Dear Parents/Guardians

The exams are now well under way and I hope your son(s) have been working hard, preparing as best they can. Please keep encouraging them to finish well and to see the process through until the end. Exam fatigue is a real issue for some boys who have just had enough but just like the example of a child practising delayed gratification, saving the best food on his plate for last, your son can use the upcoming holidays as a source of comfort knowing that there will be plenty of relaxation time!

Covid
With the adjustments to the regulations there has been further restriction on gatherings which affect the school. We have thus suspended Chapel services and assemblies, even though we were well below half the capacity of the venues. We are concerned about the increased numbers of infections and the strain this could place on our healthcare system and want to protect our boys as best we can. The President spoke about “Covid fatigue” and warned us against relaxing our guard at this crucial time.

“This too shall pass” is a verse that gives me some comfort, knowing that Covid will not be around forever. I do understand the frustrations though and ask that we look ahead to a Covid-free world in the future and keep hoping that it comes sooner rather than later.

Transformation
The Focus Groups have started their engagement, both at the College and the Prep and we are excited to see what practical steps and ideas come from their work. The Transformation Committee met recently and will be communicating the progress made thus far in a separate newsletter.

I came across an article this week in which social psychologist Robert Livingston was interviewed. His thoughts resonated with me in the following:
“I think a rookie mistake that a lot of organizations make,” says Livingston, “is wanting to jump straight to a solution without going through this process of education and conversation before you get to action.” He quotes Albert Einstein’s famous quip that if he had an hour to solve the world’s most difficult problem, he would  spend 55 minutes thinking about it and five minutes on the solution.

Throughout this transformation journey we have tried to effect real, long-term, sustainable change, speaking to the hearts and minds of people. This takes time, takes effort and takes being able to listen to and hear the stories of those around us.

The start of a new term is traditionally one where the staff have an opportunity for a professional development conference. Next term we will use the first day, Monday 19 July, as a staff conference day where we will be reporting back on progress made in the Focus Groups. Term will thus begin for the boys on Tuesday 20 July.

POPIA
One of the concerns expressed by our consultant regarding the implementation of the POPIA has been the use of social media and texting apps in particular. We are investigating using an app that is closer aligned to POPIA and stopping the use of those apps that are clearly not compliant.

Kind regards

Antony Reeler
Principal

The Courage To Follow
As I have been unable to have assemblies with the boys, I share with parents what I wanted to say to the boys and ask that if you find this message interesting and useful, you share it with your son, discussing the various concepts and lessons with him. Leadership fascinates me and there are so many forms of leadership. But so too does “followership”. One of the videos I often use when talking to boys is Leadership Lessons from the Dancing Guy, a three-minute clip that has a valuable message.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

This is a rather amateurish video that is very dated and poor in quality, shot in the park with a hand-held device of low resolution. Once you get over the quality of the video and listen to the message, its relevance becomes clear, and the concept of “followership” becomes obvious.

The psychology of crowds is interesting. Most of us have experienced this in some form or another. We are in a situation where we are amongst many people and one person starts doing something different. We may stare at him, perhaps laugh at him and point fingers. Then someone joins him and now you have two people doing something different. We still point and laugh and are grateful that we are not the subject of ridicule, until a third person joins them, and a fourth. Suddenly, the focus has shifted, and the balance of power has shifted from the crowd to the people who are different. The people who started being different are now “the crowd”, and we join in with them.

In every change that is made in every situation, there is a tipping point in terms of people because people like to hide in crowds. We like the safety of relative anonymity in a crowd. We make comments from the safety of a crowd that we would not make on our own. To stand on your own is hard, sometimes close to impossible. To stand with others though is easier but still takes courage.

In 1957, a movie was made starring Henry Fonda called Twelve Angry Men, about a jury of twelve that was deliberating a murder case. Eleven were convinced of the accused person’s guilt. The character Fonda played was the lone dissenting voice. I will not spoil the movie for you but urge you to watch it as there is so much in the story that talks about how we work as human beings and how we dislike being singled out as different.

Whatever one takes from this video, the one thought I want to leave with you (and your son) is that it takes courage to be different and courage to stand up on your own against wrongdoing. We often speak of this courage. But it also takes courage to see someone standing up against something wrong and join them. It takes courage too to be the first and second “follower”.

I wish you well for the last few weeks of the second term.

Celebration of Bishops Rugby Fund Raiser
After a great start to the rugby season, the suspension of contact sports has been a huge disappointment for the boys. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rugby teams (as well as a few teams of staff), are thus redirecting their focus and have accepted a gruelling 24-hour, Youth Day Cycle Challenge, to raise funds for the VUSA Rugby and Learning Academy. Each boys’ Team will be captained by an OD Rugby International who will offer them encouragement and support.

Bishops has a strong rugby history, and this will be celebrated via a live-streamed event which includes interviews with some of our OD Rugby Greats, 40 years of footage, competitions and even a quiz night.  Please support our staff and boys as they slog it out for a really great cause.  Visit the event page and click the button of the team you wish to support - https://www.vusarugbyacademy.com/vusa24. 

Invest In Our Future Fund
The Old Diocesans Union, in partnership with Citadel, launched an exciting initiative earlier this week - The Invest in our Future Foundation. This initiative will provide financial support to Bishops school leavers from 2022 to enable them to pursue a tertiary education. While there are bursaries and scholarships in place for Bishops learners at school, there has been no formalised programme in place to support them with their tertiary studies. The ODU and Citadel will be working to fill this gap and empower our school leavers to realise their dreams. Read more about The Invest in our Future Foundation and how you can get involved at https://www.odunion.com/pages/iioff. Watch the launch video here.

Matric Dance Silent Auction Fund Raiser
The Matrics 2021 are hosting an online auction to raise funds for their matric dance in September. Any surplus funds raised will be donated to the Bursary fund and to charity.

Registration and bidding for the online auction is open and you are able to bid from 8h00 on Friday 4 June until 22h00 on Friday 18 June when the auction closes.

Please use the link below to register.
https://bishopsmatricdance.clickauction.co.za/

The link can be shared with family and friends. The auction is open to anyone who is interested. Please support the exciting initiative.

My School Card and School-Days
Woolworths and Dischem both have initiatives that enable us to support up to 3 causes. In addition, the school also benefits with receiving cash back rewards.

My School Card
It is as easy as registering on the Woolworths website. Remember to link your My School card to your Woolworths card, and nominate Bishops as your beneficiary - every swipe feeds a child AND now enters you into a competition, while also helping to raise funds for the school. Swipe your My School Card along with your Woolworths card every time you shop. Enter here after you are registered and linked.

School-Days
The School-Days programme enables you to raise funds for our school simply by shopping at School-Days Earn Partners. Join School-Days and support our school. The programme also enables you to raise funds for our school simply by shopping at School-Days Earn Partners. Click on the link to register and join.

School’s registration link :  Bishops Diocesan College Registration Link
View our Partners

Big Ideas – Parent Connections
Our Grade 9 Big Ideas Course is ready to take flight again in Term 3 this year! We invite all College parents, who are intricately involved in one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in whichever capacity, to help out, should the opportunity present itself during the course of the year. If you are happy to be involved, either by way of a talk to the boys, being contactable by one of the teachers involved or just to be on the database for the time being, please send a short email to Julian Vincent (jvincent@bishops.org.za), introducing yourself and in which grade your son is, as well as in which SDG your involvement is (and in which capacity). If we are able, we would love to involve you!

For more information on Big Ideas, please visit the following page: https://college.bishops.org.za/academic/BigIdeas.aspx

Sports Performance And Wellness Programme
Bishops created a programme that launched in 2020, SPW. The Sports Performance and Wellness programme, aims to achieve a holistic development of the boys by addressing their conditioning, performance, wellness, rehab, and injury management. The programme focuses on developing gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination at the Pre-Prep, which progresses to a more specialised conditioning programme that targets high-performance sports development and promotes general wellness at the College. Click here to view in detail the management of the SPW.

Debating Colours
Michael Beaumont is congratulated on achieving Full Colours for Debating

Music Colours
The following boys are congratulated on achieving Colours in Music:

Half Colours
Jonty Couves

Full Colours
James Elliot
Robbie Handley