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THURSDAY 9 November 2023
Dear Parents

KINDNESS MONTH
On Monday we launched Kindness Month at the Prep; we all aspire to be kind always, but we can so easily not be, especially when things do not go our way, or we are upset about another’s action, or in a playground-school context, kindness can be seen as “soft” or “uncool”, regrettably.

We invited Suhayl Khalfey, last year’s College Head Boy, to address the boys on this subject; kindness was the theme of his parting address as Head of School at last year’s Matric Prizegiving. He told us his story. He arrived at Bishops in Grade 4 after the kindness of one of his father’s patients who had recommended Bishops to the family and Suhayl to Bishops. A new boy, first time at a boys only school, it took a while to settle, but the kindness of a few boys who befriended him made all the difference to him finding his feet and growing to love the school.

As he had exhorted his fellow matrics to live lives characterised by kindness, he explained to our boys what this meant to him and how kindness could look. We will continue this theme in Life Orientation and in Form classes over the next few weeks and next year we want to continue on the same trajectory from different angles. We have to empower our boys to be kind and give them the tools and language to focus on being kind when sometimes the nasty or spiteful appears easier or even justified.

Hopefully we as the adults, can model this, living as we do in a fast, robust and competitive world. Our boys are quick to pick up on any unkind comments we might make within earshot of them. As I have pointed out before, social media does not give them the best example, where so many of the -isms abound and are made to appear amusing and smart.

STAFF
We congratulate Laurelle Fry, currently Assistant House Director of Van der Bijl and Grade 3 class teacher, on her appointment as Head of Junior Prep at Western Province Prep. She takes up this post in January and we wish her well as she moves into senior management.

Cindy Anstey, who previously taught Grade 3 with us, and has been in Grade 2 for the last few years, will move back to Grade 3. We are currently advertising for a Grade 2 teacher.

Two other staff who will join us next year are Zuks Ncube in Grade 4, currently substituting between the Prep and Pre-Prep after a few years teaching in Japan, and Andrew Dunn who will take over a Grade 5 class. He is presently teaching at Somerset College after having spent a few years at Steyn City Prep School in Johannesburg. We will introduce them more formally at the start of next year.

DIWALI
We wish all our Hindu families a very happy celebration of Diwali over the weekend. May it be a special time with friends and family.

Kind regards

GREG BROWN
HEADMASTER
DIARY Dates
Friday 10 November 2023

Remembrance Day

Grade 3 Family Picnic

Time: 17h30 to 20h00
Venue: Stanmore Field

 

Tuesday 14 November 2023 Grade 5 to 7 Pop-Up Art Exhibition

Time: 07h30 to 09h00
Venue: Jagger Hall
Wednesday 15 November 2023 Leavers' Concert

Time: 19h00 - 20h00
Venue: Jagger Hall
Tea to be served in Annex from 18h15
Friday 17 November 2023 Catch Up Winter Group Photographs

Please see further information under TAKE Note
Thursday 23 November 2023 Summer Group Photographs

Further details to follow
Friday 24 November 2023 Relay Sports

Time: 07h30
Venue: Lutgensvale
TAKE Note

Outstanding Winter Group Photographs

The following photographs;  U10 – 12 rugby and hockey, squash and chess will be taken on 17th November.

Cape Foto will be back on 23 November to take summer photographs and any other photographs that need to be taken. More details to follow in next week’s newsletter.

Athletics

As we approach Relay Sports in two weeks, age group practices will now include field events as well as track. It is open to all, 16h15 to 17h15 at the Lutgensvale track.
Monday u12, Tuesday u13, Wednesday u9 and u10, Thursday u11.
NEWS
Brooke House News
The Brooke House Grade 3 and 6 Leadership/mentorship afternoon took place last week. Thanks to Extreme Scene for taking the boys through various team building activities. They were challenged, had to work closely together to finish each task and left with a better understanding of each other and the various complexities of being a productive team player.
Bramley House News
Bramley Grade 6 boys had a great time last week at Tekkerz soccer park, playing five-a-side soccer and eating pizza. Please visit our Facebook page for more photos.
Van der Bijl House News
The Van der Bijl Grade 4 and Grade 5 boys had a fantastic time at the Rollercade last Friday, where they honed their roller skating skills and made new memories. To cap off the week, the Grade 3 and Grade 6 boys engaged in spirited games on the Rossall field and enjoyed a refreshing swim during their Mentorship fun activities last Sunday. It was a joy to witness the boys unwinding and having a blast!
Music News

Our Grade 4 string ensemble were awarded a Gold medal for their Kaapse Afrikaanse Eisteddfod entry. Congratulations on a well-deserved award.

A number of boys also received silver medals from the Kaapse Afrikaans Eisteddfod. These medals were awarded at the Prestige Aand held on 13 October 2023. Well done, boys!

 

Art News

The Artists of the Week were chosen from Grade 7.  These boys used blade cutters with great skill to create paper cut landscapes of buildings in Cape Town. Please click HERE to view all the artwork. Well done to the following boys:

7B Cameron Brown, Mohamed-Irhsaad Davenhill, Julian Edwards and Ibraheem Taliep
7P Max Craig, Alex Osborne, Robbie Sherman and Adam Tanfield
7S Luca Grunenwald, Matteo Toweel, Troy Webb and Nicholas Young

Maths News
Some of our Grade 7 boys took part in the Micklefield Mathematics relay competition last week. Several schools brought teams of 4 who were then mixed up with other schools, creating teams that had to solve problems in a relay format. It was an enjoyable experience for our boys, them having to learn how to work with unfamiliar people to achieve a common goal.
Water Polo News
The Polo Panda was awarded to the Under 13A team this week for a great game against SACS. Well done, team!
    BISHOPS PREPARATORY SCHOOL
Fir Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town, 7700
Phone:+27 (21) 659 7222 | Fax: +27 (21) 659 7227