Dear Parents and Guardians

I trust the exam session is going well for your son and that he has settled into a good study routine that is combined with exercise, healthy meals and sleep. There is just over a week to go before the exams finish and I ask you to encourage him to stick with the task at hand until the very end.

There is endless research that has been done on the benefits of exercise when it comes to study time. It is clear that continuing to exercise and play sport actually improves academic performance and I remind parents that we expect our boys to continue to honour their sporting commitments during exams.

Load shedding

I wrote to you earlier this week to inform you of the unfortunate situation we now face of experiencing load shedding. We have been lucky that for many years we were not affected by power cuts – nobody knows why but we were quietly grateful. Now that load shedding is with us, we simply have to accept it and cope, as so many others have for so long.

My thanks go to the parents who wrote in with offers of support and assistance. It is greatly appreciated and I have passed on all these mails to Mr Sean King who is leading our quest for solutions, both temporary and in the longer term.

Our temporary solution of mobile generators has not been without teething problems, but we are resolved to make it work, particularly for our boarders in the evenings. We have ordered inverters and batteries for each boarding house to enable us to have emergency lighting and wi-fi but as these needed to be made, we will only receive them in two weeks’ time. Until then, our generators will power the boarding houses.

The scale of the challenge is interesting with not only two industrial kitchens to power, one of which is used exclusively for baking so requires ovens, but also the multiple geysers that heat water, lights, wi-fi and so on. I mentioned generators as a possible solution but also mentioned that we will be looking at all options open to us as we seek to find a solution that is as environmentally friendly as possible, quiet, sustainable and effective. It appears as if a hybrid model of sorts may be best, combining inverters and batteries where possible and generators for the areas that draw large amount of electricity. Either way, it will be a challenge but one I know Mr King and his team are ready for! We are determined to make the best of the situation and look after our community.

Final thoughts

I forget, sometimes, that my responsibility as Principal extends to the Prep and Pre-Prep as we have such competent leadership there but every now and then I get a chance to engage with the staff and boys, seeing what they do. I attend the Prep assembly every Monday and it is always a delight to hear about what has happened over the weekend. I also go to the Pre-Prep on Mondays and it is always a pleasure to be greeted with such enthusiasm by these young boys.

I managed to attend the Pre-Prep performance of Aladdin and the Prep ensemble concert which were such uplifting and inspiring moments. My thanks go to those in the Prep and Pre-Prep who make all this magic happen. The foundation laid there and indeed at all our feeder Prep schools is invaluable and we are very grateful for the work done by the teachers in those phases.

I am looking forward with much anticipation to the Eisteddfod and the Inter-House singing in particular. I remind parents to ensure they purchase their tickets as soon as possible.

I wish you well for the next few weeks.

Kind regards

Antony Reeler
Principal

Assembly for Grades 8 and 9

No rules

I used to play a game with the rugby teams I coached to relieve the stress and boredom of routine practices. It was called “no rules”. Simply put, I would toss them a ball and they would do what they liked. It was not only a break from routine, but it was also a social experiment of sorts – which I only did with them once. And what happened was fascinating. For the first while there was chaos as people piled onto each other in a seething mass of energy and vigour. And then, as the seconds ticked by and they realised nothing was happening, something strange actually happened. They started making up their own rules – how to win, how to score a point or points, what was considered no-go and what was ok. This social experiment showed me something – that we as human beings crave rules. We want to know the boundaries and while we may test them, we want them to be there.

You see, from birth, we set rules. As soon as we can talk, we engage with other small children and set rules in our play – you can go here and can’t go there. I’m going to be in charge, you have to stand still if you are caught and so on. We set these rules partly because we learned rule-making from our parents but also because we like structure and we like order in our lives. My rugby team made up rules for themselves, but they existed because they wanted structure – a self-imposed structure. Even amongst the animal kingdom, strict rules apply – obviously not written down but rules that govern hierarchy mostly when feeding and rules of engagement. 

As humans, most of us crave this order and structure, despite fighting against it often. We like knowing what we need to do and what is expected of us. One of the hardest parts of your lives awaits you still as you leave school for life at university or college. At school, things are organised – far more so than at universities. And many people struggle initially with this relative freedom, taking a while to adjust.

Despite us saying we would like a space without rules that restrict our movement or perhaps our thinking, we do crave some semblance of order – some kind of structure. It makes us feel comfortable, safe and secure. I don’t think we are ready for life without rules. As long as those rules make sense. Human beings hate pointless rules which is why we go to great lengths to explain why we set the rules we do as a school.

Let us look briefly at uniform rules – why do they exist? The word “uniform” is a clue in that we wear the same in order to show identity and belonging to a group. It symbolises unity – equality even. Wearing things that are not uniform signifies individualism and while we do try to “inspire individuals” we also try to create a sense of belonging which we do through wearing the same clothing. It is important therefore that we do just that. We have so many chances to express ourselves in what we wear and so few to show we belong to something bigger than just us. Why do people wear shirts supporting their sports team? To show they belong to the same group. Conforming to uniform rules doesn’t diminish our individualism, it enhances our community. So do it properly please!

So while I always encourage you to think for yourselves and to question systems and structures, we have to acknowledge that those structures keep us safe, teach us things we need to know and are there largely for our benefit. Instead of fighting these rules, work with them and understand their intent.

Finally, if we did indeed have to have a world with one rule only, I return to the age-old universal rule taught to all children of all backgrounds. Taught to all members of religious communities around the world – do unto others that you would want done to you. Treat them as you would like to be treated. 

This weekend our boys take on Paarl Gim for a full weekend of Hockey and Rugby.

We encourage you to join us on campus and support the boys live in action.
Click on the links to view the programmes.
Rugby Programme
Hockey Programme

A reminder for all parents to register for the My School Programme and swipe every time you shop at Woolworths, it is a community initiative and enables us to contribute towards many worthy causes.
Register on www.myschool.co.za and please select Bishops as a beneficiary.

School-Days is another rewards programme run at Dis-chem, it is online and will not require a card. Please visit https://www.schooldays.co.za/app and register - adding Bishops as a beneficiary. Every time you spend at Dis-chem we raise edu points for the community.