Dear Parents
As we approach the end of the term, I have been speaking to the boys about finishing well and making the most of the next two weeks. As I mentioned in my last newsletter, a very full programme has been planned and I think the boys will really enjoy it.
Reports will be available on myBishopsLife on Tuesday, 8 December. If you have not been on for a while, please check that you do have the correct username and password.
LONG SERVICE AWARDS
At a function last week, a number of our support staff received Long Service Awards. We congratulate and thank them:
Five years
Kashiefa Kerven (front office)
Jerome Wolfaardt (Estate Supervisor)
Ten years
Robert Njokoya (Maintenance Assistance)
Fifteen years
Melissa Gertze (VdB kitchen assistant)
At the same function, the school said farewell to Elizabeth Snyders after 27 years. If you were at the Pre-Prep you would have known her as she was Carmen van Zyl’s teaching assistant for many years. She has been a larger than life character at the Pre-Prep, always talking about “my boys” and insisting that they are on their best behaviour when Mr Brown or the Principal visits. The Pre-Prep will certainly miss her and many boys will no doubt remember her. We wish her all the very best.
TESSA FERRANDI
Tessa Ferrandi leaves the Prep staff at the end of the year after twenty years at Bishops. She has worked part-time in Grade 3 as the Reading Support teacher, also offering extra lessons to the older boys, including Afrikaans. Working with every boy in Grade 3 she has done so much to foster a love of reading in our boys, encouraging them to move to the next level. She has also had three boys go through Bishops so Bishops is really part of her DNA. But she leaves to enjoy a slightly more flexible lifestyle and expand her flower arranging business. We will miss her warm and happy enthusiasm, always present. She goes with our best wishes and thanks.
MEL WALLIS-BROWN
Sadly, Mel Wallis-Brown passed away three weeks ago. His association with Bishops spanned fifty-seven years, thirty-seven as a teacher and Housemaster at both Prep and College. He ran Bramley, when it was still a boarding house, and coached both the Prep and College 1st XIs. For the last nearly twenty years he assisted in the marketing department, travelling to education fairs around the country, as well as in other African countries, especially Namibia and Tanzania. Many boys from these countries boarded at Bishops over the last two decades as a result of his marketing.
I think a number of you will remember him as the elderly gentleman, always wearing a deerstalker, who would take prospective parents on tours of the school. He was a mine of information and everybody reported on “his such obvious passion for Bishops”. Mel was a dedicated schoolmaster; Bishops was a huge part of his life and teaching a way of life for him.
We extend our condolences to his family and salute him for a life of unstinting service to our school.
LEAVERS’ MUSIC CONCERT
This Wednesday saw the first (physically present) Music Concert since lockdown, the traditional Leavers' Concert where every Grade 7 doing music performs. This is a very musical grade with forty-five boys involved. It was a very long concert but this was irrelevant as the standard was so high, both in the individual and ensemble performances. We had so many instruments, even the pipe organ; two string ensembles, a string quartet, two marimba bands and a combined Grade 7 ensemble. It was a remarkably uplifting and inspiring evening with boys, parents and staff upbeat afterwards. It made me contemplate how easily we take our regular activities for granted, such as weekly music concerts, dramatic productions and sports matches where boys, parents and staff are able to share in our boys’ talents and efforts.
I congratulate all our musicians and their teachers for their obvious hard work over the year which continued unabated during lockdown over WhatsApp, Teams or Zoom.
The numbers of Covid cases seem to be rising again, so please remain vigilant and stay safe and healthy.
Kind regards
GREG BROWN
HEADMASTER |
