FREEDOM DAY

Having used last week’s newsletter to give information about Klikd, I want to give you some feedback on our Freedom Day celebrations.  Our assembly on the Friday focussed on the origins of the day explained through a short video with boys seeing the visuals of that momentous election day and the significant break with the past that it signalled. Prayers were delivered in isiXhosa, Afrikaans and English and, while they expressed gratitude, they also hoped for an improved future for all our citizens. The National Anthem, sung with great enthusiasm by all, concluded our assembly.

Together with Wynberg Boys, we had planned something out of the ordinary for our Saturday morning rugby. Wynberg had had a large South African flag painted in the middle of their main field. To emphasis our togetherness and unity as a people – previously divided by apartheid – our boys shook hands with their counterparts before each game instead of just after the game. Later in the morning, Mr Cedric Poleman, WBJS Headmaster, addressed the crowd on the significance of the day and how playing together was such a good way to celebrate our democracy. Singing the National Anthem together – not something we often do with another school – was a really moving experience.

On a personal note, as a Wynberg old boy I was moved, on this special day, to observe the differences between my time there and now. I well remember playing on the same fields in the 1960s and the 1970s and how different our community was then: all white boys, mostly Christian (although there was a significant number of Jewish boys due to the large Jewish community then in Wynberg), all white teachers and, during my high school years, predominantly a male teaching complement. In fact, there was only one female teacher. How different it is now. All races, religions and cultures together in one school, boys, teachers and parents, and women coaching rugby, such a far cry from my time.

And while thirty years into our democracy there is still so much broken in our country, with still so much to be done, and with so many politicians interested in self-gain rather than the needs of our people, seeing the change in our school is really a symbol of hope, hope for what can be accomplished. In my day I was fortunate enough to be taught by a number of politically transformed teachers who managed to fit in an alternative curriculum to that of the national one. But there was no certainty of real change then, in fact the government was redoubling its efforts to retain white minority rule. So many of my classmates sadly left the country convinced that it would never by transformed. So, from that hopelessness of the 1970s to what we had on Saturday gives me hope for our future – how much can be achieved if the will is there, if our leaders make moral decisions and we all do whatever we can, small as it might be, to create a better future.

We will be hosting Sun Valley and Kirstenhof at Lutgensvale on Saturday and we will once again be offering refreshments.

Please can you volunteer your services for just 30 minutes so that these refreshment stations can function optimally.

Please click HERE to book your shift.

Please click HERE for the fixture information.

 Details of the event:

• 11 June 2024
• 15h00 to 17h00
• Transport will be provided to the venue and parents can either collect from Total Ninja or back at school.
• There is no limit on the number of Grade 4s who can attend. (There will be 30 VUSA learners attending)
• The cost is R270.00 which includes 1 hour of play, socks, meal and a drink.

If you would like your son to attend, please register HERE and pay using this link: https://pos.snapscan.io/qr/PRqUFqgU

Spelling Bee Champion Record Holder!

Congratulations to the indomitable Grade 5 speller, Ande Mogotlane, for winning and therefore holding the new school Spelling Bee Championship record: 3 years in a row! Unbee-lievable!

The remaining Bee Finals finish this week, good luck to all spellers!