NEWSLETTER

MICHAELMAS TERM

No 6/2013

Dear Parents

Recently I was reminded that we need to constantly see the world through the delight of the little boys in the Pre-Prep, where everything is seen with wonder and awe. I was invited to the Grade 0 Nativity play and arrived a few minutes late, which enabled me to see the delight on the faces of parents and grandparents. After watching a charming Nativity play, Mrs Lane congratulated the boys and said, Now you can take a bow. One young man piped up and said, But I have already taken my bow! As adults we lose that sense of wonder and awe at the delight and treasure that life offers. We need to remind ourselves that little boys smile about 300 times a day, while they say old men only smile about 3 times a day. I am not sure who measures this, but there is a lesson in this for us - to hold our anxiety and fear lightly and to see the delights and treasures of life every day. We have had an excellent term, and the school is flourishing. This newsletter reflects on some of those highlights. I am particularly delighted by Justin Boyces success in the Science Olympiad and his selection to represent South Africa at the International Science Olympiad in Los Angeles, California from 11-16 May 2014. It is also wonderful to see the acknowledgment of James Sulter and his poetry. Please read his poems as they are evocative and a delight. Mr Warwick Taylor leaves us to take up a position as Headmaster of Saheti. He has served St Johns since 2001, when he was appointed as Head of Department: Science, and latterly as Deputy Headmaster. We have appreciated Warwicks academic leadership, and his Christian faith. He is an excellent teacher, role model and mentor, and he has left his mark on the lives of boys, teachers and St Johns College. Mrs Marilyn Jardine retires to Somerset West, after serving the school since 1986. St Johns College has benefitted from this wonderful lady, who is always generous and kind, always dedicated and loyal. She has been an excellent leader of the Afrikaans Department, with a great love for Afrikaans, which she has made enjoyable for the boys in her classes. We wish her all the best as she takes up a full-time role as granny maybe ouma, and helps in the local library. Mrs Toni Williams has been our Director of Marketing since 1998, after helping with the Centenary office since 1993. Toni is another special person, who has given of herself to St Johns College over many years. Without doubt, she has loved St Johns and fought to maintain standards, particularly in the area of branding and marketing. She has been instrumental in the success of so many functions and activities, publications and advertisements, always promoting excellence in all she does. If you were a rider in the 94.7 cycle race this year, you would have seen all the banners giving a bit of Va Va Froome to the riders. This was the result of Toni seeing the opportunity to congratulate Chris, but also to acknowledge his roots in the school. Toni has become a leading school marketer, helping to establish an ISASA Schools Marketing Association. We wish her all the best in her retirement.

Mrs Jenni Millward has served as the College Librarian, Archivist and Museum Curator for 14 years. Jenni has turned the Library into a wonderful space, which reflects on the tradition of St Johns College and its rich heritage, but at the same time, has made it a safe place for boys to read, work, and gather. Jenni has created it as a boy-friendly space, a talent she also brought to the many clubs and societies she has run, where she has taught our boys about the fascinating history of St Johns College and its hist oric buildings. We wish her a wonderful retirement. From the Mathematics Department we say farewell to Mrs Ronelle Janse van Rensburg, who is moving with her husband to Nelspruit, where Jacques takes up an appointment as headmaster at St Peters School in Nelspruit. We thank her for her service and her expertise and wish her all the best. Mr Mbuyi Koli has loyally served St Johns for eleven years, and has given of his best. Mbuyi in his quiet, professional way has given of his expertise in the Maths Department. He leaves us to take up the position as Head of Department: Mathematics at St Barnabas College. Dr Belinda Huntley leaves us after four years. We thank her for her mathematics knowledge, which she has shared enthusiastically with all the boys in the College and with the 6th Formers. Mr Matthew Taylor has been a popular boarder Housemaster of Hodgson, and an excellent English Teacher. He leaves us to take up a post on the Isle of Man at King Williams College. His service as Master-in-Charge of Rowing was acknowledged by the Rowing Club by naming a boat after him. We wish him all the best as he takes up a position at Father Nashs old school. We also say farewell to Mr Bossert, Housemaster of Nash, and and Mrs Bossert, Boarding house Manager. Both have served St Johns faithfully and with great love and passion. They have worked extremely hard for the boys and have known and loved the boys in their care, Chris as an Afrikaans teacher, rugby coach, golfer and Housemaster and Mariolette as mother and manager of all the cleaning and laundry, as well as so many extra kindnesses to boys. We thank them and wish them all the best as they take on the task of running a private resort in Schoemans Kloof, Mpumalanga. Mr Adrian Carolan takes up a position at the University of Johannesburg to establish a sports analysis unit using videography. We thank Adrian for his contribution to all our sport as a Videographer and Sports Analyst, as well as his contribution as a hockey coach, and life orientation teacher. We wish him all the best. We also thank Ms Hayley Cameron for her contribution in a part-time capacity for the past two years in the Art and Drama Departments. Mr Craig Olyott who has served as an Intern in the English Department, leaves us to take up a teaching post. To all the teachers who have worked hard and with commitment and loyalty to the education of our boys and girls a big thank you. I wish all our teachers, parents and boys and girls a restful and refreshing holiday season. May the Lord bless and keep us, and make His face shine on us and give us His peace.

Roger Cameron Headmaster

Michaelmas Term Cultural Awards 2013

MUSIC Half Colours Suleiman Sacranie Colours Angus Mackenzie Kiyan Kurji Grant Carroll Honours Stephen de Souza Vincent Pansegrouw Hamish Mollett Aashish Diayar ORATORY Colours Sbonakaliso MG Nene

Naming of the Boats

On Sunday the 5th of November at the Gauteng Championship Regatta at Roodeplaat Dam, two newly acquired boats were named and blessed by the St Johns Rowing Club. The two boats consisted of a junior quadruple scull and a single scull, and were named and honoured after Mr Matthew Taylor and Mrs Marilyn Jardine. The boats were blessed by Father Jaques Pretorius, who gave a very significant account of the reference of water in the bible and how it is used to symbolise cleansing and strength. Matthew was elected as the Master-in-Charge of rowing in 2008 and served the rowing club for three years in this position. He was instrumental in building the club to where it is today. In 2011, Matthew was appointed as Hodgson Housemaster, which prompted him to relegate his position in the rowing club. He will be leaving St Johns at the end of 2013 to take up a teaching post at King Williams College on the Isle of Man. Marilyn has taught at St Johns for 27 years, as well as being the HOD for the Afrikaans Department. She be retiring at the end of 2013. The rowing club honoured both Matthew and Marilyn for their services to St Johns.

Remembrance Day: Custos 2014 - Oliver Gnodde

Just a few lines to let you know that I have been pipped by lAllemand, but have recovered, and am quite well. In fact, the wounds were slight; two of them from the same bullet, one in the back and one in the wrist. Both were quite clean and healed up in a few days. So I shall soon be getting back to the boys to have another smack at the Fritz. I have a German helmet, with one of my shots right through it. This particular German came running up with his hands up. But halfway through he stooped and picked up a rifle, so I let him have it. This excerpt was taken from a letter, from Private Allen Weir, a South African, who fought in Delville Wood. The sheer brutality of WW1 is evident in this letter, from him casually mentioning that he has been shot twice, or the indifferent air to killing another man. WW1 was the most brutal war the world has ever seen, made famous for its massive loss of human life and dehumanizing tactics. Over the course of the war, an estimated 37.5 million men were lost from both sides. In one battle, the battle of the Somme, there were more casualties sustained than during the entire of the Vietnam War. South Africa, and St Johns in particular, has a strong connection to the battle of the Somme. It was in this 17-day battle that the battle for Delville Wood occurred. Delville Wood was a small wood in the Somme area that was of large tactical importance to both sides. It was held by the Germans but was needed by the Allies, so the South African Brigade was ordered to take and hold the wood at all costs. The ensuing battle was one of the bloodiest of the whole war. The plan was to send the 3155 men of the brigade in for 48 hours. They would then be relieved and the attack would sweep on. Initially, the battle went well, with all but the small Northwest corner being cleared. Then however came the German counterattack. The wood was open on 3 sides to German fire, which came in the form of strategically placed machine-guns and snipers. The lack of mobility and trenches meant that most of the fighting was hand-tohand, with knives and bayonets. The battle raged for 5 days straight. During this time, two of the heaviest bombardments of the entire war were dropped on the wood, which was about the same size as St Johns is now. Around 400 shells a minute were fired for a period of 6 hours. By the end of it, only 619 men of the original 3155 were able to walk out of the wood. In a war where a 30% casualty rate was considered to render a regiment incapable of fighting, the fact that these men sustained an 80% casualty rate and still held the woods turned them into living legends during the war. To put these numbers into perspective, it would be like the whole of St Johns going into that wood, but only the Removes walking out. Though there were many stories of bravery, one stands out for me. This is a letter describing it. I was awfully sorry to see in a paper that Father Hill (the same Father Hill that Hill house is named after) has been wounded; I can only hope it is slight. Only a week or so ago I was hearing of his bravery in Delville Wood. It appears that 30 or 40 yards from a trench held by our men was a well. The men were suffering frightfully from thirst and two made the attempt to fetch water. Both were killed at once. Later, Father Hill came along and said to the men; why dont you get water from that well? They pointed to the dead men and said, They tried; look at them. The next thing they knew, Father Hill was going across to the well and continued to go backwards and forwards for the rest of the day carrying water under heavy fire. I think it is as fine an act as I have heard of. But one wouldnt expect anything else from him. The soldiers themselves knew that they had been through hell, and so a few days later, when the fighting had moved on, they went back to the wood and carved 5 crosses from the remaining few trees that stood. St Johns is lucky enough to house 1 of these crosses in this very chapel, 1 of only 5 in the world. We have it because not only were we the chapel for the 1st South African infantry brigade but also because several Old Johannians fell in that battle. And so that, my fellow Johannians, is the story of Delville Wood, and of our Delville Wood cross. That cross is a symbol not only for the brave men of the College who died far from home, fighting on foreign shores. It is not only a reminder of South Africas bloody involvement in the War. It is a memorial for all the men who died fighting for what they believed to be to be true and honourable, for their homes, their families and their freedom. And that is why we must never forget.

On the Night Photography Competition

The winner of this years competition is Emile Engelbrecht for his excellent photograph of the fireworks.

Congratulations to Bradley Dial and Ndumiso Mvelase on being selected to represent Gauteng at the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Cricket Week taking place in Durban from 16 21 December 2013.

Boys News A remarkable pair. Cyril Ramaphosa and Jason Hinde. Jason Hinde (L4) aged 15 donated one of his uncle's magnificent wildlife photographs to the Adopt-a-School Foundation for their London fundraiser. The piece sold for GBPS 4,000 equating to R72,000. Jason has taken it upon himself to ensure that the 20 pieces that were donated to him by his uncle Gerald Hinde are creating opportunities to raise money for worthy causes. When St John's Grade 9 pupil Jason Hinde (14) donated a photograph to a charity auction recently, he did not imagine it would raise a whopping 4,500 (R72,000) for children's education. The photograph of a leopard by wildlife photographer Gerald Hinde was sold at an Adopt-a-School Foundation fundraiser held in London recently.
Boy's art donation raises funds for Cyril Ramaphosa's Adopt-a-School Foundation

The event was hosted by Cyril Ramaphosa, founder and chairman of Adopt-a-School Foundation, a non-profit organisation that mobilises support from companies and individuals for school development.

Ramaphosa took his fundraising initiative to London for the first time with events guru Suzanne Weil coordinating the dinner at the Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square. The evening's contributions raised in excess of 330,000 for Adopt-a-School Foundation. "I felt honoured that Mr Ramaphosa included the photograph in the auction and then invited me to his office to thank me in person for my contribution," says Jason. Mr Ramaphosa gave me a signed copy of his biography 'Cyril Ramaphosa' written by Anthony Butler. Inside cover, our future president wrote "Jason. thank you for supporting the Adopt-a-School Foundation with the donation of a photograph. You have demonstrated that you care about other people. Please don't stop. Grow up to do good works." Uncle, Gerald Hinde donated 20 photos to Jason's fundraising campaigns and nine have been sold so far. The sale of the photos has benefited children's education as well as vulnerable leopard and rhino.

Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2014 Following on winning a gold medal in the National Science Eskom Expo, Justin Boyce has been invited to represent South Africa at the 65th Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) that takes place in Los Angeles, California from 11-16 May 2014. What is up with the sun? - Exploring the correlation between solar CMEs and the solar sun spot cycle: Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and the solar sunspot cycle are both caused by intense activity in the suns magnetic field and therefore a strong correlation is expected. We have found that this correlation is strongest during the onset times of the solar cycle. We suggest that predictions on the future activity of CMEs can be made using the repetitive pattern of the solar sun spot cycle. Understanding CMEs is important due to the effect they have on Earth. We are very proud of Justin and wish him well as he prepares to r epresent St Johns College and South Africa. James Sulter UV 2013 James has won a prestigious poetry award: the United Kingdom Basil Bunting Poetry Competition. Two of his entries were short-listed in the U18 section and one has won the competition. James accepted the invitation to read his poetry at the prizegiving which is being held on Friday 29 November at the Queens Hall in Hexham, just outside Newcastle-upon -Tyne in Northumberland, and flew to England immediately after his last matric exam. The poetry has been judged by Sir Andrew Motion, a former Poet Laureate, who will be awarding James his prize on Friday. Sir Andrew will also be reading some of his poetry, as will the prize winners at the event. We are inspired by Jamess work. His poetry is fine: delicate, perceptive and living. This is the third competition he has won this year, and augurs well for his purpose in life to be a writer. James, you are already a writer. Well done.

Old Johannian News

James Jardine (Thomson 1994) has been awarded his Ph D in Computational Linguistics from Cambridge University.

PRAY
Who? Where? When? Why? Parents, guardians, friends, family Community room Thursdays 7.30am 8.30am (whenever you can) to develop spiritual root systems and community stability Eugene H. Peterson Enquiries: Susan Bentley 082 882 5210

Music
TRINITY RESULTS 2013 NAME Audrey Ayo Matthew Taylor Wesley Kohler Abram Schonfeldt Angus Mackenzie Michael Siebert James Channon Kiyan Kurji Andrew Fletcher Hamish Mollett Suleiman Sacranie Grant Carroll Stephen de souza Krischan Mumbi Stephen Hunt Vincent Pansegrouw Kaleem Ahmid Matthew Lillie Benedict Didcott-Marr INSTRUMENT Piano Piano Guitar Guitar Trumpet Jazz Sax Saxophone Jazz Sax Saxophone Trombone Violin Violin D/Bass Recorder Recorder Recorder Recorder Harp Recorder GRADE 4 6 4 5 7 6 6 7 8 8 7 7 8 6 8 8 8 7 7

ABRSM RESULTS 2013 NAME Aashish Diayar Brandon Mackenzie Andre Venter Willem Burger Sibonelo Magagula Pano Pouroullis Calum Harding Claudio di Giacomo Abu Sagar William Kerr-Phillips INSTRUMENT Violin D/Bass Violin Cello Cello Piano Piano Piano Flute Flute GRADE 8 4 7 5 5 6 6 5 3 3

Rugby Training Camp 9 13 January 2014 St Johns Rugby is holding a training camp with a senior rugby group from the 9th to the 13th of January 2014, using the latest equipment, similar to that used by the Springboks, with special focus on the breakdown area. All our rugby players have access to the gym and training programmes which they can use over the holidays. Morne Heunes Master-in-Charge

Water Polo The following St Johns College boys have been selected to represent the Central Gauteng Schools water polo teams at the SA Schools Champs in East London from 07 10 December U19A Boys 1. Alex Kuttschreuter 2. Chase Peers 3. Dan Trninic 4. Jason Chemaly 5. Roarke Olver U16A Boys 1. Hugh Ledlie 2. Matthew Irvine 3. Nicholas Bielderman 4. Ross Rugheimer U15A Boys 1. Ashley Lyne 2. Byron Ledlie 3. Malcolm McCallum U19B Boys 1. Christopher Strong 2. Christopher Thurling

U16B Boys 1. Marc Langschmidt 2. Michael Siebert 3. Tanner Barclay

U15B Boys 1. Adrian Ionescu 2. Gabriel Baard 3. James Shelton 4. Jamie Benn 5. Max Baard 6. Robert Hardham U13B Boys 1. Garyn Berry 2. Simon Shelton

U13A Boys 1. Luca Allasio 2. Stefano Cavalieri 3. Michael Smith

In addition to that the following St Johns/OJ Eagles coaches/players will be coaching at the tournament:
Nicholas Rodda (Prep and College Coach and OJ Eagles player) will be coaching U13A Girls. Garreth Prout (OJ Eagles player) will be coaching U13B Girls. Tebogo Letschaba (OJ Eagles player) will be coaching U14A Boys. Dylan Mason (OJ Eagles player) will be coaching U14B Girls. Jon Marc de Carvalho (OJ, College Coach and OJ Eagles player) will be coaching U15A Girls. Pierre Le Roux (OJ, College Coach/Staff) will be coaching U16A Boys. Andrew Ridley (OJ Eagles player and St Johns College & Prep former Coach) will be coaching U19B Boys. Etienne Le Roux (OJ Eagles player and OB) will be coaching U19A Girls. Vlado Trninic will be coaching U19A Boys.

CRICKET: 1ST WEEK PRACTICE/TRIAL SCHEDULE - 2014

TEAM U14 U14 U14 U15 U16 OPEN DATE MONDAY 13 JAN TUESDAY 14 JAN WEDNESDAY 15 JAN WEDNESDAY 15 JAN & THURSDAY 16 JAN WEDNESDAY 15 JAN & THURSDAY 16 JAN WEDNESDAY 15 JAN & THURSDAY 16 JAN TIME 09:00-11:00 14:30-16:30 14:30-16:30 14:30-17:00 14:30-17:00 14:30-17:00 VENUE MITCHELL NETS MITCHELL NETS PREP NETS RICE INDOOR MITCHELL

SATURDAY 18 JANUARY CRICKET FIXTURES VS ST BENEDICTS

2 November 2013 Dear Parents THE SCHOOLS SPORTS CONCUSSION PROGRAMME 2014 The arena of sports concussion science has altered significantly in 2013. It has always been understood that the failure to recognise concussion may lead to serious consequences including persistent symptoms, difficulty learning and even death. The emerging concept of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a condition manifesting as an array of neurological and psychological symptoms years after suffering unrecognised and repeated concussions, has made the expeditious and appropriate treatment of head injuries that much more important. In assessing concussions as much information on brain function change as possible makes for the most accurate and safest return-to-play decisions. Part of this is an accurate brain function test, a computerised brain assessment to which post-concussion tests can be compared. The annual Sports Concussion Programme fee of R300 for 2014 includes:

Sports Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT) information cards for the school A school link to www.sportsconcussion.co.za As many consultations as necessary by a sports doctor after any suspected concussion. A free baseline computer brain function test before the season (performed at your school or in one of our laboratories). As many follow-up brain function tests as necessary after any concussion. Return-to-sport guidelines after a concussion.

The full R300 for every St Johns boy signing up for the programme will go towards funding the new gymnasium. Please note that even if your child has had a previous baseline test he or she must be retested annually. This ensures that we have accurate, up-to-date information on their brain function. The purpose of the programme is to return the injured player to sport as soon as is safely possible. At no time should a player be returned to sport following a concussion without being thoroughly assessed by a doctor. We place most emphasis on the repeated examination of the concussed child by a doctor and hence offer as many consultations as required until the clinical criteria are satisfied for return to play. Yours faithfully

Dr Jon Patricios (011-8839000 / sportsconcussion@mweb.co.za) www.sportsconcussion.co.za Return to play, the safer way!