Dear Parents and Guardians

This past week has been a time of reflection as we prepared for the annual Remembrance Day service, held each year on 11 November to remember those who gave their lives in service to others, particularly those ODs who died in the two World Wars and whose names are up on the two plaques outside the Memorial Chapel and the Memorial Theatre. We have tried to make the service more relevant to today and for our boys by including a plaque that acknowledges all those who passed away, serving any cause in which they believed. We have explained the relevance of the particular aspects of the service and why we do what we do, with the ringing of the bell 11 times at 11:00, the playing of certain pieces of music and the laying of wreaths and flags. Finally, we have asked them to use this time as a moment of reflection in their own lives for those they have lost. We hope that this new approach to Remembrance Day makes it not only more relevant but also allows our boys to feel connected with the service in a meaningful manner. Photographs from today’s service can be seen later in the newsletter.

Academic Matters

From time to time we are asked why we do not have traditional parent-teacher meetings at which evenings are set aside for parents to gather to meet teachers.

Our academic programme is deliberately designed to encourage independence from our boys and for them to take control over their own learning process as a vital life skill. They have access to a wonderful resource in terms of our intranet which is comprehensive and most valuable to them and they are encouraged to approach their teachers should they have difficulties.

Parents have access through My Bishops Life to their son’s marks and results at all times and live feedback gives parents what they require. We are very happy that parents contact teachers directly and request personal meetings rather than waste time standing in queues at an evening which gives the impression that it is the only time a parent can access a teacher. We want our parents to feel they can approach our teachers at any time.

Finally, our reporting process is detailed and comprehensive, covering not only specific subjects but also a wider analysis of how each boy is doing and our strong tutor and house system, coupled with the resource of the BSU, gives the necessary support our boys may need.

At this stage we do not see the need to hold specific meetings and encourage parents to keep watching My Bishops Life and make contact, if necessary, with their son’s teachers at any stage.

Staffing

We congratulate Mr William Koopman on his appointment as boarding House Director at Kingswood College. Mr Koopman has been with us for just over two years and has certainly made his mark in our History department, in hockey and in a number of other areas. We wish him well for his new promotion.

Final Thoughts

I came across an article that spoke about failure and failure in children in particular. In a highly successful environment such as Bishops, with excellence promoted as a desired outcome in all aspects of our school, why then do we need to talk about failing?

Each of us will fail – often. Whether it is in learning a new skill or trying to master an old one, we will not always succeed. And our children are in the position of having to learn far more, so will fail more often. Our reaction to their failures will determine how they develop.

If we admonish failure simply as a lack of success, I think we miss a valuable learning opportunity. Children and adults need to fail in order to learn. They need to learn to get up, dust themselves off and try again. The qualities of determination, resilience and courage are such important ones to learn and they need to be able to try, try and try again.

Equally important is that they need to learn that they can fail in the safe environment that is home or school. They need to know that we care for them and love them, no matter what and that they have a safe space to fail but also to succeed. Success often comes as a result of failure and great advances in our world have been made as a result of people not giving up but persevering through the challenges they face.

The whole article by Peter Middleton can be read at petermiddleton.blog by searching for the article posted on 8 November.

I wish you well for the next two weeks and for the examinations which are either under way (Grades 10 and 12) or about to commence. May this be a time of peace and focused work for your son. I also wish our Grade 10 boys well for their upcoming Epic adventure. May this be the life-changing experience it can be and may all our boys return safely from a wonderful opportunity.

Kind regards

Antony Reeler
Principal

Our grateful thanks go to all those who made our Remembrance Day Service memorable and special. In addition, thanks to Shaw Komori, one of our trumpet teachers, who played the Last Post and the Reveille and Charles Canning (OD) who played the Piper’s Lament.Sincere thanks to Mr Mervin Walsh and his family for making the crosses displayed on the lawns in front of the Chapel.

Art

Full Colours
Thomas Maurel
Matthew Malan
Sam Schlute

On that note we invite you to enjoy some of the brilliant works produced this year across the grades.

Sport

Rowing

Misverstand Regatta took place at the end of October. The competition was split over two days - the first day being multiple 500m sprint races in varying boat classes and on Sunday a 4 or 6-kilometre heads race, depending on the age group. The Grootwinterhoek Mountain range as the backdrop makes Misverstand the ideal spectator venue, just ask the parents who went to support!
Well done to the following athletes on their commendable results:

Open Results
Scull: 2nd - Traut and 3rd - Calow
Pair: Calow - 3rd
Coxed Four: Calow Crew - 1st
Eight: Breslin Crew - 3rd
Heads Race 6 kilometres: Breslin Crew - 3rd

U16 Results
Scull: Redfern - 1st and Frankel - 4th
Pair: du Plessis and Daya - 2nd, Breslin and Maurel - 3rd
Coxed Four: Breslin Crew - 1st 
Eight: Breslin Crew - 2nd

U15 Results
B Scull: 1st - Ratcliffe, 2nd - Moran, 3rd - Bromley
A Double: Planting and Ratcliffe - 4th
Coxed Quad: Planting Crew - 3rd
Oct: Planting Crew - 2nd
Heads Race 4 kilometres: Planting Crew - 1st

Athletics Spring Meetings

Congratulations to Joe Phillipson who won the Mickey Allis Memorial Mile Trophy at the Wynberg Athletics meeting earlier this term.
Other notable performances were from:
Daniel Von der Heyden who won the shot put u15 event 
Danny Newton who came second in the u14 long jump 
Nic Perez who won the u15 800m
Liam Day who won the u17 400m

MVP Volleyball Trophy

The winner of the inaugural "Most Valuable Player" Volleyball Trophy for 2022 goes to the captain of the club, Fabian Gaertner Grade 11 Mallett, who has so efficiently run all the meetings, practices and matches this year. He also captained the team in the tournament win over Pinelands as well as winning the Camps Bay Beach challenge. In addition he has been selected to play university volleyball for the UCT 2nd side as a left side swing hitter. He has progressed in 2 man beach; 4 man grass and 6 man indoor volleyball and is well set to make even further progress in the New Year!

Water Polo Leadership For 2023

Congratulations to our Water polo leadership for 2023.
Captain: Benjamin Hatty
Vice-captain: Trento Lambrechts
We wish you and the coaching staff a successful and fun season.

Litha Mbiko: WP u16 Cricket Team Selection

Congratulations to Litha Mbiko on his selection to the WP u16 cricket side. This is a particularly remarkable achievement in light of Litha being u14. Litha and his provincial team-mates will travel to Gauteng to participate in the Cricket South Africa (CSA) u16 National Cricket Week to be staged between the 11th and 14th November 2022.

Visser Gildenhuys: 1st XI cricket coach 2023

Congratulations to Mr Visser Gildenhuys on his appointment as 1st XI cricket coach. Since arriving at Bishops two years ago, Mr Gildenhuys coached, with success, the 14As and is extremely excited at the prospect of working with the 1st XI cricketers. He will collaborate with current 1st XI coach, Mr Brendon Hamman, and will work closely with Head Coach, Mr Brad Barnes, ahead of the team’s first assignment of the new year: the Peninsula Cricket Festival, at Bishops in January 2023.

Change of training days for junior and senior cricket teams as of Term 1 2023

Please note that cricket-specific training days, for junior and senior sides, as a standing arrangement, will change to the following days as of Term 1 2023:

U14s and u15s: Mondays and Wednesdays 15:30-17:45.

U19s: Tuesdays and Thursdays 15:30-17:45.

This is to align with local leagues as well as to correspond with water polo and winter sports and to make whole-year planning for Bishops’ families a simpler process.

Join our Kilimanjaro 2023 adventure!

Please see brochure below, all queries can be sent to pcourt@bishops.org.za

On Saturday 29th October, 30 VUSA and Bishops children spent the morning at the Norval Foundation. Thank you to Kate Briggs of Culture Connect and Sue Johns for arranging this fantastic outing for our children and introducing many of the children to an art gallery for the first time. This outing focused on the exhibition, ‘When Rain Clouds Gather, by black, South African women artists from (1940-2000).

An outing like this also provides the opportunity for Bishops and VUSA children to engage in meaningful interactions and connects children from different races, religions, and socio-economic groups. We have received feedback from Bishops parents saying that the highlight of their son’s day was the new friendships made (the art and the burgers were also great). Thank you to everyone involved for creating this special day for our children.