Dear Parents and Guardians

Last week, the entire College focussed on the issue of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) with a number of activities including a civvies day, special leaders assembly, silent protest and tutor discussions. It is our hope that all, or at least some of these activities caused our boys to pause and think about this awful matter that affects so many women and children in our country. The hope is twofold – that our boys will never, themselves, do anything physical to harm the women or children in their lives, and that they will use their influence both now and in their adult lives to teach others about real masculinity as opposed to the kind that feels the need to dominate women through abusive actions.

Women's Day celebrates women and those in particular who took part in the march to the Union buildings almost 70 years ago to protest the pass laws of the day. Emanating from that march came the words ‘Wathint' Abafazi, Wathint' Imbokodo' (you strike the women, you strike the rock) that are so powerful. I hope that Women’s Day was not just a public holiday but also a time for reflection on our own situation and what we can do to support women and children.

School activities

While these events have been referred to on our social media, I wish to highlight three events that took place that were special to me.

We held the first “goodbye” event for our Grade 12s with a wonderful Mothers and Sons lunch. It was uplifting to see our boys engaging with their mothers and with each other as their time at school draws to an end and they prepare for life after school, possibly away from their parents and their mothers in particular.

The second was the service of Confirmation, held in the St Cyprian’s Chapel this past Sunday. A number of boys committed themselves in public and in front of their parents and godparents to living a Christian life with faith and integrity. My thanks go to Father Monwabisi Peter for preparing our boys for this special moment and to our Archbishop for his presence and his inspiring words.

The third event took place this week as a first at Bishops, called Music Week. An initiative from our Music Department saw boys celebrating music together and feeding our souls through their efforts. My assembly message, appearing below, tried to explain to the boys just how music affects us and heightens our emotions. Grateful thanks go to Mr Jaco Goosen and his music team for a wonderful experience!

Staff matters

With the imminent retirement of our Head of Department for isiXhosa, we went through a comprehensive appointment process, and I am delighted to announce that our own Mr Alungile Williams, has been appointed as HoD. We congratulate him and wish him well for his time leading this department.

Buildings and Grounds

Grounds
The water polo pool project is well under way but has been hampered severely by the inclement weather. Provision was made for disruption due to weather in the planning process, but we simply must accept that it may take longer than anticipated.

Planning for the much needed second astroturf field has begun in earnest with an initial meeting of several stakeholders and experts as ideas were debated and shared. This committee will be parsed down to create a much smaller one that is easier to get together. The question most are asking is when this project will start and we cannot give a definitive answer just yet, but we are hoping, as I shared some time ago, to get going at the start of 2026 – if possible.

I wish you all well in these chilly times! Spare a thought (and act if you can) for the thousands of fellow human beings who endure times like this without proper roofing, heating or warmth and who are most vulnerable to these conditions. If there is anything you can do to improve the lot of others, it is in all our interests to do so.

Kind regards

Antony Reeler
Principal

Music

I spoke to you last assembly about masculinity and being able to show emotion. I thought I would start today’s message in a personal way. I was brought up as a young boy/man in the world of stoicism. Stiff upper lip, boys don’t cry and all that. It is only in the latter half of my life that I have come to appreciate the power of hugging, men or women and that I have felt able to cry without fear of scorn or ridicule. One of the many things I admire about your generation is that you do have a different idea about showing emotion as a man and are unafraid to do so. It is such a natural part of being human that men have suppressed for so long – to their own detriment and to the detriment of those around us.

So today, in a moment of public vulnerability, I share with you a story about when last I cried and I am talking heaving sobbing, not just a tearing up at a sad or happy moment (of which there have been many!)

It was around the end of April 2020. Covid hit SA on the 26th March and schools were shut. People were dying in their droves. The media kept showing us images of bodies being carried off to the morgue, particularly in Italy. I had the challenge of trying to manage a school of 1500 boys, 3000 parents and 300 staff who were mostly scared, unsure of what to do, concerned for their own health and that of their families, yet desperate for schools to open. Uncertainty was the order of the day – we had no clue how to manage this, and I was at the top of the decision pyramid. When could we bring staff and boys back? And how? And could we all keep our jobs? And would our parents keep paying fees, our only source of income? My head was full of this uncertainty, the unknown, fear. My working hours had become blurred and many nights I worked well past midnight, often in deep contemplation trying to figure out how to lead my school.

One late night, all alone with my thoughts, I came across a You Tube video and watched it. The imagery was initially of dead bodies due to Covid that then morphed into images of brave people who smiled while they tried to help the sick and the dying. The images were terrifying, then inspiringly beautiful. And I just wept – for myself, for my family, for my school, my country and my world. And what caused this wonderful outburst and release of emotion was not the images or their story. It was the music that went with it. Played by a lone cellist in Croatia, surrounded by ancient ruins, the occasional bird and no other person, Hauser played Benedictus from the Armed Man: A Mass for Peace amongst other pieces and this simple yet awesomely moving piece of music was the emotional release I needed. It was as if it allowed me to be human again.

I share this with you today, not only to extent my message of vulnerability and real men, but, in this special week when we celebrate music at Bishops during Music Week, to try to illustrate the power of music and how much it means to us all, each in our own way. Music releases emotions – can make us happy, sad, just about anything. Whether it is classical, choral, hip hop, jazz – or any other genre, our emotions are so often released by music. A scary movie about a knife wielding maniac attacking someone in the shower would not be the same without the shrieking of discordant music. A movie of our rugby or soccer heroes and their successes would not be the same without their big, triumphant anthems. Our own Chapel would not be the same without Psalm 150. Music is the soul of life. Music is our joy. Music allows us to feel, to be.

I hope you have enjoyed this special initiative and appreciate greatly the value of music – those who write it and those who make it through their personal skill. I want to say thank-you. To musicians throughout the world but mainly in our school. You give me reason to feel human, you give me joy, you allow me to feel. And for giving me my humanity, I thank you.

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything," - Plato

Distinction Tie

Nico Schreuder has been a credit to his school and his country through his participation in the International Olympiad in Informatics. He has been partaking and excelling in rounds for over a year, starting with a Gold Certificate in the first round of the Programming Olympiad in July 2024, and through qualifying in the second round, competing in the National Olympiad in Pretoria, where he was placed among the top fifteen high school programmers in the country. He then completed a series of psychometric tests and was one of the top four performers selected to compete for Team South Africa in Bolivia in July 2025. At this Olympiad, Team SA brought home one bronze medal and Nico himself was not only placed second but invited to compete once again in 2026. For representing his country and his school at the highest level, we award him a distinction tie.

Additional Academic Awards - June 2025

Grade 9
Tie:
Seth Burns
Boyd Roberts

Grade 11:
Tie:
Joshua Huntingford

Public Speaking and Debating

Bishops had a very successful weekend at the National Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships at St Mary’s, Waverley in Johannesburg. 

Luca Heesom made the finals for Reading and Persuasive Speaking.
Hamaad Badroodien made the finals for Impromptu Speaking, Debating and Persuasive Speaking. 
Matthew De Jager and Samuel Clarke made all four finals: Debating, Impromptu Speaking, Reading and Persuasive Speaking. 
Matthew De Jager made Grand Finals for Debating and Reading.
Samuel Clarke made the Impromptu Speaking, Persuasive Speaking and Reading Grand Finals and won the Impromptu Speaking and Reading Categories overall. 
Hamaad Badroodien made the Grand Finals for Persuasive Speaking and Debating and won both categories overall. 

Five of our boys have been selected for the National Team that will compete in Bristol, United Kingdom in 2026: Samuel Clarke (2nd overall), Matthew De Jager (4th overall), Hamaad Badroodien (sixth overall), Luca Heesom (twelfth overall) and Daniel Bursey (sixteenth overall).

Bishops Debating Team Shines at Provincial Championship

The team demonstrated remarkable consistency and depth of argumentation, defeating strong opponents en route to the final. Though they fell just short in the last round, their achievement as provincial finalists is a testament to their hard work and talent. Hamaad Badroodien emerged as the top speaker of the tournament, a prestigious honor reflecting his clarity, persuasiveness, and analytical prowess.

His contributions were pivotal to the team’s success. Both Hamaad Badroodien and Cruz Sun were selected to trial for the Provincial Team, which will compete at the National Championships. This recognition highlights their individual excellence and potential to represent the province at the highest level.

Dramatic Arts Colours

We would like to congratulate Timmy Visagie on being awarded Full Colours for Dramatic Arts.

Music

The following boys received Ensemble ties and Music Colours:

Ensemble Tie:
Joshua Huntingford
Maximilliam Grawe
Zuhayr Sirkot

Full Colours:
Leo Cowan

Visual Art

The Visual Art Department is proud to announce the results of this year’s Jan van Riebeeck Arts Festival.

We congratulate the following boys on their outstanding achievements:

Bishops Visual Art Result
With Distinction=90% +
Gold=80% +
Silver=70%+
Bronze=60%+

Charlie Pye -Gold
Sean Watson -Gold
Bonnar Richards -Silver
Michael Whiffler -Silver
Joshua Dembaremba -Bronze
Michael Logan -Distinction

Bishops boys also took part in this year’s WCED Exhibition titled Rethinking Irma Stern, where numerous schools across the Western Cape submitted their Grade 11 final practical based on this theme.

We are proud to announce that Stuart Hudson and Joshua Whitehorn have been selected to be part of this prestigious exhibition.

The exhibition will be open to the public, with the official opening taking place on 6 September at the UCT Irma Stern Museum.

Golf

A junior golf team of grade 8 and 10 players enjoyed a successful tour to Gqeberha, from 8 – 10 August, competing in the Grey High School Links Golf Tournament. The tournament involved three days of golf at Humewood, Wedgewood and PE Golf Clubs. These courses proved to be very challenging with the greens at Humewood and Wedgewood running at 11 on the stimpmeter. The tour gave some of our junior golfers their first exposure to tournament style golf. The team ended in 8th place out of 16 teams from around the country, with Arman Patel being the team’s top scorer.

Cricket

Congratulations to 1st XI opening bowlers, Michael Kruiskamp and Waco Bassick, on the receipt of their respective invitations to attend Cricket South Africa's (CSA) U17 National Camp taking place at the High-Performance Centre in Pretoria from 9 to 11 September. This honour says much for the increasingly high regard in which Michael and Waco are held by the age-group national selectors.

Wynberg Weekend

We look forward to hosting our long-time rivals, Wynberg, for a wonderful weekend of sporting fixtures.
We warmly welcome all members of the Bishops community to come out in support of our boys.

Please see the links below for the full programme for each sport:

https://communication.bishops.org.za/college/sport/BishopsRugbyProgramme.html
https://communication.bishops.org.za/college/sport/BishopsHockeyProgramme.html
https://communication.bishops.org.za/college/sport/BishopsSoccerProgramme.html

Woolworths change in reward system

You may have heard that Woolworths has launched a brand-new loyalty programme called MyDifference, which is replacing the familiar MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet programme.

While this exciting new initiative offers more benefits to you as a shopper, it also comes with one important change:
Kindly re-select Bishops Diocesan College as your cause in the Woolworths App, or your support won’t reach us.

Download the Woolworths App from your app store or google play store.

Sign up or log in if you already have the app.

Tap on 'Loyalty' and then ‘My Causes’ and choose Bishops Diocesan College as your preferred Cause. This is vital step that must be redone please. We look forward to gaining momentum with the progarmme, which will now be easier without the cards.

You will still receive all the great Woolworths perks like exclusive discounts, rewards and promotions plus your everyday shopping will continue to support Bishops and various charities at no extra cost to you.

NOTE: From 1 November 2025, the cards you have will no longer work, please take a few minutes to reregister and add Bishops as your beneficiary.

On the Tuesday, the 19th of August, 2025, the Big Ideas boys will be hosting a fundraising night in support of Marsh Memorial Home, a foster home for housing children from unsafe households.

Tickets can be bought at Quicket at: https://www.quicket.co.za/events/329687-big-ideas-variety-night/#/

The Bishops Big Ideas Programme is a Grade 9, trans-disciplinary and project-based learning curriculum designed to drive students to step out of their comfort zones and to make an effort to improve the broader Cape Town community. This year the class as a whole have decided to take on the challenge of providing a comfortable living area for the children of Marsh Memorial Homes, a foster home that provides a safe living space for children from unstable housing environments. The Big Ideas team aims to refurbish their library, kitchen and recreational area. https://marshmemorial.org.za/

To raise funds for this project, the Big Ideas team have decided to host a Fundraising Night including hilarious skits, musical performances and chances to win big prizes through raffles and auctions. There will also be food and drink stalls available if anyone wishes to further support Marsh Memorial Homes.