Dear Parents
It has been wonderful to have the boys back again, looking healthy, relaxed and bright eyed, after a long holiday. We have tried to make the return a little less frenetic for our boys and staff this week so that there is a gradual progression to the full programme next week.
A particular welcome to all our new boys and their families, the Grade 3s as well as those joining Bishops in Grades 4-7.
STAFF
New staff members this year are Ms Shameemah Allie who is a final year education student doing a year’s internship in Grade 3; Ms Jamie Southgate is joining the Phys Ed Department in a Sports and Conditioning capacity. She comes to us from the Sports Science Institute and is also a member of the South African Women’s Indoor Hockey team.
There are also some changes in responsibility that I want to you inform you of:
Willem Louw has completed his tenure as Brooke Housemaster and I thank him for his energy and passion in Brooke over the last ten years. Gareth Jordan takes over as Brooke Housemaster and Naadia Luzmore takes over his position as Assistant Housemaster of Bramley.
Brendan Fogarty’s ten years as HOD of isiXhosa has also come to an end. We are grateful to him for overseeing the transition in isiXhosa to a more communicative approach and in the introduction of isiXhosa First Additional Language as an option to Afrikaans. Thami Siko is the new HOD of isiXhosa.
Thami Siko and Bruce Mitchell have both stepped down from their positions of Van der Bijl Assistant Housemaster and Head of Squash respectively. Both have brought their particular skills and personalities to these positions. Laurelle Fry and JP Dudley take over from them.
We congratulate Khwezi Mqomboti on his appointment as Director of Sport at St John’s Prep in Johannesburg from 1 May 2023. This is a loss for Bishops but a well-deserved promotion for him.
GENERAL
Next week we begin our academic and extra-mural programmes in full so please do assist your boys in organising themselves each day for the first week.
Also, being summer, and what looks like a particularly hot one, please ensure that your son has a Bishops cap which he brings to school every day. We follow a “no cap, no play” rule.
Form teachers are looking forward to meeting you next week. Meetings should be no longer than an hour and I hope that you will be able to attend.
Wishing you a happy, peaceful and fulfilling 2023. May our boys love their school experience, deal appropriately with disappointments and difficulties and continue to grow and develop on the path to becoming good men.
Kind regards
GREG BROWN
HEADMASTER |
