Dear Parents and Guardians

Last week we bade farewell to our Grade 12 group and their parents in a wonderful celebration, firstly through the acknowledgement of the top achievers in the Prize-Giving and then in a moving and emotional Valedictory Service in our Chapel. This was a special time indeed.

The Matrics began the day with a walk down the avenue to “close the circle” of their time at Bishops. They began here five years ago, walking down the avenue to enter the school and they left, walking the avenue one last time. The Prize Giving was an opportunity to acknowledge the remarkable achievements of so many of our boys and my congratulations go to those who were recognized in public for their efforts. My congratulations go to our leader group of Nic Allison, Ayanda Bonoyi and Ben Hatty for their superb addresses that were very well received.

The Valedictory Service is always an emotional one and this year was no different. An inspiring message from Mr Wandile Nzuza accompanied by a thoughtful programme from our Chaplain and some inspired singing meant that our Matrics left the Chapel one last time as pupils with special memories of the core of our school.

My thanks go to the many staff who made this possible and who made sure that our Grade 12s had an appropriate sendoff. My thanks too go to Chair of Council, Mr Crispin Sonn for his attendance and support as well as the many special guests who were there on the day for our boys.

At the Prize-Giving, I announced the new leader group for 2023/2024 and we congratulate the new Heads and Deputy Heads of House who are recorded later in this newsletter. Special congratulations go to the new Head of School, Ben Anderson and his two Deputy Heads, James Grieve and Immanuel Magongwa on their selection. We wish them well for their term of office as they lead the school in its 175th year of existence.

This week, the Students’ Representative Forum (SRF) held its elections and I am pleased to announce that Caden Chuang has been elected as Chairman of the SRF. Caden will join Ben, James and Immanuel as the leader team that meets with me every fortnight to discuss matters of relevance in the College.

Staff Appointments

We are still in the process of appointing staff in the Music Department and may have to make temporary arrangements while we secure the permanent services of suitable teachers to replace Mrs Basset and Mr Carletti.

As you are aware Felicity Clemence, our Admissions Officer will be retiring from Bishops after over 30 years of service.

We are pleased to inform you that after an extensive recruitment process, we have appointed Ms Dawn Hutton to take over from Felicity.

Dawn relocated to Cape Town from KZN with her two sons in 2019 and is currently working as PA to the Principal of Cannons Creek Primary.  She is also Secretary to the Board of Governors and is responsible for Admissions.  Previously Dawn was PA to the Headmaster and Senior Admissions Secretary at Highbury Preparatory School. We look forward to having Dawn as part of our Admin Team and welcoming her to Bishops at the start of 2024.

Around the school…

The Buildings and Grounds Committee of Council has been busy and at our meeting this week, reviewed the recommendations of our consultant with regard to energy as well as the progress made on the new building, amongst other issues.
The Committee is taking a long-term view on energy and looking towards the solution I shared with parents some time ago, namely using batteries and solar energy where at all possible, covered by back-up generators for emergencies. Our current solution is working well with the generators covering our needs, but we want to make sure our long-term solution is not only efficient but also as environmentally friendly as possible and cost effective.

The NLC building is progressing well and is still on track for a mid-July opening. The boys and staff have been very patient during this project and I thank them for putting up with access issues and some noise. The end product will certainly be worth it!
You may have noticed that the school is replacing our perimeter fence in stages. After a recent security audit, we planned an upgrade of our fence to ensure all the boys within our campus are as safe as possible and that we are able to control access.

Final thoughts

This Friday, we held our first assembly with our new leader team and Ben Anderson had an opportunity to address the school. My assembly message, published below as usual, spoke to lessons from sport I have observed in the past few weeks. I hope you enjoy reading it.

While I bade farewell to the Grade 12 parents in the last newsletter, I wish any of them reading this one the very best as they help their son navigate his final exams. To the Grade 11 parents who take over as Matric parents, I wish you well for this journey. Matric passes by in a flash and I urge you to make the most of the year, attending as much as possible in support of your son and his College.
Kind regards

Kind regards

Antony Reeler
Principal

Six lessons from sport

Today’s address is six lessons I have learned from sport from these past few weeks. Many of us have been absorbed by the various sporting contests that have taken place with the Rugby World Cup taking up most of the media space and discussion.
Lessons I have learned or had reinforced these past two weeks:

Rugby World Cup

1. It’s never over until the final whistle. In both the quarter-final and the semi-final of the rugby, the Springboks looked like they would leave the field without the win, yet key moments changed all that. An unlikely and seldom-seen charge down by Cheslin Kolbe and a long-range penalty by Handre Pollard in the quarters were moments that changed the game and changed history. A massive scrum effort by Ox Nche and others that led to a last-gasp penalty changed the course of the semi-final and both games that could quite easily have been lost, were won.
2. Trust your team – have faith in them as a group and trust your leader. The unity in the Springbok side is amazing and an entire country has united behind them. There is no talk of tokenism, no provincialism – simply a united support for the best players to do their best.

Cricket World Cup

1. If ever there was a global tournament that has gone about its business quietly it is the cricket world cup, playing second fiddle to the rugby except in host nation India and other non-rugby nations. There have been some amazing games, often unnoticed. Sometimes hype is not good for performance and less pressure makes for better results.
2. It is possible to forget mistakes and poor performances and bounce back. After the Proteas lost to the Netherlands, there was talk of choking – same old same old. Yet what happened a few days later? They smashed the current World Champions and a great team, England, by over 200 runs. What seems impossible can be possible if you put away the past and focus on the future. Nothing in the past can be changed and we have no control over what has happened but we can control how we approach upcoming events and how we go forward in our lives.

Beckham

1. I was absorbed by the Netflix documentary on the life of David Beckham, ex England soccer captain. I know many of you have watched it, but two things in particular struck me. Firstly, there was a time when Beckham was playing for a team and the manager said he would never play for him. He may be a contracted player but he didn’t want him on his team. What did Beckham do? He came to training every day, training on his own. He kept going because nothing was going to stop him. He was determined to show his team and his manager that he believed in himself and was committed to the sport and his team, no matter how he was treated. And he played again…
2. Secondly, after being sent off in a World Cup game, Beckham was vilified by those who were previously his greatest supporters – the public and the press. There were the most awful things said about him. He was booed by crowds for weeks, treated appallingly and his wife also suffered abuse at the hands of the crowds and the press. Not once in the four-part series did Beckham say anything unkind or in response to the abuse he suffered. Never once did he criticize those who took him apart. This was his chance to get even, to justify his actions. Not a word – just dignity and never an unkind word about those who had been unkind to him. What a lesson for us all as we often seek to justify our behaviour or get back at someone who has been unkind to us.

These six things have sat with me for the past two weeks and I think of them often. Never give up. Trust your team and trust your leaders. Don’t hype up games and events – just go about your business. Bounce back from defeat. Believe in yourself and don’t ever stop trying to be better. Remain dignified and humble, even when others are trying to take you down and repay their efforts with kindness and no retaliation.
If you haven’t watched Beckham, I recommend you do but also that you use life’s experiences, those that affect you directly and those you witness, to teach you lessons about yourself and about how to manage yourself in the future.

“Be bigger than your ego, kinder than your pride and humbler than your accomplishments.”

― Hiral Nagda

New Heads of School

Congratulations to our new Heads of School for 2024!
Head Boy: Ben Anderson
Deputy Heads: Immanuel Magongwa and James Grieve
We wish you a wonderful and successful year leading our College!

Head and Deputy Head of Houses:
Founders House: Lukholo Sidina and Ross Stewart
School House: Immanuel Magongwa and James de Jager
White House: Iviwe Dadamasi and Wa-keem Fortuin
Gray House: Thomas Ludlam and Cameron Giles
Ogilvie House: Bryn Parry and Michael Kotze
Kidd House: Robert Forrest and Ben Hendrikse
Birt House: Andrew Betty and Louis du Preez
Mallett House: James Grieve and Gareth Mckinon

SRF:

Congratulations to Caden Chuang who was elected as the 2024 Head of the SRF. We have no doubt that you will continue to build on the brilliant platform that Nikolaos Augoustatos and his committee created over the last year.
Thank you, Nik, for all your hard work, passion and dedication to Bishops and our SRF student body. You have set the bar high with your standard of excellence.

Special mention must be made to Peter Westwood who has led the SRF for almost 30 years and mentored and assisted the boys every step of the way. Peter retires this year, and in honour of his years managing the SRF, the boys have named their gavel 'The Westwood Gavel'. Thank you, Peter, for all you have done for our school and the SRF over the past few decades.

Matric Prize Winners

Please click here for our prize winners.

175 Celebrations

Our 175 celebrations are almost here and our art students got creative and made a few beautiful commemorative pieces at their recent visit to the Clay Cafe as well as new art for our reception area! We are loving their creative interpretation!

Interact

The Bishops Interact society has raised over R7 000 towards the 9 Miles Project. An organization that helps impoverished kids, teaching them to surf and become surf instructors themselves. They also provide art therapy, educational programmes and life skills. Well done to our Interact team, we are extremely proud of their achievements.

Debating and Public Speaking

Congratulations to Caden Chuang who was ranked second best speaker in the recent Cape Town Open university debating competition - the highest ranking a high school student has ever achieved. The Cape Town Open is one of the most competitive debating tournaments in Africa where high school students have the opportunity to compete against university students and graduates who are older and have more experience. Caden's team also finished in the semi-finals - the youngest high school team to make it to this level.

Our Bishops Public Speaking Team gave an excellent performance at the National Individual Public Speaking and Debating Championship in Durban. All six boys placed in the top 30 speakers, with Caden Chuang placing sixth overall and Matthew De Jager placing fifteenth overall. Caden and Matthew will form part of the South African team who will be competing at the World Competition in Canberra, Australia in 2024. Well done to the boys!

Inter House Golf

The Bishops Inter house Golf Competition and Individual Champs was played on Sunday 15 October on a beautiful afternoon at Royal Cape Golf Club.
Birt House finished in 1st place and claimed the trophy by a narrow 3 stroke margin. Gray House finished in 2nd place with Kidd House in 3rd place.
The individual competition was won by Jack Crafford (K) with Sebastian Dorward (G) claiming 2nd place. Arman Patel was awarded the rookie of the year award. Well done to all players involved.

Water Polo

Our Bishops 1st Team water polo had another successful weekend following their impressive win over Rondebosch the previous week. This time, they played two away matches against Paul Roos and Reddam on an extremely windy morning in Stellenbosch. Bishops managed to secure victories in both games. What made the weekend even more special was witnessing our Captain, 'Pops' Ben Hatty, playing his final match for the 1st Team, which also marked his 100th appearance for the team. Ben has been a remarkable asset to the side, consistently displaying exceptional skills and contributing to the development of a strong team culture. Thank you Ben, for all you contributed to Bishops polo!

Cricket

Bishops standout performers v SACS this weekend. From left to right: Peyton Leigh 5/38 for the 1st XI. Waco Bassick 6/24 (including a hat-trick) for the 15As. Ben Koenig 5/19 for the 2nd XI. Kashief Joseph 159 for the 1st XI. Well done to our cricketers!

The 1st XI played against Middlesex Schools from the UK under the lights on the Frank Reid. Congratulations to Wa-keem Fortuin and David Handley for making their debuts for Bishops 1st XI!

Swimming

Well done to our Bishops swimmers who performed well at the recent combined gala. U/14 Breaststroke - Rhys Haupt - 00:32,96 - 2nd place U/14 Backstroke - Christo Le Roux - 00:33,22 - 3rd place U/14 Butterfly - Christo Le Roux - 00:31,66 - 3rd place U/16 Butterfly - Rhys Haupt - 00:28,40 - 3rd place U/19 Butterfly - Joshua Mettler - 00:28,09 - 3rd place U/14 Freestyle - Christo Le Roux - 00:27,33 - 2nd place U/16 Freestyle - Rhys Haupt - 00:26,53 - 3rd place U/19 Freestyle - Joshua Mettler - 00:25,89 - 3rd place.

Gymnastics

Well done to Daniel Heyneke, who recently competed in the SA Gym Games 2023 (Gymnastics Nationals).
He had his best SA Games ever, coming 10th overall in South Africa (and 3rd Western Cape Gymnast) out of 28 boys/men who competed at this level.
Daniel placed 6th on Parallel Bars, 9th on High Bar, 10th on Pommel, 12th on Rings, 14th of Floor and 15th on Vault.
We are so proud of Daniel and his fantastic results!

Basketball

The U16 Bishops basketball team recently participated at the Wynberg Boys High School Basketball Festival. With dedication and enthusiasm, they gave their all on the court, resulting in a memorable performance. Throughout the tournament, our U16 Bishops team participated in five thrilling matches. They secured victory in two of these matches, demonstrating their determination and teamwork. Despite facing some tough competition, their sportsmanship and unwavering commitment shone through. A remarkable highlight of the tournament was the outstanding performance by Thuso Theledi. His incredible skills and resilience helped him secure the title of the highest-scoring player for Bishops.

Knysna Midway Regatta

The opening regatta for the 2023/2024 rowing season was the Knysna Midway Regatta!

On Friday 13th the Bishops rowing club set out for the long trek to Knysna. The Regatta is formatted over two days with a day of 1-kilometre sprints on Saturday and a Heads race on Sunday.  Over the years the Knysna Regatta has earned a reputation for its tough windy conditions and awesome location. However, the regatta is seen to be of extreme value to all of the Western and Eastern Cape schools as it provides great practice for the school's first Quads and first Eights for Boatrace.
 
This Year’s regatta was no exception to the regatta’s reputation with a large majority of Saturday’s Sprints being called off due to un-rowable weather conditions. However, Sunday proved to be an excellent day of racing with beautiful and serene conditions.  A special mention must be made to the junior rowers for their hard work and dedication at the regatta, this being echoed through their results.
 
The first regatta was a roaring success for the club and proved a great learning experience all around. With Misverstand Sprints around the corner, the future looks strong for the club and its athletes.
A great start to what looks to be a promising season!

Summer Road and Trail Running Captain

Aiden Marsh in Mallett House has been appointed as the Captain for the summer season of Road and Trail Running. We wish him well in his leadership tenure.

R30 000 Cash Award at Mayor's Science and Innovation Fair

David Lewis, Noah Macnab, and Daniel-Reid Diedericks earned substantial accolades at the inaugural Mayor's Science and Innovation Fair, held on Saturday October 14.

The project undertaken by Lewis and Macnab skilfully converts carbon dioxide into soap, which earned third place overall, winning the duo a R10 000 cash prize. Additionally, the Mayor contributed a R20 000 cash prize to the school which will further solidify the science department and Democritus Society's commitment to advancing scientific endeavours. This victory adds another layer to the Democritus Society’s aim to excel in science and engineering projects, building on their previous success in winning R5 000 in a bridge-building competition. Although Daniel-Reid Diedericks did not secure an individual prize, his project was included among the top 20.

The Mayor's Science and Innovation Fair was launched with the aim of igniting scientific curiosity among Cape Town’s youth and has made a stellar start in nurturing a new generation of scientific innovators. The accomplishments of these boys, backed by the unwavering support of the Democritus Society and the Science Department, highlight their potential to make significant contributions in the field of science.

Kilimanjaro 2024

We are currently planning our 175 Bishops Kilimanjaro expedition, we are still at the planning phase, however we call to all families who are interested and would like more information to contact pcourt@bishops.org.za.

The VUSA peer learning progamme, which was started earlier this year by Caden Chuang and Landa Tsobo, also known as “Top G” is growing from strength to strength.  Bishops boys are now teaming up with Herschel to amplify the VUSA peer learning program in Langa every week. These young leaders are providing crucial support to primary school students in Homework, English, and Math. Plus, for those inclined toward sports, there's an opportunity to join VUSA coaches on the rugby field. To get involved, join the WhatsApp group HERE to stay updated on their weekly visits, typically scheduled for Wednesdays and Thursdays. It's a remarkable collaboration dedicated to making a meaningful impact on education and community engagement.