Dear Parents and Guardians

Welcome back to College and to the start of the 2022 academic year. A special welcome goes to all parents of new boys, mostly in Grade 8 but in the other Grades too. I hope you and your son enjoy your time at Bishops and feel welcome. While we have tried to provide as much information to you as possible, if you need to know anything or have concerns, please reach out through the channels of communication that have been clearly explained. If in doubt – ask your son’s Tutor and s/he will be able to direct you to the most suitable person.

The year has started well with various programmes taking place even before the start of term. This included a very successful orientation programme for our Diocesan Scholars in Grade 8, those boys who have earned a scholarship or bursary and spent two days getting to know each other and the school. Our rowing boys enjoyed a camp in Swellendam to which our new Grade 8 rowers were invited. Our U15A and 1st XI cricketers took part in the Peninsula Cricket Week with excellent results and won all 10 of the 10 games played. The term itself began with an alternating Assembly and Eucharist, the first Eucharist in over 18 months, and it was wonderful to welcome the boys back to what we hope will be a year full of activity and fun.

It was with sadness though that, before the start of the year, we learned of the passing of one of SA’s icons, an extraordinary human being who taught us so much, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The “Arch” as he was known, played such an important role in the history of our country as a committed activist for justice and change in the apartheid days, as the leader of the TRC, as an outspoken critic of government and corruption and as so much more.

As leader of the Anglican Church, he was also Visitor to Bishops and spent many hours on our school campus, the last time in 2015 when he was the guest of honour at the International Boys Schools Coalition conference, addressing over 500 people from boys’ schools around the world. Many of us will remember his fiery rhetoric, his gentle admonishment, his infectious chuckle but I will remember a picture that was burned in my memory of him lying with his head on his arms towards the end of the TRC hearings. He had heard so much pain and suffering he couldn’t continue – he was human after all.

We mourn with the world at his passing. His memory lives on at Bishops in our Chapel where is name is proudly on one of the wall panels, a tradition afforded all Visitors to the College, and in the Admin Block where we managed to put up a series of photographs of him before he passed, acknowledging his extraordinary contribution to Bishops and to our country and our world. May his beautiful soul rest in peace.

Covid

The campus has been abuzz with activity these first two weeks and it has been wonderful to see the boys active, parents socialising and the school come alive. While protocols still require screening, mask wearing and limit attendance, we have been organizing as many events as we possibly can. I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many parents and being able to engage with them, something we have been starved of these past two years. One of my stated goals this year is to build relationships with the boys and parents, which has been impossible to do under the pandemic.

While protocols around contact tracing and quarantines may be relaxed shortly, we remind parents that if their son is ill or has flu-like symptoms, he must not be sent to school – even if there is pressure to write a test or play a match.

Prize Giving

We will continue with our new format of Prize Giving on 11 February, holding the ceremony to acknowledge the Grade 8 – 11 prizewinners from 2021. By doing so at this time of the year, we are able to assess the full academic year gone past. It also allows for us to focus solely on the Grade 12s at the end of each year as they leave College with a day comprising Prize Giving and Valedictory. It is our intention to continue this in the future.

Due to restrictions of numbers indoors, we will be holding the function outdoors on the Piley Rees early in the morning to avoid the heat. While attendance is primarily for the boys, we warmly invite the parents of prizewinners to attend, if you are able to do so. The ceremony starts at 08:30 and guests should be seated by 08:15. Parking is on the campus but also on the Sahara Field if necessary. The list of prizewinners will be put up in the school four days before the event and boys can communicate with their parents then.

2023 Term Dates

The 2023 school calendar has been finalized and appears on the school website to enable parents to plan ahead. This calendar was shared with various schools to align ourselves and allow families with children in multiple schools to have similar holidays.

Diversity, Equity and Belonging

We will shortly be releasing a video that gives parents an update on the transformation journey thus far. While much of last year was focused on reaching the hearts and minds of teachers and the staff, we will focus on our boys this year and have created portfolios within each House to address this issue. I continue to encourage parents and their boys to engage with the school and share thoughts and ideas as to how we can create a space where all feel they belong and are appreciated for who they are.

Our library audit was completed, and work has started in all three libraries to address issues raised in the audit. This included a need to “weed” outdated and irrelevant books and actively acquire books and resources that better reflect our country and our community while also allowing our boys a global perspective.

The Transformation Committee of Council will shortly be releasing our Anti-Racism statement that will, very clearly, state our position.

Final Thoughts

I wish you all well for the term and the year ahead. No matter what Grade your son is in, he will have ambitions and goals for the year which I encourage you to discuss with him. Let us hope for a successful and happy 2022!

Kind regards

Antony Reeler
Principal

At this morning’s assembly I spoke to the boys about the difference between practice and match situations and how pressure affects performance. This does not only apply to sport and I encouraged the boys to practise under similar conditions under which they would be required to perform in any activity.

Free Throws and Two-Foot Putts

Sport fascinates me and the lessons we learn from the sport we play are often very valuable indeed.

In basketball if your opponent fouls you under certain conditions, you are entitled to a number of free throws, where you stand a short distance from the basket and try and throw it in without anyone challenging you. I see many players standing for hours practising free throws getting eight, nine or ten in a row, yet in a match, we often miss. Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketballers ever, had a free throw conversion of 83% which meant he missed about one out of every five he took in a game.

In cricket I sometime see junior players in particular battling to score runs, hitting the ball directly at fielders who prevent them from scoring.

In water polo I see players who were given the chance to shoot a penalty – 5 meters from the goal with only a goalkeeper to beat, and miss the goals completely. I am sure these players practise this a lot and they could score at will then, but in the game situation they missed.

And then I play golf, as you know, and despite standing for many hours on the practise putting surface, knocking in putt after putt from two feet, when it comes to the game situation, I often miss.

So what do these stories have in common? Pressure and perspective. The pressure we put on ourselves or the pressure our teammates, opposition or crowd put on us makes us perform worse.

When we are in pressure situations, our bodies release adrenaline and produce the hormone cortisol. Cortisol boosts blood sugars and adrenaline causes things like a quickening pulse and rapid breathing – you are ready for fight or flight. But while these chemicals may help you in a situation such as a five meter scrum you have to defend, they won’t help in the situations I described above that require calmness, coolness and a level head. So what can we do to help this?

I have some suggestions for you – and this applies not only to these sports but anything that we practise again and again only to fail at when we perform. Firstly, put yourself under pressure when you practise – imagine tough moments, get your teammates to get in your head and practise slowly closing them out, blocking off their influence. Practice how you need to perform – under pressure.

Secondly, when we are excited, when we are in a happy place and bursting with energy, our body releases adrenaline and cortisol – exactly the same hormones as when we are under pressure. So – instead of thinking about how much pressure we are feeling, think about how much excitement there is and how happy you are to be in this special moment. This simple tool of telling your brain that your feeling of pressure is actually excitement and anticipation can change your outlook and change your performance. While the body produces exactly the same two chemicals, you can have an influence on the effect of these chemicals by using the power of the mind to overcome what the body wants to do. Any top sportsman consciously blocks the negative effects of the chemicals in their bodies.

In cricket for example, use this positivity to change perspective. When a batsman walks out to bat and takes guard, most batsmen look around to see where the fielders are – and then hit the ball directly to them thus failing to score. You see, our brains register that a person is there and give us a target – an object to aim at, and so we do. We subconsciously try to hit that target.  What about looking at it differently? The next time you walk out to bat, look instead as to where the gaps are – where the holes are you can hit the ball to. Set your target not as the players but as the spaces. In water polo aim for the gap rather than the goalkeeper. Look to see where the goalkeeper isn’t rather than where he is. A simple change in attitude that persuades the brain to behave differently and succeed.

These simple things – practising under pressure to get used to how it feels, telling yourself that nervousness is actually excitement and looking for the opportunities instead of the hindrances may just make a difference in your sport. And indeed, any situation where practice and performance happens under different conditions.  

Ladles of Love

In the wake of Covid, a small group of Bishops families started supporting a Sandwich Drive managed by Ladles of Love, an organization that does remarkable work in feeding South Africa’s hungry.  We have two moms on board who are involved with NGO’s in the areas where the feeding takes place and both have attested to the fact that this feeding is still very much needed, and it is allowing parents to worry less about their children being hungry and actually become more productive themselves.
From the Ladles of Love website:  “Sourcing and distributing food donations is one thing. Ensuring that food is prepared and ready to eat is a whole other ball game. Through the Sandwich Drive we can get ready-to-eat food much faster and more effectively to those who are hungry, while giving South Africans ways to do volunteer work from home.” (https://ladlesoflove.org.za/donate-sandwich-drive/)

It is important that we teach our boys to contribute to the communities around them and this is a very easy and cost effective way for them to make a meaningful contribution.  We will be starting our sandwich collection this coming Monday, 31 January.  Please do get a loaf of bread each and suitable spreads available to your boys and get them spreading slices on Sunday night.  The bread bag filled with sandwiches need to be placed on the benches in front of the Memorial Chapel on Monday mornings.  (guidelines on making/packing the sandwiches:  https://ladlesoflove.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/LadlesOfLove_FSGuidelines.pdf).  One of the Bishops drivers will then take the sandwiches to a Ladles collection point.
It would be fabulous to increase the number of families contributing sandwiches weekly.  Please email Anne Stevens (astevens@bishops.org.za) to have your name added to the reminder list for these.  At one loaf per boy, Bishops has the potential to make over 6000 sandwiches weekly.  We would love to start getting close to even half of this!

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 cellphone 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.

The Sports coaches will be increasing the use of 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.

Water Polo News

We extend a warm welcome to our 1st team Water polo coach, Jabulani Sibiya. Jabulani has spent the last 3 years coaching at SACS before making the move to Bishops. He was the coach of the WP Boys u16A team at the 2021 ITP where he led the team to a gold medal. He is also the South African Senior Men’s assistant coach for 2022.
We wish Jabulani well as he begins a busy season with the polo boys.  

Pictured getting ready to depart Cape Town International for the St Andrew’s Shield Water polo tournament.
Nicholas Steinhagen (1st team captain)
Jabulani Sibiya (1st team coach)
Dean Sneddon (1st team vice-captain)
Getting ready to depart Cape Town Int. for the St Andrew’s Shield Water polo tournament.

IPT 2021

A number of our boys represented WP at the inter-provincial tournament hosted in Cape Town over the holidays.

Some notable results:

Jonathan Roche (OD – 2021) won a gold medal with the U19A team. He was also the captain of the team.
Benjamin Hatty won a gold medal with the U16A team.
Jordan De Sousa and Ross Walker won a silver medal with the U15A team.
Daniel van den Heever and Noah Edmunds won bronze medals with the U14A team.

Tennis

Ben MacFarlaine was the runner up for the Tennis South Africa (TSA) Western Cape Mini Masters Tournament (top 8 ranked players Men’s Open division of 2021, by invite only) which was held between the 26th and 28th November 2021.
The WP Schools U19 Trials were completed in December 2021 and included the Cape Schools Interzonal competition, and a final trial Tournament of 3 days (for the top 32 boys). Ben was undefeated in all his matches and won the tournament and will, therefore, be representing the WP Schools Team (6 players) as the No. 1 player for the Inter-Provincial Tournament to be held in March 2022.

We are very proud of these top achievements.
Congratulations to Chris Hodgson who has been selected as the captain of Tennis for 2022. We wish him well and success for the teams ahead.

Rowing

On the 10th of January Bishops Rowing Club, including the new Boys, took to Bufflesjag Dam. A stunning scene, poised under the steep Cape Mountains, where the Bishops boys were training three times a day.

A successful introduction for the grade 8's to Bishops rowing, and a valuable training time for the older guys who got miles in on the water.

Last weekend, the Nick Whaits Memorial Regatta took place on Saturday and Western Cape Champs on the Sunday.

Bishops had a fantastic weekend, despite the heat and wind, pulling off a number of 1st place victories!

Congratulations to our boys!

Cricket

Abel Mokwena and Cricket South Africa (CSA) Cubs Week

1st XI cricket captain, Abel Mokwena, represented the 'Southern Superstars' at Cricket South Africa's (CSA) annual Cubs Week played in Stellenbosch from the 10th to the 14th January 2022. Cubs Week sees the top u19 cricket talent from across the nation competing against one another on a regional basis. The 'Southern Superstars' won three; tied one and lost one with Abel scoring 55 in the match v the 'Eastern Warriors'.

Congratulations to the following Bishops' cricketers on their 50+ scores and/or five-wicket hauls v Paarl Gym: Michael Kotze 1st XI: 25-8-33-5 Andrew Dallas 2nd XI: 55 Samuel Stavely-Alexander 15A: 104 Joseph Bolus 15C: 58*.

Bishops' 1st XI and 15A at the Peninsula Cricket Festival

The Bishops' 1st XI and 15A cricket sides represented the school at the 20-team Peninsula Cricket Festival (PCF), staged in Cape Town, between the 11th and 15th January 2022. The PCF is arguably the most prestigious schoolboy cricket festival in the country and, it is an undoubted feather in the school's cap that both sides returned perfect - and highly-impressive - five-from-five win ratios and a combined total of 10 victories from a possible 10. The 1st XI registered wins v St Charles' College (declaration); Waterkloof (declaration); Pretoria Boys' (50 overs); Affies (50 overs) and Hilton (T20). The 15As followed suit with consecutive victories, in the same formats, against St Charles' College; Waterkloof; Grey College; Affies and Hilton. Special mention to Kashief Joseph (1st XI) for scoring 113 v St Charles' College; Storm Matthews (1st XI) for taking 6-61 v Waterkloof and to Fayyaad Domingo (1st XI) for all-round and consistent excellence during the festival in the form of a combined 183 runs and 12 wickets. Adnaan Lagadien (15A) deserves praise, too, for scoring 207 runs in four innings at an average of 51.75.

Fencing

The Cape Open held in the first weekend after the end of term 4 saw Aidan Richards winning gold in the U17 epee event. Many new fencers participated for the first time, Landa Tsobo, Thomas de Waal and Daniel Thom and in foil, Kieran Hollis and Sebastian Boeddinghaus. Aidan and Daniel Richards are now ranked 1st and 2nd in U17 epee and have been selected as part of the South African junior team to the Junior African Championships to be held in Lagos from the 23rd to the 27th February 2022. Congratulations to both fencers, who now earn their South African Fencing Colours.

All Rounders Ties

Congratulations to the following boys for being awarded all rounders ties:

Sam Berrisford
Oscar Blatch
Liam Day
Malick Majiet

Service Tie Award

Johann Steyn

Congratulations to current 1st XI scorer, Johann Steyn, who, after two years - and counting - of dedicated service to Bishops' Cricket, has been awarded a Service Tie.

Cricket Awards

Congratulations to the following boys who scored centuries recently:
Kashief Joseph - 116 for the 1st XI vs St Charles
Samuel Stavely-Alexander - 104 for the U15A team against Paarl Gym

The following boys took 5 wickets or more in a match:
Tiaan Louw - 5 wickets for 6 runs for the 1st X1 against St Charles
Storm Matthews - 6 for 61 for the 1st X1 against Waterkloof
Michael Kotze - 5 for 33 for the 1st X1 against Paarl Gym

Bishops created a programme that launched in 2020, SPW. The Sports Performance and Wellness programme, aims to achieve a holistic development of the boys by addressing their conditioning, performance, wellness, rehab, and injury management. The programme focuses on developing gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination at the Pre-Prep, which progresses to a more specialised conditioning programme that targets high-performance sports development and promotes general wellness at the College.

Click on the link for a more in depth look at how the team manages the programme and what it entails on a day to day basis.

https://youtu.be/bXIqG3EjfMw

Welcome to all new boys and parents!

The Old Diocesan Union (ODU) would like to welcome all new parents to the school. We are a part of the Bishops family that you have now joined.

The ODU has over 8,000 members and 29 Branches spread throughout the world. Communications are highly networked and there are a multitude of social media platforms.

Activities include Class Reunions; Mentorship programmes; Events; Bishops Community Week and Founder's Day; liaison with other Alumni Associations; The Invest In our Future Foundation (IIOFF) and a close working relationship with the School Executive; the Parents Association (both Prep and College) and The Friends of Bishops.

In partnership with Citadel, the ODU is building the Invest In Our Future Foundation (IIOFF) which invests in the education of our youth, and raises funds to support Bishops students who require tertiary educational support.

https://youtu.be/_V4n5QzW59w