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THURSDAY 8 February 2024
Dear Parents

As I write, there is the background noise of cricket bags being rolled past, always a sound to celebrate summer. And tomorrow there is our annual Athletics Championships, so a late day for everyone – although every boy will participate in at least one event. It promises to be a great mixture of fun and competition.

MANNERS
Every year we work on the manners of our boys, as they do at Pre-Prep and at College and as I am sure you do at home. It really is a long term plan and we have to start as early as possible, going right through the teenage years and even into early adulthood. Good manners do impress, but this cannot just be a surface, rote, drill-type action. We know what that looks like. Manners are based on respect for and acknowledgement of others, children to each other as well as for adults and, of course, for us, adult to adult.

Our approach is that greeting is a form of welcome and acknowledgement for another. No-one is invisible, we are all worthy of respect.

Offering to help a visitor or assisting someone with a heavy load shows our wish to help anyone in case of need.

Boys standing up and greeting when an adult arrives or enters a room shows respect for the adult. Within the school context teachers, indeed all staff, are addressed by their title and surname or “sir” or “ma’am”. Many find the latter quite charming, sort of old speak, but it really shows deference, young to old, respect for others and the seeing of others for who they are and their role.

It was very heartwarming to see a couple of our Prep boys at a shop close by a few days ago and their interaction with the shop assistant. They greeted her, “Hello ma’am” with a smile, “Could I have …..…” and when receiving the goods, looked at her, smiled and said, ‘Thank you, ma’am”.  They did not notice me until afterwards. They will definitely receive mitre badges, both as an acknowledgement for their behaviour and as an example to others.

Seeing actions such as these are always gratifying for a parent or teacher, but I was also struck by the quiet confidence it gave the boys. Training boys in good manners also gives them confidence. In being expected to greet and be polite, they had the tools to engage with an adult in a particular context in both an appropriate and enriching way for them and the shop assistant in this case.

Let’s continue to work on this together. Expect your children at home to greet visitors, stand to welcome adults, make others feel welcome. It comes very easily to some but more slowly to others, but it does instil a respectful nature and develop positive social skills.

It is a job for every day. Boys forget and have off days, so it is a constant education and, of course, we have to model this for them.

Kind regards

GREG BROWN
HEADMASTER
DIARY Dates
Friday 9 February 2024 Outreach Valentines Civvies Day

Please see details under TAKE Note
Saturday 10 February 2024 Chinese New Year

We wish our Chinese community peace and prosperity for the year ahead.
Friday 16 February 2024 No sport on Friday afternoon or over the weekend

Wednesday 21 February 2024 Athletics Quadrangular

Time: 14h30
Venue: Lutgensvale
No other sport
Thursday 22 February 2024 Ashes Service

Time: 11h00 to 12h00
Venue: Memorial Chapel
Boys must wear No 1s
Parents cordially invited
TAKE Note
Civvies Day Collection

Civvies day will take place on Friday 09 February. On this day we will collect dog and cat food, blankets, bowls, brushes and toys for our two chosen charities: Animal Anti-Cruelty League and Stanford Animal Welfare. Boys can drop their items first thing in the morning at the library.

BSU - Insightful Parenting
If you are interested, please RSVP using this link: https://forms.office.com/r/X1zaAkwhQX.
NEWS
World Read Aloud Day
It was so heartwarming to see, right across the campus, groups or pairs of boys in different grades reading stories aloud to one another and listening with such enjoyment! Please visit our Facebook page for more photos.
Weekly Winners

The Polo Panda was awarded to the U11C team this week for showing great tenacity during their match on Friday.

The Weekly Cricket Awards are as follows:
The Hershelle Gibbs award for Catch of the week was awarded to Rhys Lategan for taking an outstanding catch at point to dismiss the opposition’s main batsman.
The Vince van der Bijl award for Bowling Performance of the Week was awarded to James Campbell for taking 4 wickets for 12 runs during an inspiring spell of bowling.
The Jonathan Bird award for Batting Performance of the Week was awarded to Evan West for scoring 100 not out during a very calculated knock.

Well done, boys!

House Get-togethers
Boys, parents and siblings all had a wonderful time at their various house get-togethers last Friday, whether it was a braai at the pool or a picnic on the beach. Please visit our Facebook page for lots more photos.
Music News
Our first Assembly Concert took place on Wednesday. 3 boys and 4 music staff performed a lovely programme.
Back row: Frances Brand (clarinet), Nikki Fyvie (piano accompanist), Stuart Scott (Euphonium), Judith Rhodes-Harrison (piano)
Front row: Mingjun Qiu (piano), Harry Edwards (piano), Leatile Magoro (piano).
Grade 4 News

Grade 4s had fun investigating living things that appear to be non-living in the Science Lab yesterday.

    BISHOPS PREPARATORY SCHOOL
Fir Road, Rondebosch, Cape Town, 7700
Phone:+27 (21) 659 7222 | Fax: +27 (21) 659 7227