Dear Parents,

It is hard to believe but the third term and my first term as Principal is over. These have certainly been interesting times! The management of a school under Covid regulations and the beginning of a transformation journey under conditions that restrict inter-personal engagement has been challenging indeed but I am eternally grateful to the Bishops community for their support. The messages from parents and the support of the staff and the boys has been most gratifying and I thank you for that. I have managed to meet some parents and I hope to extend these interactions as conditions are relaxed going forward.

I thank parents in particular for your patience as we have managed the College. As long as social distancing is required, we will battle to accommodate all of our boys all the time in our smaller venues. We simply do not have enough big venues but are looking at this as a strategic exercise going forward. While we may have to maintain the current teaching arrangements into next term, we simply have to have our full school back next year and will have to find creative ways of doing so if distancing is still required.

I think the boys have been wonderful in their attitudes and approach to school in this very strange year. Not only the Grade 12s for whom we feel the most, but all the boys who have each lost something they were expecting in the College experience. They are resilient and adaptable and have shown us what they can do under conditions no one could have imagined. I am so proud of them and ask that they take this attitude with them in to the fourth term and that they close off the year in style with the best possible ending they can. 

As we return at the start of the fourth term, I ask for parents’ support in the enforcement of uniform and appearance regulations. There was a time when uniform and hair rules took second place to more important things such as the safety and wellbeing of the boys with regard to Covid. With the easing of restrictions and the ever-decreasing chance of infection, so we return to standard uniform rules and all boys in Grades 8 – 11 will be required to wear uniform and have appropriate hairstyles consistent with our existing hair policy. It is our intention to revisit our various policies, including our hair policy as part of the transformation journey but, until then, the boys will be required to comply with the various uniform and appearance codes. Please support us in this regard. We will be addressing the Grade 12s separately on the issue of appearance.

Finally, I am personally delighted with the appointment of Lele Mehlomakulu as our transformation specialist. I have had numerous engagements with her and urge you to see the separate communication I sent out introducing her to the community. I repeat my invitation to all parents to be part of the process going forward. There may be times when we are way out of our comfortable spaces as we learn more about others who are perhaps different from us and also learn more about ourselves and our conscious or unconscious biases.

I wish you a happy and restful holiday time with your families if you are fortunate to have a break this next week and look forward to the last term of the year.

Kind regards

Antony Reeler
Principal

The Good Ol’ Days – or were they?

We have been asking ourselves as a management team what it is we have learned from Covid and asking some interesting and often tough questions that challenge our thinking. Why is it that so many of us seek “normal”? We speak with misty-eyed fondness of “the good old days”. We crave a return to the way things were before and here I speak not only of the Covid effect but of change in general. I still recall a comment made by psychologist Derek Jackson who said that the popularity of soap operas was simply because they were both repetitive and predictable! As human beings we tend to resist change because it tests us and asks questions of us we are often not prepared to answer or too scared to face. It is often exhausting and difficult.

We have been on a roller coaster of change this year – in our working life as pupils or staff members and in our emotional lives. We yearn, maybe, for a return to normal even though we are, deep down, fully aware that normal doesn’t exist anymore. We even hang on to the concept of normal by calling our future “the new normal” when, while it may be new, it won’t be normal.

“In our desire to recreate the old, we can obscure the trade-offs necessary for surviving in the new.” Ed Young
We have a real chance now to reinvent ourselves and our organization, preserving that which was good but looking critically at how we do things too. We are at a traditional institution where many things have been done in the 170 odd years of our history. We have preserved certain practices and activities in the name of tradition – the repetition of events that bring comfort to our human selves. And comfort is good, familiarity relaxes us but never let us allow tradition to get in the way of progress and be afraid of questioning how we do things.

“Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.” Gilbert K. Chesterton
Covid has given us so much to be thankful for and one thing is to relook at our traditional behaviours.
I received feedback from the facilitators of the Grade 11 leadership programme held recently and the message from the boys in Grade 11 at College is they want change – not necessarily physical change but a change in attitude. They want to recognize diversity and difference, promote inclusivity and belonging. I am delighted with their thinking and am very happy to be a part of this change. One thing stood out for me – they wanted a change in attitude towards women, girls, the LGBTQI+ community and those in minority groups at school be that as a result of race or religion. This was a universal message of change and a commitment to lead this change from the Matric class of 2021, building on the work done in 2020.

In the past because it wasn’t considered acceptable to be gay at a traditional boys school, to be black in a previously white school, to be poor in a place of privilege or indeed to be female in a traditionally male world, jokes were made and comments passed that were deeply offensive to some people yet not called out for what they were. The “old normal” behaviour didn’t allow for this because it almost certainly guaranteed social lockout. Now, our senior boys have made a commitment and one I am going to hold them to. A commitment to change and to live that change in their example both at school and at home. Not only am I going to hold them accountable but offer my unqualified support in this change and to be proud to walk a journey with them in to our new world as we redefine who we are and what we stand for.

As they lead this journey, starting when they take over as senior leaders in College next term, I ask you to support them, support their thinking to truly “be the change we want to see in our world.”  

Participation by Bishops pupils in the senior writing and senior art categories of the 2020 White Rose Project.

The Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre runs an annual art and writing project for high school learners in the Western Cape, The White Rose Project. The project takes its name from a group of German university students who resisted Nazi oppression. They were known as the White Rose Movement. The theme for this year’s project was ‘Memory and Resistance’.

Daniel Kruger (School House, Grade 11) was placed joint second in the senior art category and Brian Daniel (Birt House, Grade 11) was placed third in the senior writing category.

The following Grade 11 boys also had work included in the exhibition of the senior art category: Irshad Abrahams, Adam Clarke, Nassar De Kock, Ben Hallé and Heath Steele.

Heritage Day

Heritage forms a large part of our country and the Bishops community, hence celebrations are synonymous with a good ol’ South African Braai. Due to the school holidays, the boys are celebrating Heritage Day a bit early with a few campus braais, however we would like to wish you all a happy Heritage Day on the 24th. Enjoy the special time with your family and friends.

Here are a few fun moments from the School House Braai Day celebrations

Boarding Houses

Boarding is the best way to ensure you get the full Bishops experience, and we will have a few places available in grades 8 to 11 next year. If you would like your son to have a trial week of boarding, this can be arranged. Please contact pwestwood@bishops.org.za to arrange.

Royal Society Essay Competition

This prestigious competition is held annually and entrants are required to write a 1000 to 2000 word essay on one of three scientific topics.  Bishops last had someone on the merit list in 2016 and this year we are very proud to have two boys achieving success in the competition.  Rohan Naidoo and Gus Farara have both been awarded a R4000 prize for second place in each of their specific essay topics.  CONGRATULATIONS! Our boys continue to do us proud.

ODU Magazine

The ODU has published another spectacular magazine.. Please click on the below link to view the digital version.
digital version of the magazine here.

13-year Ties

Last week was a special day for 53 of our Bishops Matrics. We handed out the prestigious 13 Year Ties to the young men who have been with us their entire school career.

We enjoyed having you and watching you grow up with us on campus to become the incredible men that you are. The contribution you have consistently made to the school is invaluable, and we wish you the very best for all your future adventures.

Every Thursday the School House boarders make bunny chow to feed a few hungry people on the streets. We feel proud when the boys make use of their spare time to help those who need it!

VUSA ACADEMY

VUSA is a rugby and learning academy that creates social upliftment for children from under privileged communities, through structured academic, sporting and recreational programmes. Bishops proudly partners with VUSA, they rely solely on fund raising and donations to assist these children. Please read the attached VUSA newsletter to better understand their role in the community, any assistance you are able to give would be greatly appreciated.
Contact nmatthews@bishops.org.za for more information
https://mailchi.mp/84f50c0afe66/lockdown-in-langa

Second Hand Uniforms

The School Shop runs the second hand clothing programme at the College. They are appealing for all saleable used clothing that is no longer required to be delivered to them. This is done as a donation  to the shop, as they do not reimburse College parents for second hand items donated. The revenues from second hand items sold form part of the monthly payments and the annual profit the Shop remits to the school. This is credited into the Scholarships and Bursaries fund administered by the school. Please support the Shop so that they can build up adequate stock of second hand clothing for the back-to-school requirements in January 2021 and beyond.

Music Colours and Ensemble Ties

The following boys are congratulated on achieving the below Music Awards for 2020:

Full Music Colours:
Max Wolfson
Neil du Toit
Oliver Werner
Jonty Wright
Jack Davis 
Robert Dugmore 

Half Colours:
Noah Gonsenhauser
Matthew Newton
Liam Petersen
Max Molyneux
Robbie Handley
Sebastian Boeddinghaus

Cricket Colours 2020

Full Colours:
Travis Norris (re -award)
Ethan Kieffer (re-award)
Sebastian Allison (re-award)
Keagan Blanckenberg (re-award)

Half Colours:
Ross Vintcent
Gerard Murray-Cooke
Tim Kotze
Rowan Howard
Ben Forsyth
Daniel Holgate

Squash Colours 2020

Full Colours:
Adam Morkel (re -award)
Greg Medcalf (re -award)

Half Colours:
Gerard Murray-Cooke
David Boyes

Rowing Awards

Bishops Rowing Virtual Dinner & Awards 2020
On Friday 11th September the Bishops Rowing Club hosted its annual dinner via a virtual dinner and awards “webinar”.
The event was held to bid farewell to our seniors to recognise the many contributions of boys, parents and coaches to the club over the last season. It was also an opportunity to appoint the clubs new leaders for the next season.

The following awards were made:

Rowing Ties:
Gabriel Dyssell-Hofinger
Cameron Toy
Thomas Forbes
Christian Morris
Matthew Lewis
James Clarke

Most Improved Oarsman:
Senior: Aadam Jaffer
Junior: Jet Bacher

Spirit award (Vuvuzela Spirit Award donated by 2017 Matric Year):
U14 Age Group.
Rideout Trophy: To a boy who, while not necessarily in an “A” boat, participates fully, always happy to get involved, shows good sportsmanship and is an asset to the club and his age group.
James Du Preez

Oarsmen of the Year: this award is normally presented to the best persons/teams prior to the selection of Provincial and National Trials.
Joint pair ( Thomas Barton + Noah Du Randt)
The following appointments have been made for the 2020/21 seasons

Captain:
Thomas Forbes

Boat man:
Gabriel Dyssell-Hofinger

Head of communications:
Christian Morris