Dear Parents and Guardians

This Women’s Month I have focused on the kind of behaviour we would expect from our boys as young men, how they treat the women in their lives. I have included women of all ages – mothers and grandmothers, sisters and friends - and asked our boys to treat everyone with the kind of respect a fellow human being deserves. I wish to acknowledge all women in this newsletter and the role they play in our world today. There are some remarkable women in my life as I hope there are in yours and we recognize and acknowledge the contribution women have made in our society over so many years.

We are continuing to consult suitable facilitators to help us in the transformation journey and are getting ideas and quotes. This is not a quick-fix process. This is not an exercise to tick a box and move on. I understand the frustration from some quarters for action and I share your desire to get going but am always conscious of the need to do this in a way that effects lasting change. I want us to look back in 20 years’ time and say we did well rather than having to repeat the exercise in a few years.

While we are waiting for the proposed plan to be developed, we have done a number of things. One of which is the College has entered into an agreement with an organization that allows for anonymous reporting and whistleblowing for things that boys and parents feel uncomfortable sharing. While we always prefer people to report in person, we understand that there may be times when boys don’t trust the system or feel comfortable. This reporting will be for issues around bullying, racism, homophobia, safety and so on and is for teachers, parents and students to report things they are uncomfortable with. This will be in the form of an app, the Guardian, which will be customized and downloadable soon.

With the arrival of Covid-19 Level II, we are looking at ways of restoring school in terms of classes and activities including ceremonies. We are still faced with restrictions around numbers of people in a space, closeness to each other and general hygiene which may cause us not to be able to bring certain activities back. We will keep you informed but ask that you do not let your guard (or your mask!) down, particularly over the weekends when the boys may want to socialize and relax. This virus has not gone yet and we need to remain vigilant.

By now you will have received certain calendar dates to enable you to plan your family activities:

Our September holidays (for Grades 8 – 11) start after a full school day on 18 September. The boys are expected back at school on Tuesday 29 September.

The 4th term will close for Grades 8–11 on Friday December 4.

Grade 12s write NSC exams up until 15 December but the majority will finish the week before with English and Afrikaans. Please check your son’s exam timetable carefully.

Kind regards

Antony Reeler
Principal

Words matter

They build up, they break down. The make you feel good one day. They belittle you the next.

In many ways our mouth is our most dangerous weapon – more so than sticks and fists – and the scars our words leave last far longer than bruises.

The words we use as insults to others are carefully chosen to cause maximum hurt. And if we say them often enough, people believe them. This is not a new phenomenon.

Throughout history, people have repeated things, phrases, ideologies. People have made outrageous statements in the name of religion, nationalism or other ideals and have swept up people against other people through propaganda – the endless repetition of words designed to hurt.

The most obvious ones in recent history include the persecution of the Jews at the hands of the Nazis by a constant stream of rhetoric labelling Jews as greedy, corrupt, uncaring people to the extent that a nation largely believed what they were told.

In South Africa a majority black population were told for decades, centuries even, that they were inferior academically and intellectually to the extent that a white population believed it. One of the greatest crimes was that many black people believed it too as a result of constant reinforcement of a lie that sought to belittle and break down. You see words matter and if you say them often enough, people believe them.

I bring this concept closer to home – perhaps uncomfortably for some of you.

August is Women’s Month and today I want to talk about the hurt we cause women and girls – not just as a result of physical abuse or emotional abuse but from simple, seemingly harmless words.

Please click on this short video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtDMyGjYlMg

I hope our boys learned something from this clip. How what may appear to be a harmless insult or a joke even is deeply hurtful to women and girls in particular.

Our women, our girls deserve better. They deserve to be built up, encouraged and made to feel worthy. They need to feel valued, appreciated, respected and loved. We all do…

As you may well already be aware, Bishops has a fully functional and active water treatment facility that takes ground water and treats it to potable standards. The treatment plant was implemented as a necessity in 2018 to avoid the ‘Day Zero’ threat that was facing Cape Town. The plant provides 100% of the Colleges ‘clean water’ needs and is currently saving the school millions in municipal charges over its 10 year licenced period. Due to the 2018 water crisis in Cape Town everybody’s behaviour toward water saving has changed significantly but more can be done to reduce our usage. Water remains a vital and scarce resource and we ask everyone to continue in their water saving initiatives.

Bishops is affiliated with the Woolworths My School Card initiative, which not only helps us raise additional funds for the school, but also contributes valuable funds and assists various charities in need. In addition to this, you can also earn points and get benefits for your own personal use. We also recently teamed up with Dischem to join their loyalty program School Days, which is the same concept, just a cardless process. All this involves is swiping your main Dischem card and receiving 2 benefits at once – after you have registered online.

Both of these loyalty programs have many partners, points and discounts are available at outlets other  than at Woolworths and Dischem.

Please remember to swipe your My School Card (or Sign up if you are not a member) every time you shop at Woolworths or Engen, to name 2 and for Dischem all you have to do is register online and you will automatically earn points at Dishem.

Please get involved and join, click on the links or download the app for your points tracking and to earn other partner rewards.

REMEMBER to add Bishops as your beneficiary.
To register for a My School Card: https://www.myschool.co.za/portal/register
School Days: https://www.schooldays.co.za/home?SchoolIdentifier=ufczbr#join-today
To activate other rewards https://app.schooldays.co.za/www.edu.co.za/app

Social Media Pages
We need no reminder that 2020 has been different in so many ways, so whilst live sports and events have not been happening, we have come up with a variety of alternative fun initiatives to keep our online platforms fresh and relevant. Please follow us on social media and YouTube to keep up to date with what’s new and what we have been busy with in the absence of live events. In case you have missed any fun projects, interviews and virtual events – they are all there for you to still enjoy.

FaceBook
Instagram
YouTube

Blue Pages Digital Magazine
Following the enormous success of the first few editions, we have decided to keep the Blue Pages going. It is a digital interaction advertising platform whereby anyone in our community can advertise their business. All proceeds go to a designated charity. For rates, and to advertise in the next edition please email bluepages@mdhtrading.com. See attachment for more information.

Rugby
What Next?

Congratulations to our Rugby players who have secured the following contracts for next year:
Sacha Mngomezulu: Stormers and UCT
Connor Evans: Stormers and UCT
Keagan Blanckenberg: WP and UCTA

For the Rhino’s

On 21 September (or the nearest date if the weather is not ideal), a group of Bishops boys along with other climbers, will attempt to complete the 13 Peaks Challenge within 48 hours to raise funds for The Rhino Orphanage.

The 13 Peaks is a trail of 110km, originally set by ultra-trail runner Ryan Sandes and Kane Reilly (OD), which includes a total vertical climb of over 6km.

The Rhino Orphanage is a registered NPO based in Limpopo Province and is the first specialist, dedicated and non-commercial centre that cares for orphaned and injured baby rhinos with the only aim being to release them back into the wild.

Names of those in photo: James Mason, Burgert Maree, Matthew Reid, Oliver Kennedy-Smith, James Griffiths, Corey Webb and Keanan Walker

Links (to donate or for more info):
https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/13-peaks-challenge-in-48-hours-for-the-rhi
https://13peaks.co.za/
https://therhinoorphanage.co.za/

Debating and Public Speaking
Seven of our Public Speakers who have made selection to represent South Africa at the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships 2020, are now competing online. The tournament was scheduled to take place in April in Shanghai, China, but had to be cancelled as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. However, the Worlds executive have decided to conduct the tournament online, and this is happening now, and should finish around 30th  August, where the results will be announced. The following Bishops boys are part of the 18-member SA team – we are enormously proud to have 7 boys compete:

Rohan Naidoo
Luke Rissik
Jay Sinha
Will Makin
Paul Malherbe
John Smith
Khelan Dheda

We wish them well for the competition.

Golf
School Sport Live hosted the top 8 junior golfers from across the Western Cape in a knockout style competition last week Friday at Rondebosch Golf Club. The event was played as a one hole knockout challenge with the winner of each round advancing to the next stage. It was also live streamed on YouTube.
Well done to Chris Gutuza (11 Gray House) for winning the event.

Fencing
We congratulate Uzuko Mnyombolo as the Captain and Jermaine Lwande as the Vice-Captain of Fencing for 2021.

Congratulations to the following boys on receiving their Water polo colours:

Full Colours
Jock Buchanan
Michael Ford
Samuel Hanssen
Joe Kirsten
Jonathan Roche

Half Colours
William Ross
Jake Stewart