PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION AGM

Thank you to those of you who attended Wednesday night’s online AGM. The following six parents were nominated and will now form the new Committee for the following year:

Nida Hendrickse, Mkhuseli Lujabe, Fika Madubela, Shanita Sam, Nivi Singh, Karine Young.

I do wish to thank the outgoing Committee:

Ettie Chahwahwa, David Dalling, Nida Hendrickse, Zanne Horrell, Brian Khoury, Mkhuseli Lujabe, Delene Mark, Daniela Wakeford.

Delene Mark, Ettie Chahwahwa and Daniela Wakeford have all served for three years. The Committee takes the lead in the rugby tuckshop every Saturday but they have also done major work in outreach with St Paul’s and Athwood Primary schools as well as VUSA, both in financial terms and actual connection with them.  And this continued during the Covid lockdown. If you look across the Avenue fields you will see the “huge” new jungle gym, that the Grade 1s are excitably enjoying and experiencing every day, complete with a new astro surface. When the Rossall precinct is complete, we will have a special commemorative bench dedicated to Archbishops Desmond Tutu’s legacy and every boy is painting a tile that will clad it: all thanks to fund-raising. The Committee has often brought issues from yourselves to us and has been a useful sounding board for the school. An enormous thanks to those who served on the Committee this year.

BISHOP ROBERT GRAY’S ANNIVERSARY

Yesterday, a very cold Spring day, marked the 150th anniversary of the death of Bishop Robert Gray, the first Bishop of Cape Town and founder of Bishops (as well as St Cyprian’s and Zonnebloem College). Robert Gray could not have envisaged the Bishops of today but he laid the first foundation for the church school that we are, welcoming families of all faiths, and teaching and attempting to live out the core values of the Christian faith in a manner which is inclusive and inspiring. His foundation stone has been built on extensively by successive generations of staff, parents, boys and ODs. Robert Gray’s wife, Sophy, was a woman ahead of her time as she contributed extensively to the work of the church, travelling across the country and designing forty churches, including St Saviour’s in Claremont where both are buried. Yesterday, Paul Murray, our archivist and museum curator, laid flowers on their graves in commemoration of their contribution.

Both our Family Service on Tuesday (where it was wonderful to be joined by so many parents) and the Pre-Prep Grandparents’ Day Service on Wednesday (600 grandparents attended!) had the theme of the calling of Samuel from the Old Testament and his positive response to that call from God. The Grays too responded to that call leaving the comfort of Durham to brave the heat of Africa and the rough and ready Cape Town as it was then.  My thanks go to Father Monwabisi Peter, assisted by Mr Totso, who led the services, together with the special participation of a number of boys; both truly uplifting services.