players who have been selected for the SA teams for the EU Nations U17 and for CANA taking place in Zimbabwe. U18 Team for the African Qualification tournament (qualifier for the U18 WC vs Zimbabwe and Egypt) Simon Taylor U17 EU Nations
To the following players who have been selected to compete at the U18 Currie Cup National Tournament for these teams:
Chad Uys
KZN U18A
Reserve: Jack Aylward
Blake Saayman Simon Taylor James Parry Noah Ditz Jack Aylward Chad Uys
Reserves: James Parry and Noah Ditz
CANA - Zimbabwe U15 Reserve: Jedd Poovan CANA - Zimbabwe U14 Oliver Ditz Ross Strauss Reserve: Reece Rezac
Jason Adams who scored 111 off 67 balls for the 1st X1 in their match against Northlands.
Cameos We wish our 1st XI and their coaching staff who are on tour at St Alban's all the best for the Independent Schools Cricket Festival. Keep up the great play, gents!
KZN U18B Riley Hardwick
Congratulations to our newly elected Student Council for 2020!
A letter received…
Dear Clifton “We have just spent the last few days in a warehouse cleaning, sorting and packing all of the previously loved shoes that we collected from you and the 14 other schools across KZN at the end of 2019. It has been quite a process but a very rewarding one when you see how selflessly the learners have given. We have collected a total of 2113 pairs of previously loved shoes. 1600 pairs of these were school shoes and the remaining were what we call community shoes (takkies, slops, soccer/rugby boots etc.). This is our biggest ever collection to date! Please can we ask you to pass on our heartfelt thanks to the school for being a part of the project but more importantly to the learners and parents for donating these shoes. The shoes will go to their new homes over the course of the next month. We have awarded Clifton a certificate of appreciation for being a part of the 2019/2020 project. We will have it framed and delivered to the school and we would love you to put it proudly on display! As we have done over the last few years, we have collated a list of the most shoes collected by school. (we have based the results on the school shoes as this is the main part of the project!)
Thank you so much for your continued support of Soul2Sole. We are now getting ready to purchase 1500 pairs of new school shoes to donate, which will take the total number of shoes donated for 2020 to 3613 pairs. Incredible! We sincerely hope you will take part in the project again this year…” Best Regards Anna
Grade 8 Drama relaxation. By using breath control and guided imagery, we become aware of tension we hold in the body and consciously release it. It's a great way to empty the mind and physically relax the body.
The Grade 6 Outreach Club enjoyed a visit from KZN Valley Dogs. The boys collected dog, cat and chicken food to donate to this organization. The KZNVD staff go into the Inanda Valley every Sunday to help to feed the animals living in the poor communities of the valley. They also help with sterilization projects and an array of other things! Greyhounds JJ and King came along to visit us as well as little Munchkin. The boys thoroughly enjoyed having them here and racing the dogs across the field!
Some proud Grade 3 ‘dads’ – their owlets were “born” today. Each got a birth certificate with name, date and time of birth on it. The boys are very proud of their creations in Grade 3 Creative Club.
Pictured below are the Clifton matric swimmers who competed in their last D&D Gala this week. Thank you for your outstanding commitment to swimming at Clifton! Well done to ‘Team Clifton’ on placing 2nd.!
PLEASE REMIND FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO MAY BE CONSIDERING CLIFTON PREP TO ATTEND.
The Grade 1 boys developed their phonological awareness skills by playing with noodle phones. It’s such fun to speak in code!
The Aylward family kindly played host to Argentinian Exchange Student Octavio (fondly referred to as Oti), who has now arrived safely back in Buenos Aires after a wonderful stay in Durban. He loved his time at Clifton and was also able to experience all Durban has to offer, including trips to uShaka, watching Sharks rugby live, watching the Proteas pay cricket, taking the swing off Moses Mabhida and a Segway tour!
His South African experience ended with a trip to Manyoni Game Reserve, which he will surely always remember. As the note from his mother said, “...He has arrived home full of anecdotes and will never forget his month in Durban.” Thank you to Jack and family for hosting Oti during his stay.
The Grade 1 Masterchef boys learnt all about healthy eating by making Rainbow Pasta. They were very sensible when using knives to cut the vegetables!
9 March from 07h30-08h30 Ken Mackenzie Hall
BOOK NOW BY CLICKING HERE!
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 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 063 535 1952. 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 083 775 6992 ____________________________________________ 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
Old Boys We were very grateful to have a visit from Cameron Maingard (Deputy Head Boy and proxime accessit Dux 2015), who popped in to speak to the Clifton College Accounting boys about the BCom Acc degree, life at university and the Board 1 exam. He is travelling overseas shortly - leaving next week - so we were very lucky to catch him before he left! Thanks for joining us, Cameron!