Dear Parents and Guardians

Welcome back to the start of the new term. I hope you had a good Easter break and had some time to connect with family and friends. I wish you well for the term ahead.

This term is an exam term and we have eighteen days of teaching before exams commence for most boys. I urge parents to help their sons set up a quiet place where they can study and prepare and that they have a plan for the upcoming weeks that works around their commitments and activities.

The winter season begins in earnest this week with fixtures against Paul Roos and I encourage parents to support their sons and the school as we take on our friends from Stellenbosch. 

Building

The entrance to the school is almost completed and looks wonderful. I thank you all for your patience as you have endured these past few months of inconvenience. I think the end product of a more secure entrance with proper facilities for our security guards and a decent parking area has been worth the challenges we have had.

The construction of the new Learning Commons has begun and the boys informed about what is going to happen in the next while as demolition takes place. This is a very exciting project indeed and we look forward to a new facility that will enhance the learning of all our boys in a modern space that is appropriate for 21st century teaching.

Activities

Some of our boys were busy this past holiday as they took on various activities which are reported upon later in the newsletter. My compliments go to all who represented us so well, our public speakers and debaters as well as the many sportsmen. Our first overseas tour in a number of years took place and our first hockey side is to be congratulated on their achievements as they represented Bishops on the international stage.

General

At our opening assembly, we had the chance to acknowledge those Grade 12s who had spent thirteen years at Bishops through the awarding of the 13-year tie. It is quite remarkable to think that 45 boys have been together for almost all their lives and how they have come to know each other in that time.

I spoke briefly about one of our core values, respect, at assembly this week, telling a story about a lesson in respect that I learned as a younger man. The transcript can be read below.

I also took the opportunity to wish our Muslim families well for Eid, the end of the month of Ramadaan.
I wish you all well for the term ahead.

Kind regards

Antony Reeler
Principal

Respect: A different perspective

When I was Deputy Principal at a school close to us, I had an opportunity that was truly life changing. I was asked to accompany a group of Grade 11 boys to take part in a wilderness trip that Bishops has also done – the White Rhino trail. This was a walk (rather than a hike) through the Umfolozi Game Reserve for approximately eight days. You carried all you needed in with you. There was no deodorant, watches, toilet paper or cell phone. Just your group and nature. It was a surreal and truly spiritual moment for me.

On that trip, I learned a lesson in respect that I share with you this morning. Respect is one of our core values – in fact the most popular as voted by you at the end of last year. The one you aspired most to uphold. Many of you when talking about respect think about good manners, being polite. Yet respect has many other forms too. The lesson in respect that I learned was as follows.

We were required to build a fire each night to heat water for coffee and to let the animals know that we were around, in their habitat. My idea for a fire and what actually transpired were two very different things. I was used to blazing bonfires and many glowing coals, ready for the grid laden with meat. No – these fires were to be barely a flicker. A flame large enough just to burn and to warn any animals to keep away from where we were sleeping. That was my first lesson in respect – respect for the animals and that we, as human beings, were visiting their space and had to leave as little of our human influence behind.

Once we had been told the size of the fire, a little disappointed, we went looking for kindling and logs to burn. There was plenty of it lying around but here, my second lesson in respect was taught to me. We could only collect wood that was lying on the ground and when we did, we bent down and gently picked up the twig or branch to check to see if there was insect life living there. If there was, the piece was equally gently returned to the ground and another piece sought. And so, I learned to respect that life other than mine was important and that I was not to disturb the tranquility of the insect world.

These two small things taught me that respect comes in different forms. I had always thought of respect as good manners and treating others well but it is in so much more than that. Yes, manners are important, but so is treating every other living creature kindly, acknowledging their presence on this planet. Today’s talk about respect is slightly different and I hope you come to realise that respect runs deeply through most things we do – how we treat each other, older, younger, of different beliefs or looks to ourselves. How we disagree with each other while acknowledging each other’s point of view. But also how we treat our planet and those who have no voice, who are defenseless in the face of human influence.

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.”
—Jane Goodall

All Rounder's Tie

Pablo Slaven is congratulated on being awarded an All Rounder's Tie.

13-Year Ties

Congratulations to the following boys on being awarded their 13-year ties. Their commitment to our community throughout their school career has been admirable and we thank each of them for taking their school career journey with us. We are proud of their achievements and the young men that they have become.

Public Speaking

Ben Anderson, Jamie Chester, Jacob Fried, Divakaran Govender and Ché Nanoo all competed as part of Team South Africa at the World Individual Public Speaking and Debating Championships at the end of last term. They gave an excellent account of themselves at a competition with over a hundred competitors from all over the world.
Ben Anderson won the debating category, convincingly defeating other grand finalists from China, Canada, and the United States. He placed third at the competition overall. He was also a finalist for Interpretive Reading and Persuasive Speaking.
Jacob Fried was a finalist in Impromptu Speaking and Debating. He placed 25th overall.
Jamie Chester placed 24th overall.
This means that all three of the top speakers from Africa hail from Bishops. Congratulations to our Public Speaking boys.

Debating

Congratulations to Caden Chuang (G11M) on his excellent achievements at the WP BP Debating Championship. Caden debated on the team that would go on to win 1st place in the competition and was awarded the 3rd best speaker of the tournament. 

On Thursday evening, the Senior Rotary Debating team won the third round of debates against Springfield. As team opposition, they opposed the motion that this house believes that social movements should use the courts rather than the legislature to advance social change. Well done to Jacob Fried, Caden Chuang, Ben Anderson, Landa Tsobo and Noah Macnab on an excellent debate. A special mention to Ben Anderson, who was also awarded Best Speaker.

A Cappella Academy

We are delighted to announce that Koame Kota has been accepted for the A Cappella Academy’s intensive training camp which will be held in Los Angeles during the June / July holidays. Koame auditioned in January for this course, which is open to a cappella singers who are 12-18 years old, from around the world. Not only was he accepted but he has also received a full scholarship for the ten days of the course. We congratulate Koame on this outstanding achievement and wish him well as he goes off to California in June.

Chess

Congratulations to Akshay Thakersee G10M  who took part in the recent Western Cape Schools Chess Championship on the 5th and 6th of April in Strand and won the U17 Boys Open Section. This tournament involved schools from the Cape Metro, Cape Winelands, Overberg and Southern Cape.  Akshay has been selected to represent Western Cape Schools at the Nationals later in the year.

Rugby

The 1st XV enjoyed a successful tour to Johannesburg over the course of the recent Easter Weekend. Three games were played at the Saint Stithians Sports Festival, where all went well for captain Nic Allison and his team. Our Firsts scored 22 tries during their matches, while conceding only five. In the opening fixture of the festival, Bishops beat their hosts St Stithians by 66 points to 3 in front of a lively and partisan crowd. Then came the big game of the weekend, as the Firsts took on Hoërskool Helpmekaar from Johannesburg. A gutsy and determined performance allowed the College to come from behind on three separate occasions to record a fine win over their much-respected opponents; the final score here was 31-30. In the First Team’s last game of the weekend, they again had to overcome a tricky start, after Clifton School from Durban had raced into a ten-point lead. In the end, Bishops ran in a number of remarkable tries to win by 43 points to 10. 
Well done to all of our players in this squad, and best wishes to them as they now focus on Saturday’s start of the domestic season, which will see them in action on the Piley Rees for the first time this year.      

Hockey

Hockey was busy during the holidays with four teams competing in various tournaments and matches. Thank you to all the staff and boys who spent their time in the holidays on these tours.
The U14As went to Michaelhouse to compete in the annual Independent Schools Hockey Festival (ISHF) over the easter weekend. The U14 A’s started the Festival with a clinical win against the hosts. They gelled well as a team and improved brilliantly with each encounter. This excellent progress culminated in two emphatic final wins of the festival. They won all 5 of their games, but more importantly, they grew in confidence as a team and established a super style of play. Well done to all involved.

An U16 side also partook in the ISHF, but were at St Andrews College in Makhanda. The team played well, securing 3 wins, 2 draws and only 1 loss. It was a great experience, the boys learnt a lot and helped to build the depth of hockey at Bishops in the U16 age group. We look forward to seeing these boys bring their skills and determination to the season.

There were two teams who travelled to the Netherlands and Belgium for a hockey tour – the first team and the Colts (a development side). There were 31 boys in the touring squad. The tour consisted of a lot of travel, exploring new places, training sessions, matches and a tournament. The boys got to experience playing at hockey clubs that had 6 or more Astros and against tough, well trained opposition. The tour began in Antwerp where the boys had a training session with experienced Belgium players and coaches and the 1sts got to play a game against Tilburg. After exploring Antwerp the tour moved onto Maastricht where the boys were able to experience the historical city before playing matches against Venlo hockey club.

The squad spent a day in Germany, first at a training session with German coaches at the club where ODs and SA Olympic players, Mustapha and Dayaan Cassiem play. While in Germany the boys got to take a tour of the Borussia Monchengladbach Football Stadium – a highlight for the football enthusiasts.

The day before the HDM tournament the boys got to experience Efteling Park, the oldest theme park in the Netherlands. After that busy day, both teams played tough matches as some final preparation for the tournament. The HDM tournament in The Hague draws in teams from across the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and South Africa and is filled with some brilliant hockey. After playing 7 matches in 3 days, the Colts placed fourth in their section and while the 1sts were unable to secure the 1st place trophy like in 2017, they fought valiantly to gain the second place trophy.
After the tournament the tour moved to Amsterdam where they got to watch both the men’s and ladies European Hockey League finals. Both were a brilliant display of competition, skill and inspiring hockey. A stop at the Anne Frank house was eye opening and put into perspective for many that lockdown actually wasn’t that bad in comparison. After exploring a bit of Amsterdam the tour ended with one last match for both teams.

Overall the 1st team played 11 matches, won 8 and came second in the tournament, while the Colts played 10 matches, won 2 and came fourth in their tournament. All in all the boys learnt a lot, created special memories, and developed as players. We look forward to seeing them applying their new skills and understanding of the game as we go into the season.

Fencing

The Bishops Fencing Club toured to Germany from the 2nd to the 14th of April 2023 to one of the most prestigious Fencing clubs in Germany. Tauberbischofsheim, which is in Baden in the north-east of Baden-Württemberg on the river Tauber. The center is an Olympic training center and is, in terms of German medal success at international sporting events - the most successful Fencing club in the world. The center is complete with accommodation, a cafeteria, a gym, an indoor swimming pool, a sauna, soccer and badminton nets, and fully equipped fencing halls. There was plenty of time to relax between fencing training sessions and enjoy all the facilities. The fencers were put through their paces with early morning fitness training and then private lessons with Huber Heinrichs, a coach who trains fencers on an international level. The training was intensive for 8 days, together with foil and epee group bouting in the evenings. We spent a half day visiting Rothenburg, an hour’s drive from Tauberbishofsheim. Rothenburg was founded in 1170 and this historic medieval town still has the city walls intact overlooking the most beautiful countryside. Another nostalgic spot is the Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas Village. The largest Christmas shop in Europe open all-year round, it stocks everything that makes the festive season special. We also spent a half day at the Marienberg fortress in Wurtzburg. We enjoyed two days at the second oldest Fencing club in Germany, in Offenbach, Frankfurt after leaving Tauber. We were warmly received at the club and enjoyed a celebratory dinner with the German fencers. During the day in Frankfurt, we toured the city on the red bus and did some retail therapy. We had a very successful fencing trip, where much was learned by the fencers in terms of techniques and hopefully will be put to good use back in South Africa.

Construction

Due to the demolition and construction work taking place on the College Campus, certain parts of the campus have been fenced off for safety reasons.

This has restricted movement across the campus, and it is no longer feasible for College boys to make their way onto campus via the Sandown Road Entrance / Exit.

In order to manage the flow of people, it has become necessary to reserve the Sandown Road drop off and collection point for Pre-Prep Boys only. College boys must please be dropped off and collected along the Avenue and Ogilvie Roads, using Campground and Riverton Roads for access.

Blood Donor Clinic at Bishops

We are hosting the WCBS next Wednesday for a Blood Donation Clinic, we invite all parents, boys that are over 16 and other community members to come along and donate blood!
Donors have to be 16years or older and weight more the 50kg.

My Bishops Life Parent Portal

We remind parents to utilize our online portals, Please click here for help.

SOCS Sports Parent Portal

We make use of a software programme for sports information, this app will give you sports fixtures, results, and other pertinent details easily from your smartphones. 
Follow these simple steps to be able to access all sporting details via this method, anywhere, anytime. 
Laptops or PCs and mobile phones: 

• Go to a browser on your smartphone and browse to the address www.bishopssport.org
• Click on the sport tab.
• Add to home screen and call it Bishops Sport.
• Now at a click of a button from your cell phone you can see What’s on, access Maps, details of fixtures and more. 
• When checking click on the ‘What’s On’ page, choose the date and sporting code and then click on the relevant team.
• Team sheets are password protected by this password Bish@ps.

The Sports coaches use this platform to communicate important information to you, regarding details around the various fixtures. We are hoping this will limit the need for too much email communication and hence we encourage you to use this platform as your first port of call. 
We would welcome any feedback from you and will happily answer any further questions you may have.

This weekend we are hosting Paul Roos for our Hockey and Rugby fixtures. Friday night lights begins with the U14A at 15h00 at the Woodlands and Saturday kicks off with our 5th XV, U14B and U15C at 08h00.
We invite our community to join us for a fun weekend on campus supporting our boys.
Please scan or click the QR codes to view the respective programmes.

Rugby Programme

Hockey Programme