Dear Parents and Guardians

What a special time it was last week for our Grade 12s in particular as they enjoyed their leaving dinners in the Houses, their final school assembly and were welcomed to the ODU with the receiving of the ODU tie, Prize Giving and Valedictory. These symbolic and meaningful events are carefully planned and put together with one main focus in mind – to give our boys a dignified and appropriate farewell where we acknowledge their efforts and wish them well. I certainly think this goal was achieved and, speaking to many Grade 12s after last week and after the Matric Dance, they were quite overwhelmed with each special occasion.

I cannot thank those who made this happen enough – our school teams and the teams of parents who climbed in to help. The stories from the boys are just rewards for this effort.

It is a special moment too for our Grade 11s as they step up to lead the College from now for the next twelve months. We have started working with the Heads and Deputy Heads of Houses as well as the leader group, setting out expectations, offering advice and listening to their wishes for the year ahead. I think we are in for another good year and wish all our Grade 11s courage, resilience, and steadfast actions as they lead our College boys with humility and grace.

Our final leadership position was filled with Jeremy Liddle (11G) being elected by the SRF as their Chairman. Sango Kunene (9G) was elected as the Secretary. Our congratulations and best wishes to them both.

Last week was made even more special by the efforts of our First Water Polo team who played in the St Stithians Stayers tournament, ending up as winners of that event. Our congratulations to the boys and coaching staff on a fine performance.

Staff news

It is with great sadness that I report on the passing of two members of staff, one in service and one recently retired.

Mr Leon Botha, one of our grounds team and perhaps best known by our cricketers for his work in pitch preparation, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly from a heart attack at age 49. This is a massive blow to the family, his wife Eulandie and his two sons as well as the school community. We held a brief farewell memorial for him during the holidays as his body left Cape Town to be buried in Adelaide in the Eastern Cape. We also held a memorial service for him this past Wednesday at which our staff and boys were able to say goodbye. Our deepest condolences to his family and friends.

Mrs Nikki Gerhardi retired recently from her role as ICT Integrator as she fought cancer bravely for so long. Sadly, she passed away last week, and her memorial was held in our chapel this week. We will remember her for the warmth, kindness, humour, and the care she brought to her work. Whether through a kind word, a helping hand, or her unmistakable laugh echoing down the corridor, Mrs Gerhardi made a lasting impression on pupils and staff alike.

She faced her illness with remarkable courage and grace, choosing to live each day with purpose and positivity. Her strength and spirit were an inspiration to all who knew her.    

May their precious souls rest in peace…

Rhodes Scholarship update

We are in the final stages of negotiations with the Rhodes Trust regarding the future of the Bishops Rhodes Scholarship and are optimistic that a positive outcome can be reached. This has taken just over two and a half years of intense meetings with the four affected schools working closely during this time with a united purpose to preserve, as far as possible, these unique scholarships. We will shortly be sending out a final communique to our entire community and the communities of our partner schools as well, outlining the latest stage in the process and asking for comment.

Diwali greetings

We wish a blessed and happy Diwali to our Hindu community who celebrated this Festival of Light on Monday this week. We hope it was a joyous occasion.

Project update

The Water Polo pool rebuild is progressing well and is starting to look amazing. I am convinced this will be a facility of which we will be extremely proud. The anticipated completion date is early December but any further delays due to weather, exams in the Mallett or anything else, coupled with the builders’ holiday that starts mid-December, could cause the opening to be delayed until the new year. While this may be frustrating to some, there is simply nothing that can be done to make it go faster and we must have patience. As I have said before with building projects, the end will be well worth a little pain along the way!

The planning for building a second astroturf is also well under way with design, specifications and costing all taking place. The project needs to be approved by Council at their meeting in November and will be dependent on availability of funding. Should we be in a position to fund it, we will set timelines in place thereafter and share these with parents and the hockey community. This is an important project not only for our hockey players but for the wider school community as pressure on our existing facility is having a knock-on effect on our other school programmes.

Our new cricket nets that were laid on Sahara are looking amazing and it was special to have the College 1st XI captain take first knock! The nets were constructed as a result of the Rowing facility being built over the old turf nets. In addition, we are, in anticipation of losing the Range cricket field to the second astro if it goes ahead, building a turf square down at Lutgensvale for use by the College and Prep. This will be a wonderful addition to our cricket facilities.

We have invested heavily in our sports programme after the completion of the academic Ubuntu Learning centre, with the Rowing Centre, Water Polo pool, Cricket facilities and the investment in personnel in Rugby by appointing a new Director of Rugby. This will be announced as soon as the process is completed. We try to be fair to all our programmes and so the astro will be a much-needed addition for our Hockey fraternity.

Final thoughts

There was no Principal’s message this week due to the new Head of School addressing the boys and staff. My message last week to the Grade 12s and their parents at Prize Giving will be published in the school magazine.

I have had a few sobering reflective moments this past week as stories have broken about violence in society (and Cape Town in particular) as well as the recent story about the incident in a local school. We have also been reflecting deeply on the issues within our own school that resulted in the school taking decisive action and the subsequent investigation and report issued by the independent panel to Council.

I worry that our society has become more violent and is using violence as a means to respond to disagreement, assert authority or settle scores. I worry too that our beautiful South Africa is disproportionately violent when compared with other countries. Whether this is true or not is debatable but we certainly have a reputation for violence that goes back many years.

In schools, one of the acts of violence, perpetrated for many years, was corporal punishment and it is a relief that most schools seem to have rid themselves of this when it comes to teachers. But not so, it seems, when it comes to pupils. I am not sure where this comes from as I do not believe violence is innate in each of us, but perhaps I am mistaken. It must surely be a learned behaviour from others who went before and those of us who suffered at the hands of corporal punishment and initiation practices should never glorify these moments as part of the “good old days”. There was nothing good about that kind of behaviour and emotional scars exist still today for those who were mistreated under the guise of “tradition”.

Either way, let us use the moments we have with our young men to teach peace, love and kindness. That there is always a way of resolving matters through dialogue and negotiation rather than by lashing out. Using violence as a means of entrenching a hierarchy and trying to assert dominance over someone else, usually younger, is totally and utterly unacceptable. Hierarchies need those at the top to model the kind of behaviour we seek – from older boys, parents and leaders in society. Our children look up to us for the example they want to emulate. We need to make sure the example we set is one of peace, kindness, mutual respect and understanding.

I ask that parents have these conversations with their children and promote and model these actions. Our world needs peace, our children need peace.

Kind regards

Antony Reeler
Principal

Academic Awards September 2025

Congratulations to the following boys who have been rewarded for their academic achievements:

Grade 12 Academic Tie:
Claudio Aliverti
Cameron Redfern
James Shortt
Heath Williams

Grade 12 Academic Jersey:
Adam Diggle
Dylan Martin
James Wilkin
Luke Reynolds (Cambridge)
Katlego Setai (Cambridge)

Kaapse Afrikaanse Eisteddfod

Last week we attended the Kaapse Afrikaanse Eisteddfod Prestige Evening. Congratulations to Joshua Dembaremba (voice), Travis Turner (piano), Yazeed Lalkhen (clarinet), Dominic Kotze (clarinet), Gabriel Comitis (violin - in absentia). Gold Medals for the Wind and Jazz Band. We are extremely proud of our boys.

Rowing

We are proud to announce that Nicholas Brits has been selected to represent South Africa at the African Rowing Beach Championships taking place in East London on the 28th and 29th of October.

This is an outstanding achievement and a testament to Nic’s dedication, work ethic, and passion for the sport. We wish him every success as he represents his country and continues to grow within this exciting and fast-developing discipline of rowing.

Water Polo

Bishops Wins St Stithians Stayers Tournament.

Bishops 1st Team Water Polo Triumphs at St Stithians Stayers Invitational
Last Sunday, the Bishops 1st Team Water Polo won the prestigious St Stithians Stayers Invitational Tournament for the first time in its 23-year history.

In the pool stages, the team delivered dominant performances:

• Michaelhouse: Won 14–3
• KES: Won 17–3
• Pearson: Won 17–1
• Jeppe: Won 10–1
• Losing to Rondebosch 1-3 to come second in their pool.

Advancing to the knockout rounds, Bishops continued their winning streak:

• Quarterfinal vs St David’s: Won 7–3
• Semifinal vs St Stithians: Won 7–3

In an all-Cape Town final, Bishops faced off against SACS. The team held onto an early 3-goal lead and maintained their composure to secure a 10–7 victory, crowning them champions.

Three Bishops players were selected for the Tournament Team:

• Matt Fenn
• Timothy Young – Defender of the Tournament
• Michael Mafunda – Goalkeeper of the Tournament

To cap off a remarkable week, at the Western Province Capping Ceremony on Wednesday evening, Bishops was voted Team of the Year for 2025 by other schools in the province—for the second consecutive year.

We congratulate the teams leaders on their recent appointments: James Malan (Captain) and Michael Mafunda (vice-Captain).

Congratulations to our 1st Team Water Polo team on achieving a well-deserved third place at the recent SACS Water Polo Tournament held during the holidays.

In the pool stages, they recorded victories against Grey College 12-3, Selborne 5-1, Pretoria Boys 9-3, Clifton 6-5, Parktown 15-0, St Albans 8-1, St Davids 6-3, and SACS 6-2. Their only loss in the group stage was to Paul Roos, 1-3.

These results secured their place in the quarter finals, where they defeated Hilton College 5-4. In the semifinals, they faced St Johns College in a dramatic match. Bishops scored a last-second equaliser, which was unfortunately disallowed, resulting in a narrow 7-8 loss to the eventual tournament winners.

In the play-off for third place, they overcame SACS 7-6.

Overall, the team can be proud of their performance, playing 12 matches and losing only 2.

U14A Water Polo Tournaments – September Break

The U14A team participated in two tournaments over the September break, showcasing both promise and resilience.

Rondebosch Tournament

We began strongly at Rondebosch, comfortably winning all our pool matches:

• Selborne: 14–3
• Bosch U14B: 17–0
• St Albans: 18–0

However, the relatively easy pool fixtures may have left us underprepared for the intensity of the knockout stages. In the quarter-final, we started slowly and couldn’t recover from an early three-goal deficit, narrowly losing 6–7 to eventual champions Kearsney.
The team bounced back impressively in the placement playoffs:

• Defeated Bosch U14A: 5–2
• Narrow loss to Paul Roos: 3–4 (5th/6th playoff)

Hilton Tournament

At Hilton, we again started well:

• Beat a strong Michaelhouse side 7–5 on penalties
• Dominated Jeppe: 14–1

A tough 3–7 loss to Kearsney in a competitive pool unfortunately ended our trophy hopes. Despite this setback, the team continued to fight:

• Wins against Westville (7–1) and Northwood (3–1)
• Final placement playoff: lost 3–4 to Paarl Boys

Upon reflection both tournaments featured challenging pools and high-quality opposition. The team learned valuable lessons in composure and match readiness. With evident potential and growing experience, they are sure to come back stronger.

Cricket

Congratulations to Drummond Mackenzie who received a mounted cricket ball for taking 6 wickets for the U14A side against Grey (Gqeberha), and Ethan Constable, who received a mounted ball for taking 5 wickets for the U15A team against St Andrews (Makhanda).

James Robb-Quinlan received two signature cricket bats after his incredible scores of 126 (93) for the 1st X1 against Dale College, and 107* (82) against Graeme College at the Cape School Cricket Week tournament which was held in the holidays. James also earned a well-deserved call-up to the Western Province Men’s Team, we wish you continued success in your cricketing journey.

Surfing

The 2025 Inter-House Surfing Competition was held on Wednesday 24 September at Blaauwberg Beach in 3-4 foot cross shore conditions that proved to be really challenging.

After the initial round of heats, the two finals were held.

Junior final
The junior final was contested by Mikey Todd (Birt) and Ryan Davies (Gray) with Mikey handling the conditions slightly better and taking the win for Birt House.

Senior final
The senior final included; Anthony Lampe and William Prestage (Birt House), Max Marr (School House) and Matt Hume (Mallet House). It developed into a very tight battle between Anthony and William with William emerging as the overall winner by a narrow margin.

The Interhouse surfing trophy for 2025 is therefore awarded to Birt House. Congratulations on these impressive performances Mikey Todd, Anthony Lampe and William Prestage.

Golf

The Bishops Inter House Golf Competition and Individual Champs were played on Sunday 19 October on a very windy afternoon at Royal Cape Golf Club.
Kidd House finished in 1st place and claimed the trophy by a narrow 1 stroke margin. White House finished in 2nd place with Mallett in 3rd place.

The individual competition was won by James Arkcoll (K) with William Verhage (W) claiming 2nd place. Macen Lesbirel was named the rookie of the year. Well done to all players involved.

Fencing

FWC provincial Fencing competition 2

Congratulations to Alex Horrell who competed in the Fencing Western Cape provincial competition this last weekend. He won his first medal, bronze, in the U20 epee event and silver in the U17 epee event - narrowly losing 12-15 in a fast and furious final.

Science Expo Medallists

A huge congratulations to our brilliant young scientists who represented us at the Eskom Science Expo 2025 with innovation, curiosity, and excellence!

Silver Medals:
Matthew Bennett and Reuben Futter – Microplastics in Water Bottles.
Yazeed Lalkhen and David Brink – The Physics of Rowing Strokes.
Nikolas Lowther – Power vs Cadence Cycling App.
Deen Rinquest – Angled Rugby Tee Design and 3D Printing.
Aidan Edwards – Van de Graaff Electrostatics in Agriculture.

Bronze Medals:
Kaleb Pillay – Bacterial Contamination in Ice Cubes.
Jude Khoury – Piezoelectric Silicon Foot Pads for Foot Protection.
Jonty Osler – Wi-Fi Transmission Investigation.

Participation Certificates:
Edward Wild and Travis Turner – Cymatics of Chladni Plates.

We are incredibly proud of your hard work, creativity, and scientific spirit. Well done, boys!

SPW Testing took place during the first week of September for all Grade 8–10 learners, with individual results shared towards the end of last term.

Below is an example of how a Grade 10 learner’s SPW Testing results might look if they have completed the full testing battery on every occasion. 
Learners are encouraged to use these results to:

• Track their progress over time,
• Identify strengths and areas for improvement and
• Set meaningful fitness goals.

For each test, the most recent grade average, 10th and 90th percentiles, and top score are included to help learners see how they compare to their peers.

Congratulations to Uya Sontshaka, Julian Edwards, and Caleb Clark, who were the top overall performers in Grades 8, 9, and 10 respectively.

The Bishops community’s ongoing support plays a vital role in VUSA’s impact in Langa. Please click HERE to view VUSA’s Term 3 Newsletter, which shares recent milestones and stories from the children and staff.

If you would like to get involved in any way, please contact Nikki Matthews at the Trust office.